


The Shin Sekai

by Nayrael



Series: The Shin Sekai [1]
Category: Nurarihyon no Mago | Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan
Genre: Action, Adventure, Anti-Hero, Drama, F/M, Fights, Forbidden Love, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Long, Next Gen, Next Generation, Next-Gen, Original Character(s), Post-Canon, Relationship(s), Romance, Shounen Fights, Slice of Life, Teen Romance, Violence, Yakuza, Youkai
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-11-07
Updated: 2017-11-18
Packaged: 2018-02-24 11:22:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 92
Words: 827,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2579720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nayrael/pseuds/Nayrael
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two decades have passed since the fall of the Nue and his allies of the Hyaku Monogatari. However, the peace and harmony between humans and youkai is being threatened once again and the Nura Clan finds itself in conflict with multiple factions, each one sinister in their own way. And in this conflict, Rikuo's children have no choice but to participate, no matter the risks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. (The Ceremony) - Heroes of the New World

**Author's Note:**

> **NOTE**   **#1** : this fic will take it for granted that you have read the Manga so if you only watched the Anime, you will need to finish the Manga first in order to fully understand what is going on. Watching the OVAs and reading Light Novels is not necessary (I will give more descriptions whenever something from those is referenced)
> 
>  **NOTE #2** : illustrations of the various original characters can be found on my Profile Page. Mind you of the spoiler warnings however as some illustrations have spoilers for later chapters
> 
> * * *

 

**Arc I: The Ceremony**

**Chapter 1: Heroes of the New World**

"Wake up Rihan." A voice and a touch of a cold hand woke up the sixteen years old boy with black hair that almost reached to his shoulders, called Nura Rihan.

"Ah..." He opened his eyes. "Oh, good morning mom." He greeted the young looking woman with black and blue hair, wearing a kimono and a scarf. Her name was Nura Tsurara. She was a Yuki Onna and this boy's mother. "Isn't it too early for school?" He did not need a clock to see what time it is as one look at the window in front of him was enough to make a good guess.  _It was another dreamless night... I guess I have been quite lucky lately._

"Usually it would be dearie, but today is the ceremony to welcome the new headmaster, remember? So you need to come to school earlier." 

"Ah yes, right..." he said and raised himself up from his futon into a sitting position. A high-ranking member of their clan has been, with help of the Clan's yakuza connections, appointed as headmaster of his high school. Members of the Nura Clan, always looking for an opportunity to hold a celebration, have taken it upon themselves to make this a memorable occasion. Rihan wasn't in a celebratory mood though, both because he disliked the family's yakuza nature and because he understood that the headmaster's role was to keep an eye on their Clan's inheritors.

Suddenly, a bowl with some rice appeared right in front of him. "Here is breakfast, Rihan-sama!" said the voice of Oryou, one of the Tsukumogami who served his mother. That little fairy-like youkai was, undoubtedly, the one holding the bowl. He found such sights entertaining, and when he was younger, made them carry around all kinds of things bigger than them for that exact reason... though it never looked like they minded his bullying.

"Oh, thank you Oryou." He said and took the bowl of rice into his hands. In response, Oryou flew up and smiled.

"Well, now I am going to wake up your sister. Wish me luck you two." Tsurara said with an awkward tone and walked out of the room. More often than not, the responsible mother and the irresponsible daughter ended up bickering over something, or she would be missing from her room. Luckily for the Clan, she never went too far and rarely caused serious trouble for them.

And while two parties bicker, the third enjoys the show. "So... wanna bet?" Oryou said to the young Rihan with a naughty smile on her face. The young Rihan's relationship with many of the clan's youkai wasn't as good as it could be, but Oryou was one of those he considered a friend.

"Alright. Let's see... Today is an important day for our school and our clan, so mother expects both me and nee-san to take this seriously. So I bet she is not even in her room."

" _RITSURA, WHERE ARE YOU?!"_ His mother shouted from another room, confirming his theory.

"Yay, you are right again Rihan-sama!" She flew up and gave him a small fist-to-fist, as per their tradition. "Well, I guess I owe you another favor." The little Tsukumogami noted.

" _AHH, ONCE AGAIN SHE LEFT HER CELL HERE!"_

"By the way Oryou..." He started a conversation while eating, no longer being interested in what went on between his mother and his missing sister. "...it is kind of silent here. Where is everyone?" Due to being filled with all kinds of youkai, this mansion had a tendency to be loud all day and night. It was quite unusual to see that the only loud thing was his mother's hysteria.

"Mostly at school. Kejorou-san is part of school's staff, due to her pretending to be a nurse, so she has to be there earlier than usual."

" _DO YOU GUYS KNOW WHERE MY DAUGHTER IS?!"_

"Kubinashi-san has volunteered to help with decorations so he is also there."

" _ARCADES?!"_

"Aotabou-sama got some idea of assembling that biker gang of his, and will be using it to spice up the ceremony."

"That can't end well." Aotabou often ended up going too far, and when his biker gang was added to the mix, it tended to go  _very_  far.

" _SINCE LAST NIGHT?!"_

"But it will be fun! As you know already, your father, the Supreme Commander Rikuo-sama, Kurotabou-sama, Daruma-sama and Shouei-sama are in the USA on some important business."

 _Important business eh?_  Although Rihan wasn't nearly as interested in the Clan's affairs as his sister was, even he knew that his father's trip was far more serious than just some business.

" _DO YOU KNOW AT WHICH ARCADE?!"_

"Karasu Tengu-sama is on a diplomatic mission while Gyuki-sama, and his clan are taking care of some business at their turf. The rest have gone to your school to help with preparations." The war against the Nue may have ended in a complete victory for the Nura Clan and it may have cemented his father's claim to be the Lord of the Pandemonium, but it did not make all of the Clan's enemies disappear... as a matter of fact it created some. And for the last few years, there was this weird feeling that the Clan would once again find itself in some major war.

" _JUST YOU WAIT LITTLE LADY, ONCE I GET MY HANDS ON YOU..."_

"And Tsurara-nee-san has just left to find your missing sister." Oryou ended with a smile.

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

"Just... one more game left..." declared a seventeen years old girl in an arcade. Her white and teal hair and golden eyes, alongside being dressed in a light gray kimono and wearing a white scarf in the summer, made her an unusual sight. But, for some reason nobody paid attention to her strange appearance. "Yaaawn..." And due to not sleeping at all for more than twenty four hours she was a little tired, to say the least.

"This is not good, Ritsura-sama..." said Jiizo, one of her mother's Tsukumogami and the one who kept an eye on her since yesterday. He looked like an old grandpa due to his long beard and a cane, although he was no older than the other Tsukumogami. "Your mother is going to be angry at both you and me... I beg you to at least take a nap!"

"NO!" she proclaimed loudly. "I swore I'd get in Top 5 at all games here before today's classes started!" She threw a small glance to a seat next to her, where a red-haired human girl was sleeping. "Though I'd wish the challenger didn't fall asleep half way in." It was no rare thing for Ritsura and this girl to end up in come kind of contest.

"But... today is the... it is very important that you-"

"No... Don't you understand? This is a question of my honor!" She continued talking while playing a fighting game. "What will the other Youkai say if the heiress of the Nura Clan broke promises left and right?! Or even worse... that she sucked at these simple games! My Fear must reach everything, even a game's high score!"

"But you know this will end badly! Your mother will be enraged!"

"Every battle leaves scars." Ritsura said, trying to sound wise.

"Basically, what you are saying is that you accept the responsibilities for this deed of yours," a female voice from behind her asked, "right?"

The tired girl answered without thinking or turning around. "Yes, I accept it and..." she stopped after realizing it was not Jiizo who asked the last question, but another very familiar voice. She slowly turned around and then smiled. "Hi mom."

"Young lady, you are in so, so much trouble." Her mother said while a GAME OVER message appeared on the arcade's screen.

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

"Tell me dearie..." Rihan's and Ritsura's angry mom started lecturing her daughter. She was silent while bringing her daughter back home, allowing herself both to calm down and prepare for an argument with her daughter. "Why does this have to happen all the time?"

"Umm... ha ha ha..." Ritsura, who sat right in front of her, answered in a feeble tone. As usual, not a sign of regret could be seen on her. In a way, it reminded Tsurara of Rikuo while he was still a boy.

Thinking of that comparison made Tsurara want to giggle, but at this moment she had to do her duty as a mother and properly reprimand her daughter. "That's not an answer."

"What can I say...I am a rebellious girl?" Ritsura said back, admitting that she was simply rebellious rather than pretend that her actions could be justified.

"We know that. And that's the problem! Look at Rihan!" Tsurara said and pointed right, towards a table where her son was writing something into his notebook.

"What? I, for one, finished my homework!"

"I am not doing homework." He complained to his sister. "I was bored, so I just started doing some of the other assignments." Of course, the real reason was to annoy his sister by pretending to be the nicer child. Such sibling squabbles were usual for them since they were kids.

"Ever heard about helping your nee-san?!" The angry sister asked.

"No. And I think mom just got angrier." Rihan had no wish to become a part of their little fights, especially since it usually resulted in his sister making him share the punishment.

"Oh." She looked back towards her increasingly irritated mother. "Well, you see mom..." She tried to make up an excuse, even though she understood well enough how futile that was. "I am an adolescent girl in late teens. You know how it is... I am sure you used to be one too."

And he still didn't get over the last time he got into trouble because of her. "You had been like that for ages though."

"Thank you little brother. I am trying to pour some water into the fire, and you come and help me with some freaking oil!"

"Enough!" Tsurara stopped their bickering. "We will talk about this after you get back from school..." She then gave a seemingly kind smile to her daughter. "When you will take responsibility just like you promised. Now eat your breakfast, change into your uniform and go to school! And I better not hear about how you fell asleep!"

"But today the classes are-"

"Doesn't matter! You will-"

Tsurara was cut off by the paper doors being loudly opened and a bewildered red-haired human girl, with a ponytail and glasses, entering the dining room. "Can someone explain to me why I woke up in here?"

"Mom has turned evil and desires some human liver!" Ritsura replied, showing that she already forgot (or didn't care) that she did something bad and was in trouble. "And we choose you as a sacri-OUCH!"

"Good morning Ichinoe-san." Tsurara said with a smile, after softly chopping her daughter on the head. "I saw you sleeping in the arcades..." she then turned her gaze to Ristura and stopped smiling "...where my dear daughter was fooling around..." then she turned back to the human girl "...and I thought it would be wise to bring you here. Oryou, breakfast for the girls!" Tsurara said and clapped her hands.

"Here, here!" Oryou flew with two bowls of rice and put them on the table. "Do you want seconds, Rihan-sama?" Oryou asked the boy but he just shook his head.

"Well, thank you. Yaaawn." Araya said and sat down to eat. This girl, [Ichinoe Araya](http://i.imgur.com/ftjAFwC.png), was a friend of Ritsura and Rihan since middle school. Her special abilities included putting her nose where it didn't belong (which was why it was hard to keep secrets from her), having a limitless amount of energy (which was why she was always up to something) as well as getting everyone she knew into trouble (which Rihan suspected was the reason why his sister did what she did). Oh, and she had seemingly an infinite amount of money which she was never too shy to spend.

"Now if you excuse me, I have chores to attend to." Tsurara said and started leaving the room. When she reached the doors, she turned around and, with a creepy smile, said, "And plan my daughter's punishment! Prepare yourself, dearie, fufufu..." After saying those ominous words, she left the dining room, leaving the kids to themselves.

A few moments later, once she was sure that her mother was no longer nearby, Ritsura shouted at Araya. "I was just a minute away from beating the last game!"

"What game?" The human girl asked with a disinterested tone and feigned ignorance.

"What?! Last night you challenged me to beat all the games in the arcade until it was time for school! Are you claiming you don't remember it?" Her brother's suspicions have, thus, been confirmed. Araya really did cause this trouble for her  _best friend_.

"Ah, yes... the challenge that was supposed to get you into trouble." Araya said bluntly and then turned towards Rihan with a wicked smile on her face. "Oi, you will tell the details of the punishmeeent 'kay?" She requested and winked, which made Rihan's heart skip a bit. After all, he found her attractive, though he highly disliked the attitude she sometimes had.

"Okay." He said. While both girls in the room have a terrible personality, Araya was on another level and he'd prefer not getting on her bad side.

"Eh?" Ritsura froze for a few moments and then spoke: "Your true motives aside, I claim I won the bet!"

"Alright, alright... I'll send you money after I am done eating." said Ichinoe Araya, also known as the  _Tycoon Princess_... alongside many other nicknames.

"Yes... YES!" Ritsura started rubbing her hands as if she were a cartoon villain. "Never enough yens… fufufu…"

For a moment or two, Araya ate in silence, Rihan wrote in silence and Ritsura was being greedy in silence when...

"Hey, what do you mean you wanted to get me into trouble?!" It was downright surprising for how long she ignored the fact that Araya outright confessed her true motives for the bet.

"I take pleasure in watching people suffer due to my misdeeds." she said while eating, blunt as always. But then, that bluntness was probably what made those two girls so friendly with one another in the first place. "Can I have seconds?"

"Here ya go!" Oryou flew to her with another bowl.

"You are not human... you can't be human!" Ritsura said.

"Unlike some here, I am a pedigree." She looked towards Rihan. "Anyway, your brother sure has become cautious of me... getting him into the trouble is turning into a real challenge I must say."

 _I like to believe that I am getting experienced, but maybe it was just luck._ Rihan thought to himself. Araya's games tended to be a mixed blessing: sometimes he found them annoying, other times he secretly found them fun.

"Forget about that! Why does mom never get angry at you?!" Ritsura started a new topic. "What is your secret recipe  _Little Brother_? Tell me!"

"Because I am a good and responsible son." He closed the notebook, no longer in the mood to solve the assignments. "But look at it this way: Mothers tend to be stricter towards their daughters, especially when they have high expectations."

"Not to mention you are more of a Yuki Onna than a Nurarihyon." Araya joined in. "So it is natural that she has very high expectations from you. But I guess you are just-"

"Oh you guys are making me blush." Ritsura suddenly started blushing and acting like she was in heaven, and, as a result, the room got colder, making Araya shiver (Rihan, though, enjoyed the cold temperatures so he didn't mind it). Ritsura then grabbed one of her mother's Tsukumogami that was flying around and put some ice onto the glass on its head. "Here, have some shaved ice. It is on the house."

"...sister, you are so easy to manipulate..."

"Dammit, I accidentally brightened her mood... and isn't that technically spit?"

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

The door opened, and a blond boy with prickles on his face walked into the dining room. "Hey Nuras! I was just walking to school when I realized I got up waaay too early so I decided to visit you guys and..." then he opened his eyes and suddenly stopped. "EEEEEEK! Why is Araya-chan in Nura's house this early in the morning?" He immediately turned his eyes towards Rihan, as if thinking that he was the culprit of a crime. "Nura-kun, is there something you have to say to your best buddy!?" Without waiting for his answer, he turned towards Ritsura. "Or is it you Nura-chan... have you finally fallen to the delicious dark side..."

The boy's name was Shima Ryu, a childhood friend the siblings knew forever due to him being the son of their father's friend. He prided himself a womaniser, and was kind of an airhead.

"Shima, you are jumping to conclusions again..." Rihan sighed. "...and incredibly stupid ones to boot."

"Yeah... I was just kidnapped so they could eat my liver." Araya said, seemingly taking a liking to Ritsura's liver conspiracy.

"Wha-..." the ever-naive Shima froze.

"But don't worry Shima!" Ritsura smiled. "She bought herself out of it and offered us... YOUR liver!" She said while slowly, yet dramatically, standing up.

"Yeah, you saved me from the effort of having to lure you here. Thanks, I will pay you back with a nice and extravagant gravestone so everyone knows that you were a hero!"

"You guys are kidding, right? Right?!"

"Fufufu." Ritsura laughed and stretched out her hand, probably to freeze him a little. "You are not leaving, little human."

"But why?" He dropped to his knees and started shivering as if he were freezing. However, Rihan doubted that Ritsura went  _that_  far. "I thought we were... pals..." He let a tear go down from his face. "But at least... it is for you guys... whom I love... and not for some-"

"Want some rice before school Shima-san?" Oryou flew to him with a bowl of rice, completely ruining the dramatic scene. No doubt, she felt sorry for the poor guy.

Shima looked up towards Rihan.

"They were joking man." His buddy said. Rihan was certain that Shima just went along with them, but at times like this he wondered if Shima really was just an airhead. "She and sis were at arcades until morning and mom brought them both here."

"Oh." the boy rose up and turned towards Oryou. "Oh Oryou-chan, of course I will take some rice." He gently took the bowl from her and acted like the scene from before never happened. "If you weren't so tiny, I'd even ask for your hand. You would be a perfect wife, I am sure of it!" He said with a flirtatious bow. Rihan sometimes thought he'd flirt with everything that can be identified as a female.

Little Oryou blushed. "Well... that is..."

"See what you have done Rihan?" Ritsura spoke to her brother. "Now we have to witness him flirting with Oryou rather than enjoy looking at his petty reactions. You must be so proud of yourself!"

"Go change and let's go to school already..."

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

Four high school kids just arrived at the train station. The fact that they were frantically running certainly caught the attention of the crowd of numerous people, but everybody was too busy to actually care about it.

"Good, we came in time." Rihan said.

"Damn it girls!" Shima yelled while fighting for his breath. "I love you as both friends and girls, but sometimes I hate you for all the life-threatening troubles you cause us!"

"Sorry, sorry." Ritsura, who was just like her brother in good shape, apologized. Her sin was that she, due to not getting any sleep the night before, fell asleep while changing into her school uniform thus wasting their time. Good thing that Rihan correctly guessed what happened so this problem was quickly taken care of.

"If that is supposed to be a confession, Shima-chan, have a rejection." Araya said with a smile while fighting to stay on her feet just like Shima, who was a fellow human, did. Her sin was that, in order to kill time while waiting for Rihan to find his sister, she started walking around the mansion and, due to some bored youkai who liked to play pranks, she got lost.

"Now listen you two!" Shima Ryu started. Although the first impression made him look like someone who liked fooling around, he was actually the one who complained the most about his friends' unorthodox behaviour."The only thing I want is to have one week... ONE week... without one of you turning my entire day upside-down!"

"Now where is the fun in that?" Araya asked with a smile. While Shima was the extreme fan of normality, she was an extreme fan of abnormality.

"Come on now, I just-"

"Ah, there you are." a female voice interrupted him.

The group turned towards the source of the sound. The voice belonged to another friend of theirs, a girl with long, curvy orange hair called Onieda Mayuri. Like them, she was dressed in their school's caramel sweater and black jacket, but had an air of elegance around her. Like Araya, she was from a rich family but actually seemed to have been educated in good behaviour... or at least cared to behave well.

Shima's foul mood completely disappeared at the sight of the only other normal person in their group of friends. "Oh, my beloved Mayuri-chan! Did you wait for us here, refusing to leave until..." Shima started fooling around but after seeing that she had an angry expression on her face, he stopped. "Mayuri-san, why are you looking at us like that?"

"You guys were late. And you guys came together. You have been fooling around together, haven't you?" She then turned sad. "Why was I not invited?" Of the three girls, Onieda Mayuri was the only one whom Shima classified as normal. However, she always tried to fit in this weird group and thus got sensitive whenever it looked like she was being left out.

"Well, you see Mayuri-chan..." Shima started sweating, as if he did something wrong. "It is not like we planned anything! It is a coincidence we got together, honestly!"

Always leave it to Shima Ryu to make a truth sound like a lie. "Yeah right." she then shook her school bag and it produced a sound that made it obvious there was glass in it. "I make some tea for all of us, yet you guys... sometimes I wonder why I even bother."

Knowing that his time has come, a hero stepped forward. "Shima-kun is actually saying the truth this time." Rihan said to her in his seductive tone. "If you want details, I'll explain it all in the train while we drink some of the tea you made for us." he then smiled. "Okay Mayuri-san?"

"Well..." she blushed and looked down. Leave it to a Nura to crush anyone's fighting spirit with a wink or a smile. "We gotta hurry into the train anyway so I guess I'll listen to your story."

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

A boy, seemingly in late teens, was sitting on a bench just over the street of the Ukiyoe High School. In contrast to the unusually loud and cheerful school, he was silent and focused. However, he still merged into the surroundings by pretending to read some comics.

After all, he was an assassin, so he knew how to hide his presence, even without using his Fear. No, since his targets were youkai, using his Fear might actually draw attention to him.

He followed his targets for three weeks now, always choosing another location to stalk them, never allowing anyone to notice him. Stalking Nurarihyons, who owned inborn talent in hiding their presence and slaying their targets before they could notice them, for so long, is a stressful job. But having to be patient even in the most tense situations was something he got used to.

Then he noticed someone. It was not the Nura Clan's heirs however, but a human girl with short black hair and a plastic flower decoration on it. She had a large, cheerful smile and was of short stature... and was walking in such a way that he felt like she wanted to start dancing.

He knew this girl. Unfortunately, she knew him as well. "Ah, is it Yasha-kun?" she proclaimed the moment she saw him. "What brings you here?"

"It is Yashagoro." He replied and put down his book.

"Uwww... too hard to pronounce."

"It is not. 'Ya-Sha-Go-Ro'."  _It is the old name of the villain in 'The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya'. You should already know how to say it, damn it!_ To be honest, he'd have preferred to not use his true name, but she overheard one of his friends talk to him. After that incident, he told his comrades to not approach him while he was out, in order to avoid any similar incidents from happening.

"Alright, then I'll say that it is way too un-cute." she replied and sat down on the bench beside him.

 _This girl's lack of manners..._  He met this girl called Kibiki Sakura two weeks ago. Her curiosity must have been higher than his skills and she ended up noticing him. For a reason completely unknown to him, she marked him as friend material. And of course, gods found it funny to have her stumble upon him all the time. He tried to break all contact with her but, after a few failed attempts to force her to stay away from him, he gave in and befriended her.

"So, what are you doing here?" she asked again. "Oh, are you maybe curious at what is going on in my school today?"

"Oh, so this is where you go to school to?" due to the tendency to stumble upon her near this school, he already concluded she attended it. However, he pretended to be oblivious.

Just as expected, she nodded.

"Well, I was passing by it today and noticed that it is louder than usual so I took interest."

"Well, it is because we are getting a new headmaster... who seems to have some influential and cheerful friends so..." she stopped for a moment, as if in thought. "Hyaaah!" she suddenly screamed, making Yashagoro jump up for a moment. "Hey, why don't you come in? It is open to everyone today and I'd be very happy to show you around!"

"Ah... is that so... "  _Dammit! I put myself in a bad situation here._ Usually, he would consider this to be a good opportunity to check how the school looks like from inside, but he already broke into it a few nights ago so it would be useless.

"Yep, it is!" she said with a happy smile. "So, come with me!"

"Mhm, I'd be glad to." After admitting his curiosity, he had no choice but to say yes. Though, he doubted that this girl, who seemed to have developed a crush on him, would have accepted a no anyway.  _I always make such blunders around this girl... guess I am getting too relaxed in her company. Damn, I can't afford to act like some teenager on a date!_

"Then let's go!" she grabbed his hand and pulled him from his bench.

Fortunately, she didn't seem to know the Nuras so there was little risk of him meeting them. After all, it was preferable for an assassin to be fully unknown to the targets and those close to them.

Talking about the Nura's, his youkai eyes noticed both of them and their three friends walking in the distance. He moved his gaze away, not wanting to risk getting noticed.

And so the tense patience shall continue until an opportunity shows itself.

And an opportunity will no doubt show itself... and once it does, the snake shall bite.

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

_California, USA._

Michael Dower McRein, a wealthy man and co-owner of one of America's most profiting store chains, was staying in a restaurant in a small town in California.

Usually, people of his status tend to eat in more luxurious locales or at home, but he preferred the atmosphere in places like this one, possibly because it is a place like this where his career started. For thirty years now, he sat in simple locales, eating simple food and using his computer to control his assets when he is not in his office. And he has no intentions to abandon that habit.

But something was weird today. He couldn't put his finger on what, but some strange sensation ran through him. He thought it was due to that meeting from an hour ago, but now he was sure it was something else, so he decided to finish what he was doing on his computer earlier. He had already finished his food and all that remained was to call for his driver and bodyguards and leave in his limousine.

But when he rose, he saw something was amiss: the locale was empty. It was 2PM so the locale should be bustling with customers but even the employees have gone somewhere.

But what really creeped him out was the fact that the window shutters were closed. Besides his computer and cellphone, there was no light here. The place was pitch-dark.

"What... how did I not notice anything?" he thought loudly. It is impossible to not notice such a change in lighting.

Then someone said something in a foreign language. He looked around but saw nobody. "What? Who's that? Where are you?!"

"Because making people not notice me is my  _Fear_." A sound came from the seat opposite to where he was sitting.

Dower jumped back. "What? When did you come here?!" he yelled at him.

"I was here for around ten minutes." The voice said.

"What? I am sure you were not there a moment ago!"

"I was. As I said, it is part of my... oh sorry, you may not know what I speak about. Let's say it is my magical ability to make people not notice me."

"Magical abilities? Don't give me that crap!" he started walking backwards and bumped into someone. Dower turned around and saw a tall, hooded man. "Eeeek!" he retreated.

He then noticed that this tall person was the only normal thing here. His eyes soon saw a weird old man in orange Japanese clothing holding a Japanese sword. He also noticed some Japanese monk with a spear and a huge hat.

"What is...who are you people?"

"We are a Yakuza." The voice behind him said. Dower, whose eyes got used to darkness, turned around and looked at this person. He was wearing common clothing but his eyes were red and his hair... unnatural. "A Youkai Yakuza to be exact."

"Yo...ukai?" youkai was a word for Japanese demons if Dower understood it correctly. Due  _to that project_ , he tended to hear it often these days.

"Yes, youkai. I am Nura Rikuo, leader of the strongest Youkai Yakuza." he stretched his hand towards the seat where Dower was sitting up till now. "Please sit. I want to have a talk with you."

"Youkai... Are you part of  _that group_? I already met with one of your guys today." he said and sat, not wanting to take any risks.

"No, I am not part of  _that group_. To be more precise, I believe they might be my enemies."

Dower's heart started to beat faster.

"No need to make such a face. Trust me, I am not bad guy." he gave him a smile. Something in that smile calmed him down, but his rationality continued to make him feel endangered.

"W-What do you want from me mister Rikuo?"

"Just to be sure we are on the same page here, the man you had talked with an hour ago, was from that group that calls itself  _New World_ , right?"

" _New World_?" Dower started laughing. Seems this youkai made a mistake. "No, no, they are called  _Shin Sekai_. I think you-"

"Ah, so they are using the Japanese name..." Rikuo put a hand on his own cheek and looked aside.

Dower's smile disappeared. He felt stupid for not realizing that the group's name must have meant something in Japanese.

Rikuo Nura turned his gaze back to Dower. "Anyway, who was that man and what were you talking about?"

"...do you think I can just say something like that, Jap!? If they find out I told you anything, they shall-"

"Don't worry, I am not merciless. You see, I have a thousand strong youkai serving under me and you can be sure they are stronger than anything this  _Shin Sekai_  has to offer. I'll send a few to protect you until it is safe." he then sent him another comforting smile. "Deal?"

"Just to be sure, can I trust you? I have a wife and two sons, one of whom will give me a grandchild in few months. Do you promise me that they will be safe?"

Nura Rikuo said a simple "Yes." However, Dower could see strong determination on his face. He did not know anything about this man, but something told him he can trust in him.

"Alright then. These guys make me feel disgusting so I'll help any way I can. What do you need from me?

"Just say all you know."

"Alright." he took out some cigarettes from his pocket. "Mind if I take a smoke?"

"Feel free to."

"Anyway, I don't know much about this group." Dower started. "One day some creepy men came to my office to discuss a business proposal. They announced themselves as some Computer Security Experts, but as soon as they entered, I knew that something was amiss."

"How so?"

"Guess it is that Fear you mentioned for I sure was filled with fear soon enough." he replied, breathing out a big puff of smoke. "Anyway, they didn't lose time in showing me that they were not normal humans. Four people entered, and two of them turned into...," Dower stopped for a moment. The memory was so unnatural and unbelievable that he wanted to think it was just a dream, "...into monsters. I tried to scream, but suddenly another monster appeared behind me and put a hand on my mouth. Suffice to say, they were even less pleasant than your bunch! Then, they started talking about some youkai stuff but they soon realized that I really didn't want to know anything about it so they stopped, instead focusing on how they could help me and how I could help humanity."

"Humanity?"

"Yes, humanity. Though I am not sure how monsters like them can..." he noticed Rikuo narrow his eyes at him using word  _monster_. "Ah, sorry. I didn't mean to… anyway. They said that computer technology is not the only way for humanity to advance and said something about enslaving and using youkai... now that I think about it, I think they even used that word Fear... well, they made many big promises, even offered to give me a few monsters for a gift, an offer I kindly rejected."

"What did they want from you?"

"They wanted to change the world with it they said... guess that's where the name comes from." Dower continued, not immediately answering his question. "What they needed from me were funds. As long as I give them funds, other sponsors and I will be rewarded in future."

"And you accepted?"

"As I said, I have a wife, two sons and soon a grandchild. They were insane and had monsters. You think I was stupid enough to reject?"

"Yeah, good point."

"Anyway, that's all I know. The man from today came to tell me that I don't need to invest that much anymore. However, I know enough of business to know how to read between the lines: they wanted more funds or I am getting removed from the deal. And I don't even want to know what it means to be removed from the deal by them." Dower put his cigarette into the ashtray. "I don't care what they are. I don't want to know. I want to keep my family safe and I will continue giving them funds for that. Please understand." He looked towards Nura Rikuo who nodded. "Thank you. However, I am not proud of this and I hope you do something about them, if you truly can. I don't know anything about you youkai, but I am sure they would be bad news for everyone." He got up from his seat. "Can I leave now?" Rikuo nodded and the man left.

"So we didn't find out anything useful." Nura Rikuo put his hands behind the back of his head and yawned. He also released this place from his Fear.

"At least we found out what these Financiers do as well as that they don't know much about this  _Shin Sekai_." Daruma said. "It ain't much, but with such secrecy, even this is worthwhile."

Employees came back and started wondering who closed the shutters. They paid no heed to Rikuo's group.

"We also found out that they claim to be fighting for humanity's sake." Kurotabou added. "Claim." he repeated as if to put emphasis on it. After all, he was once manipulated by a man who claimed the same and wanted the opposite.

"At least it is a bit more than what we found out back in Japan." Shouei joined in.

"Still, it is not much. What Dower said is what we already expected." The shutters opened and Nura Rikuo's form became more human and his white hair turned into brown. As to not put a burden on him, his companions also took a more human form.

 _The Shin Sekai (The New World)_. A highly secretive group that appeared few years ago and had mixed itself with some of the events that happened in the youkai world, making Rikuo highly suspicious of their intentions. After a year of searching, the Nura clan found out disturbingly little about them.

But what they know is worrisome. They know they have onmyouji and youkai in their ranks. Furthermore, these youkai seem to be young, hinting that they even have Hyakku Monogatari's remnants as their allies, a youkai clan Rikuo was not fond of.

And, as if those two were not enough, they have other resources at their disposal as well, like money and computer hackers. Due to an archive of an Internet chat, part of which they managed to read before hackers destroyed it, they suspect they even have armed human forces. It is as if the whole world had united in order to accomplish something bad.

And Rikuo was certain it was bad... and that they wanted to do something big. Even their name suggests it.

And that's why Rikuo was in USA: the group was careful in Japan but the Nura Clan found some clues that the  _Shin Sekai_  acts outside Japan as well, and that they make connections with people who could be more talkative.

Michael Dower McRein was one such person and while they didn't find out much, they got a decent amount of information from that one man, although still less than they have hoped for. Rikuo was sure one of other financiers, likely one who is more interested in this project, could give them more information.

"Anyway, is it alright for you to leave your turf for so long? You could have just sent us here, Rikuo-sama." Kurotabou changed the topic.

"Nice sounding idea. I sure would like to go home to be with Tsurara and the kids, but..." he took out his cell and opened the document with people they need to pay a visit,"...do you really expect me to sit at home and do nothing? Also, it would be too dangerous to send you guys alone here. We have an army in Japan, but nothing overseas."

"Which endangers you, Rikuo-sama. You are more valuable than..." Shouei started.

"Please cut it. If I protected my skin like that, I'd have gotten nowhere."

"True, but this brings me to another question..." Daruma started. Rikuo already knew what he wanted to say and they have gone through it a dozen times. "Isn't it about time to make Ritsura or Rihan the underboss? While Gyuki-dono is skilled and trustable and your wife responsible, it would be better if your blood governed the affairs at home."

"It is still too early." Rikuo rejected him.

"But you were younger when you became the Surpreme Commander, Rikuo-sama." Shouei complained.

"The situation then and now is different. Back then I had no choice but to take over the leadership. However, there is no reason for the kids to bother with such stuff until they at least reach the  _human_  age of adulthood." He put an emphasis on the last part. "Let them lead their school life in peace. There is plenty of time to bother with this stuff later on, if they wish so."

"But..."

"Enough! We have a long ride ahead of us and I am getting tired."

Thirteen years may make you an adult in eyes of the youkai, but not in the eyes of the humans. And Rikuo agreed with the humans on this matter. He still remembered how burdensome it was to become a commander at such a young age, and the last thing he'd want was to force those responsibilities on his own children, especially since it was not needed. To allow Ritsura and Rihan to lead better lives is currently the thing he cares the most about.

* * *

**I-I-I-I-I**

* * *

**Author Notes:**

...and thats how one day I decided to start writing a fanfic for one of my favourite Manga series (Nayrael's lame attempt to skip over hard-to-make first sentences ;P )

The story happens around twenty to twenty five years later, with Rikuo's and Tsurara's (had to make a tough decision on which girl's kids would give the best setting and story) kids being the main characters, though quite a few both canon and original characters will be present. Since I didn't know how the Manga would end at time I started planning it out, freely consider this a partially AU fic, though I'll give my best to stay loyal to the lore of NuraMago as much as possible (EDIT: the Manga is over and I don't think there should be any contradictions to canon).

The name itself implies a few things. One of them is the obvious reference to the villainous faction described in Rikuo's part of the chapter. However, it also signifies ambitions of some of more radical characters and, mostly, change in generations. But to tell you the truth on why I chose this name... I suck at picking titles so I took first thing that sounded good ;P

Might also comment on the names of the children: Rihan was chosen because of naming conventions in the Nura Clan: Rihan practically means Ri-half, Rikuo Ri-quarter and now that the son's ratio of human-youkai blood is around 50:50, Rihan looked like an obvious choice, not to mention that naming your child after your dear parent or grandparent is common.

Ritsura may sound like it was inspired by a pairing nickname, but it is naming conventions again: Ri- from Nura family and -tsura- which is present in both Tsurara's and Setsura's name.

Anyway, hope you enjoy reading it and hope you post your reviews and opinions!


	2. Koko no Kira

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ritsura and Rihan are the daughter and son of Nura Rikuo, Supreme Commander of the youkai yakuza of the Nura Clan, and his wife, Tsurara. But while their father is on important quest overseas and while they are enjoying their school days at home with their friends, danger is closing onto the kids in form of an assassin...

**Chapter 2: Koko no Kira**

"Oh God, I am more nervous than I thought I'd be…" Kibiki Sakura muttered silently to herself, as she and Yashagoro walked through the school gates. The girl seemed anxious and Yashagoro could make a few guesses as to why she felt so.

"What are you nervous about Kibiki-san?" He asked as he gave her an innocent, composed smile just to make her feel even more nervous. Although he was on an important job, he could not make himself pass a chance to tease girl like her.

"I…I... umm… I am kind of afraid of crowds! Yeah, that's right!" Kibiki made excuses with an expression that made Yashagoro chuckle.

"Hmmm? But a few days ago you said that you disliked lonely and empty places." He put a hand under his chin. "You are contradicting yourself... I wonder what the reason for that would be..."

"I…" Her face started turning red, probably because she started suspecting that he was close to understanding how she felt about him (not knowing that he was already aware of it). "You see, I am a girl who believes in achieving perfect balance!" As it fit her character, she made up another ridiculous excuse. "Yeah, that's right, perfect balance! Like how that Taoist philosophy says!" He opened his mouth to challenge her again, but she raised her finger to silence him. "You see! I… ummm… when I was a kid I watched that one Anime where…" the girl did not want to get embarrassed again so she did not let him catch a chance to say something.

_Well, I'll just use my usual tactic: wait for an opportunity and attack. Speaking of that, I could use this opportunity to-…_

Suddenly, as he started thinking malicious thoughts, his mind had gone numb. No, that was wrong. Some unnaturally strong Fear forced him to switch his attention elsewhere and no matter how much he tried, he could not resist it. Maybe he could if he released all of his Fear, but there was no way that the Nuras would fail to notice it.

So he tried to fight it with sheer willpower, but the odds did not seem like they were going in his favor. The bustling noises ceased and even faces of everyone around him became blurred in his eyes. There was only that fountain with a stone pillar in the school courtyard, attracting him just like how a lamp attracts wasps. He started to walk towards it. With every step, he was more and more horrified, both by what might happen soon and by the sheer power of the opponent's Fear against which, he was now certain, he could not fight even if he did release all of his Fear.

Ironically, the strongest thought in his head was the one that made him hope that this youkai did not belong to the Nura Clan.

"Yasha-s… wher… oing? Wa…" He could hear Kibiki try to talk to him, but somehow it seemed as if she were dozens of meters away from him. Although he would have wanted to tell her to flee, he was forced to ignore her. There seemed to be no limit to just what this Fear could force him to do.

He was afraid, firstly because of the chance that he may fail at his mission and then for a more natural reason: he started to fear for his own, personal safety. With every step he was more and more afraid. But he had to continue walking until his body stopped moving the moment it reached the fearsome fountain.

He could feel Kibiki asking him some questions… and he answered them, but he did not pay attention, neither to what she said, nor to the words he himself spoke. Then Kibiki left, probably due to whatever this alien Fear made him say.

Soon, he felt the presence of some person standing behind him and he knew that this person was important... so important that he paid her more attention than he did to anyone else at this moment. He was not sure if it was his inborn instincts, or this Fear that made him aware of it.

He himself sat down on the fountain and that person, whoever she was, walked until she stood in front of him. He looked at this person but couldn't make himself pay attention to any of that person's features. He did not know what this person wore, what this person looked like, how old this person was or even what this person's gender was.

"You are the person that has been sneaking around this area for the last few weeks, aren't you?" The voice said, but he could not recognize anything from the tone. Was it male or female, old or young... he did not know. But at least he could hear her, though he was not certain if that made him comfortable or just even more afraid. "You're searching for the  _New World_?"

"For what?" He had no idea what this person said, but felt comfort at the fact that he was being questioned rather than attacked.

"So you aren't one of them… Are you seeking to make a name for yourself and add your tale to the Hundred of Tales?" The person asked another confusing question.

"What are you talking about?" He hoped the person in front of him was a Nura... and he hoped that, if she was a member of the Nura Clan, that this Fear would not force him to spill all of his secrets to them. No, even if this was not a youkai of the Nura Clan, he could never afford to let anyone know about his intentions.

"So you aren't a sleeping agent either. Well then, don't do anything stupid in this school and you'll be safe. I put all my Fear into this tale and I assure you, you are too weak to do anything against it." The unknown person said and left.

And then the alien Fear let him go and the world, once again, seemed normal and his head felt clear. He looked around in order to see who might have talked to him, but there were so many people that it was impossible to find out.  _Did nobody notice us talking?_ Although it was theoretically possible that these humans saw him talking to someone, his intuition told him that the alien Fear that entranced him was able to force others to not pay attention to him and the mysterious person. Seeing how powerful the Fear was, that seemed even more likely.

 _Well, at least I didn't end up saying anything important._  In the end, the person seemed to be an enemy to the Nuras or a truly neutral party at worst, thus he was not forced to talk.  _Still, maybe they could notify them about me... no, if they had any such plans they would at least try to find out something about me. I am safe... for now._

Then he saw Kibiki run towards him, with some bottled of lemonade. "Here, just as you asked." She said and offered him a bottle with a wide smile.

 _Ha, so I sent her to fetch me some juice._ "Thank you Kibiki-san." He replied, accepting her offer. "Hopefully it will help me get rid of this nausea."

"Thank goodness. She was relieved... and so was he, as he correctly guessed what motive Koko no Kira forced in him to use in order to send Sakura away, "For a moment I thought the Koko no Kira claimed you…"

"Koko no Kira? What is that?" He thought he heard that name, but was not sure where.

"An Urban legend about this school. Nothing you should-"

"Could you tell me about it?" For some reason he was certain that, whatever this was, it had something to do with that Urban Legend Sakura just mentioned. Although nothing bad happened, the more he knew, the safer he could let himself feel.

However, his sudden reaction seemed to have made Sakura distressed. Yashagoro noticed that some other students were looking at him with scared expressions as they walked past him.  _Damn, I'm attracting way too much attention._

"I… Come on, there are more pleasant things to talk abo-" Whatever the topic was, the girl in front of him seemed reluctant to talk about it.

Still, he had to learn something. "Please?"

"Well… alright." She sighed and sat next to him.

Now that he thought about it, they were standing in front of what may have been the source of that Fear. If so and if that source wanted to stop Sakura from talking, she would be in danger.  _I should have taken her somewhere else... no, this seems like common knowledge so it should be safe._

"You know about that incident at a middle school around three years ago?" The girl continued

He nodded in response. After all, everyone in the youkai world knew about it.

Three years ago, an unknown youkai group invaded a middle school in Nakano City and killed countless students in it as well as some civilians in vicinity of the school. Until this day, nobody knew who did it although the Nura Clan and its allies were searching for the culprits without a break.

However, the media were controlled and the story never officially got out, and, mysteriously, the students in the school forgot about it while the victims were made to look like they moved away. Yashagoro guessed some powerful Onmyouji clan was asked to control the situation as the Nura were unlikely to own the means to do such a large cover up.

However, hiding something from the Internet was impossible. This was now practically public knowledge for the humans who were left wondering just what could have killed all those kids.

"They say that the souls of the killed students couldn't rest without getting avenged. Their dark wishes have, as they say, given birth to an Akuma that called itself Koko no Kira, a powerful being that avenged, or is still intending to avenge, the murdered children." There seemed to be a lot of sadness in this girl's eyes as she told him this tale.

"But that was in Nakano City. Why are we talking about them here in Ukiyoe Town?"

"They say that, for some unknown reason, it moved here and is now protecting this school from anyone who wants to harm someone inside the school's grounds."

 _Ah… and since I wanted to harm the Nuras, who are students here, this Koko no Kira wanted to… no, this is wrong. The person I spoke with seemed to be something else... but what if they were in alliance?_ Once again, Yashagoro felt frustrated. Although he was aware that Tokyo was filled with many Urban Legends and other youkai that considered Nuras their enemies, it was nearly impossible to find out anything about them. Granted, it may have been because the Urban Legends disliked conversing with older youkai species and Yashagoro was definitely one of the older species.  _I should spend more effort into finding out just who else calls Tokyo their home... if it is even possible, seeing that someone not belonging to the Nura Clan made himself at home in Ukiyoe's high School, a place where the Nuras sent their heirs with little protection. If Nuras could not find them, I couldn't... but if I do find them and can get them on my side..._

"Yashagoro-kun...?" Sakura's words reminded him that he spent too much time thinking.

"What does it do to its victims?" he asked, pretending to be excited in order to hide how scared he actually was. If he looked scared, he would look suspicious as there would be no reason for Koko no Kira to attack an innocent person… But this way, he would simply look like a curious student.

Kibiki's face softened up a little, probably due to being relieved that her crush didn't seem like a villain. "Well…" she pointed a finger at the pillar behind them. He now noticed that some words were written on it... but could not make himself read exactly what was written there. This was, without a doubt, the source of that Fear from before. "They say that the potential villains would be attracted to it and forced to read what is written there. And that would transport them to an alternative, dark version of the school where youkai rule. And the Youkai would… harm them."

"Interesting…"

"Anyway, I want to go inside. Let's go!" she took his hand and forced him to leave with her. Naturally, she would not want to discuss this topic any further.

If nothing else, at least he found out that he could not harm the Nuras while inside this school. But then again, this was not one of the places where he would have wanted to confront them in the first place.

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

Exhausted, Kejorou let herself fall onto a seat. She was in one of the school's classrooms, though she was not alone: a good number of youkai from the Nura Clan was with her, partying like they always do. Even daytime could not stop these youkai from starting a party.

She was the  _chosen one_  to take care of the party preparations but organizing parties for the Nura clan was a far more stressful job than most would expect. And this one was especially hard: not only did they need to put up decorations and get enough food and drinks, but they also had to reserve the entire eastern wing of the school, find a way to keep the human students away and, more importantly, take care that none of the drunk youkai leave the eastern wing, especially the ones who couldn't disguise themselves in front of humans.

Suddenly, something hit her from behind, causing her to fall from her seat and hit the wall with her head.

"Who… is…?" Annoyed that she was not allowed to rest properly, she turned around and looked towards what hit her. "Kubinashi?" She said in an inquiring, yet venomous, tone.

The head of her comrade Kubinashi was rolling on the floor behind her. "Oi, sorry Kino-chaaan…" Judging by how red it was and his manner of speech, he was obviously drunk.

"Sorry my…" Her hair got longer and grabbed Kubinashi's poor head, raising it so that they eyes would be on the same latitude.

"Sorry! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!" He started apologizing while she looked around in search for whoever threw his head at her. The youkai, that were partying until now, turned silent the moment they felt the Fear she released in her anger.

It didn't take long for her to notice the one who was trying to hide himself from her gaze. "Listen Kejorou, it was an…" a wolf-like youkai from the Houkou Clan started apologizing the moment her eyes fell onto his.

But Kejorou didn't care about what he had to say. She spun Kubinashi's head around and threw it at the Houkou with all her might, making them both of hit the wall at the other end of the classroom.

"FIIIIIGHT!" Someone yelled and suddenly the whole classroom erupted into friendly, but messy, fights.

"Oh no… what have I done?" Kejorou put a hand on her forehead. In her anger, she forgot that once someone did something violent during a Nura clan's party, the whole thing would escalate into a  _Battle Royale_. "I'll never get this back into ord-"

"Need help Kino?" A girl's voice asked her. There was only one person, besides Kubinashi, who used that nickname.

"Oh, Ritsura-sama." She said as she looked at her young mistress. "No I don't-"

"Yeah, right." Ritsura walked into the classroom and clapped her hands. "Can I have some peace and quiet here please?" Naturally, very few heard her and none obeyed... but the fact that Ritsura didn't even try to raise her own voice in this situation made it clear that Ritsura planned to end this without using diplomacy and that made Kejorou worried. "Alright… then allow me to join the fun. There was something I wanted to try anyway…" She said and took out a fan from her pocket.

Kejorou didn't recognize the technique that Ritsura intended to use but she retreated back a few steps nevertheless. Past had proven that standing near this girl when she got aggressive was not a healthy idea.

Ritsura raised her fan and cold air started collecting around her. The ones close enough to feel the sudden fall in temperature stopped fighting and jumped towards the walls, away from Ritsura's field of vision. The rest also noticed the incoming attack but when they stopped fighting in order to look at the girl, it was already too late.

" _Samui Arashi_!" She yelled and waved her fan. A small gust of wind stormed through the classroom in front of her, freezing whatever it touched. A moment later everyone was either on the floor or sitting on their knees, freezing. "Please, we can have a _Battle Royale_  later if you want it so much. Right now, however, I don't want to see anyone causing a ruckus in this school and attracting the attention of the humans. Is that clear?"

"Y-Yes Ojou-sama!" Few who could open their mouths spoke.

Ritsura turned back towards Kejorou. "I think I went a little overboard. Well, this is the first time I used this, so…"

"Where did you learn that technique, Ritsura-sama?" Kejorou asked her. She was certain neither Tsurara nor Setsura used anything like this.

"Reira-san brought another Yuki Onna as a guest the last time I visited Toono. She taught me this. Quite useful if you have a weapon in your hand." She said, then started using the fan to cool her face. "And is good for other, more general uses."

"I see…" Kejorou said and sighed. Learning techniques from other Yuki Onna had become a common occurrence for this girl. Of course, that was far from a bad thing: it was always a good thing for an heir to be so enthusiastic about getting stronger.

"By the way Kino…" Ritsura gave her an angry look. "…did you forget about the Koko no Kira?"

"No, of course not!" Koko no Kira, or more exactly not attracting that thing's attention, was on Kejorou's mind all the time as she organized this party. It was annoying that they couldn't find a way to clean this school of it, but as long as it did not harm humans the Nuras did not seem that keen on risking the school's safety by agitating it. "But nobody here would hurt anyone intentionally, so…"

"Not worth the risk, so don't agitate it any further." Ritsura spoke and turned around. "Did you hear me guys? No fights or Koko no Kira will eat you!"

"Yes Ojou-sama!" They said, more afraid of Ritsura's anger than Koko no Kira's potential appetite.

She then gracefully turned back towards Kejorou. "We should find a way to get rid of this. It gives me shivers and I…" She looked at someone behind Kejorou. "Oh Shima, what are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?!" Shima Ryu shouted from the doors. He did not dare enter the youkai-filled room. "You said you brought me here to introduce me to some girls and you ended up creating a blizzard!"

"By the way, Ojou-sama where is Waka?" Kejorou asked, wondering why the siblings were not together.

"Hey, let her answer my question fir-"

"Oh, I left him with Mayuri, Araya and some other girls." She answered while cooling herself with her fan. "As his nee-san, I must take care that he doesn't graduate from the school without a girl in his arms." She then closed her fan and pointed it towards Shima, no doubt trying to make herself look cool. "Which is why he is here: I didn't want him to ruin his chances."

 _You are older, but you are single too..._  Kejorou thought to herself but left it unsaid. Of course, Ritsura being the future Supreme Commander made the whole thing about whom she might end up with, more complicated.

"You damn vixen! I have had enough, I am going to-" Shima started turning around when…

"There you are, beautiful!" One of the youkai girls from inside the classroom yelled towards him.

Reflexively, Shima Ryu turned around with a huge smile and proclaimed: "You mean me sweethe-" but he stopped when he opened his eyes and saw a female rat youkai run towards him. "AAAAAHH!" he yelled and started running while she continued chasing him. The two of them had that kind of bond for years now.

Kejorou looked at the young Yuki Onna cooling herself with a fan. "You knew she would be here, didn't you?"

"Well, I saw her from the courtyard, spying on our dear little Shima so… yeah." She theatrically closed her fan. "Anyway Kino, let's return to Koko no Kira."

 _Oh no…_ "What about it, Ojou-sama?" Kejorou asked with a fake smile.

"What are we doing about it?"

"Oh, there is no need to worry about that, Ojou-sama. We have been looking into this youkai for weeks now and we have the situation fully under control." Kejorou told a lie. Rikuo said he would look into it when he returned but, under his orders, they had to keep the kids out of such business. If she told her that they were waiting for Rikuo's return, Ritsura would want to take the matters into her own hands.

True, she tried to take it as such now so it was not that useful, but orders were orders. "Ohh, tell me about it."

"As I said, no need to worry about it. It is not going fast, but up till now this youkai didn't hurt anyone innocent." Although, it did hurt the fools that wanted to hurt Nura Rikuo's children as well as some less friendly youkai who wanted to mess with the students. In such a way, his presence was actually welcome... but until they knew what the deal with him was, the Nuras had no intention of labeling him as an ally.

"Tz." Ritsura angrily clicked her tongue. "Forget about it." She said and walked out of the classroom without saying anything else.

Kejorou sighed. She hated whenever this happened.

Rikuo's intentions may be understandable, but his daughter and heiress was not taking his overprotection too well. While young Rihan has shown little interest in leadership (or the clan's affairs in general), especially when he grew older, his sister had been growingly excited about it since she was a kid. She always saw herself as  _Daddy's Little Underboss_  and was now frustrated due to still not holding that title, even though four years have passed since she celebrated her thirteenth birthday (which was when traditionally the heirs would get accepted as the formal Underbosses of a youkai yakuza clans), she was still an heir with no legal authority... and that, understandably, frustrated this ambitious gal.

Of course, members of Rikuo's Parade understood that he just wanted to keep his children safe and have them enjoy their human lives without worried, but that did not really soothe this girl and even the other members of the clan.  _But then, after what happened eight years ago... no, forget about that incident!_

The girl had both will and ability to make a good leader of the clan, and Kejorou hoped that this all would get resolved soon. On the other hand, she also hoped that the little Nuras get no reason to carry the burden of leadership. The only reason Rikuo did, was because his own father was murdered and the clan needed a strong and reliable heir.

Kejorou sighed again.  _I fear the day when I myself become a parent… Just standing aside is stressing me to no end._ She turned her eyes towards Kubinashi whose head was still rolling around the classroom.  _But seeing how slow my love life is developing, that won't happen in the foreseeable future I fear..._

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

" _Damn it, sis…"_  Rihan thought while he, with a smile, answered various questions to the curious girls around him in one of the less crowded hallways. He felt like a politician talking with excited media.

"Hey Nura-kun, I was wondering…" One of the girls started. "…have you ever traveled somewhere overseas? Someone from a rich family like yours must have used that opportunity at least once!"

"Nah, I've never traveled overseas." He answered, still feigning a good mood. It wasn't that he disliked girls, quite the opposite, but when a girl gets this clingy he, ironically, loses much of his interest in her. "Also, we aren't exactly wealthy…"

"Say that again? You live in a big mansion, I heard!" She replied, probably not realizing that he is from a family of yakuza rather than of some aristocrats of tycoons. "And you have many underlings!"

"Maybe he is comparing himself to Ichinoe-sama?" One commented and looked towards a girl who was leaning against the wall and read a magazine of some sort, seemingly disinterested in their little conversation. For certain reasons, Rihan felt annoyed at her lack of attitude in this situation. "After all, he is often hanging around her and she would make anyone feel humble."

"Speaking about the mansion…" Another girl spoke and changed the topic. "…I heard it is filled with youkai. Is that true?"

"Actually, I heard that both you and your sister might be..." Another one started. In past this would make the hairs on his neck raise, but he already got used to dealing with these rumors.

"Ha ha ha… Well girls, even if we were, we would not admit it, now would we?" He said and laughed it off. Laughter was, as he learned, a good way to negate a rumor.

The girls nodded and laughed with him, more to try and fit with him than because they found it funny.

"Oh yes, Nura-kun… Do you have a girlfriend?" One of the girls then asked and everyone froze. It was a question each one of them wanted to ask, but none dared. After all, if he said yes than it would not be a good news for them.

 _Oh no…this can't end well… "_ Well, I still haven't found the  _Special Someone_ , but…"  _...although I did have girlfriends in past, but I better keep that one a secret._

Some of the girls gave him big smiles while the others suspiciously looked towards growingly distressed Onieda Mayuri and the still disinterested Ichinoe Araya.

Mayuri didn't seem to like this kind of attention so she, in order to fit in with the rest of them, decided to ask a question for herself. "So Rihan-kun, have you ever been in… uhmm…a life-threatening situation?"

"Well you see, I…" He could be honest with her seeing as she was aware of his true nature, but it was impossible to honestly answer her question in front of these girls.

Suddenly, he could hear someone running and, from around the corner, Shima Ryu quickly walked out. For some reason, he was fighting for his breath.

"Oh, look who's here!" Araya suddenly said and turned towards him, but not before winking at Rihan. "The very man who saved Riha-chan's life  _that day_!"

"Huh?" Shima was surprised… as was Rihan.

"I still remember that day so clearly…" Araya put her hands on her chest. "When Riha-chan almost died in that river, but Shima-kun saved him and… so passionately breathed life back into his chest…" She looked towards him. "It was so… touching…"

""What? That never-"" The boys started, but were cut off by the girls.

"KYAAAAAH!" Some girls started screaming. "BL! BL!"

"You bastard…" Others started getting angry. "…Rihan-sama's first kiss… stolen by a..."

"What? No girls, this is a-" Rihan started, but then Araya kicked Shima and he found himself in front of the female army… which slowly started to walk towards him.

"DETAILS!" Some started to yell. "What was the feeling? Did your tongues t-t-t-t…"

"Let me touch those lips that touched Rihan-sama!" Some girls got too excited, no doubt much to Shima's pleasure.

"I shall feast upon your entrails, you bastard!" Others were excited at another idea, much to Shima's displeasure.

Rihan tried to say something to save his friend, but then Araya grabbed his hand. "Let's leave this boring group while we have a chance. Onieda-san, you too!"

 _I am sorry Shima… I could not save you…_  Rihan thought to himself and looked back at his friend.  _May our friendship in the next life… end less tragically._

"HEEEAVEEEEN, COOMEEE!" a happy Shima yelled as the female army descended on him. No doubt, this womanizing masochist intended to enjoy this to its fullest.

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

"I don't get it. Why don't they trust in me?" Ritsura vented out to the the new Headmaster in his office. "Is it because I am fat?" However, her complaints were random, showing that she was more irritated than hurt.

"No… even a blind man wouldn't be able to call you fat." The newly appointed headmaster, Hitotsume, answered while sitting in front of his desk in his new office and smoking an old-fashioned pipe. Actually, this whole celebration that day was being held to honor his promotion.

"Is it because I am ugly then? No way, I am extremely beautiful…"

"How humble of you." Hitotsume said with a sigh.

"Is it because I am weak then? I can get stronger!"

"You are already a weapon of mass destruction Ojou-san." Hitotsume breathed out a big cloud of smoke. "Anyway… why are you in my offiAAAH-OUCH!"

Ritsura breathed out cold air into his eye, so he fell from his seat and then he hit the table with his eye.

"Don't you be puffing smoke clouds onto me." She complained to him. The stinking tobacco was both unpleasant and hard to wash off.

"S… Sorry…" He apologized and raised himself back up. "Your grandmother, your mother and now you too..." He muttered something under his breath as he remembered the old days. For some reason, the Yuki Onna of Nura Clan liked freezing his poor eye. "Anyway… you must show some spirit girl!"

"I am always showing spirit." She answered.

"No, no…" He complained while taking a tissue from his pocket. "…you must TAKE it." He watered the tissue by putting it into a vase and then put it onto his eye. "You gotta show them all who the boss is and if someone complains, kick their ass! Well, that's how First would have done it." In a way, the girl reminded him of Nurarihyon more than Rihan and Rikuo did, possibly one of the reasons why he liked ehr even though sometimes she tended to get difficult to deal with.

"Hm hm…" She nodded and then noticed a box of confiscated Manga. "It is starting to sound quite attractive." seeing how Hitotsume couldn't see anything, she sneaked to the box and started checking the Manga she could steal, like a true Nurarihyon. "But fighting my own clan for such a reason is a tad bit too radical and uncalled for."

"Well, that was just my suggestion." He shrugged with his shoulders.

"So I will kick someone else's ass!" She decided it was too bothersome to pick few so she took the entire box. There was enough Nurarihyon blood in her to be able hide it in plain sight from this guy.

"Something big?" Hitotsume wondered. "Just what could that be?"

"I'll get rid of Koko no Kira." She said while returning to her seat with a box in her arms.

"Oh… you will kill Koko no KIIIIIRAAAA?" Hitotsume yelled, jumped up, took a bad step, fell from his seat and hit the table with his eye again.

"Yes!" She completely ignored his reaction. "I'll kick that dangerous youkai out from this school… or kill it trying!"

"No, no, no, no, no way! NO FREAKING WAY!" He jumped up and pointed his finger at the broom in a corner of the room, his eye probably still hurting too much for him to be able to look. "I may be one of those who accept you as the  _Underboss_ , but there is no way I am allowing you to risk my school by offending that thing!"

"You sure do care about your school, don't you?"

"Of course I do!" He answered to the broom. "You all have been complaining about how I do nothing for centuries and I prove you all wrong by taking this comfy seat here!" Due to his sense of direction being confused, he pointed his finger towards a trash bin. "I can't allow myself to lose it in a week and look like a fool!"

"Oh… and there I thought you were worried about the students."

"Of course I am! Lose of one of them will risk my title! The fact that there is a dorm regularly filled with students here already makes me nervous!"

"There is no guarantee that it will immediately attack students… well, there is no guarantee that it won't either but I find it unlikely. Still, if he really is a youkai born from people's thoughts, harming the students is probably something it would never do."

"Please… please I beg you." He knelled and started bowing before a broom. "For all these times I have been your loyal supporter… show me some mercy please!"

"…you are my supporter because I forced you to be."

"Reasons don't matter!" Hitotsume cried. "Oh wait, you are there… I am sorry. Wait, why didn't you tel-"

"Alright, alright… there are enough enemies around. I'll find something dangerous and kill it."

"Thank you, thank you… but are you sure it will-"

Suddenly loud noises ended their conversation. Something is happening outside.

"My chance for glory!"

"MY SCHOOL!"

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

"The prophecised day has finally come, my Hyaki Yakou." He said while walking left and right. "This… is one of those events that just scream for us to arrive and honor it with our presence. IS THAT NOT SO?"

"YES IT IS!"

"INDEED! But… up till now, the defenders of law have managed to find a way to thwart our attempts to seize glory."

"BOOO!"

"But not only them! No, even our own dear ones stood in our way… stopping us from doing what our own hearts tell us to do... what our hearts demand from us to do!"

"YEEAAAAH!"

"BUT NOT TODAY!" he yelled and raised his fist.

"NOT TODAY!"

"NO, for many of you, my Hyaki Yakou, have sacrificed yourselves to keep the meddlesome defenders of law at bay. We will not let their sacrifice go to waste!"

"No, we shall not!"

"RIGHT!" he shouted and jumped onto his bike. "SO, LET'S ROLL!"

"YES, AOTABOU-SAMA!"

The biker gang Hyaki Yakou turned on their bikes and left to make a show in front of the Ukiyoe High. This was their moment of glory and nothing would stand in their way.

Many bikers started circling around the school while the others started doing stunts in front of the school gates, attracting every living soul inside the school.

"All bow before the Night Parade of a Hundred Demon Bikers!" One of them yelled using an aged megaphone. "And it's mighty leader, the great Aotabou-sama!"

"ORYAAAAA!" Aotabou yelled and started riding towards the school, with two bikers joining in and ridding beside him. "I shall now show you all our FEAR!" He shouted, grabbed the two bikes and threw them into the air.

Everyone in school, as well as most of the bikers, turned silent from shock. Obviously, he did not tell everyone what exactly he planned to do.

Yet, the thrown bikers have stayed composed and even made their bikes turn around in the air. Aotabou made a U turn, grabbed them as they drew close to the ground and threw them in front of him, with the bikers continuing to ride for some time before stopping.

A moment of silence, and the school exploded in cheering.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO MY SCHOOL ON MY SPECIAL DAY?!" Hitotsume ran out and started crying.

"Aotabou, what is the meaning of this?" The fourth heir, Ritsura, also ran out. "I told you that y-HEY!"

"Now, now Ojou-sama…" Aoutabou said while holding her ny her collar, just like a kitten. "Let's all have some fun." He then put her in front of him and started preparing to ride of.

Hitotsume was not pleased with Aotaobu's actions. "Hey, let the-HEY!"

"You too Hitotsume!" Aotabou grabbed him and put him behind him. "You better hold me good!" He said and started another series of crazy stunts.

"EEEK!" Hitotsume cried.

"I DID NOT SIGN UP FOR THIS!" Ritsura cried.

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

"Looks like something fun is going on in front of the school gates." Araya commented while the crowds ran toward the school gates, where the source of the commotion seemed to be.

"Should we check it out?" Mayuri asked while looking at Rihan. Both of the girls guessed that this had something to do with the Youkai from the Nura Clan.

For a moment, Rihan planned to agree but then his eyes caught a certain object. "Whatever it is, sis will take care of it. You girls go if you are interested." he said and started walking in the opposite direction.

He did not check if they followed after him or if they went to check the scene as he was too focused on his own destination. It did not take long to reach it now that the crowd dispersed. "Koko no Kira's Pillar…" He spoke as he looked at the stone pillar and the poll around it. There was an air of Fear around it and there was little doubt that this thing was related to a youkai.

"Hmm, you are more interested in something that will be here all the time than what will be over soon?" He heard Araya ask him. He turned around and saw that the girls decided to follow him.

"As I said, whatever it is, sis will take care of it." He shrugged with his shoulders. "Besides, when you live in a youkai mansion, crazy stuff happens all the time."

"I am not sure if I should be feeling lucky that my life is more normal, or jealous." Mayuri commented. It was no secret that Mayuri desired a more interesting life, quite the opposite to a certain person who left the club two years ago.

"Anyway, why are you two not checking the commotion if you are so interested in it?" Rihan asked them. He would have preferred to have been alone here with Koko no Kira's Pillar.

Mayuri seemed to be choosing what to say, but Araya was less courteous so she didn't take as much time as her friend did. "Because we have a bad feeling you may do something stupid. So, what attracts you to this pillar?" Mayuri now looked like she stopped thinking about what to say and instead turned her attention to what he had to say, confirming that Araya said exactly what was on her mind.

He looked at Araya, annoyed at her motive but also surprised that she was asking this, but then he remembered. "Ah yes… we didn't meet until second year of the middle school so you don't know…" It was easy to forget that he knew her for such a short time. Sometimes, he felt like he knew her forever. "Well, it's not as if I like talking about it." He turned back to the stone pillar in middle of a fountain.

"Hmmm?" Araya muttered because Rihan took too much time.

After a few more moments of silence, Mayuri decided to explain it. "You see Ichinoe-san… Rihan-kun was… he was in Nakano the day  _that_  happened."

"What? The slaughter?" Araya asked in her usual tone, without even trying to sound considerate.

The fact that she had no common courtesy, and acted like these tragedies were something that happened in a story or the like, was something Rihan came to hate, no matter how good of a friend she usually was.

"I had friends who died in that incident." He said coldly to her.

"My condolences." She replied, again not showing signs of remorse. Rihan sent her a cold look.

"Umm, why don't we go check on those sounds?" Mayuri tried to stop this unpleasant conversation between her two friends. "They aren't stopping after all this ti-"

"Did your parents raise you to be such a spoiled brat or were you just born that way? Huh, miss  _Tycoon Princess_?"

" _Tycoon Princess_? So, even Rihan-sama is calling me that now?" she commented with a giggle. Seemingly, his insult fell on deaf's ears.

Annoyed, Rihan closed in on her and grabbed her by the collar. "Are you, spoiled bitch, aware of how it feels to be there, see your friends butchered and killed? Are you?"

"You two… please…" Mayuri started muttering but words barely left her mouth.

"Careful now…" Araya said with her usual unpleasant smile. "Else you may wake up Koko-chan~"

For a few moments, he looked at the face that had that trademark unpleasant expression of hers. Somehow, however, he felt there was more to her expression that it meets the eye. Then, he pushed her away and returned to the pillar.

"So… mind telling me what happened with you in Nakano City?" She did not seem to have any intentions of staying silent, no matter how much he badmouthed her. "Or more exactly, how you could possibly be related to it?"

He looked at her again. The smile on her face was still present. He really wanted to tell her to go to hell and never speak to him again.

Yet, for whichever reason, he decided to give her an answer anyway, "During summer holidays when I was just eight years old, father and mother took me and sis on a trip around Kantou, including other parts of Tokyo. Then a youkai feud occurred near Nakano City and father wanted to help keep the situation from escalating. So, we stayed in Nakano until it was resolved… which ended up taking much more time than expected. Anyway, during the time I spent there, I made some friends with the local kids."

"Anyone special?" Araya asked.

"…Kuruguya Midori… Nakashi Minato and Kouri Hinata."

He closed his eyes.

"Kuruguya Midori was the first one I met and the one that kinda irked me because she despised Youkai. Well, there was probably a reason for it but a brat I was, I didn't think of that. Anyway, I wanted to make her change her mind and, with time, I started to think of her as a friend. No, from the very start I marked as a friend, it was her that, I believe, has changed."

After eight years he barely remembered her face but some of her words stayed in his memory. Be they words of hate or not, for some reason they all left an impression.

"Nakashi Minato ended up becoming my best friend there, mainly due to both of us liking to play pranks. Even after I left, I stayed in contact with him until…"

He was actually the only one he stayed in contact with. Today, he wondered why he never bothered to chat with others as well. That might be one of his biggest regrets.

"Kouri Hinata was… well, my first crush."

"Huh?" Mayuri was surprised to hear it.

"Ooh? So you ain't into Shima?" Araya joked.

"Shut up Araya." He replied. "Well, I shouldn't call it a crush or love. It was more like playing couples." He laughed a bit. Still though, he did promise to meet her again… a promise he fulfilled in an uglier way than they both expected. Yet, he found the fact that he played crushes with her regretful now, as he was now grown up and did not like the fact that he started the whole thing just to annoy Midori.

"And they were killed in the incident I presume?" Araya asked in her unpleasant tone.

But for some reason he did not feel angry about it anymore. Actually, he found the cold honesty a refreshing change to the usual sad kindness he tended to get from others.

But he did not immediately answer her question. "A few days before the incident, Minato mentioned that he found out something bad was going on and I didn't hear from him since. What's more, Midori ended up calling me not long after." He stopped for a moment, trying to remember some of the conversation.

"What… did she say?" Mayuri asked. This was her first time hearing the details.

"Nothing. It was just small talk… but it gave me shivers so I persuaded some of my comrades in the Clan to take me to Nakano City the next day."

He raised his head towards the sky. He needed to strengthen himself before he lets the memories flow back in.

"We arrived soon after the slaughter occurred. There…" His vision started to blur due to the trauma he got  _that day_. Still, he was able to get a hold of himself. "…I found Minato's dead, massacred body."

"Oh my, that's…" he could hear Mayuri. "What about…"

"Thankfully, Hinata was alive… wounded, but alive." He looked at the fountain. "However, she disappeared a day after. Well, nothing special there: many people left without wasting any time and not bothering to go through all that papirology… but still, I wish I could have confirmed her safety."

"What about Midori?" Araya asked.

"Hinata saw her still being alive after the worst had ended…" Although the school was not touched anymore, the murders, sadly, did not fully end until a few days later. "But she disappeared as well. Her body was never found, although some claim they saw her in Nakano's streets, days later. Me and the clan never found her though, nor any of her relatives." She literally disappeared in the thin air, as if she had never existed.

He looked towards the pillar.

"I don't know what Minato found out… I don't know where Hinata is… I don't know what happened to Midori… and we don't even know for sure who was responsible for the slaughter in the first place."

He found out his father suspected some group called  _Shin Sekai_ , but nobody knew for certain if they had a hand in this or were just some group that controlled the media. And seeing that this looked like a feud between two groups, there was at least one more group responsible for the slaughter.

"But there is someone who probably knows a lot…" Rihan commented.

"Oi oi…" Araya guessed about whom he was talking about. "You intend to ask Koko-chan about what happened in Nakano?"

He did not reply to her, but to the pillar. "Can you hear me, you youkai called Koko no Kira?"

"Riha-chan, that is-" Even the delinquent Araya had gotten worried about him, but he did not care.

"I know you can hear me!" Rihan ignored her. After all, this was not a decision he made just now but something he contemplated for a while now. "If you can feel who enters the school grounds with violent intentions, then you definitely can hear me speak, can't you?"

"Being able to smell doesn't necessarily mean you are able to hear, Riha-chan." Araya commented.

"Like…Like I'll accept that. After three fruitless years of nothing… and then I realize… that this guy here might know… something…" He put his hand on the pillar.

Mayuri put her hands on her chest and even Araya's face took a worried expression.

"Come on, Koko-san… we are on the same side, are we not?" Visions of the time he spent in Nakano appeared. "We both care about them… the victims…" Minato, Midori, and Hinata's silhouettes appeared in front of his eyes. "We both want to make the bastards who hurt them pay, don't we?" Again, he saw the images of those atrocities that the unknown culprits committed. "DON'T WE?" images of Minato and some other of his friends, dead and dismembered, came.

Image of Hinata begging for help and cursing those monstrous youkai passed through his mind. "THEN WHY DON'T YOU ANSWER ME?" He punched the pillar with his hand.

"Rihan-san…" Mayuri wanted to say something to get him away, but she did not know what she could say or do. Some people noticed the commotion and came to see what is going on.

"Rihan, stop that!" Araya was bolder and was worried enough to use his full name.

"Or are you one of them maybe…" Fear started pouring from him "I don't care… just talk, damn you!" He punched the pillar again, so hard that it caused a loud noise and his hand started bleeding. But not even a crack was on the pillar... so he punched it again. "You answer to aggression, don't you?" And again. "Then answer me! Capture me, come out… whatever you usually do! DO IT!"

And he kept on hitting it.

The fact that so many innocent students were brutally murdered enraged him.

The fact that his friend Minato was murdered like that enraged him.

The fact that he did not keep asking Minato what he had found out enraged him.

The fact that Hinata had had to suffer like that and had to spend the rest of her life with such memories enraged him.

The fact that he did not know what happened to Midori enraged him.

The fact that he, who was barely able to make Midori believe that youkai do not deserve to be hated, is unable to apologize after her hatred was justified, enraged him.

The fact that he was late to save anyone enraged him.

The fact that he was unable to make anyone pay for all this enraged him.

The fact that he, after three years, did not even know who was responsible enraged him.

**All together, the fact that he was absolutely useless in every way enraged him.**

He got tired of hitting the pillar. His hand was bloody, but even with his youkai strength he was unable to make even a crack on the pillar.

But suddenly, his senses started blurring and his attention turned to the text on the pillar. He read what was written on it, but not due to his own will.

A moment later, his senses returned. He raised his head and saw… that sky turned red, trees and flowers have withered and, as if someone turned on a recorder, a creepy tune could be heard.

But he was not afraid... as a matter of fact, he had smiled. "Koko no Kira… finally I am…" But his smile disappeared as his eyes turned at the windows of the school.

He saw living corpses of students, smiling at him and moving their hands towards him, as if they were trying to reach him. Amongst them… he saw Minato, Hinata and some other faces from his memories.

He wanted to scream, but no sound left his mouth.

Then he noticed that he was surrounded and looked around.

As he saw his family, mutilated like the students up there, tears came out from his eyes. "No… this is… this is not what I wanted… ple-"

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

Suddenly, he felt like he woke up from a dream… by being thrown into cold water. He jumped up and saw that he was back... and around himself, he saw humans and worried members of his clan, including Kejorou and Kubinashi.

The fact that they were no longer dismembered living corpses like a moment ago almost made him cry for joy.

"What in the hell do you think you were doing, idiot?" Araya's voice condemned him.

He looked in front of him and saw her standing half a meter away. He understood then, that it was her who made him fall into the water.

"Take another cold bath, you bird brain!" She grabbed him by his hair and pushed him back into the fountain's water.

"Ichinoe-san, please stop!" The hand let go of him and he jumped back up. He saw Kejorou holding Araya's hand with her hair, her eyes jumping between giving Araya an angry look and a worrisome look for Rihan.

"The hell is wrong with you? For revenge or some other shitty reason… you want to cause an  _Ukiyoe Incident_  or something?"

Like swords, those words stabbed him. The accusation was legit… though he realized it already inside Koko no Kira's Fear. He understood that his actions may have caused another dirty incident. Contacting Koko no Kira like that without thinking it through... he thought he had thought about it all, but now he understood that he had only deluded himself in believing that he had thought it through.

"What are you looking at?" Shima Ryu shouted. "Please go away! Show some damn consideration!"

First the adults and then the students did as he asked and started walking away, someone occasionally throwing a glance at him.

And then his sister came. Her uniform was dirty, but she had that stern look of the Nura Clan's heiress.

"Sis… I… I am…" against his will tears poured from his eyes.

"I heard it from Mayuri… Even after all these years, is it?" She sighed and turned to Kejorou. "School may be open to everyone today, but the dorms are not. Take my brother there, find him a change of clothes, let him take a shower and give him something to eat." She then walked to him, took his arm and pulled him out of the water.

"Come on, I will help." Shima came and gave him a helping shoulder. "Damn it man, don't make us worry like that…"

"I'll… go see what food I can make for you." Mayuri said with a smile. "Better than eating something bought, right?"

Araya just looked at him, with a stare whose meaning he could interpret.

He felt even more like a fool now… risking lives of such friends without consideration.

_From being useless to being dangerous… why must I always fail to do anything right?_

* * *

**I-I-I-I-I**

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Well folks, hope you enjoyed this chapter. It had more gags, but also hints on what is to come.

We see problems that the two siblings have to deal with: Ritsura who wants to be recognized as the heiress already and prove she is fit for that role... which also means she will have to deal with certain incoming challenges I think...

And than we have the younger Rihan who we see... well, had bad stuff happen in the past to say it lightly and the issues he has to deal are all connected to that Nakano City Incident, both personal and against the culprits (sometimes I wonder if he would have more luck if his name was different... that name is like a magnet for tragic events it seems).

More details on what happened in both of his visits to Nakano will of course come later, but for now the basics and seeing how much of an effect it had on him should suffice... I hope.


	3. Araya's Offer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to traumas he suffered three years ago, the young Nura Rihan broke and attacked one a dangerous youkai which resides in Ukiyoe High, thus risking the well-being of everyone who was at the school at the time. The assassin Yashagoro found out that his solutions are limited due to the same youkai, but continues with his mission anyway...

**Chapter 3 - Araya's Offer**

Rihan was taking a shower in one of the unoccupied rooms at the dorm of the Ukiyoe High. Kejorou told him to take a pleasant, cold shower to calm himself down. However, due to regrets of that outburst in front of  _Koko no Kira's Pillar_ , he felt a need to reprimand himself. Since he had a high resistance to cold due to his mother's blood and thus couldn't use cold shower like normal human beings, he took a very hot one. It was painful, but he'd have it no other way right now.

He wondered what was wrong with him. While the nightmares of those sights continued to haunt him, he thought his trauma passed and that he would be able to continue onward with a cool head. Yet, it took so little for him to lose his composure.

He wondered why exactly it was like that. At first, he thought it was because he lost dear friends… but when he thought better about it, he knew them only for a short time and even his memories of his time with them were cloudy. Actually, he only remembered Minato's face due to chatting with him over the Internet in the years that followed.

Hinata and Midori however… he only knew how Hinata looked like because he saw her again three years ago. On other hand, Midori's face changed whenever he tried to remember her. Thats how cloudy his memories were about them.

So… was it really the fact that he lost his friends that bothered him? No… he feared it might be more selfish than that… it might be simply the fact that he failed to be a hero and save them.

Since he was a kid, he was told stories of his ancestors… how his great-grandfather Nurarihyon formed the Nura Clan, recruited great many powerful youkai and how he defeated the mighty Hagoromo Gitsune. He was told how his grandfather and namesake, Nura Rihan, strengthened the clan , defeated the  _Maou_  Sanmoto Gorozaemon as well as countless other great villains, until he was finally murdered in a dirtiest possible way. And, of course, how his father, Nura Rikuo, saved the clan from falling apart, defeated even stronger Hagoromo Gitsune and Sanmoto Gorozaemon and how he brought together the youkai from all around Japan in order to fight the Nue, Abe no Seimei, thus earning the title of the strongest youkai in Japan and the Lord of the Pandemonium.

Thus, Rihan wanted to live up to reputation of his ancestors. Although his sister was the heiress of the clan, it didn't mean that he was supposed to sit and do nothing. And so he dreamed…

And eight years ago he got his first chance for glory: father failed to save a situation in Nakano from escalating and a war between two minor youkai groups ensued. Rihan sneaked out and tried to prove himself… only to get himself almost killed... an experience he would never forget. Looking back, he knew he was a big fool back then and even his sister didn't make the mistake of joining a battle where she would be of no help at best. That was the first time he felt helpless and foolish.

But the Nakano City was not yet done with him: three years ago, another youkai incident occurred. And what he saw there had shaken him to his very core.

Not even in his worst dreams could he have expected to see the gruesome sights he saw at that school. It was on that day that he realized that villains were not some cartoon characters making evil laughs and waiting for heroes to teach them a lesson in humility. No, true villains were a much more terrifying existence... and that was the real reason why they had to be killed off.

And somehow, his hate and fear might have turned his dream into an obsession… and he was not sure why. Love for friends, or just obsession that made him think he fights for something honorable… whatever it was, it tortured him.

 _Time to return to those guys before they get worried…_  he turned off the shower and tried to force the dark thoughts out of his head. While brushing his hair with a towel, he opened the door to the room where his change of clothes were.  _Oh yes… I have to make up some good apology for what I did…_ with closed eyes, he leaned against the door's frame and started thinking about what he would say when he meets his sister and friends.

Then he opened his eyes and saw a red-haired girl sitting on the bed and taking pictures with her cell's camera pointed at him.

"What a great pose!" Araya proclaimed "Your fangirls will LOVE this."

For a moment, the nude Rihan was paralyzed and unable to react to this girl's bizarre behavior but, after a few moments, he did what every normal person would have done. "GIVE ME THAT!" he shouted and jumped onto her. Laying on the bed, she still had her cell pointed at him and was taking photos. He finally took it from her hands and deleted the dangerous photos from her cellphone. "Don't... do that ever again!" he told her and threw the cell back to her.

For a moment, she stayed silent… and then pointed it back at him and once again started to take photos.

He hastily took it from her hands again and, having finally realized that he was naked in front of a girl, he jumped back into the bathroom where he then deleted more dangerous evidence.

"The hell is wrong with you?!" he yelled at her.

"Well, well… who would have thought that the school's leading womanizer would be this shy." She put her tongue out and threw him his change of clothes into the bathroom. "There. Due to being partially responsible for what happened out there, I won't make more fun of you right now."

"Guess I need to be thankful." He said with a gloomy voice and started changing, hidden from her eyes. "Anyway, that was not your fault…"

"Tell that to your sister." She answered. "She threatened to turn me into an ice statue if I don't bow and beg for your forgiveness."

"And you are doing a mighty fine job…" he replied sarcastically.

"If you want, I can start apologizing and make the atmosphere moodier, oh my great Rihan-sama."

"No… as I said, it is not your fault to begin with." He said and left the bathroom, this time dressed. There was something in corner of his mind telling him that he had just wasted a great opportunity, but he didn't even try to contemplate on it.

He then noticed that she was looking up and down over him with a huge smile on her face.

"Please…" He resisted the urge to hide in the bathroom again. "…forget what you just saw…"

"Ho ho ho… I wouldn't do it even if I could." She said with a giggle. "I am an adolescent girl after all and for me this was an opportunity of the lifetime."

"Oh my…" He wanted to flee from the room as soon as possible. However, there was still something they needed to talk about. "You were the one who pushed me into the fountain when I… went berserk, weren't you?"

She gave him a simple nod.

"I should thank you then…" He threw the now harmless cellphone back to her. "Else I might have been dead… I got caught by  _Koko no Kira_  you know."

"Ohh? Mind telling me how it was in there?" Ichinoe Araya, the de-facto president of the Supernatural Investigation Club, asked in an enthusiastic voice.

Rihan gave her a cold look. "No."

"Oh, that cold look again…" she jumped from the bed. "I take it then that I should be apologizing. Nobody blamed me for making you go crazy, just for hurting your feelings."

"You…" the gratitude he felt due to her knocking sense back into his head out there started to fade from his mind. "Why the heck are you such a…" He sat down on the bed and looked at her. "Is there a reason you are such an insensitive…" He didn't want to insult a person he was used to call a friend, but her behavior made it harder with every passing moment.

"There is a reason to everything." She said with that ugly unpleasantness of hers. "But then, I don't think most people would be like that so… it is simply because I am who I am."

 _What a stupid answer…_ "Tell me… can you even imagine how it is to lose someone you hold dear?"

She starred at him for a few moments. Something in the way she starred at him, with her expression staying the same, made him feel shivers.

Then she walked up to him and, with her usual expression, asked. "And what do you, who have  _lost_  some people you likely don't even remember, know how it is to lose someone you hold dear?" She said in a bitter tone. "To see them getting killed in front of your eyes while you yourself cry for your lack of ability to save them?"

Her expression didn't change, but her tone was bitter... bitter enough to make his skin crawl. The words themselves, of course, were even more shocking.

She continued by asking another question and, as if reading his mind, asked "Tell me… have you not noticed something off when we graduated from the middle school?" Her creepy smile never disappeared, no matter what kind of words left her mouth.

His eyes widened as he remembered something he once realized: her parents were not present when they graduated from the middle school… as well as how he found it weird that she always used as much money as she wanted and never asked her parents for anything, even when she went to stay away from home. It was weird that any parent, especially the rich ones, were so disinterested in what goes on with their child.

"Your parents…" He then remembered that he insulted them out there. "I… out there I… I am so-"

"You didn't know so I don't need any apologies." She cut him off. "And even if you did, apologies would be of no use to me or them."

No need for apologies and being able to talk about it with such a smile. This made the girl in front of him even more terrifying. Even survivors of Nakano he knew were not this cold about what happened to them.

"Still, I… how did they…" He was not sure why he asked this, but he had a bad feeling.

"Youkai." She said with her usual smile.

Having to see her parents get killed in front of her by monsters… monsters that are youkai, just like him. He, who was shaken by dead strangers, feared to imagine how it must have been for her.

And there was another question he had. "Wait… then why…"

She cut him off. "I don't intend to say anything more… well, besides the fact that I lost more than just them." She said with a tone that left no room for objections.

He didn't know what else to say so he just looked at the floor. He wanted to ask more, but her tone made him hesitant to ask anything more. What was more, he still had to digest what he had just learned.

He just now realized that he didn't know anything about this girl, besides that she moved to Ukiyoe from Matsuyama in Shikoku. Yet he took it for granted that he suffered more than her, who had gone through something so much worse… no, he just now realized that, compared to most, he had it easy. Yet they… kept better control over themselves than he did…

But she was not yet done with breaking what was left of his will. She closed her face to his and asked "By the way, this is just an observation but… are you sure it is those friends of yours that make you thick like that?"

 _No… please stop…_  He was not sure why, but he wanted her to stop, as if he was afraid of what she might say.

"I wonder if you even remember their faces after all these years?"

He felt like he was a book that was being read.

"I'll apologize if I am wrong, but could it be that you are just using them as an excuse?"

He didn't know how exactly she came to that conclusion… but it didn't matter. He thought of the same thing a while ago and hearing it from someone else felt like a confirmation of his doubts.

"Y… you might be right." He was surprisingly calm. Was it because he had to confront his doubts or because he was shocked by something else, he was not sure. "Maybe I am just… using them… but other times, I feel like I do care… I don't know myself anymore…" he looked towards her. "Hey, seeing how you are dealing well with your problems… what do you think I should do?"

In contrast to what happened to her, this girl was always cheerful and Rihan could never have guessed she had such a dark past.

"You and I are different people." She replied without much thinking. "Our problems are different and our cures are different. You have to find your own answer."

"Very helpful of you." He looked back at the floor. "But you are right I guess…"

"There is one thing I can say for sure though." She put a finger below his chin and raised his head up. "Breaking your head about it won't bring you anything but pain. So just do what your guts tell you and leave the thinking behind."

"What… my guts tell me?"

"Yep. You said you want to find answers to what happened, did you not?"

"Yes, I did… but I don't know for what-"

She cut him off. "As I said, don't think about it, just do it and you will likely find your answers." Her smile may have remained the same, but her words became warmer, reminding him once again that, no matter how she may act sometimes, she was still a friend.

"I already did. It was fruitless."

"Then try more." She shrugged. "You definitely did not use all of your options." She crossed her arms and closed an eye. "Have you asked your  _Tycoon Princess_  for help?"

He found her offer naive. "You really think YOU could be of help?" immediately after he said that, he felt ashamed that he replied like that to her offer.

But as usual, she didn't seem to be bothered. "You'd be surprised what me and my money can do. Besides… I have experience with youkai you know."

 _Ah yes… it is hard to imagine her not doing anything about the youkai who hurt her._  "It would be risky."

"That is if the scary enemies notice me." She then put a finger on his forehead. "Also I trust that you will protect me if it comes to the worst." She pulled her hand back. "So, will you ask for my assistance or not?"

He sighed and opened his mouth to reject her. It was only natural that he couldn't allow her to get mixed into something that may hurt her. "Would you please help me find out what happened in Nakano three years ago?" But he accepted it instead, not sure why himself.

She nodded and smiled. "Good, and in return you tell your sister I was a good girl and have properly apologized."

"Speaking about her, we should leave or else they'll start to worry." He said as wanted to leave these depressing talks behind for now.

For some reason, in contrast to what he found out, he felt better. Guess it is true that talking with others will give you a peace of mind. However, he still didn't know anything about her situation.  _Well, I'll find out somehow. It is not fair to accept help of others without helping them in some way._ He thought about it while they walked to the cafeteria.

As they walked, Araya was typing something on her cell. For some reason, he had a bad feeling about it but could not think of what he could do about it.

Rihan opened the doors of cafeteria and saw Mayuri, Shima and Ritsura inside. Nobody else was present in it, neither students nor Clan members. Well, not surprising considering it was neither breakfast, lunch nor dinner.

Ritsura threw a cold gaze in their directions and Rihan guessed what she wanted to hear. He sighed and said. "Araya was a good girl and properly apologized."

"…properly eh?" Mayuri sighed. She tried to not look in their direction.

"Heh heh… good girl… like a true mafioso…" Shima smirked. He looked like a girl listening to some fun gossip.

"Huh?" Rihan was confused at their reactions. He then heard Araya giggling behind him and a bad feeling took him over.

"You may want to ask her to apologize for letting the entire school know about the  _apologizing_  the two of you had." Ritsura said and threw him her cell. He was scared, but he looked anyway…

The picture of him, naked, opening the doors… with a photoshoped seductive smile.

The picture of him, naked, leaning on the bathroom door's frame… with a seductive smile.

The picture of him, naked, leaning above the camera's holder… smiling, blushing and sweating.

_Ah yes… simply deleting files ain't always enough…_

He sighed. "I did not…" He started his attempts of proving his innocence. "…have sex with that woman!"

And he was thus once again reminded on just how crazy this girl could be.

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

Due to being the one who prepared lunch, Onieda Mayuri was the last one to start eating. However, she was the first one to finish her meal, made of some rice and sauce. The reason was probably because she was the only one who spent her time in cafeteria in complete silence while the rest argued.

"Alright guys, let me start from beginning!" Ichinoe Araya, the center of this commotion, started explaining herself again. "In order for our dear Riha-chan to not have to spend the rest of his high school life as the school's resident madman, I had only around thirty minutes to come with something as big."

"The rumors would have died down Ichinoe-san!" Shima Ryu continued complaining. "Nura-kun is popular and liked, he-"

"Both of those just make it worse." Araya answered in calm tone. "I get you are a trusting fellow Shima-kun, but people are what they are in this day and age: the popular and beloved Nura-kun having serious mental issues is simply such a sweet story they won't even think about being considerate."

If only to get all this over with, Mayuri decided to support her. "Also, it is not worth the risk. Anything is better the treatment he could get after such an outburst." She looked towards Rihan who ate with surprising calmness. Even she, who were beside him when he started hitting the monument, couldn't believe this calm person would ever do something like that.

"Thank you Onieda-san." Araya sent her a smile. "Anyway, from those thirty minutes I had to spend only ten minutes coming up with something and the rest to put it in motion. Making false accounts, incriminating evidence, make meaningful posts on various Internet sites… that takes a lot of time and effort." She said, as if she was the one doing all that. Mayuri always wondered who did it all, but then… when you have money, you can get anyone to do anything. She knew that better than most.

"Then tell me Araya-san, what will be result of your little rumor." Ritsura asked. She was even less entertained than Shima about Araya's prank, especially since she sent Araya to apologize to her little brother and she came back with another embarrassment for him.

"Nura-kun spent some quality time with his mysterious girlfriend, she took photos, a jealous girl got them and made someone, who looks like Rihan, to act stupid in order to get her revenge." She looked towards the subject of this discussion. "And since his Fear started coming out, he started turning into his less human form so his face changed a bit as did his height. That is enough to make the whole outburst doubtful."

"You could just use that then." Ritsura noted. "No need to make up this whole story."

"I could, but it likely would not be enough. As I said, danger is not in truth but in the fact that it sounds delicious to our schoolmates." She drank some water, though her bowl of rice was still full. "So I gave them a soap opera. Gossipers LOVE soap operas."

"Besides, it is just a little embarrassment." Rihan, who just finished his meal, seems to have decided to stand in the culprit's defense. "While I don't think it would be that serious, it would result in something annoying nevertheless. If nothing else, I sure can't reject a helping hand when it is offered." He smiled at Araya, which made Mayuri feel a little envious. "Also, it may at least keep those crowds away."

"If you say so little brother." Ritsura sighed and took the chopsticks in her hand and started properly eating. "Don't whine if this ends up backfiring."

Mayuri was annoyed both by him smiling at another girl and by the fact that she herself was one of the crowd he mentioned, even if Rihan doesn't realize it. "Nura-kun, you sure are quick to defend her although she was mean to you both now and back then… not to mention you have calmed down quite a bit." she started with a naughty smile. "So, are the images really fake or did you two…"

"Yes, they are fake!" he quickly answered, more annoyed than embarrassed. "Come on Mayuri-chan, not you too..."

"Sorry, sorry." She apologized.

"Still, your mood did improve." Ritsura noted. "Just what happened back there?"

"Well, you see…" he looked towards Araya for a moment and then he said "It is not that my mood improved. I simply realized that there are many who suffered worst than I had so it is childish that I react like that. Of course, I will find the ones responsible even in it takes-"

"WE will, little brother. Don't act like you are alone." Ritsura cut him off. "But enough about that and you pretending to be over it. Hitotsume became a headmaster and this is his day."

"Indeed." Mayuri commented. "I am getting tired of this myself, yet alone Nura-kun so lets leave this unpleasant event behind for today."

"Good idea." Rihan said, obviously the most pleased of the bunch.

"Oh, and before I forget… nii-san sent me a message saying to meet at the clubroom after the ceremony ends." Mayuri announced.

The five of them of them were part of the  _Supernatural Investigation Club_ , formed during middle School by Ritsura and Shima whose parents were part of a similar club in their school days. Rihan and Mayuri were forced to join it and, due to being a big youkai fan, Araya joined in as well when she moved to Ukiyoe. Mayuri's brother, Onieda Mamoru, was a teacher at both the middle and high school and the club's willing supervisor.

"Interestingly, he also says to not make any plans for today and the weekend." She added.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Rihan, who wanted a simple school life, reacted negatively.

"I have a good feeling about this…" Araya, who wanted a not so simple school life, reacted positively.

"Anyway guys, let me take care of the dishes." Mayuri proclaimed and started collecting the dishes. "We can't let the cafeteria ladies clean the mess we made."

"True. Let me help as well." Rihan offered his help. "It is my fault we ate here after all…"

Mayuri's heart jumped up a little. "Well, thank you."

"Well, I am going to see with Hitotsume if everything is alright after…" Ritsura stopped for a moment. "…that biker incident."

"As will I." Shima joined her. "Well, lets meet again at the clubroom, 'kay?"

"Well then…" Araya started making her own plan. "I'll continue supervising this whole situation. Also, I'll look into recruiting someone into our merry club. It is becoming dull with only us here."

"Huh? You can't be-" Shima started but Ritsura cut him off. "Please take care it is a boy then. I don't want this to turn into a harem for these two perverts."

"Yeah, I'd like that as well." Mayuri joined the joke. She was certain Araya won't find anyone either way. Not many would want to join such a ridiculous club.

Once the other three left, Mayuri was alone with Rihan who decided to help her take care of the dishes and clean the tables. Being another one of the girls that had a crush on him, she was embarrassed to be alone with him, though pleased at the same time.

On other hand, Rihan didn't look like he felt uncomfortable or happy. He was simply his just usual self. In a way, that bothered her as did the silence.

 _If Araya-san can find a way to talk with him, so can I!_  "So Nura-kun…" on other hand she was not sure what to ask and failed to finish the sentence.

However, it did not look like he heard her as he seemed to be deep in thoughts. Mayuri also noticed that he washed the same plate for some time now.

That annoyed her. "Rihan-kun!" she raised her voice.

"Ah…" seems he woke up. "Sorry, I… did you say something?"

"I wanted to ask if you are alright. I know you said you were, but… you were quite angry out there and I am still worried."

"Ah, I am better now." He said, though his face had a sad expression. "I had a talk with Ichinoe-san and I realized that I overreacted." His eyes narrowed. "Everyone in that school went through worse, and many other in the world have it worse yet I acted like I was some great victim."

She had to say something, especially if she doesn't want to lose to Araya, a girl who doesn't even bother trying. "Not everyone is the same, Nura-kun. Some people deal with their issues better than others." She said. "You should not be ashamed for how you felt."

"You might be right… but it has been three years now and I just did something dangerous." He did not give in. "I should get over it… though I admit, it may not be that easy."

"If you say so…." She said, although she felt like she lost. Since the conversation threatened to end, she asked "So, what did you and Ichinoe-san talk about?" She was more curious about question than she'd ever like to admit.

"Not much… by the way, have you ever seen Araya's parents? Or heard her talk to or about them?"

"No… I don't think I ever did. Did something happen with them?" She felt annoyance due to that girl bring brought into discussion, but the question still interested her.

"Seems so, though I don't know the details. However, I can kinda understand now why she acted like she did: my situation must have looked like a joke to her."

"So… they are dead?" she asked and Rihan nodded. She wondered if it was truth or Araya being Araya, but she did not say her thoughts aloud. "I had no idea… I always thought she just didn't get along with them… like I don't get along with my father."

"Thinking about it… I never saw your parents either."

 _How did we come to this?_  "There is not much to see." She started feeling frustrated, like every time any of her family besides Mamoru is brought up. "They divorced and I got misfortune to end up with my father. I see the old man once or twice per month and those days tend to be mine and nii-san's least favorite."

Rihan must have noticed her frustration so he didn't push his nose deeper into it.  _I am so stupid… I got to talk with him and then I force him to go silent._

They were almost done cleaning the cafeteria. Due to a strong wish to start a conversation, she asked "So… about what those girls from before asked… you have someone you are interested in?"

He looked at her with a sad expression. "I am sorry Mayuri… the answer is the same as before."

 _So you realized it…_  She didn't want to give up though. "Why don't you ask one out then? You never know, you may start to like her." She pretended to not have understood what he meant with his apology.

"Actually, I did date two girls… three if you count Hinata-san I guess, though I consider that a children's game." He was finished washing the dishes. "With those two, it only ended in me breaking up with them… which was not nice, not to mention that I lost precious friends due to it." Probably due to not having any other chores to take care of, he leaned against the wall.

"Is that so…" more than two girls came to her mind though. "I'll clean the floor a bit. I feel a bit sorry for using the cafeteria's food." In reality, she just wanted to stay like this a bit longer.

He wasn't finished "I think the problem itself was that I didn't feel anything for them, just gave them a chance… and neither did the girls. I feel like I am just a guy many feel attracted to for some reason but don't actually like. Well, nee-san likes saying that it is in out Fear to charm others."

 _Typical for Rihan-kun_ … many guys would not mind that detail, at least not at start. However, he always made it complicated. But then, he was a kinder soul, which is probably why the Nakano Incident had such an effect on him in the first place. However, she didn't really like his explanation and Mayuri felt a need to mention something that would make her seem different from those other girls. But she failed to come up with anything, even after few minutes passed.

"Anyway, I'll be going then. The clan may get worried if I don't appear before the ceremony starts." He said and prepared to leave.

"I won't give up you know." She said what was on her mind.

"Well, good luck then." He said with a soft smile and left.

After he left, she hit herself on the head for saying something stupid.

In the end, part of her rejected to be classified as someone who is simply charmed by his Fear while another part feared he might be right. The fact that she can doubt her own feelings made the doubtful part a bit stronger.

 _Now that I think about it, this might be the second time he rejected me._   _Well, not that it really matters._  After all, with such a big competition you get used to being pessimistic about your chances.

* * *

~)(~

* * *

Rihan wondered if he was too cold towards Mayuri, however he knew it was better to make it clear as soon as possible. If his experiences taught him one lesson, then it is that this is one of those issues where delaying is not a right thing to do. He loved Mayuri as a friend but thats it and he prefered to make it clear before rather then later.

However, today's romantic issues did not stay in his thoughts for long.

"Ah, there you are!" he heard Shima's voice once he left the dorm. "So, you two done making out?" he asked in his usual humoring tone.

"Me and Onieda-san weren't making out." Rihan sighed. "Just how many times today was I accused of having an affair with someone?" he complained and started walking back towards the school grounds.

"Alright, alright… so are those photos really fake or-"

"If you don't shut up now, next time the girls start showering me with questions I'll give them a touching story of you passionately confessing your love to me." Rihan gettin' really tired of their jokes.

"I'll shut up now."

"Anyway, didn't you leave with nee-san?" he asked him. "Where is she?"

"Your sister…" Shima scratched his head. "Some guys from another school saw her and asked her out and… yes, she went with them."

"Oh heavens… are they alright?" unlike him, his sister had a  _colder_  approach to dealing with those who had a crush on her…

* * *

_At Ukiyoe High, there is a beautiful girl of cold skin and chilling breath. Some say she is from a family of youkai… others say she is a girl whose cold heart turned her into a Yuki Onna… while some believe that she is a normal girl but cursed by a Yuki Onna to never have true love._

_Either way, anyone asking her out starts suffering from frostbite which gets worse and worse with every passing minute. No man has yet been able to break through that cold curse of hers… though many continue trying to conquer her heart._

_~Legends of Ukiyoe High_

* * *

And his sister found it all entertaining, especially if the ones flirting were douchebags.

"I have no idea man… hopefully someone warned them before your sister got her way with the poor fellows." Shima said with concern. "But then, I am not sure they'll take the warning seriously."

"Ah well… lets hope for the best." Of course, nothing bad would actually happen to them, but one still had to feel sorry. "Hmm? The ceremony should start soon, but the school's courtyard is still filled with people?"

"Come on Nura-kun, it is not like everyone will attend it." Shima shaked his head. "Most just came for free drinks, cakes and to meet girls."

"Thats true I guess…" he noticed some people throwing glances at him. It reminded him about what he did not long ago and what might they be thinking about because of that.

"You alright man?" Shima asked him with a worried tone.

"Yes, it is fine now…" he replied. He is sure more people will ask him that before the day is over.

"I am always there to talk to you about it man." He pated him on the shoulder. "And don't worry about them… Ichinoe-san is a bit crazy, but I am sure she will take care it ends for the best." He then took out his cell. "Well, I'll check the boards just in case."

"I am more worried that this devil may ask for my soul in return." He joked.

His smile however disappeared once he noticed  _Koko no Kira's Pillar_. He felt ashamed of the fact that, again, he felt a need to question it. In order to not let his desire get a better of him again, he turned his gaze away from it.

"That devil might be the one that we should worry about…" Shima commented. "Guess who most consider to be the  _envious girl_  from her story?"

"You don't mean…" he took out his own cell in order to visit one of the school's forums.

"Oh yeah… our dear Ichinoe–san seems to have fallen into her own hole."

He was right. The students have started thinking that her disinterest was actually just her being grumpy about being rejected or something… and that she would be the only one capable to stage such a believable ploy as Rihan making a fuss in front of  _Koko no Kira_.

"It might be a good idea to warn her about it." Rihan called her but she rejected his first call. The second one as well.

She answered the third though. "What is it?! I am rejecting the calls for a reason you know."

"Have you seen the rumors?"

"I checked them. What about it?" she asked.

"Umm…" he was not sure if she is serious just or didn't check the right places. "You ended up being the villain girl you know."

"And you got worried I'd be bullied or something? How cute of you!" She answered in a teasing tone. "Don't worry, it won't bother me much. Granted, it was not part of my original plan but it doesn't matter in the end."

"Still I-"

"Now if you'd excuse me, I am still looking for recruits. Bye!" she ended the call.

"You know man…" Shima started the moment Rihan and Araya stopped talking. "…now that I think about it, she is the one person we don't need to worry about."

"What is there not to worry about?" he partially agreed with him but felt a need to joke about it. "You do realize she will come with a bill for all this! I may end up a slave for rest of my life!" Still though, he felt ashamed that she has to go to such lengths just to fix something he is responsible for.

"RIHAAAAAN!" a female voice came from above.

He was able to raise his head for long enough to see Hebinyoro, the clan's flying snake, before his mother jumped right in front of him.

"Are you alright darling?" she caught his head with her hands. "I heard about what happened and…" Luckily, it didn't seem like anyone noticed that a woman jumped from a flying snake.

_Sigh… It will take some time to calm her down…_

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

"You look pleased Yashagoro-kun." Sakura commented. They were inside the school, tasting some cake. Yashagoro was not sure if it was normal to have a headmaster's appointment so luxuriously celebrated but he didn't intend to complain.

"Well, what can I say… I simply enjoy my time here with you." He smiled at her to which she blushed.

In reality, he simply found Nura Rihan's outburst to be an entertaining sight. While Nura Rihan never did anything to him personally, the clan that Yashagoro was part of considered itself a rival to the Nura Clan. And seeing a rival in trouble was always a good sight.

Granted, since his task was elimination of the younger Nura's there was no reason to feel compassion in the first place. Such emotions would just get in the way.

_Which reminds me that I should find a way to leave this girl behind and…_

"Oh no… why is she here…" Sakura complained about something. "Come, lets go!"

Yashagoro tried to see whom she meant but Sakura started shaking his hand, likely to get his attention "If you turn around, I'll scream and make you look like a pervert."

"Ah… alright…" he listened to orders of Kibiki Sakura's dark side.

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

They were walking, at fast pace, around the campus for good fifteen minutes, but it seemed that their  _evil pursuer_  was still behind them. Resisting the temptation to turn around and look at who was following them became harder as time went on. However, he was sure it was Sakura being Sakura so it was nobody of importance. On other hand, that person was  _really_  enthusiastic about following them.

"Say Kibiki-san…" he started to feel bored by all this.

"No turning around!" she didn't even give him a chance to talk. "We have to keep walking."

"It has been fifteen minutes Kibiki-san." He complained. "Would you at least allow me to take the lead and get us away from… well whoever is behind us."

"No… I got this…" she didn't want to give up and continued walking while holding his hand.

He sighed, stopped and pulled her towards himself. "Could it be that you… don't trust me Kibiki-san?"

"Wha… It is not like I don't trust you… I just-"

"Great, than I take the lead." Not wanting to let her take a better of him, he started pulling her hand and walked with a quick pace, their roles now reversed.

"Alright… but don't look behind okay?"

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

In the end, Yashagoro did what Sakura didn't even think about: they left the campus. For a good measure, they also sneaked into a nearby hotel through its back-entrance and they climbed to the top. There was no reason for going this far, other than Yashagoro finding it a fun exercise.

"Well, we should be safe here." He said.

"I think you went a bit too far Yasha-san…" she replied. All the walking and climbing made her feel exhausted. "Are you a thief or something Yasha-san… this is far too… oh…" she noticed that they were holding hands and alone. "Waaah… well, not that I can complain." She wasn't hasty about letting his hand go.

"Anyway Sakura-san…" he pulled his hand away and turned to look towards the school from this height. "Whom were we running from anyway?"

"Ahhh…" she seems to be thinking about what to say. "Nobody important. Forget about it."

"Nobody important… you kidding?" he sighed.

"Really, it is just-"

"Kibiki Azuru." A female voice behind them said. "This little airhead's nee-san."

 _You have to be kidding me…_  This person must be as eccentric as Sakura to follow them up to here. On other hand, judging by her introduction, they must have been sisters so that should likely not have come as a surprise.

"Faaaaailed escape…" Sakura whined. "…again." And she sighed.

Yashagoro turned around to look at whoever this eccentric person was.

 _Woah!_  Was the only thing that came to his mind.

Kibiki Sakura, with her short black hair, blue eyes and her facial features was one of prettiest girls Yashagoro saw, both amongst youkai and humans. Thats probably the reason he didn't mind hanging around with her.

Her sister Azuru, however, was the  _most_  beautiful thing he'd have seen. She had long azure hair and eyes as well as a pretty face that knew what kind of expression it needs to put on in order to make itself even more beautiful. Even her clothing, from earrings to her high-class dress and gloves, helped make her even a prettier sight.

"Again…" Sakura said with a sad, low voice. It does not take much to realize that she was very jealous of her sister… and judging by how much she followed them, her sister was likely not a considerate person.

"You said something little sister?" she asked with a mean, yet still heart-piercing, expression.

"No." Sakura gave a simple reply. She did not turn to look at her older sister.

Azuru looked towards Yashagoro. His heart started jumping around when their eyes met. "Are you her another attempt at romance?" she asked with an even meaner smile.

As beautiful as she might have been however, her tone did not sit well with him. "And… uhmm…" he looked down to get away from her mesmerizing eyes. "I don't see how-"

She put a hand under his chin and raised his face back up. He realized then that even her scent was attractive. "Do show manners and look the lady into her eyes while you speak…" she closed her face to his to the point he could feel her breathing which made him blush. "…okay?" she gave him a killing wink.

"I have gotta go." Sakura said and quickly ran away, leaving the two of them alone.

She left before Yashagoro could even say a word. The glance at Sakura's pained face irked him, and he hated himself for being this mesmerized by her sister to whom he was unable to utter even a single word of rejection.

"Hmmm…" Azuru looked him over with her eyes. "Her tastes must be getting worse with time. Guess she became desperate." She pulled herself back. "Well, whatever."

"You… are a…" he tried to utter an insult but her eyes mesmerized him again. Once again, he hated himself for it. But he had to resist it and leave this shameful state. And just then did he realize…

He quickly jumped back, leaving a distance of good twenty meters between the two of them. He also took out two wazikashi (a kind of Japanese short swords) he had hidden inside his jacket.

Azuru did not even seem surprised at his sudden reaction. She just crossed her arms and smiled at him. However, now that he knew that, unlike her sister Sakura, this girl was not human he was able to resist her seductive Fear. He felt stupid for letting himself get ensnared in it in the first place.

"Hooo…" she seemed entertained. "Even for a youkai, you are quiet a resilient boy."

He did not reply. He continued looking at her, not wanting to risk underestimating this youkai girl. He wasn't sure if she was a member of Nura clan or not. Nor could he guess what kind of youkai she was. However, something told him he should be cautious with this person.

"Come on now, I came to talk…" Fear started pouring out of her and her human clothes were replaced by a more unusual, armored dress, which looked like it was made for a delicate, female samurai. Alongside her clothes, she was holding a fan and a spear, with a katana on her hip. The spear then turned into a hair ornament while her fan turned into a pink flower. She put both on her hair as a decoration.

The fact that she put away her weaponry and kept an air of confidence bothered him. Any enemy with a confident, disinterested face always bothered him. It was a sign that the enemy, for whichever reason, thought Yashagoro would not be a threat. Even if she underestimates him, her confidence must have come with a reason.

She put her hands behind herself and then returned them in front of her before he could use the situation and react. Between her fingers, she was holding four shurikens.

He quickly prepared a strategy: once she threw them, he would deflect them and attack her. Even if they were more than simple weaponry, the strategy should work to some extent.

And she threw them… into the air above her.

 _What?_  He was surprised for a moment and got even more surprised when he saw electricity form around them. Then, before he could move a muscle, they flew in his direction and started circling around him, generating lightning between themselves.

He wanted to scream, but he could not afford it. Instead, he gave his best to utter certain words and create a protection to save himself from lightning. It would last only for a few moments, but that wasmore then enough to jump at the youkai in front of him.

He fled from her trap and jumped at her, with his wazikashi prepared to slice her throat.  _I am sorry Sakura-san…_

Suddenly, she moved her left hand and he saw a ring on it. Blinding light hit his eyes and he was no longer able to see properly what was in front of him.

 _Damn, how many tricks does she have?_  He didn't let his body react to it however. He knew where she was and his sense of hearing was still alright. He would finish her like originally planned.

Then he felt heat on his skin and he felt his wazikashi get blocked by what must have been her katana, which also seems to be the source of the heat. However, the heat was too strong to endure and his wazikashi fell on the ground.

"Time to cool your head boy." She grabbed him with her right hand and suddenly his entire body froze to the point he was barely able to move his muscles.

"Just… who the heck are you?" he managed to utter a question. He saw many youkai in his life, but few had such a varying Fear like this woman.

"Kibiki Azuru, the right hand to members of the founding family of the  _Shin Sekai_." She answered with a smug smile. "And proud to say, one of their best creations."

"And what a pretty right hand she is…" a male voice added. He turned his eyes to its source and saw that a human male in his twenties joined them on the roof. "Wouldn't you agree?" he asked with a soft smile, as if he were giving candies to children.

"Who…" it was cold and he was barely able to utter a word. He was not sure what, but something was off with this human.

"Ah sorry, I forgot to introduce myself." He hit his forehead with his hand, like this was not a life-threatening situation for someone. "You can call me Mahiro. Or the  _Fourth_ , thats how they call me in  _Shin Sekai_." He bowed to Yashagoro. "I'd like to discuss a business proposal, Yashagoro-san… of the Kyushu Youkai Clan, am I right?"

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

"You alright Sakura-san?" Sakura's friend, Fukusuwa Hiromi, asked her. "You have been down ever since you came back."

"Ah it is alright." She replied with a smile "Don't mind me."

After Azuru stole another friend from her, Sakura returned to the school. She came at the last moment as the ceremony was about to begin and now tried her best to not think about what happened. Such thoughts often hurt her more than anything that bully of her sister did.  _Azuru... why do you… always…_

Hirumi brought her back to reality again. "I don't believe you."

"Please don't worry about me, it will be fine." She smiled. "Oh look, the ceremony is starting."

Suddenly, the lights in the gym, where the ceremony was being held, turned off and window shutters closed. Adding to the weirdness, instrumental music started playing and smoke started coming out.

 _Did some music band make a mistake and came here?_ _Or is a metal band our new Headmaster? Wait, that doesn't even make any sense._

"All hail Hitotsume Nyudo, the new Headmaster of Ukiyoe Town's great High School!" voice of the school's nurse spoke through the speakers. "Kubinashi, this makes me feel stupid." She said in a lower tone, probably not realizing she could still be heard. "Why did we let Ojou-sama decide what we will do here in the first place?"

And the new headmaster walked in. He was kinda fat and…  _What in the million hells?_

"Fat, just like I imagined." Himuri commented.  _You comment on his fat?_

"Fancy beard." Someone right of Sakura said.  _You comment on his beard?_

"That suit is so old stuff." Some girl said.  _You comment on his clothes?_

"He looks kinda stupid." A voice from behind said.  _Come on now, anyone?_

"Greetings you little humans!" the new headmaster proclaimed. "I am Hitotsume Nyudo! Your new master and… wait a second." He put his right hand into his pocket, as if searching for something.

"Ha ha he is so clumsy!" Hirumi giggled.  _Is everyone here blind?!_

"Ah, here it is!" he took out some papers from his pocket. "Huh? Whatya all looking at?! Can't a man be forgetful here? Bah! Anyway, now that I am the new ruler of this school I-"

Sakura had it enough and whispered. "Hirumi-san, don't you see that he has one big eye?"

"Huh?" she looked back at Hitotsume. "Oh gods, you are right!" she shouted in low tone.

"You noticed it just now?" something was weird here. "We have to-"

"Keep silent." Hirumi cut her off. "Else  _they_  will come…"

"...who are  _they_?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"You know how it is in the Manga and Anime…" Hirumi whispered. "There is always some secret organization keeping supernatural existences a secret! And they will eliminate any witnesses." She closed her eyes and turned back. "Don't look… don't look."

 _Oh come on, are you a child?_  "That is-"

Suddenly, a hand covered Sakura's mouth and pulled her back.

"Sakura-san?" she could hear Hirumi. "Sakura-san, where are you… oh no,  _they_  got you!"

Sakura couldn't believe this herself. This was all so bizarre she thought she must be dreaming.

"So, you were not fooled by this trick eh?" a female voice asked her, Sakura could not turn her head to look at who it was. "Impressive…"

"Mhhm?" Sakura mumbled a question.

"I am from the S.I.C." the mysterious female said. "And you are coming with me."

_Oh my, Hirumi was right: 'they' really do exist!_

* * *

~)(~

* * *

Sakura was brought into one of the school's clubrooms. She did not know what this S.I.C. was, but they seemed to have a base inside the school.  _Our school has fallen victim to monsters… what are we going to do?_

She didn't dare to look at the female who brought her here and any questions she asked her were answered with a "fufufu".

However, there was another person in this room, sitting in front of a computer.  _He must be the big bad boss!_

"Like I promised, I brought a candidate!" the female said to him.

_Candidate for what?!_

"Oh really?" the man answered and turned around on his rotating chair. He had short black hair and glasses and was dressed as a teacher. Sakura recognized him as her Internet Security teacher. "What is your name young lady?" he asked with a kind smile, no doubt to create an illusion of comfort.

"Sakura. Kibiki Sakura!" she did not dare to lie.

"So tell me Sakura-san…" he crossed his fingers, like a true villain. "You are not a member of any clubs, are you?"

 _Huh? What does that have to…_  she shoke her head.

"Good. So why do you want to join the Supernatural Investigation Club?" he asked.

"…the what now?" Sakura was confused. "Isn't this some big bad organization that intends to take over the world?"

"A big bad organization that… did you even speak properly to her?" he looked towards the female that brought her here. "Huh, Ichinoe-san?"

Sakura looked towards the girl and recognized her.  _Ichinoe Araya-sama… the Tycoon Princess._

"Nope, thought this would be more entertaining." She said with a smile.

"Oh my…" the teacher, Onieda Mamoru, put a hand on his forehead. "Why must you always make it difficult…" he sighed.

"Well, she noticed Hitotsume is a youkai so we have to do some explaining as well so..." Araya started apologizing.

"I am too old for this..." he complained.

Sakura was still not sure what was going on and what is the deal with the headmaster, but for some reason she felt her tension leaving her... and got a feeling that this is a funny place she wouldn't mind spending her time in.

* * *

**I-I-I-I-I**

* * *

**Author Notes** : And we continue where we left of with a scene that soon turns into a deeper look into Rihan's thoughts and, what probably more, a better look at Araya's character. Who of the two was the main character in that scene I'll leave to readers to decide.

Following that we have a look into Mayuri. other than a basic info on her family situation, we also find out she has a brother as well as where her heart is. I hope she doesn't end up being disliked for her envy though there should be enough time later for her to show her other sides.

In the end, we finally meet some members of the  _Shin Sekai_ , one of whom is member of the Founding Family itself and thus a big shot. I didn't originally plan to introduce him this early, but situation developed in a way that his introduction was quickened.

Oh yes, and Sakura ended up being asked to join the S.I.C. Guess Shima will be quite happy to have another girl in the group... with Mayuri a bit displeased I guess. Well then, lets see what implications this ends up having.


	4. The Oniedas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a little of Araya's help, Rihan Junior quickly got over his outburst at Koko no Kira's Pillar, not to mention he learned something about a friend he knew for three years. Yashagoro, the youkai planning an attack on the Nura siblings, met Azuru, Kibiki Sakura's beautiful but wicked sister, as well as her boss who is a major part of the Shin Sekai.

Yashagoro was dreaming about the past.

It was the day that youkai will not soon forget: the Second Great Cleansing. On that day, the corrupted Onmyouji of the Gokadoin House committed a slaughter upon youkai across Japan, killing with no discrimination. Kyushu, where Yashagoro lived, was hit the hardest by these human monsters.

Even Yashagoro himself was close to death that day. He still remembered one of the Gokadoins: he was ridding on an  _Orochi_ , his limbs were made of five elements and his face… his face was the one of a proud killer with no remorse. Using his horrible Onmyoudo, in just one moment hundreds have died. And had Yashagoro not been far enough, he too would have been caught in his attack. But he was far enough… and he ran… ran for his life, like most of the other survivors.

Luckily,  _that man_  did not go after them and instead continued to search for the Tsugumo Clan that ruled Kyushu at the time.

* * *

But the nightmare was not over yet.

_That man_  may not have gone after them, but lower ranking Onmyouji of House Gokadoin did. And although they had not been nearly as strong as  _that man_ , they were still a powerful force... powerful enough to kill many... or maybe it was just that everyone was too afraid to put up a proper resistance.

Yashagoro believed he would soon be dead. But due to his pride as a youkai he did not want to get killed by these Onmyouji without at least putting up a fight... and due to his pride as a descendant of an Onmyouji, he felt a need to stand up to these Nue worshiping abominations.

But fighting against the skilled users of the Gokadoin Onmyoudo proved to be hopeless and Yashagoro would have been killed... if not for an youkai jumping in and saving both him and the other refugees with whom Yashagoro traveled with.

His savior did not say even a word, neither to him nor to the Gokadoin insults. He just patted young Yashagoro on the head, took out his katana and finished the low-ranking Gokadoins, proving that there are youkai who can stand up to these abominations.

His name was Suiro Mizuchi. And that day, he became their leader.

* * *

The Edo's Nura Clan and its allies miraculously managed to defeat the Nue and killed most of heads of the Gokadoin House. Youkai across Japan cheered in name of Nura Rikuo and Hagoromo Gitsune, their saviors.

But the Kyushu youkai still couldn't afford to cheer. The traditional enemies of the Kyushu youkai, the Kirishitan Exorcists from Nagasaki, used the situation and started their own cleansing of the island, killing everyone that was not purely human, even the Kami.

Under leadership of Suiro Mizuchi-sama, the refugees made their way to Hashima, the _Battleship Island_. There, in alliance with other refugees and the youkai of Hashima, they were to make their stand against the Kirishitan Exorcists.

And Mizuchi-sama lead them to a victory.

It did not stop there. In that city, the very symbol of human corruption, they became a Hyaki Yakou under leadership of Suiro Mizuchi-sama: the  _Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan_. And after only a few years, they took over control over the island of Kyushu and even the Tsugumo Clan, the former rulers of the island, became their ally after Mizuchi-sama's and Tsuchigumo-dono's fearsome duel.

But they did not intend to stop there either. No... they had a cause to fight for: they wanted to create a place where youkai could live without fearing the human corruption. Thats why they were still called Hashima Kyushu Youkai clan even though Hashima was not even their capital anymore: the very name reminds them of what they were.

The youkai of the Hashima Kiyushu Clan did not hate humans nor did they think of them as lower beings.

No... they were simply terrified of them.

 

* * *

)(

* * *

Yashagoro woke up from his past.

He looked around a bit and noticed that he was resting in a luxurious apartment... no, in a high class hotel room.  _What am I doing here?_  The nausea he felt hinted that whatever happened to him, it was painful.

"Oh, you woke up earlier then we expected, Orochimaru-kun~"

The soft voice of Kibiki Azuru was all he needed to remember what has happened not long ago: he ended up in a fight with this youkai girl and ended up fainting in front of her and her human partner, not even being able to put up a proper fight.

He immediately rose up from the bed and looked for the youkai girl. She was sitting not far from him, playing with a Rubik's Cube. The fact that she turned its pieces around in fast pace as well as the frustrated expression on her face hinted she was not doing a good job with it.

Yashagoro continued starring at her. She was a dangerous enemy and he was still not sure what she and her partner wanted from him.

Azuru raised head towards him and smiled. "Could you help me with this? Please~" she offered her toy to him.

"No." He resisted her seductive Fear and gave her a cold reply. "Why are you here?"

She sighed. "Mahiro-sama is still angry at me for not making you come here peacefully so he said..." she raised her pointing finger and continued in a masculine voice "As your punishment, may you suffer for an eternity! Here, solve this." Yashagoro hated to admit it, but her acting was kind of cute. "And so here I am, suffering for an eternity with this demonic artifact and waiting for you to wake up."

"And just what business could the two of you possibly have with me?" he asked.

"I am not sure myself." She shrugged with her shoulders, returning to her fight against the Rubik Cube. "I noticed Sakura having found herself a new friend and Mahiro noticed that you were a youkai."

He was surprised to hear that it was Mahiro, the human, who recognized he was a youkai. He had a bad feeling about him when he saw him and now he is sure there is more to him than it meets the eye.

"After few minutes, he identified you as the descendant of the famous Orochimaru and a member of the Kyushu Clan. After that, he simply ordered me to bring you to him."

"And what do YOU think he may want from me?" he asked, though he doubted she would answer him.

She stopped playing with her toy and starred at it for a few moments. She then smiled, put it away and started walking towards him. His body calmed as if preparing to strike at her, although he doubted he could accomplish anything.

"Let me ask you something first, Orochimaru-kun." She stood in front of him and started playing with her hair. "If Sakura and me asked you to spend a week on... lets say Hawaii... whose offer would you accept?"

He could feel her Fear consuming him again, but if he was good at something it was protecting his will from an enemy's Fear. "Not yours." He replied. "And if you don't stop, your Mahiro will be disappointed at you for starting another fight."

To his surprise, she started laughing. "Well, well... you are the first one to give me such a harsh rejection." She then calmed down and said. "Well, as a reward for staying loyal to my sister..." She gave him a naughty look and added "...for now... I'll reward you with a hint."

"A hint?"

"Yes... you see, me master is an expert..." she turned around and started walking around. "An expert at... well, at royally screwing up everyone he can."

"Huh? What kind of a hint is that?"

"Well, it ain't the same kind of metaphor with him as it is with other people." She walked to the window. "Be careful boy... he likes turning kindness into cruelty... servants against their masters..." she started drawing something on a window with her finger. "...love into hate... brothers against sisters..."

* * *

**)(**

* * *

And so, from this day on, the girl called Kibiki Sakura was to be the formal member of the S.I.C.

She was still in the clubroom, with Onieda Mamoru and Ichinoe Araya. The other members were supposed to arrive soon and Sakura wondered what they were going to be like.

Mamoru was typing something on his tablet. Although he was a teacher, he was young, a prodigy and handsome thus many female students called him  _ICT Prince_. He was also a fun and relaxed teacher, open-minded and well mannered, all the qualities that the girls like.

The red-haired ponytail girl with glasses, called Ichinoe Araya, was browsing through some books and through her cellphone, as if looking for some kind of information. Sakura knew her as the  _Tycoon Princess_ , an eccentric and trouble-making rich girl that could get away with anything and if something happened at school, you could bet your money that she was either the cause or had a hand in it. Sakura was not sure how much truth was in those rumors until Araya practically kidnapped her today.

Kibiki Sakura herself was sitting and doing nothing but waiting for other members to arrive. She didn't speak as part of her was shy to be in company of these two celebrities while another part of her was still trying to get used to the fact that youkai existed.

* * *

She heard the door opening and a male voice saying "I am here!"

"Oh, Nura-kun!" Mamoru replied, raising his head and smiling towards the figure behind Sakura. "You came alone?"

_Nura-kun?_  Sakura's eye widened with surprise and she looked behind her. Orderly but long black hair, handsome face and a cool expression... it was the most charming and handsome male student at the school: the  _Yakuza Prince_ Nura Rihan, supposedly a member of some yakuza family. Although she thought Yashagoro was more handsome, she was still feeling embarrassed to be in this boy's presence.

"Nee-san was nowhere to be found so Mayuri-san and Shima-kun went to find her, Mamoru-sensei." He then turned turned his eyes to now blushing Sakura and made a surprised face. "Hmm?"

"See, I managed to find us a new recruit." Araya said and put a hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Please do meet Kibiki Sakura-chan."

Rihan sighed which made Sakura feel a bit uncomfortable. Then he smiled and bowed. "Glad to meet you Sakura. I am Nura Rihan."

"G-glad to meet you as well." She returned the bow.

"So... did you come here willingly or did Araya force you to come?" he asked a shocking question.

"What?" Araya didn't sound amused. "Are you suggesting that I-"

"She kidnapped me." Sakura cut her off. She was still kinda angry due to treatment she got from this girl and no embarrassment would stop her from getting her revenge.

Rihan gave Araya a menacing look. Araya just turned around and raised her hands. "Sorry, sorry..." she didn't sound sorry though.

Sakura started to feel some guilt however. "But I still accepted to join it." She rose from her seat and bowed again. "So please, do take a good care of me."

Rihan patted her on the head. "As you say Sakura. People here can be hard to deal sometimes, but you'll get used to it and I am sure we will get along." He pulled his hand back. "By the way, you know what this club is right?"

"Yep!" she replied. "The Supernaturally Ridiculous Club!"

Rihan had a surprised face for a moment and then he started laughing. "You'll do fine here!"

On other hand, both Araya and Mamoru looked a bit annoyed. Sakura had a feeling they won't forget this declaration anytime soon.

* * *

Few minutes later, the door opened again. "I am sorry... I just couldn't find her." Said a girl with curly orange hair.

"Oh, welcome back little sister." Mamoru replied. "Don't worry, I am sure she will come back soon enough. By the way, do meet our new recruit."

"New recruit?" just then did Mayuri notice Sakura. "Oh?"

This was the beautiful and courteous Onieda Mayuri, also knows as S _unny Princess_  due to her orange hair, light brown eyes and tendency to dress in expensive clothes every time she was not required to wear her school uniform.

_Another princess?!_  Sakura started to see a pattern here.

"Kibiki Sakura, first class." She bowed to Mayuri. "Please take good care of me."

"Oh..." she still looked surprised but then smiled and bowed. "Onieda Mayuri. Glad to meet you Kibiki-san." She greeted her, starring at Sakura like she was evaluating something. "I take it Araya-san was the one who found you?" she looked towards Araya and Rihan.

"Well, who else?" Araya's voice replied.

Mayuri looked back at Sakura and smiled again. "Well, I am sure we will get along Kibiki-san." She then started walking towards her brother. "Nii-san, I want to ask you something."

"For some reason, I feel like she doesn't like me much." Sakura said to herself once Mayuri was far enough to not hear her.

Her words weren't left unheard though. "She has crush on Riha-chan and finds anything with breasts a threat." Araya whispered into her ear.

"Ichinoe-san?" Sakura jumped back.

"You will get used to her. I know I did."

"Wait, what... I don't..." Sakura did not want to be seen as a love rival so she turned towards Mayuri and shouted. "Mayuri-san, I don't have a crush on Nura-kun!"

A moment of silence ensued and then everyone, besides baffled Mayuri and tense Sakura, fell into laughter due to the funny looking outburst.

* * *

"There is no hope!" the door opened again and another prince, this time blond haired boy with prickles well known as  _Pervert Prince_ , entered. "She and her cell must have disappeared from the face of-" he suddenly went silent the moment he noticed Sakura.

He turned to Araya and, with a smile, gave her a thumbs up. He then fixed his hair, walked to Sakura and bowed. "You must be our new member. I am Shima Ryu, glad to meet you."

"I am Kibiki Sakura." She bowed as well. "Glad to meet you Pervert Pri... I mean Shima-kun."

"Ah... you..." he almost started crying.

"She may look moe, but deep inside she is a cruel, crazy woman..." Araya commented. "I like her!"

Next five minutes, Sakura spent on apologizing to and calming down the  _Pervert Prince_.

* * *

Then, the window opened and the last of the members jumped in, holding some kind of box in her hands. White and teal haired beauty with unnatural golden eyes and wearing a scarf, this was no doubt Rihan's older sister Nura Ritsura: the untouchable  _Ice Princess_.

"Here I am!" she proclaimed in front of the silent audience. "Sorry for this, mom came to school and I had to evade her so I-" She then noticed Sakura and, rather then to start talking to her, she put her box on the table, walked to Araya, grabbed her by the collar and whispered "I asked you to find a boy. A boy! Does she look to you like a boy?!"

"No..." Araya replied with a smile. "But she is moe!"

Ritsura turned to Sakura and walked to her. She put a finger on her chin and started starring. "Hmm..."

"A-ano... I am Kibiki Sakura." She bowed. "Glad to meet you and please take a good care of me."

"Hmmm..." Ritsura continued starring at now sweating Sakura for a few more moments when suddenly "Kyaah! You are so adorable!" she hugged her. Her touch was cold so Sakura guessed some of the rumors about her were true. "You are not as adorable as my mom, but you are still an extremely adorable creature!"

"Nee-san... you are strangling her." Rihan grabbed his sister and pulled her away. "Also, what is with this box and the manga in it?"

"Oh, that? I just stole it from the Headmaster's office." She answered as if it was a natural thing to do.

"...you really shouldn't talk like that in front of your sensei..." Onieda Mamoru complained.

He was ignored however.

"Oh, I forgot that I haven't introduced myself yet." She pushed her brother away, coughed into her hand and said: "I am Nura Ritsura-sama!" then, the temperature in the room fell down a bit and Ritsura's uniform disappeared, replaced with a gray kimono. A fan also appeared in her hand, which she used to cover half of her mouth while her free right arm she raised up "The heiress of the Nura Clan, daughter of the Master of all the youkai Nura Rikuo himself!" small ice crystals also started falling around her. "But you can call me Onee-chan!" she winked.

"Wha..." Sakura was not sure if she found the scene impressive or bizarre.

"And you can call me Onii-chan." Mamoru appeared and said, holding a finger on his glasses. "Our little siblings never call us that so... please?"

"Umm..." Sakura was left speechless by Ritsura's crazy behavior and Mamoru's personality making a radical turn "...that is... kinda..."

Then Rihan chopped his sister and Mayuri her brother. ""OUCH!""

"Just call him Mamoru-sensei." Mayuri said with a sigh.

"And just call my sister Ritsura."

"Umm... alright." Sakura nodded and turned to Ritsura. "Glad to meet you Ritsura-senpai."

"Ah..." Ritsura froze for a moment and then her eyes started shining. "N-nobody in this this disrespectful gang ever calls me that... I... I..." her eyes started... producing ice pearls. "Just after my mom, you really are the most adorable thing ever..."

"Thank you Ritsura-senpai." Kibiki Sakura answered with a smile. "I find you quite adorable as well."

Suddenly, Ritsura stiffened.

"Ho-ho..." Araya commented with her mocking smile. "Was wondering when you'd make your next strike..."

"I... I... I am the heiress of the Nura Clan!" Ritsura started yelling "I am cool and fearsome, not adorable!"

"Ritsura-sama, but you are adorable!" some small fairy like creature, probably a youkai, with a crown of glass flew from Ritsura's scarf. "You were adorable since you were a kid!"

"No... no... I am not..." she fell on her knees. "Araya, proper music please!" she said, breaking the atmosphere for a moment.

"As you command!" Araya took out her cell and a sad instrumental music started playing.

"I am not adorable... it is forbidden to even call me that..." she hugged Sakura, still crying. "But I forgive you, my adorable little Sakura-chwan."

Then music turned to heavy metal.

"Damn it Araya, you had ONE job!"

* * *

"Ahem!" Mamoru coughed. "Now that we are all here, can I get your attention please?"

Everyone turned towards Mamoru.

"Good, we have two club related topics to discuss. First..." he pointed towards Araya with his hand. "Araya-san, please."

"This is about  _Koko no Kira_." She started but Rihan cut her off.

"Araya-san, can we please not-"

"This is not about you this time, Riha-chan." She replied. "Supposedly, some guest today was almost caught by it..." she turned towards Sakura. "Your friend I presume?"

"Well, thats... wait a second, Koko no Kira is... real?!" Sakura was surprised and terrified.

"Yep, everything you heard about him is true." Araya crossed her arms. "And we are worried he might claim another victim."

"Yashagoro-san was not claimed though..." she answered. "He was just merely interested in the pillar."

"Yashagoro-san?" Mayuri asked.

"He is my... uhm... friend." She replied with a blush. Araya smiled at it. "Anyway, it was just pure interest... though I admit he does look a bit like a delinquent... a dreamy, hot delinquent..." she felt them giving her weird stares. "...umm, not that I'd approve of it mind you! Although..." she started daydreaming again "..shirtless Yashagoro-san with scars over his chest... sitting on a motorbike... holding a flag and a baseball bat, but with a kind and loving expression on his face... KYAAAH!"

"I like what you are imaging Sakura-chwan..." Ritsura nodded. "Although I have no idea what he even looks like."

"No, no! Stop imagining him!"

"Heart attack... due to moe..." Ritsura put her hands on her chest. "I am not sure... I can last much longer guys... Rihan... take care of..."

Rihan sighed. "Anyway, we can't ignore there is a chance that he got Koko no Kira's attention. If something weird happens, do notify is. It is for his own good."

"O... okay." Sakura nodded. "What is the second thing that had to be discussed." She wanted to change the topic.

"The second thing is..." Mamoru dramatically turned around and said: "Tomorrow after school, we are going on a field trip to Mount Nejireme to do some youkai research..." he turned his head back and smiled. "...and we are staying there over the weekend, in a hot springs resort."

* * *

**)(**

* * *

When Yashagoro woke up, he was prepared for many possible things to happen. However, being invited to a western style party of the rich class in a luxurious hotel was, admittedly, not one of the scenarios he expected.

He was made to dress for the occasion, a black suite and a tie, and sent here. He was currently alone and, as weird as it may sound, he'd wish Azuru or even Mahiro was here to keep him company. However, Azuru said she'd come later and Mahiro was nowhere to be found.

Few of the guests tried to speak to him and for those few who did, Yashagoro didn't show any respect or wish to socialize so they left him alone, complaining about his lack of manners. All in all though, it was an uncomfortable atmosphere for him.

It didn't take long for his ears to find out who the host was: as part of him expected, it was that young man called Onieda Mahiro who hosted it. And he assembled quite an impressive group: tycoons and stake-holders of various successful companies, and even some well known and influential politicians as well as members of yakuza. And some of them were foreigners... and Yashagoro noticed that there were even youkai in this group of people. Furthermore, due to numbers, three floors were reserved for only one party.

If Mahiro wanted to impress him, he did a fine job.

Yashagoro attempted to learn more about  _Shin Sekai_  by listening to the conversations, but he had no luck with it. Instead, he learned about the Onieda Family which, Yashagoro concluded, were the  _Founding Family_  of the  _Shin Sekai_.

Onieda Masahide, now eighty five years old man, found the Onieda Corporations, a family business that invests in all areas of scientific research and finds a use for its products. They own a dozen companies, from ICT sellers to overseas weapons factories.

His son, Onieda Masato, was the current head of the business and even Yashagoro knew who he was. He was the one who made the Onieda Corporation famous by successfully modernizing hundreds of services in Japan, from cinemas to train transportations, controlled by computer technology and connecting them into one, huge flawless system. In just ten years, he made the life rating in Japan increase, made every company work better by improving their Information Systems, optimized productions of all kinds of factories... one could write a book of how much he did for Japan and the world itself.

Onieda Mahiro was Masato's son and heir. Though still not reaching his father's level, Onieda Mahiro did a lot to expand and strengthen the Onieda's capitalist empire.

Mahiro however was not his oldest son: he had two older brothers.

Onieda Masashi was only known for dealing with lowlife and was considered a failure... he had misfortune to find himself in Nakano City few years ago and was found dead few days after the slaughter occurred. Many of these people here considered it to be a good riddance while Yashagoro started suspecting that Oniedas were somehow involved in that incident... or at least knew about it and used it to get rid of Masashi.

Onieda Mamoru however was still alive, but left the family business for unknown reasons. While Mahiro was a tycoon, Mamoru was an ICT expert who fixed the few existing flaws in the information systems Onieda Masato created, killing all the remaining strong criticisms against the so called  _Onieda Revolution_. He also started few ambitious projects and while Yashagoro couldn't learn anything about them, one thing was certain: many people here were very excited to see them put into motion. Everyone found it quite disappointing that he abandoned his career to become a teacher in some unimportant town.

"Enjoying your time here, Yashagoro-kun?" Mahiro's voice asked him.

Yashagoro turned around and saw the young man in his twenties... and then his eyes fell to Azuru, dressed in an expensive one-piece blue dress and a necklace made of pearls. She immediately noticed him starring and winked, a gesture that woke him up from his admiration.

He turned to Mahiro and answered. "I find it to be quite uncomfortable. However, I am impressed if nothing else."

"Ha ha, and I thought you'd be. A shame father and grandfather didn't come... nor that one person I so wanted to see." The man with dark brown hair laughed. "And you are also impressed by my pretty partner I see. Should I leave you two alone for now?"

Yashagoro was tempted to accept his offer, though he was not sure if he wanted Azuru's company or to evade this man... or, most likely, both. However, he decided to reject it. "No need." He looked around and noticed something strange. "How come nobody is trying to catch the attention of the celebrity?"

"There are Onmyouji who can hide their presence from youkai." Mahiro answered with a smirk. "And our organization got the knowledge of how to use it... and improved it to be more useful."

Yashagoro, a descendant on an Onmyouji himself, was disgusted. "I see that usual scientific research is not the only thing Onieda Family is researching."

"As a matter of fact, grandfather started the organization with a goal to research what you call Fear and Onmyoudo." He said, taking a glass of wine from a table. "Everything else actually exists to support that research."

"To give an example..." Azuru joined the conversation. "...we can use this technique, that Mahiro-sama uses to hide his presence here, on weapons our factories produced... so we have neat stuff like invisible, armed helicopters." She raised her fists and stretched her fingers "They appear from nowhere, go BAM BAM BAM THRRRRRRR and then they disappear."

"Thats an abomination." Yashagoro said instinctively.

"Ha ha ha..." Mahiro laughed. "That is an abomination only from your perspective...  _Youkai Onmyouji_."

Yashagoro clenched his fist. He didn't like that name being used for him. "How... do you know about that?"

"We would be lame researchers if we didn't know about it." Mahiro sat down and drank some of his wine. "Your ancestor, also called Yashagoro, was originally an Onmyouji was he not? He used his techniques on himself a bit too much and became a youkai called Orochimaru. Later generations of Onmyouji became more careful with their techniques, thus starting to use terms like Gray Existence and Black Existence." Mahiro looked towards him again. "As a Onmyouji, you see Onmyoudo as something that is supposed to be used purely to fight youkai. As a youkai, you see Fear as something that belongs solely for youkai." He threw his half-filled glass towards Azuru who caught it, as well as some of wine that almost spilled out. "Do you know what is the greatest strength of us humans?"

Yashagoro clenched his fist. As a member of Hashima Kyushu Clan, he had quite a list but he still stayed silent, interested in what he has to say.

"Humans are experts at taking something from the surrounding, and turning it into something they can use." He raised from his seat and walked towards the glass wall and looked towards the town. "First, we conquered fire and used it to cook and dry our clothes. Then, we conquered wolves and turned them into dogs. We also conquered flora and fauna, turning it into a source of food, thus breaking the very laws of nature that demanded from us to hunt." He turned towards Yashagoro. "Wood to sail over the seas. Steel to create weapons. Steam and electricity to create life in machines." He walked to Yashagoro. "Onmyoudo to create magic. Fear to..." he pointed towards Azuru "...create youkai."

_Guess that explains why she is a youkai while her sister is a human._  He already heard that some clan in Edo knew how to create youkai, but that didn't stop the man in front of him to became more and more disturbing.

"On second thought, I don't care about all that. What do you want from me?"

"Come with me you two." He said, Azuru and Yashagoro followed him into the elevator. "Lets go to the highest floor. Due to number of guests, we had to use three floors you see."

"And third floor has specific guests." Azuru added with a vicious smile.

Yashagoro wondered what he would find there, but what he saw was...

"This floor looks the same like the one we were on a moment ago."

Mahiro smiled. "The guests are what matters. You see, the  _Shin Sekai_  depends on wealthy investors... but sometimes, they become a nuisance."

Yashagoro's eyes narrowed. "So they are supposed to be killed?"

"Yes, I have been ordered to dispose of them." he started playing with Azuru's hair. "Gramps advised I use Azuru to kill them off quickly... but don't you think it would be boring?"

"So what? You want me to dispose of them instead?" Yashagoro asked.

"No, that would be even more boring." he replied, leaving Azuru's hair alone. "Have you heard about how, more then three centuries ago, a merchant called Sanmoto Mikanbune attempted to control the Shogunate?"

Yashagoro never heard the name so he just shaked his head.

"You see, he had this delicious, addicting tea that allowed humans to feel how it was to possess Fear." He made a wicked smile. "However, you need to have either techniques or strong will else you'd go insane after drinking it."

Yashagoro looked towards the tables. He immediately noticed that everyone drank only tea... and how everyone complimented it.

"It is called  _Tea of the Conquerors_... for a simple reason that it also makes those who drink it unconditionally loyal to the one who gave them that addicting drink." Mahiro raised his hand into the air. "I'll need to thank Yanagita-san for borrowing me some of it..." and then he shouted. "ALRIGHT PEOPLE, SLAUGHTER ONE ANOTHER AS BRUTALLY AS YOU CAN!" and he clapped.

In a matter of few moments, the elegant room turned into a butchery of people killing one another in the worst way they could imagine. The proud and respectable humans of few moments ago turned into mindless beasts. Even to a youkai, it was painful to watch.

But the greatest beasts were Mahiro and his companion, both of whom were enjoying the show.

Yashagoro had enough with this place. "What was the point of showing me this?!"

"For a monster, you sure lack style." Mahiro commented with a wicked grin. "Well, even our organization can't understand what me and Masashi-nii-san find entertaining so I can't blame you." He turned his gaze back to the slaughter scene. "If we do this to allies who became a nuisance, what do you think we do to our enemies?" he asked with a smile more wicked then of that Gokadoin of many years ago.

Yashagoro was left speechless. His heart started pounding on the thought of this man considering him his enemy.

"Don't worry... you and your clan don't matter much to us..." he said, as if to calm him down. "...yet." and at the same time left a warning. "You see, there is one person who, I believe, represents a threat to our organization... yet our grandfather, a person that discovered honor in his old days, wants to fight her honorably. Father does not see that person as a threat so he doesn't care... but I predict that person will become a problem in near future... and would prefer if an assassin disposed of her." He looked towards Yashagoro. "Up for the job?"

Yashagoro wanted to reject and leave this man and his woman. But one more look at the scene in front of him killed that idea. "Who is that person."

Mahiro took out an USB from his pocket. "Here is all you need to know." He threw it to Yashagoro. "Get rid of this nuisance that killed Masashi-nii-san and you and your clan will be richly rewarded."

"Not getting a reward from someone like you will be the best reward to me." Yashagoro walked to a window. "I am leaving," he broke it and jumped out. He didn't want to spend a second more in this place.

* * *

)(

* * *

"What a cutie." Azuru commented with a giggle.

"He is a lame candidate..." Mahiro replied to her. "But if he survives the Nuras and that person, he will suffice."

"Talking about that person, you really are disappointed she didn't come?"

"I am disappointed my invitation was ignored just like that." He sighed. "No doubt, she is afraid... and rightfully so, even I am not sure I'd be able to resist my desire to harm her. On other hand, I guess it also shows that her influence is not strong enough to protect herself... still wish at least something happened. This is just... boring."

"Who said that nothing happened?" Azuru's voice asked.

"Huh?" he faced Azuru, confused.

Azuru was even more surprised. "I didn't say anything!"

He then noticed that a plasma monitor, that usually served as a television or for distant communication, was turned on and the screen was white.

Words appeared on it:  _"My master sends you greetings! :)"_

And then video appeared and on it was...

"Ha ha ha..." Azuru laughed. "Seems the hotel's security was breached and our other guests got to see what you did on this floor." She commented while looking at the screen that showed the guests from floors belows screaming and trying to leave the hotel at all costs, with only some wise enough to stay.

Mahiro covered his face with his right hand. "Gramps and father will be pissed. Well, guess I'll have to jump into taking care of this situation as quickly as possible." He removed his hand, revealing an excited, wicked smile. "But... this sure was a well done declaration of war... as expected of the one who managed to kill Masashi-nii-san... still, she could have done better."

* * *

**)(**

* * *

"Here it is waka!" Natto Kozo said while giving Rihan an old book. "It took some time, but we managed to find it!" He added with pride.

"Yep, we indeed have! And we don't expect anything in return of course." Tofu Kozo said, pretending to be humble.

"Yeah right." Rihan laughed and put a hand into his jacket, taking out two bags of candies. "Here guys, I appreciate it."

"Thank you waka!" they caught his candies and ran off, to play somewhere as they usually do. He smiled as he saw them run, envying their childish spirit.

He leaned against the school's wall and looked at the book. It was a collection of youkai folklore, given to Rihan's grandfather as a gift two centuries ago. Supposedly, he saved some folklorist's life and the folklorist, believing Grampa Rihan was a youkai enthusiast, gave him few of the books he wrote as a gift. He doubted anyone in the Clan read them, but they were kept as a reminder in the clan's library anyway.

He checked a few pages in it. It seems to have been a collection of some (bad) artworks and poems of oral legends about youkai. Not finding it to be interesting material, he closed it.

The ceremony was over and the guests, as well as most of the students, have already left. The ones who remained were the school stuff as well as members of some clubs (including S.I.C.) and the Nura Clan youkai who were to restore the school into its original form so the classes could continue as normal tomorrow.

Normally, he would have helped but due to  _that outburst_  earlier today, he was asked to leave it to others and rest. Since he was tired of being asked if he was alright and seeing that there were enough people to take care of it, he accepted their suggestion.

However, he didn't go home yet. He had nothing to do there: he did his homework, he studied enough in last few days and he was taking a break from training.

So he decided to use his time to satisfy some of his curiosity about one of his friends. Ichinoe Araya to be exact.

There were few things he found strange about her, primarily her knowledge of youkai. Even for someone interested in folklore, she knew way too much. Not only about youkai, but also about the youkai clans. Even when they first met around two years ago when she stumbled on him dealing with some drunk youkai, after few moments of starring at him in surprise, she was able to recognize him as Nura Rihan, son of Nura Rikuo of the Edo Youkai Clan.

Now, there are some influential human families that interact with youkai yakuza, but Ichinoe Araya was not related to any of them... and even if she were, she knew way too much. She either had special sources... or she was  _very_  serious about researching the youkai world.

Her behavior was also strange. On one hand, she seemed kind enough to help anyone should the need arise, be it something small or big. On other hand, she can be an insensitive person, especially towards Rihan with whom ugly arguing often ensues, like at the Pillar today. Yet, she always somehow makes up for it, giving him no choice but to get over it.

If their relationship gets ugly, she somehow redeems herself. And if he starts considering her a close friend, she finds a way to start an argument and push him away. He didn't think about it before, but now that he looks at it... the balance is simply too perfect to be a coincidence.

And than there is her secrecy: after two years, he still knew nothing about her. Where she lived, who was her family, who were her old friends... nothing. And she seemed to be more than happy to leave it that way.

But today he finally learned something that gave him few ideas about her

And that knowledge tore him apart.

On one hand, he felt sorry about what happened to her and thought that it has left a scar on her personality which might explain some of her rudeness.

However, when he tried to connect what he just learned with what he knew, he grew skeptical about her motives.

The main question that arose was... if she saw her parents killed by youkai, would she not have a grudge against them? Instead, she acts like your usual folklorist: excited about anything that has to do with youkai.

There was an possible explanation for that... which he did not like, but possibility of which he could not ignore: she was pretending.

It would explain a lot: she knew so much about youkai because she searched for something... or someone, possibly to get a vengeance or something. For that goal, she befriended the Nura's and pretended to be on good terms with them. She is rude because in truth she despised a part-youkai like him while her kindness exists solely so she could stay close to them.

He truly hated that theory and prayed he was wrong. He truly wanted to believe she was a friend that is simply tough to deal with sometimes. He wanted to believe that she saw him as a friend as well and that all the help she gave him, including her offer to find out what happened in Nakano, were sincere.

Unfortunately, the trusting part of him died years ago and skepticism became an ugly part of him.

And thats what this folklore book is for. It may prove to be a key that will prove Araya's sincerity... or her darkness.

However, he was not looking forward to it.  _Maybe I should think about this a bit more... there is no need to rush it and-_

"Waiting for someone?" the voice of girl that goes by name Araya asked.

_On other hand, it might be better to resolve this question now than let it grow into something bad._

He looked up. In front of him a red-haired girl was standing, with her usual mysterious smile.

"You left early." He ignored her question.

"I got bored so I decided to leave." She shrugged. "Besides, there is not much left to clean anyway. I won't be missed."

"Is that so? Here, this is for you." He said and threw the book to her.

"Huh?" she caught the book with a surprised face. "What is this?"

"A present..." he said. "...consider it a thank you for all the help today."  _Saving me from Koko no Kira, helping me get over my depression and even going as far as to smear her own reputation to save mine... the hell am I doing here?_  He started feeling guilty for this plot, but it was too late to back down now.

"Hmm?" she opened it and her eyes widened. "Huh, this is a..." started storming through the book and back. "It is a collection of youkai folktales but... I never heard about it before, and I am sure I knew them all..."

"It was given to our clan as a gift two hundred years ago by some folklorist." He said, not moving his eyes from her. "Guess he never got to publish his works." He shrugged his shoulders. "But then, his illustrations are horrible and what I read of his poems is painfully cheesy so maybe-"

"Thats wrong." She simply said, looking at the book.

"Wrong? What is wrong?" he was surprised.

"It is beautiful, not horrible." She complained. "Yes, he may not have been some talented artist, but it doesn't matter. These illustrations were done with a lot of love. And these poems... have depth that one can't see unless he tries."

"Ah... I guess so..." he scratched his head. "Well, I am not someone who would notice that."

"Yeah, you are right I guess. Anyway..." She said and finally looked towards him. "Thank you, I appreciate it."

The happy expression on her face made her look like a happy little kid that finally got a toy she wanted for months.

He got his answer and felt stupid for doubting her sincerity. "You are welcome." He said, letting out a weak smile.

She caught on it. "Is something wrong?" she asked.

"It is nothing." He laughed it off. "Anyway, I am kind of surprised that even you can look cute."

"Is that so?" she scratched her head. "Hmm, I don't get such compliments often. But thank you, I guess."

His attempt to embarrass her a bit failed.

"May I be blunt and ask you something?" he asked with a more serious expression. There is one more thing he would like to see resolved and he decided to not do it by some cheap schemes this time.

"Depends on what you may ask." She said and her face turned serious.

"Sorry if it sounds weird or harsh but..." for a moment, he thought of asking another question instead. However, he decided to stick with it anyway. "...are you by some chance trying to keep a distance between yourself and the rest of us?"

Her eyes widened and she froze for a moment. Then, she turned her gaze aside and just starred at the air. After few moments, she asked in emotionless tone "Is this about me being rude?"

"Kinda."

She turned her gaze back to him and looked him into the eyes. "I have a feeling that you already accepted that as truth." She said with a sad smile. "Wish I could ask you to erase that idea from your memory you know. Such thoughts will just bring you pain in the future."

He took it as a confirmation. "What is going on Araya?"

"I am afraid I can't tell you that." She gave him a simple, yet not informative at all, answer.

He let out a sigh. He did not like her reply, but he doubted she would say anything more than she already did.

He put a hand on his chin and asked. "Well then, what will you do now Araya...-chan?"

"Ugh, -chan is it..." she put a hand on her forehead. "Nothing, what else can I do?"

"So, would you mind being nicer then?" he asked. "Please?"

She looked at him for a moment and then at the book he gave her. Finally, she shrugged her shoulders and said. "Hmph, I'll give my best... as long as you keep this to yourself. Now if you'd excuse me, I have some chores to attend to." She turned around and started walking away. "And... thank you for the gift."

"You are welcome. Was glad to talk to you... Araya-chan." She jerked after hearing the honorific. She knocked her head with her free arm a few times as she walked away, as if punishing herself for making a mistake.

He leaned back against the wall.  _Well, this went well._  He still felt sorry for doubting her, but he did not regret doing what he did. Still, her motivations for keeping her distance seemed impossible to guess.

_Well, there is time for everything._

* * *

Kejorou was standing in the hallway, with a serious face.

Internally however, she was laughing.

As for what happened... long story short, Ritsura ended up in fight with her mother again and tried to run away. However, the  _Tsurara Clan_  caught the young girl and now, Tsurara's daughter was facing her mother, while in hallway behind her and stairway on her right were guarded by the cute Tsukumogami floating in battle poses.

"You have nowhere to run, dearie!" Tsurara proclaimed with crossed arms.

"Erm..." Ritsura looked towards the stairway. "If you guys let me pass, I'll get you some delicious, expensive strawberry syrup?" She tried to bribe the Tsukumogami.

"Tsurara-nee-san's orders are absolute!" the little Tsukumogami said, all while making adorable poses.

"Erh..." Ritsura scratched her head, probably trying to think of another way to get out of this situation.

"Hmph." Tsurara crossed her arms and made a smug smile. "Your escape routes are cut off. Now, for the punishment we discussed this morn-"

Tsurara was cut off by someone breaking the glass of the windows and jumping into the hallway. Kejorou put her hand to guard herself from potential shards and, when she moved her hand away, she saw Awashima, Reira, Yukari and Itaku in the hallway.

"Toono youkai?" Tsurara was surprised. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We just came to pay a visit." Reira, one of Ritsura's Toono mentors, said and bowed to the other Yuki Onna. "Though it seems we found Ritsura-chan in some trouble."

"Sorry for the windows..." Yukari, hidding behind Reira, commented.

"The little lady is in trouble alright! She spent the entire night playing in arcades and would have missed school had I not found her!" Tsurara explained. "And now she is trying to get away from her punishment."

Itaku, another of Ritsura's mentors, moved his eyes towards Ritsura. "Is that true?"

"What can I say... I wanted to become the Master of all Games you see..." Ritsura said with a wink.

"You can't do this Ritsura-chan." Awashima said, her finger on the chin.

Tsurara nodded with satisfaction.

"I am very disappointed." Yukari sighed.

Tsurara nodded with satisfaction.

"Yes, if you rebel against this clan's tyranny, don't let yourself get caught." Itaku complained.

Tsurara nodded with satisfaction.

A bit late, but she ended up reacting at what he just said. "Wait, what are you guys-" but she couldn't finish her sentence.

Itaku used a wind technique and ended up pushing Tsurara and her Tsukumogami away, freeing Ritsura from her trap. Ritsura then jumped at the window's frame. "See ya mom! I'll be back on Monday morning!" she gave her a peace sign and jumped out, followed by her Toono allies, with Reira bowing in apology before she also jumped out.

For a moment, Tsurara just sat silently on the floor.

"I am trying to teach her some responsibility..." Then she rose up. "Yet this... this... this irresponsible Toono Clan is spreading its bad influence on her."

From who knows where, she pulled her forehead ribbon with Nura clan's symbol and put it on.

"Tsurara Clan!" she yelled to her Tsukumogami. "Mobilize the Arawashi! Mobilize the Household! Mobilize entire Ukiyoe! We are getting my girl back!" she ran to the window and jumped out, landing on Hebinyoro. "IF THEY WANT WAR, THEY WILL GET WAR!"

And just like that, the adorable scene ended and Kejorou was finally able to allow the hysterical laughter to leave her body.

* * *

" _Yes, I get it Yashagoro-san..."_  a voice from a cellphone said.  _"But who is this person... and why are we targeting her?"_

"It would take too long to explain." Yashagoro, sitting on top of a building, replied. "Not that it matters. This human has to die... preferably by some painful method." He clenched his teeth as he said the last part. Mahiro may not have said it, but he made it clear that a simple death won't satisfy him.

" _Is it for the good of the clan?"_  the voice asked.

"Not really. To be more exact, it is so nothing bad happens to us."

" _I don't get, Yashagoro-san."_

"As I said, you don't need to get it." Yashagoro sighed. "Look just... trust me, alright?"

" _If you say so, Yashagoro-san."_  He could hear sighing from the other side as well.  _"So, what about the Nura's?"_

"Nothing much, they are still too well protected to make a gamble."

Eliminating the Nura siblings was not a simple matter, especially since the outcome and method they use could affect the future of their clan.

Due to certain happening, The Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan was on verge of war with the Shikoku Clan and, due to Tamazuki's help and support during the Gokadoin Cleansing, Edo Nura clan already decided to support the Shikoku should a war break out. They may have done it believing that it would scare the Kyushu Clan thus evading an all-out war, but Mizuchi had no intentions to step down. To preserve their honor, the Nura Clan will have to fight them. Thus, the war with Shikoku and Nura's is unlikely to be avoided.

And Edo Nura Clan is a powerful adversary that should not be taken lightly. After all, they were able to almost completely annihilate those Gokadoin abominations. To make it worse, they didn't even suffer any major loses themselves, showing just how ferocious they are.

And lets not mention their network of allies. Should they enter a war, chances are that the Hagoromo Gitsune's Kyoto Youkai Clan would join them and possibly even the Keikain House of the Onmyouji's whose head, Keikain Yura, is a close friend to Nura Rikuo. And Nura Rikuo even made bonds with the Toono Clan's heir so that supposedly neutral village might also give them some support.

And the Tsugumo Clan... they are also on good terms with the Nura's and although they will not side with Nura's due to allying with Mizuchi, they will not fight them either. Thus, Kyushu Clan's military power would be halved.

It was a bleak situation and everyone but Mizuchi was pessimistic. Although Yashagoro is loyal to that youkai, his cynicism was stronger than his trust.

Yashagoro and some of his comrades decided to act: they will attack the Nura clan and attempt to weaken it by removing its head members. Nura Rikuo would be too dangerous, not to mention he is currently away in the States.

So they will target head members of the clan, starting with his two heirs, Ritsura and Rihan and then other head members loyal to the clan. With its leadership broken, Kyushu Clan should have it easier.

And should they fail? Well, Yashagoro and his comrades formally left the clan, supposedly to form their own Hyakki Yakou and noteven Mizuchi is aware of their intentions. Thus, the Kyushu Clan would not be blamed for their deeds. Actually, they all already accepted their own deaths. Their goal is simply to take as many with them sa they can.

" _This is getting tiring... well, at least we have this new contract to focus on while we wait for the opportunity."_

"Yes, thats..." Yashagoro started but then he noticed someone walking on the street, alone. "I'll call you later." He ended the call and then jumped down, without anyone noticing him.

He walked towards the black haired girl with a plastic flower on her hair and patted her.

"Huh, who is..." Kibiki Sakura turned around and, once she saw him, smiled "Oh, Yashagoro-san!"

"Good to see that you finally learned how to properly address me." He smiled.

"Ah sorry, my mistake... Yasha-chan!"

He sighed. "My mistake for reminding you." He then turned serious. "By the way, why did you leave me with your sister just like that?"

The smile from her face faded away. "Well... I had to come in time to attend the ceremony..." she looked to the other side. "Also, I guessed that you'd prefer my sister's company like everyone else."

As he thought, Azuru caused her younger sister to develop a sister complex. "Like hell I'd be pleased. Your sister is one highly unpleasant company to have."  _As is her boss._

He expected to see Sakura happy to hear these words, but her face just became darker. "She told you to say that, didn't she?"

"Huh?"

"She already did something like that... twice actually." She started to sound like she was on verge of tears. "Why couldn't you just disappear? Thats hurts less then getting my hopes up and see them fall into water, all while onee-san laughs."

"What?" he was angered by her words. "You think I fell for your sister and want to bully you under her orders?"  _Or more exactly, you want to say that she actually did that to you? Well, I shouldn't be surprised I guess... she did worse things than that with a straight face..._

"Of course you are." She sighed. "Everyone falls for her, even the boys who are not that obsessed about beauty... and even girls."

_That crybaby..._  "So, why don't you take me to your sister so I can punch her?"

This surprised her. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Well, it would prove my honesty and should stop her from causing any more trouble I guess." She shrugged his shoulders. "No matter how pretty she may be, with a good punch, not even the best make-up will save her." He said in a low tone, now wanting the pedestrians to misunderstand it.

"You are bluffing." She pretended to not believe him, but her voice betrayed her. "The moment I bring you to-"

She stopped talking once his mouth touched her forehead, giving her a kiss. He could feel some of pedestrians giving them looks, but he ignored them.

Once he pulled his head back, he saw Sakura was blushing and trying to mutter something.

"Well, you can believe what you want." He shrugged. "But if you don't give a doubt some chances, you may end up screwing yourself over."

"Well, I... alright I believe you! Can we please change the topic now?!" she asked in blushing desperation.

_Well, seems she is finally persuaded._ He laughed a bit and then said "Well, let me walk you for a bit." He put a hand on her shoulder, turned her around and pushed her a bit. "So, anything fun happened at the ceremony?"

"Well... a lot happened actually..." the blush disappeared and was replaced with a happy smile. "Ends up the new headmaster is some one-eyed youkai and nobody but me noticed it."

"Huh?" he was surprised. Partially because suddenly she started talking about the youkai and, more importantly, a disguise that fooled hundreds of students didn't work on her. It is nothing new that some humans can see through simpler disguises though.  _Well, that is good to remember... don't want one of my comrades to fail in fooling her._

"But he doesn't matter." She said something that made no sense. "I ended up joining a club and making many friends due to it. Well, I knew them for a very short time but still..."

"Hm?" he had some bad feeling about this. "Which club exactly?"

She stopped and made a salute. "The S.I.C., mister!" she then dramatically moved her hand aside, almost hitting a pedestrian "The Supernatural Investigation Club!"

"Is that so..." being supernatural himself, this made him feel awkward. "And what kind of friends have you met?"

"Well, lets see..." she continued walking. "There is Shima Ryu, a pervert but seemingly a nice guy..."

_Well, seems normal so far._

"Then, there are Onieda Mamoru and Mayuri..."

The mention of name Onieda almost caused him to stop, but he was too well trained to show any signs of shock.  _Dammit, I don't like this..._

"Mamoru-sensei is a teacher and the club's supervisor while his younger sister Mayuri-san is... well, she seems jealous at me as she is in love with another member of the club, Nura Rihan and is afraid that I am in..."

Again, he almost stopped in surprise. Hearing this, made him even more worried.

"...but I am sure that once she realizes the truth that we will be good friends." The happy Sakura said to growingly distressed Yashagoro. "Speaking about Nura Rihan, he seems kinda boring which surprised me as he is very popular. His sister however, Nura Ritsura, is one of funniest people I met and we already became good friends." She giggled.

Yashagoro couldn't take it anymore. "Hm, seems my cell is vibrating." He bluffed and looked at his cell. "Oh, seems I have to go."

"Huh, I could..." he pointed towards something behind her, making her turn around "Huh?" she fell for it. "Was there something behind... Yasha-chan?" when she turned back, he was no longer with her.

* * *

He saw her leave while he sat on top of a building.

_Great... just great._  It was painful to watch her happily smiling at the fact that she befriended the Nura's, knowing that he will cause her pain no matter how his attack on Nura's ends up resolving.  _It is just my luck..._

What is more, Onieda's seem to have gotten their hands on her. He didn't know this Mamoru yet alone Mayuri for whom he didn't even know existed, but if Onieda Mahiro is an example of this family, then he is worried... and is wondering if Onieda's took Sakura as a hostage to keep him on a leash.

Also, what is the relationship between the Nura and Onieda families? It can't be a coincidence that their children are part of the same school club, yet alone that Kibiki Sakira was conveniently recruited after the Onieda's approached him.

Not to forget what happened with Koko no Kira. Why is it exactly at this school... and that person that talked to him after he was almost devoured by that youkai... who was it?  _Now that I think about it, I think I may have been asked back then if I was with this Shin Sekai._  Shivers went through him... had he met them just a day earlier, he may have been caught in this youkai's fear.

_Could that person be related to this person I have to eliminate? Gods, in just few hours, this all became four times more complicated!_

He didn't know her for long, but for some reason he already cared for her as much he would for any of his friends. The fact that she had that nasty Kibiki Azuru for her sister angered him. The fact that Onieda's could be threatening her angered him. But nothing angered him as much as the thought of having to hurt her himself.

However, his clan comes first. He won't let a girl... a human girl... stand in way of his task.

_Still, it hurts._

His cell left out a tone, signaling that he got a mail. He took it out ajnd opened it.

It was from Kibiki Sakura.

" _It was very mean of you to disappear just like that __

_Anyway, just wanted you to know that we are going to Mount Nejireme tomorrow and won't be back until Sunday evening. So don't be surprised if you don't see me over the weekend! A shame nobody but us can go else I'd take you with me :(_

_Anyway, see ya!_

_P.S. don't ever disappear like that again, Batman!"_

He clenched his teeth. "Sakura why... why did you have to tell me this..."

Nejireme... this was a perfect opportunity he was waiting for: good location to stage an attack, targets will be relaxed and even the fact that it is under control of the Gyuki Clan will actually be a positive thing: they tried to assassinate Nura Rikuo and if they are careful enough, they will be able to frame them.

It was perfect... a perfect chance offered by Sakura however, meaning that he will use her kindness to eliminate her friends... or get eliminated by them.

"Nejireme, huh?" a female voice said and he could feel arms embracing him. he recognized both the voice and the person's perfume. "Good to know!"

"Azuru... how long have you been here?"

"You mean with you two?" she said, releasing him. "Enough to challenge you to go with your promise to punch me and prove your undying love to my baby sister." She giggled "What a lady-killer you are..."

He raised up and turned to face Sakura's evil sister in her youkai form, giving her a menacing look.

She looked at him the same way, just with addition of a mocking smile. "What, will you really go with it? You are a brave youkai, Orochimaru-kun."

He just starred at her for a moment "What do you want Azuru? Shouldn't you be cuddling to your Mahiro-sama or something?"

She just pointed at the sky. He looked up when suddenly he felt a kiss on his cheek.

He reflexively jumped back, forgetting that he was on the edge of the building. However, Azuru caught him by his collar before he could fall.

"I don't know if you realize it Orochimaru-kun, but..." she started, kneeling and still holding him above his death sentence. "...you feel like someone who has potential you know."

"Potential for what?" he demanded. "And get me up."

"Potential to accomplish anything really... you know Orochimaru-kun..." she continued, ignoring his request. "...Mahiro doesn't expect you to accomplish his task... nor your own one either..." she smirked.

"What? How do you know what I came here to-"

"We put two and two together, genius." She mocked him. "Well, if you succeed, then all the better. However..." she released him for a moment, but before he could scream she caught him again. "...you will likely fail at both. What we are interested in is how you will deal with it... or will you survive."

She finally pulled him up, but she did it by throwing him in the air.  _Where the heck does this strength come from?_

He turned around in the air and landed on his feet.

"If you do well enough, the Shin Sekai will use you." She added.

"You think I'd become your lackey?"

" _Their_  lackey." She continued. "Remember the warning I gave you? No matter what you do or think, Mahiro-sama will make you into a puppet, maybe even turn you against your clan." She gave him a wicked smile. "Though it'd be more fun if you betrayed them willingly, don't you think."

The proposition to betray Mizuchi-sama angered him. "Beware of the words you choose woman... else I will..."

She sighed. "What a boring man without ambitions." Then, she gave him another wicked smile. "By the way, how do you like to be called: Yashagoro or Orochimaru?"

"Why do you care about that?"

"Just answer me."

"...Yashagoro." he answered, although he felt he shouldn't have. "I prefer to be called Yashagoro."

"How does the tale of your ancestor go again?" she pretended to be thinking. "Ah yes... a man called Yashagoro served a certain leader... until he betrayed him and was since then called Orochimaru..." the smile she gave him was frightening. "So, Yashagoro-san..."

She started walking towards him. He retreated back, but soon reached the edge of the building.

"Don't you think the history might repeat itself?" she asked, still walking.

"No, it will not..." He was not sure why, but he started sweating.

"Oh really?" she was only two meters away from him. "His blood flows through you, Yashagoro-san... and I can feel it... the darkness inside of you... Orochimaru-kun."

She was now standing in front of him, few centimeters away.

"You are threatened by the same curse as your ancestor... same blood, same onmyoujutsu... with time, you are destined to fall like he did..." She put her hands around him. "And when Yashagoro-san becomes Orochimaru-kun..."

Due to her Fear, he was unable to put up a resistance and their mouths touched, as did their tongues.

After some time, she pulled her head back and then continued. "...he may get an ally. Serving the Onieda's as a tool until discarded... now that is something I  _really_  don't desire... nor deserve, wouldn't you agree?"

Without any further words, she walked pass him and jumped down.

Yashagoro stayed standing there for a minute, but finally ended up deciding to forget what happened here. He took his cell and called his comrades.

It is time to start preparing a plan.  _I am sorry Sakura-san..._

* * *

Onieda Mamoru was sitting alone in the clubroom. He spent hours helping to clean the school, which was more work then usual as some of the youkai got drunk and caused some mess. Thankfully, they suddenly left in order to pursue someone and taking care of the cleaning could finally go on undisturbed.

However, he didn't come here only to rest. He took out his cell and called a number.

" _Hello?"_  a cold voice from the other side said.

"Hell, this is Onieda Mamoru." He introduced himself. "Is that you, Gyuki-san?"

" _Yes, it is."_  The youkai called Gyuki replied.  _"How did it go?"_

"Hmph, they were pleased to hear about the field-trip." He said with a smile. "However, a new member joined us so expect a bit larger group."

" _Alright. Thank you for help, Mamoru-dono."_

"Are you sure about this?" Mamoru asked. "I know it is just a charade, but the siblings may end up... well, killing some of your subordinates to protect their friends."

" _Don't worry about us, human."_  Gyuki replied.  _"Although there is a risk for us, the young masters need to get to at least feel what it is like to be in actual danger. It is for the good of our clan."_

"You youkai are so rough." Mamoru sighed. "But then, danger is looming on the horizon."

" _Hmph. As things are going, a war might break out."_  Gyuki replied.  _"But I don't think you are talking about normal youkai clans when you mention danger. Are you talking about_ them _?"_

"Yes." He gave a simple reply.

The danger he means are the Shin Sekai, an youkai researching organization created by his grandfather, Onieda Masahide. As member of the Onieda family, Mamoru was once also one of the heads of the organization, called the  _Fourth_.

However, his morals did not allow him to stay long with them, to he abandoned the organization and left with his young sister, letting his younger brother Mahiro become the new  _Fourth._

However, he knew too much and although that was a weapon that kept the  _Shin Sekai_  wary of dealing with him, it was also something that made him a danger that needs to be eliminated. Thats why he came to Ukiyoe and made contact with the Nura Clan.

Of course, they think he is just someone who can get info on them. Telling them anything more would make the  _Shin Sekai_  act against him. It was a delicate situation, but he had to do it, if only for Mayuri.

"Seems there was some commotion in a hotel in Ukiyoe... very close to Ukiyoe High."

" _What kind of commotion?"_

"Many rich people secretly held some kind of meeting there it seems." He continued. "I don't know what exactly happened, but it seems that a fight ensued and some folk left in hurry." He lied: he knew exactly what happened. He can't say too much, but this should suffice.

" _What do you think about it?"_  Gyuki asked for his opinion on the matter.

He decided to be honest here. "Whatever has happened, I think it is obvious that  _Shin Sekai_  is no longer giving its best to preserve their secrecy. The commotion catches and holding the meeting here of all places... it is like they wanted to make a point to someone."

" _Hmph. It really is high time to prepare the clan for a war, whoever the enemy may be. You have my thanks Mamoru-dono."_  Gyuki said with his usual tone.  _"Still, I feel you are hiding something from us. I hope you do not-"_

"I am not scheming anything against you, Gyuki-san." He said to the youkai yakuza "Anyway, I have to go. My sister is waiting for me."

" _Hmph, see you tomorrow then."_  He ended the call.  _"Have a good night."_

He raised from his seat, put on his coat, took his bag and left the room.

He found his sister in the school's courtyard, cutting some flowers with scissors.

"It is a bit late for tending the garden, is it not?" he said to her.

"Oh, you are finally here nii-san." She said, raising up. "Got bored of waiting so I thought I'd help the flowers."

"Maybe you should think of joining the botanics club." He offered. "Those lazy students could a helping hand."

"Leave the fun club and join those obnoxious ladies." She sighed. "No w-" Suddenly, her eyes widened, as in shock. "What?" and then she started falling.

"MAYURI!" Mamoru yelled and ran to catch her before she could fall. "Mayuri, what is..."

Her body was cold, her eyes still open.

"Mayuri?" he couldn't feel her breathing either. He put his hand to feel her pulse, but there was none. It was as if... "Mayuri... what is..."

It was as if she were a...

"MAYURI!"

It was as if she were a corpse.

"Now, now nii-san." A male voice said. "Don't worry, she will be alright..."

Mamoru raised his head. In front of him, the terrifying sight of his younger brother, Onieda Mahiro, could be seen. He was smiling as he looked towards their little sister.

"What did you do?" Mamoru asked him.

"Nothing, I am just sending you a warning, Mamoru-nii-san." He spread out his arms. "It was very mean of you, telling Gyuki-dono that my party turned into a... commotion."

"You... how did you..."

"All the data goes through our child organization so it is not so hard to listen to a conversation." He put a finger on his chin. "Did you really think that those hacks you did on our system could hide you forever nii-san? Our organization evolved a lot since you left."

Mamoru clenched his teeth. He became too careless in these years.

"Your knowledge is a danger to us." Mahiro continued. "Furthermore, you came to Ukiyoe where Nura Clan is located and you even took care our sister befriends the Nura's... you are obviously not going to just sit and leave us in peace, do you? It is only a matter of time before your leaks turn into something more hurtful... unless we act."

"Don't bring Mayuri into this, you bastards!" Mamoru yelled at him. "Just kill me and be over with it!"

"I wouldn't mind that idea." He said with a smile. "However, both the grandfather and father hope you return. Actually, father still considers you his heir, rather than me... nor did he think of Masashi-nii-san as a possible heir." There was hate in his eyes. "Only you are... me and Masashi-nii-san are just tools, not his sons." he pointed towards Mayuri. "She is a tool as well you know."

"Don't call her that..."

He laughed. "Of course you would say that... else this tool would not be doing her job. She is our leash on you, nii-san." Mahiro shrugged. "Return to us and she will be safe nii-san."

Mamoru's grip on Mayuri's body got stronger. The cold touch was intimidating, but... "Get her back to how she were. Else..."

"Fine." He took out something that looked like a cellphone and pressed few buttons on it. "Just be careful of what you do, nii-san. You are the only one who cares about her." he turned around and started leaving them. "One press of a button is all that is needed to dispose of this tool. Gramps and father are going easy on you two, but thats just because they are still hoping for the best."

And the most wicked member of the Onieda family finally left.

Mamoru just stood there, holding his little sister in his arms. Her body temperature returned to normal and soon her consciousness returned. "Nii-san, what happe..." her eyes widened as she looked at him. "Why are you crying?"

"Nothing, my little sister." He said with tears coming out from his eyes. "I was just afraid..."

He is afraid... he is very afraid. However, he is not going to back down... not until his sister and the world she lives in are safe.

* * *

Onieda Mahiro walked through the school courtyard till he reached the Koko no Kira's Pillar. He looked at it for a few moments and then started to speak.

"So you are Koko no Kira, eh?" he smiled at it. "I can feel your Fear trying to devour me... force me into your world of fear."

The sensation became even stronger, but he continued smiling.

"But you know what is the problem with you Youkai?" he asked it, although he knew it would not answer. "It is that your power depends on fear... the more afraid the enemy is, the stronger you are... the more fearsome the enemy is, the weaker you are..." he put a hand into the fountain and took out a coin that someone must have thrown into it. "You are a fearsome and powerful beast, no doubt... yet, you can't even touch me... Why is that so?"

Even his human eyes could now see black fires jumping around him, trying to devour him.

"It is because I am a far more fearsome beast." He tossed the coin back into the fountain. "I may be a human, but I am a human who can even make youkai tremble in fear. Your own Fear... does not even impress me."

The fires started jumping around, becoming even bigger.

"There... you are trying to prove yourself... like a true coward." He smiled. "You were created to kill people like me... yet you can't even touch me... how pathetic you are."

Mahiro laughed and then gave it another wicked smile.

"It is disappointing... it is disappointing that a lame youkai like you was involved in killing my dear brother." He crossed his arms. "I just wanted to say that I'll take care both you and your master pay for it. And death..." he turned around and started leaving. "...will just be the ending act of a tale of your suffering as you watch your worlds crumble around you."

* * *

**Author Notes** : and after four chapters, the Introduction arc is finally over!

\- this sure was one big chapter (30 A4 pages)... had to delay quite a few scenes just to make it smaller. Oh, and I changed the cover so it is no longer just three kanji... but three kanji spreading darkness around them...

\- Yashagoro got a lot of development here: first we see how he survived the Gokadoin cleansing, then how his clan was formed (as well what their beliefs are), why he is he here and, finally, Azuru's dark foreshadowing

\- then there are members of the Founding Family of the Shin Sekai... which ended up being Onieda's. We get some exposition on this family's members as well on how influential they are. Yet they are not in harmony: Mahiro disagrees with quite a few decisions his grandfather and father make and is not on good terms with his brother Mamoru (who is waging his own war against the SS). And speaking about Mahiro, he sure is one scary human... oh, and he seems to know Yanagita

\- the other person who got some exposition was the girl who goes by name Ichinoe Araya. Few questions have been answered, but more questions appeared. All in all, she also brought some bleak foreshadowings

\- as a side note, I love writing Tsurara in role of a strict mom. A shame her daughter didn't have much of a role yet, but that will change in near future ;)

\- and of course, Gyuki intends to give the young siblings some experience. What could possibly go wrong? It is not like assassins are praying on... oh wait...

\- now, I am going to write a chapter for my fic on FictionPress... which means there will be a small delay before ch5 comes out

**All in all, thanks for reading and highly hope you review it! 'till next time!**


	5. (Eastern Night, Starless Sky)

**Arc II: Eastern Night, Starless sky**

**Chapter 5**

It was a pleasant day for Kiyotsugu Saaya, emerald-eyed girl with black hair that reached to her shoulders. She spent this entire day with her friends, skipping school as there were no classes today. While it was technically irresponsible, she didn't regret it even a little bit.

And it sure was an eventful, fun day.

First, she and her female friends walked around town in school uniforms, enjoying the rare opportunity of walking around the town at this time when they are usually at school. People on the streets were surprised to see schoolgirls in their uniforms walk around the town at the time they should be at school and, interestingly, the girls enjoyed the fact that others were so surprised.

Then, they went to karaoke and had a great time there, spending more time fooling and laughing than actually singing. Unfortunately, some of songs will be forever ruined to Saaya as she will instantly remember embarrassing mistakes she and her friends did there.

Later, few guys from the school, who got tired of that ceremony down there, joined them as they went to one of those parks with a lake where you can fish for a small fee. Saaya can proudly say that she caught both the most and the best fish and even made some small amount of yen by selling advices to one of male friends who wanted to impress his crush. She didn't need the money, but money was never the point anyway.

After that, they visited a caffe, enjoying good coffee while remembering some funny events from their lives.

After that, they hired a few bicycles and rode around the town which soon turned into a race. Saaya did well, though admittedly she cheated by taking shortcuts.

And now the night fell, and Saaya said goodbyes to her friends and went home.

As it fits an old samurai family, it was a big mansion, built in a mix of traditional and western styles, with fancy furniture and servants... though her eccentric father let all the servants have a payed break from work.

Speaking about it, both of her parents were on a  _Business Trip_. That means that her house tonight will be nice and quiet, perfect for resting a bit in peace. Maybe she will even write few extra articles for her Newspaper Club. It would pleasantly surprise her senpai who leads the club, no doubt in that!

" _Yes, it is a great day."_  She thought as she walked into the living room.

For those wondering why she was skipping school, it is because today it is supposed to be filled with a hundred of youkai. Heck, the new headmaster that just got appointed is a youkai.

As for why her parents were away, it is because her father is a rabid youkai fan and he got news of some Tsukumogami he wanted to check on and took mother with him.

And to be frank, Saaya got quite a bit tired of anything related to youkai, both due to her father being an eccentric youkai fan, her mother being a magnet for trouble and the fact that some of her childhood friends were youkai. And some cruel gods obviously didn't want her to spend even one day without them in it.

In her living room a certain girl, whom she knew very well, was sitting on a sofa and was eating her food, not even caring that she is making a mess which Saaya will have to clean herself.

"What are you doing here, Nura?" still in state of shock, Saaya asked her  _friend_.

"Awh, Saaya!" Nura Ritsura answered while stuffing noodles into her mouth, with zero concern for manners. "I am fweating youf foog."

"I can see that." Saaya answered and started walking towards her uninvited  _guest_. "WHY are you eating our food?"

"Why... Because I am dauvhter of a Nubvavihyon!" she proclaimed. Saaya was sure there were dozens of plates and bowls on the small table. Where she stores that food in her body will likely forever remain a mystery.

"Is that so?" Saaya said.

Few moments later, Ritsura was pushed out of the Kiyotsugu family's house.

"And don't come back!" Saaya yelled and locked the door. "Breaking into  _my_  house and eating  _my_  food. Not on  _my_  watch she isn't!"

"Why have you come back?" sitting on a chair and waiting for her laptop to load up, Saaya asked the youkai girl who just broke into her house  _again_.

"You skipped school today, Kiyo-chan..." Ritsura asked while sitting on a sofa and crossing her fingers like a cartoon villain.

"Too many youkai for my taste." she answered, fully honest. "And answer my question, please."

"The new headmaster will not be pleased that you didn't honor him with your presence." She said in a deep voice. "Soon enough, he shall... Oh look, fancy buttons! Didn't know there was treasure hidden in this thing!"

"Again: Why are you here?" Saaya's annoyance was getting dangerously near her limit.

"Ohohohohoho, it is a massage chair!" Ritsura seems to have completely forgotten about her and indulged herself in the sofa, subconciously cooling the room in the process.

Saaya sighed, turned the volume to maximum and played some heavy metal.

"KYAAAAH!" Ritsura shouted and fell from the sofa in surprise.

"You alright, Nura-san?"

"Y...yes... sorry for ignoring you..." she said while raising from the floor. "Anyway, is your father coming back home anytime soon?"

"He is currently in Itoigawa so I don't expect him to come back home today."

"Itoigawa? Something happened there?"

"Nothing worth worrying about." Saaya answered. Her father is impulsive, but when something seems serious, he takes care to report it to this girl's clan. "He simply heard a rumor and took mom, Shima-san and Maki-san with him." Saaya felt sorry for Shima amd Maki-san. Although their childhood ended long ago, her father still keeps their little group alive and active.

Ritsura almost asked about if she forgot to mention Torii but then remembered that she is in the States, with her fiancée Kurotabou.

"Ah yes... mom did say yesterday that Kiyotsugu-san asked if she would go on a  _Club Trip_. She almost cried because she was too busy to hang with her old friends." Ritsura said as she returned to her sofa, turning the vibrations down.

"Why didn't she go?" Saaya asked. "I know she is officially the boss until your father comes back, but isn't that just ceremonial?"

"Something is going on." Ritsura said while sighing. "Father went to the States to investigate  _something_. Karasu Tengu went west to deal with  _something_. Gyuki-san is preparing for  _something_. Even my carefree Great Grandfather is being more absent because of  _something_."

Saaya sighed. She could see where this is going. "And you are upset because nobody tells you anything, is it?" Saaya knew Ritsura since forever and she knew very well that Ritsura always wanted to have a part in anything that the clan is doing.

"Damn right I am!" Ritsura replied. "It is one thing to keep me away from... important stuff. It is another to keep me in the dark!"

"Your father and the clan are just worried you know." Saaya somehow found herself defending the youkai of the Nura Clan. "You can't expect a parent to bring his kid into danger."

"Even his heir?"

"Your father has youkai blood, Nura-san. He'll be healthy and kicking for two centuries at least. The fact that you are the heiress won't matter for a long, long time."

"Ugh..." Ritsura did not seem fond of her answer, though she obviously saw the wisdom of it. "Still though, they are going too far."

"There is no  _too far_  for parents."  _Well, besides my father that is... but he goes too far in everything._

"Look who is acting all mature." Ritsura taunted her.

"I saw it on TV." Saaya shrugged.

"Look who is stealing someone else's hard work." Ritsura grinned. "Anyway, lets say the enemy decides to strike at his kids instead of him..."

"Your father and your clan will not let them get a chance."

"And in case they fail to keep them away and one of them reaches me or my little brother?"

"They will risk the wrath of history's greatest youkai and the most powerful youkai clan which, conveniently, serves him." Saaya striked back.

"And if they are strong or foolish enough to take the risk, then what?" Ritsura didn't give up. "We are inexperiened so we can't properly defend. No kind of training can make up for experience." Ritsura seems to have gotten tired of the massages so she turned the chair off. "But lets say they are not there to attack us, but use us. We don't know what is going on, who is who and they use our lack of knowledge to manipulate us."

"You are reading too much into it, Nura-san."

"I have to, Saaya." Ritsura replied. "I am the heiress of the Nura clan."

"Ahhh... you sure are stubborn..." Saaya's resistance started to crumble "Anyway, what does that all have to do with you coming here?"

"Because your father must know  _something_."

"Why would my father know anything?"

"Don't try to sell me that excuse." Ritsura didn't buy it. "Your father is an expert at gathering info and it is something he found that made my father leave for the States. So either I somehow get some info from him... or I get some from you."

"And you think he told me anything?"

"With all due respect, your father can't stop talking. He must have let something he thought was trivial at dinner or something."

"Careful now, Nura-san. Only I am allowed to talk dirt about my father." Saaya warned her. "Anyway, trivial stuff is trivial."

"Trivial stuff to everyone else... but nothing is trivial for a reporter." Ritsura smiled again. "But you are as good as he is in digging for information. Furthermore, you have inherited both of your parent's fatal level of curiosity which is why you are such enthusiastic member of the newspapers club in the first place. And against all your claims of not liking my kind, you still won't be able to resist looking into what happens in our world."

Saaya looked at her for a moment and then sighed. "Alright, what is it that you want to know?" She tried to keep herself and Ritsura away from all this, but it was obvious her youkai friend was not intending to give up.

"Ha!" Nura Ritsura seemed happy at her  _victory_. "Lets start with whom are they looking at. I heard they were called  _Shin Sekai_  or something."

"Too big, I won't answer."

"What?! But you said..."

"Ask your clan about it if you want. Besides, nothing concrete is known about them so whatever I tell you is more likely to be false rather than true. Not that I found much about them to begin with."

"You promised..." Ritsura pouted.

"Look, they are not the only group that causes problems." Saaya tried to make a compromise. "Why not deal with someone else, show what you are made of and get quality info from your own comrades?"

"Too small..." Ritsura didn't want to give up.

"Fitting for someone with little experience." Saaya didn't want to give up and let her friend take too big risks. "Also, with your clan worried about this Shin Sekai, they need someone to deal with other problems least the problems accumulate, no?"

"Hmmm... I confess I did get a similar idea today." After few moments of thinking, she finally gave in. "Alright, give me something else."

"Hai!" Saaya replied happily and then stopped to think.

"...why are you silent?"

"Don't disturb me. I am thinking about what could actually be useful to you!" Saaya scolded her. "Go steal some food while I think."

"As you command!" Ritsura said happily and jumped from the sofa.

"I got it!" Saaya shouted happily.

"Oh come on, at least let me take a step towards the fridge!"

"Protecting my food is what motivates me the most, Nura-san." Saaya grinned at Ritsura. "Anyway, why not look into Shiori?"

"Shiori? Who is that?" Ritsura asked with a confued face as she sat back into the sofa.

"You know about the Edo Hyakku Monogatari Clan, right?"

"Do I? We only feuded for centuries and they only revived the Nue and they only killed my grandfather." Ritsura answered with sarcasm. "And they don't know when to die. You say they are up to something again?"

"Now this is just theorizing but..." Saaya took the laptop into her hands. "...my father believes that this person called Shiori, who might be behind a lot of incidents around Japan, might be one of them."

"An ancient enemy who causes trouble while we are busy with someone more worthwhile... tell me more." Ritsura was already intrigued.

"Anyway, as it fits her name  _Shi_  which means  _Poem_  and  _Ori_  which means  _Weaving_ , this Shiori person makes poems, posts them on the net and soon it becomes true."

"An Evil Poet who kills people with poetry... are you kidding me?" Ritsura seemed disappointed. "That just makes her able to predict future at best. How does that even connect them to youkai feuds?"

"Nura-san..." Saaya was even more disappointed. "...what do you know aboot the Hyakku Monogatari?"

"Besides that we were feuding and that they murdered grandfather?" Ritsura asked. "Not much, they were an clan in Edo who killed hundreds of humans soon after my father became the Third Commander. Oh, and there are some ridiculous stories about them creating youkai but thats so ridiculous that they can't be..." once she saw Saaya nodding at the last part, Ritsura stopped speaking for a moment. "Wait, that is actually true?"

"Father claims it is." Saaya shrugged. "He said they created paintings and tales about youkai, spread them and than somehow the youkai were brought to life... which became especially nasty after Internet was invented as it allowed them to spread rumors more efficiently than before."

"Ah, I see... and this Shiori person writes poems about youkai and that youkai is then born?"

Saaya nodded

"So... any idea where to find her?"

"Not her, but some of her youkai at least should be easy to find. Let me check a bit... ah, lucky!" Saaya smiled as she looked on her laptop. "A new poem, which should come true today, appeared on the net."

"Let me see!" Ritsura ran to her and looked at the screen.

_On eastern night of starless sky_

_Yet star-filled towers_

_The Shogun of Sun's Origin_

_Is forced to play three games_

_By the clown in white_

_A game of agility_

_That makes the steel horses cry_

_A game of hiding_

_That makes sun's children cry_

_A game of Clown's riddle_

_That makes the Shogun cry_

"Hmmm..." Ritsura started. "What do you think, Saaya?"

"Eastern Starless sky and Star-filled towers... she used that for Tokyo in past." Saaya hated to confess it, but she was also getting excited about this.

"Games... I did hear that Hyakku Monogatari was a name of a game and that the clan of the same name liked to play bizarre games. Guess this explains it a bit..."

"So who is the Shogun?" Saaya asked. "The Prime minister? But he isn't in Tokyo at the moment..."

After a few moments, they remembered another person who earned that nickname.

"Oi, Saaya..." Ritsura was the first to open her mouth. "Do you think what I think?"

"The Cyber Shogun you mean?" Saaya answered. It was nickname given to a certain person who revolutionized Japan in recent years: Onieda Masato.

"Yep..." Ritsura looked her into the eyes. "You said you'd give me  _something not-big_."

"That was the original plan..." Saaya replied. "Anyway, you intend to act on this or..."

"Of course I do!" Ritsura quickly took out her cellphone and started typing a number.

"Whom are you calling?" Saaya asked.

"The clan..." Ritsura answered. "I won't just stand and watch as they attack Mayuri's and Mamoru-san's father."

"Oh..." Saaya smiled. "Wasn't this supposed to be your  _own_  moment of glory?"

"This is no time for childish games." Ritsura gave a simple reply.

"How mature." Saaya continued smiling. "You have two cell's right? Use the other one to stay in contact with me." She said as she started typing on her laptop while bringing out a tablet from her bag.

"Oh, you will help us, the youkai that annoy you?"

"There is time to be childish and there is time to not be childish." Saaya said with a smile. "And since my father is not here, I guess I have to take care of his duties. After all, you lowly youkai need human help these days."

Ritsura smiled back and jumped through the window. At the end of the day, the Kiyotsugu's continue to be part of her father's Hyakki Yakou, even if they are humans.

* * *

"Alright, I am finished..." proclaimed Tsurara (still wearing the Nura Clan bandanna) while prostrating herself on Hebinyoro's back.

"Tsurara-nee-san, are you alright?" Oryou floated up to her face. "Do you want to rest at the mansion?"

"No, no... I am just resting for a bit." Tsurara rejected the tsukumogami's offer. "You guys continue searching for my daughter."

It was quite a tiring day for her. Preparing the food for the ceremony stole her many hours of sleep and so did taking care of the cleaning.

However, physical labor was never something she could get easily tired of. What tired her the most were her motherly worries. Hearing that her beloved son was again hurt by his trauma's felt like a stone falling on her back. And although he quickly recovered this time, the fact remains that he is still being plagued by those ugly memories and they are still a weight on his shoulders.

And a weight on his mother's as well. Every now and then, she wonders if something bad will happen to him because of it and the fact that she, his mother, can't do anything about it is a frustration.

A painful, painful frustration.

Suddenly, a ringing noise woke her up from her thoughts.

"Tsurara-nee-san!" she heard her Tsukumogami shouting. She turned head a bit and saw them carrying a laptop. "The Commander is calling!"

"Huh?!" her eyes widened and then she jumped back up. "Bring it here!"

The Tsukumogami brought the laptop in front of her and Oryou floated in front of the screen "Telecommunication..." Oryou raised her hands and than clapped with them. "...ON!" after finishing the proclamation, she quickly floated away and Rikuo-sama's face appeared on the screen.

"Yo, Tsurara." Rikuo, in his youkai form, smiled. "Nice hair!"

"Huh?" Tsurara created a mirror from her ice and took a look at her hair. "Waaah! Turn the computer around! Quickly!" she ordered her tsukumogami.

"Come on Tsurara, you are over-reacting." Rikuo was saying from the laptop that was now turned around.

In meantime, Tsurara created an ice comb and fixed her hair. "Oryou, is it alright now?"

"Yes Tsurara-nee-san, your hair is beautiful!" Oryou gave her thumbs-up.

"Good, good!" she nodded. "Turn Rikuo-sama back!"

"Tsurara..." Rikuo sighed after the laptop turned back. "I saw your hair in even more messier states... especially when my hands got into it." He tried to tease her.

However, she decided to completely wipe out this embarrassing event from her memories so she ignored what he just said.

"Ah, Rikuo-sama! I am so happy to see you again!" she knew she acted like an excited schoolgirl rather than a grown up woman, but she found herself not caring much appearances at this moment, especially since it was so long since they last talked... well, it felt long to her. "You know, you could have called earlier." And now she pouted like a schoolgirl.

"Sorry, sorry... I was a little busy." He apologized. "Although I hoped you would have called me as well."

"Well, I couldn't know if you were busy or not you know." she continued pouting. "By the way... ain't it hot with that on? " she asked him.

"With what?" he was confused. "Oh, you mean the scarf?"

Rikuo was wearing a scarf Tsurara hand-made on one of colder winters to keep him warm. For some reason, he continued wearing it all the time, no matter the season.

"I know you said you liked it, but I don't want you to get a heatstroke because of it."

"Come on now... if my Yuki Onna can wear hers on summer, then so can I." he winked to his embarrassed Yuki Onna. "Though I must confess: it is hot... this scarf which you made still has your scent and the feeling of having you hanging on me makes my blood boil!"

"Uwa-wa-wa-wa-wa-wa..." Tsurara's face became even redder. "You are being too perverted Rikuo!" she replied.

"This distance between you and me... my desires grow from day to day..." seems he didn't intent to stop teasing her just yet. "Yes, I think the house needs another kid running around and causing a mess." He said while nodding.

"Ri-ri-rikuo, it is still too soon! No actually both Ritsura and Rihan are in high school... no, definitely too soon to be talking about it, especially... but then, I want another little one, Ritsura is already my height and Rihan is even taller than me... AAAGHHH!" she shaked her head left and right. "Are you trying to make me all packy wacky again?!"

"Ha ha, what is packy wacky?" he laughed. "But if you are talking about intentionally embarrassing you in order to see that cuteness of yours, I am guilty as charged."

"Mo, Rikuo-sama!" she started pouting again. "You are making me melt."

"Just like how looking at you all cute is making me melt and I am not even an ice youkai so thats on much higher level." He winked again. "I am missing you and the kids a lot."

"And we miss you too." She composed herself and answered with a smile. "The whole clan does."

"So, how are the kids doing? I mean the current two, we'll discuss the future dozen in the future." He asked. "I see you are on Hebinyoro. Is something going on again?"

"Future DOZEN?!" she started melting again. "You are going waaaay overboooard Rikuo-sama!"

"Well, we do have time and years." He replied, reminding her that they will live long.

"OVEEEEERBOOOOOARD!" she said once more and then composed herself. "Nothing special is going on. Your daughter is fooling around again and the clan is now looking for her in order to bring her home where I'll give her a two hours long lecture." She answered his question.

She decided to leave the thing with Rihan out as she didn't want him to worry and get distracted from his work. It is a necessary evil that a wife and mother sometimes has to commit, as she believed.

"The clan? How much of the clan." he asked with a worried face.

"Everyone who doesn't have urgent business." She replied. "I am REALLY angry today and I have the entire clan on her tail! We already caught and imprisoned some of her Toono alies."

"And you say I am going overboard..." he commented with a sweatdrop.

Tsurara sighed. "It is all your fault. She may look like a Yuki Onna and freeze stuff like one, but she is a Nurarihyon through and through as far as her personality is concerned."

"Is that bad?" he asked with his own rebellious face.

"Oh course not." She answered with a warm smile. "It is just that I like to fool around with her I guess." She said while putting a hand on her cheek. "We won't be able to do that for much longer I fear. Kids grow so fast..."

Rikuo sighed. "And I am here, in the States and unable to play with you guys." His face turned a bit more serious. "On a different note... everything alright down there?"

"Yes, everything is in order Rikuo-sama." She also turned serious and returned to her more formal tone. "Something seemed to have happened in the hotel near the high school, but it seems it is just one of un-affiliated youkai causing a minor mess during some kind of party." She scratched her head. "Guess Hitotsume's ceremony attracted some less wanted attention. But nothing serious."

"Well, you guys keep a watchful eye." Rikuo said. "Actually, check the place again... just in case."

"Yeah, I thought the same. How's it with you? Did you find out anything up there?"

"A little, but nothing certain or what we didn't suspect yet. Once we have collected enough info, I'll have Daruma make a report."

"Well, then I won't steal any more of your time. Good luck Rikuo-sama." She saluted. "Give your best and I'll give my best as well."

"I know you will. You always did." He said with a smile. "Our plane will leave soon so I'll disconnect now."

"A plane? You are going somewhere?"

"Yes, we are crossing to another state. I have found a new lead and I have a good feeling about it."

"Aha!" she said. "Well, say hi to Shouei-san, Natsumi-san and the others."

"I will." He nodded. "Cya Yuki Onna of mine."

"See you Rikuo-sama!" she nodded. "Love you!"

Tsurara sighed as the screen turned black and the Tsukumogami took the laptop away. She wished she could have talked with him longer but then she understood that if she kept getting what she wanted, they would waste time on idle chatting for hours.

Suddenly, her cellphone started ringing. "Who is it now?" She sighed, expecting more duties she must attend to. "Huh? Ritsura?"

And not only was her daughter calling, but her daughter was calling every clan member on duty. Tsurara had a bad feeling that this was not going to be a prank.

After some time, her voice shouted: "Nura clan, we have an emergency!"

* * *

The night has already engulfed Tokyo, yet much of it was even more active than during the day. Students who want to spend some time together now that the temperature was more tolerable, workers who are spending their hard earned money, foreign tourists who came to visit the urban capital of Japan... all kinds of humans can be found in the city.

But amongst, below and even beyond, there are other kinds of beings as well: youkai. Even though humans these days are active both day and night, night is still their time.

Some of these youkai enjoy life the way humans do. They fool around with their friends and comrades, enjoy drinks in their bars and even parade in parts where human activity is low.

Others, mainly young urban legends, tend to be more wicked. They bring terror on humans they find, on humans that get lost in their territory or on humans who seek them by their own will.

And then there are youkai that protect those humans unfortunate or foolish enough to get lost.

"Another one down." Rihan said as he returned his sword into its sheath and a youkai disentrigated behind him.

"Is... Is it over?" a businesswoman asked him as she sat on the floor. "Am I safe?" she asked as tears went down her eyes. She found herself getting possessed, brought into a dark alley and then attacked by an urban legend, but he made it in time to save her.

"Yes, it is safe now." Rihan said with a smile. She still looked afraid though, likely because he himself didn't look human at the moment due to his hair defying gravity. Rather than to try to calm her down, he decided to simply leave. "Now go buy yourself some coffee or sake and forget this all happened. Cya!" he said and jumped up onto a balcony, from there to another one then at a top of a semaphore and so on until he reached a nearby park.

"Look who is back: Rihan-sama himself." Said a turtle-like youkai while bathing in a pond. His name was Amezou and he was a member of the Toono Clan as well as a friend of his father and Rihan's sister.

"So how did it go? Did 'ya get a kiss?" asked a grinning ape-like youkai Dohiko who was sitting under a tree, also member of the Toono clan.

Rihan ignored his question. "You know, I am starting to wonder why you two stop and rest whenever I actually find an enemy... any why are you following me around in the first place?"

"Well, we were originally just interested in how strong you are." Dohiko answered. "Your sister often visits Toono so we know about her, but we rarely see you in action."

"You weren't watching right now." Rihan said and sat under the tree opposite to Dohiko. This was a good night for him and he managed to slay three evil urban legends. However, due to it he was a bit exhausted and decided to rest for a bit.

"We saw enough the first two times." Dohiko shrugged. "You killing them so quickly made it into a dull show."

"A show eh... a life was endangered there you know."

"So?" Amezo shrugged. "They are youkai and youkai often kill humans. We'd come to help if you were in danger, but you are above these guy's level."

"Hmh. Not all of them are weak like these three today. I was simply lucky." Rihan decided to not press the issue further. Nura Clan is the only youkai clan whose very Fear is based on protecting others and he learned long ago that other youkai don't care much about youkai attacking or even killing humans.

But truth be said, Rihan was radical even amongst the Nura Clan. He often patrolled the streets of Tokyo, actively looking for violent urban legens and other  _wicked_  youkai, slaying them without even a shred of mercy. His father and sister sometimes offer their enemies to change their ways and join the clan, but ever since the Nakano Incident Rihan felt nothing but hatred for such kind of youkai and offered them no such thing.

And, for some reason, he could  _feel_  where his  _prey_  was so he had much easier time finding them than anyone else did. He didn't need to know where someone may attack, who might attack or who might be attacked... he simply knew when an evil urban legend was nearby.

"By the way Rihan..." Dohiko started asking. "How does that transformation of yours work? Rikuo could only change at the night but I saw you change at the day as well."

"We heard your grandfather had only one form while your sister's form changes depending on temperature." Amezo joined in, also mysteriously interested in the topic. "Do you also change depending on the temperature?"

"Temperature stopped mattering for nee-san ages ago." Ritsura also has two forms between which she used to change, in her case depending on temperature: if it were warm, she was more human and better at using Nurarihyon's techniques while when she got cold, she was more of a Yuki Onna. Even her personality differed, though only on the surface. However, her Fear grew to the point that even in her human form she could control the cold so she now tends to stay in her youkai form most of the time. "As for me, I simply transform whenever I get excited and revert back when I want it."

"Hm Hm, interesting..." Dohiko nodded. "What do you think Amezo? How much will Youbi-san pay for this information?"

"She is very generous these days so I expect she'll pay a lot." Amezo answered and then turned towards Rihan. "Unless you already told her about it, Rihan. Did you tell Fuguruma Youbi about this?"

"No, I didn't. Feel free to make money on my account." Rihan shrugged.

Fuguruma Youbi, who often visits the Nura Clan, is a youkai who calls herself  _Youkai World's Official Secretary_  and she collects all kinds of information concerning the youkai world and archives it... and pays well to those who bring her information. Where she gets the funds is anyone's guess.

"Nura-kun?" a female voice called to him.

Rihan recognized the voice. "Mayuri-san?" he looked towards the direction the voice came from and saw the orange haired girl, still wearing her school uniform. "What are you doing here?"

"We were walking not far from here." Mamoru, whom Rihan just now noticed, answered instead of his sister. "I noticed you were close by and we came here."

By  _noticed_  he meant that his cellphone alerted him that Rihan's own cellphone was close by. That habbit of his was creepy at first, but Rihan got used to it after some time.

"Is that so?" Rihan replied. He then noticed that Amezo hid under the lake and Dohiko jumped on the tree, obviously trying to hide themselves. "You guys can come out. There is no reason to hide from them."

"Oh, is that so?" Dohiko dropped down from the tree. "Oh, a cute girl!"

"A cute girl you say?!" Amezo jumped out from his hiding as well. "Uuuu..." he then turned towards Rihan. "Is she your..." he asked rising his little finger.

"Nah, he rejected me today." Mayuri answered with a smile.

Rihan could feel cold glares of his two youkai friends and felt as if he could read their minds:

" _You rejected this beautiful hime-sama?!"_  Dohiko's thoughts said in shock.

" _Are you maybe swinging the other way?"_  Amezo's thoughts suggested.

Dohiko than put his hand under his chin as if thinking about something _. "So... do you think she would go out with a handsome youkai like me?"_  he could hear his plan.

" _Don't you already have a crush?"_ Rihan answered him in his thoughts.  _"I remember nee-san talking about it."_

Dokiho's eyes closed.  _"Yeah, but I am not advancing much on that front."_

" _Good point."_  Rihan nodded.

" _Riha-chan, please stop losing yourself in that little world of yours."_  For some reason he imagines Araya speaking.  _"Don't make me come there and get you back the hard way."_

" _Yeah, you are embarrassing us all there."_  He could imagine Ritsura supporting her.  _"Get the hell back into the real world. Now!"_

" _Fine fine!"_ Rihan told to himself and looked back to the Onieda siblings.

"Why is everyone so silent..." Mayuri asked in a confused tone.

"My little sister's romantic life aside..." Mamoru said as he put a hand on his sister's head. "...would you mind escorting her home?"

"Stop in nii-san!" Mayzuri started complaining. "I told you I am fine! I can go by myself!"

"Huh?" Rihan just then noticed that Mayuri was slightly pale and that her eyes looked exhausted. "Did something happen to you Mayuri-san?"

"Nothing happened!" Mayuri screamed. "I was just a little tired and fell asleep!"

"She got a narcoleptic attack." Mamoru gave a more worrying answer. "It happens to her from time to time."

"You have narcolepsy Mayuri?" Rihan was surprised to hear it. He often hang with her, but he doesn't remember her ever getting a narcoleptic attack.

"No I don't!" Mayuri continued complaining. "This happened a few times in past, yes. But doctors proved that I don't have narcolepsy of any kind!"

"Thats even worse as we don't know what it is." Mamoru continued. "Either way, I have no intentions to let you risk getting another attack like that while nobody you know is nearby. You are not going home alone!"

"You have to go somewhere Mamoru-sensei?" Rihan found it all confusing. Onieda's were a wealthy family and they had servants to help them. "Why don't you call for someone to give her a ride home?"

"Well... the traffic is big this night so who knows when a car will come... or when she will come home. So I'd prefer if you guys escorted her. Should something happen again, you can reach our house faster than any car." Mamoru answered. "I am going to see someone about this problem of hers. The person in question will be travelling overseas tomorrow morning so I hope to visit them before it gets late."

"Alright then!" Dohiko rose up and hit his chest. "We'll take care of your sister... what is your family name again?"

"Ah yeah, we didn't introduce ourselves." Amezo jumped into the conversation as well. "He is Dohiko and I am Numagappa Amezou. We are Ayakashi by the way!"

"Glad to meet you." Mamoru and Mayuri bowed. "We are Mamoru and Mayuri of the Onieda family."

""O... Onieda?"" both of them were shocked and went quiet. Rihan noticed that there wa fear on their faces but could not fathom why. "Are you maybe... related to Onieda Masahide?"

 _Onieda Masahine..._  Rihan knew that name, but had no idea why youkai would be that shocked to hear it.

"Ah..." Mamoru's face turned serious. Seems he did know why. "You two are from Touhoku or Chubu I presume?" Mamoru removed his glasses and bowed to them. "Yes, Masahide-san is our grandfather... I am sorry for what my grandfather did and I assure you, by no means do we like or support what he did."

"So you are... his relatives..." Dohiko commented with a serious tone and started whispering something to Amezo.

"What is going on?" Rihan rose up and asked. He looked towards Mayuri and saw she was as confused as he was.

"Hmph!" Dohiko started. "Seeing as you are friends with the Nura's, I'll take it you guys are alright." He said though his face still showed displeasure. Rihan didn't know what this all was about, but both of the Toono youkai lost all of their cheerfulness.

"Thank you and, again, we are sorry." Mamoru bowed again and turned towards Rihan. "Please take care of my sister Nura-kun." He asked, bowed again and left the park.

A few moments later, Mayuri started asking: "I am sorry for asking but... what happened between you and-"

"So this is the girl you rejected eh?" Amezo turned back to his cheerful self again and seemingly keen on not letting Mayuri ask her question. "You sure have some high standards, Rihan..."

"Ha, she may be an Onieda, but her face is alright." Dohiko also tried being more cheerful as well. "What was the problem anyway? Is there a cuter girl around?"

"Look guys, I just-" Rihan started but was cut off by Mayuri.

"Hooo... Who knows, someone took photos of him naked in a bedroom." She said with a naughty smile.

""OOOOOOOOOHHHHH!"" the two youkai looked at him in amazement.

"Come on now Mayuri-san, you know it was just Araya's prank." Rihan staunchly defended his honor.

"I only know about rumors and claims." She answered. "N... Not that I care much." She said, although she was obviosuly still a little bitter.

"Hmh! Hmh!" Dohiko started nodding. "A magnet for women, just like your father."

"So, shall we go and find this Araya as well?" Amezo asked his ape-like friend. "More cute girls there are, the better."

"I seriously suggest you not to." Rihan said with a serious tone. "For your own safety, forget all about her."

"Yes..." Mayuri joined in. "I don't like talking bad about others, but Araya-san can be... dangerous for one's mental and spiritual self."

"Yeah, many don't come out the same after meeting her." Rihan continued. "She is alright as your immunity system gets used to her, but even so she can be tough to deal with."

"Woah... now I am REALLY interested." Dohiko looked intrigued. "Amezo, lets go and find her."

"Weren't you listening to us?" Rihan continued with to fool around. "She is fearsome."

"Little Nura please... we are Toono!" Amezo punched his chest. "It needs more than a simple human to impress us!"

"Hoo... well, good luck the-"

Sound of a cellphone ringing in Mayuri's pocket cut him off.

"I wonder who might this be..." Mayuri took out her cell and touched the screen. "Ritsura-san?"

"MAYURI, WHERE IS YOUR BROTHER!?" Ritsura's loud voice came out from Mayuri's cellphone. She sounded as if she were panicking. "I called him, but I can't get him to answer!" her voice quited down but Rihan's ears could still hear it.

"He... he was with me a moment... few minutes ago..." Mayuri said with a voice that showed she herself started being afraid. Anyone would get startled by such a sudden call. "What is going on Ritsura-san?"

"Dammit... can you go and find him?" Ritsura requested.

"Nee-san, what is going on?" Rihan walked to the cellphone and asked.

"You there a well?" Ritsura started. "Ah, forget about that! Mayuri, Onieda Masato is your father right?"

"Yes... what is going on Ritsura-san?" Mayuri asked again. "Why... are you mentioning my father."

"Stay calm now Mayuri-san... We have reason to believe that some youkai will try to... attack him."

"What... what are you..." Mayuri's face turned pale and her cellphone fell from her hand.

"WATCH IT!" Rihan shouted and caught it before it fell on the ground. "Alright nee-san! I don't know why you need him, but we will look for Mamoru-sensei. He couldn't have gone far away."

"Let Mayuri-san look for him!" Ritsura ordered. "You look for Masato who will be driving through Tokyo, maybe on his way to visit Mayuri's and Mamoru-sensei's house. I don't think I need to say that you should prepare for a fight."

"Alright nee-san." Rihan answered. "I'll hang up now." He said and hanged up not waiting for Ritsura's farewells. After all, they are in a hurry.

"D...d...dad will be..." Mayuri started muttering and then turned around and started running. "DADDDD!"

"Damn it... she started panicking." He turned towards the Toono pair. "I don't know what happened between you and Onieda's but..."

"I'll go look for the glasses guy!" Amezo didn't wait for Rihan to finish and immediately chose a task. "Dohiko?"

"Ahh... I don't like the man but I'll help!" Dohiko clenched his fists. "I'll go with them. No youkai should be foolish enough to attack Masahide's son after what happened, so they are likely to be strong. I'll give you a helping hand Rihan."

"Thank you guys." Rihan smiled and turned around to run after Mayuri. "Alright, let the hunt begin!"

* * *

Ritsura was sitting on terrace of a closed caffe, with two cellphones on the table and one in her hand. Also, some of smaller youkai were running around her, trying to think of a way to be useful to her and the rest of the clan.

"Any progress, Saaya-chan?" Ritsura asked. One of the cellphones on the table were connected to Saaya while the other one was used for contacting the clan members. Since she was finished explaining the situation to her youkai comrades, it was now turned off.

"It is going slower than I'd like. And unless you get me those camera's, I won't make it in time! Did you manage to contact Mamoru-sensei?" Kiyotsugu Saaya was highly skilled in IT technology, taught by her father (who used those skills to help the Nura clan when needed), she regularly used those skills to collect info for her Newspapers Club. Knowing where might be traveling through, she could no doubt quickly find Onieda Masato's location in Tokyo if she had resources like City's Road Surveillance, which Japanese governments recently implemented for various safety reasons, at her disposal. However, the protection of those systems were above her hacking skills... but not beyond Mamoru's.

"No, seems like he turned off his cell or it got out of energy. We got Mayuri but she has no idea where he has gone." Ritsura replied, trying to make another call. It was a dark irony that she couldn't contact him now that his father's life may depend on him.

"Well, call someone else then!" Saaya shouted. "You are yakuza aren't you? Shouldn't you have some connections besides me and Mamoru-sensei?"

"We lost them because the current victim just had to enforce that damn Plan!" The Onieda family did a lot things for Japan, one being Onieda Masato's (unfortunately quite efficient) plan to improve the Internet security... which conveniently left all but best of hackers without their hobbies and while both Nura and Kiyotsugu families had good hackers, none were good enough to hack into better protected systems like the City Surveilances. Ironically, due to that Onieda Masato's very life was endangered.

"No choice then, guess I'll need to deepen my debt to  _that_  person." Ritsura said with a sigh and dialed another number. There was one connection that, somehow, had an answer to any issue.

Ritsura got worried because for some time nobody was answering. However...

"Yeah, what is it?" Araya asked in a frustrated tone. "I am kinda busy at the moment."

"This is important enough that I don't care about your business, Ichinoe-san." Ritsura answered. "You are getting the honor of helping us save Onieda Masato from an assassination."

"...you have to be kidding me..." Araya replied in a not-so-excited voice, which surprised Ritsura as Araya tends to be easily excited, especially when the situation looks dangerous. "I mean, who is trying to kill HIM?"

"Some person called Shiori it seems." Ritsura says. "Or Shiori told the world he will be attacked. No matter, someone is attacking him."

Araya stayed silent for a few moments and than said in her trademark tone: "Heee, sounds interesting... and just how could I help the mighty Nura Clan?"

"We need Saaya to get access to that Road Surveillance System so we could find him."

"And just how do I fit into all that?" Araya asked.

"You don't seem to motivated or you'd have realized it by now." Ritsura started to feel frustrated as time was of the essence.

"Sorry for being a lowly human rather than a mighty youkai like you." Araya said in a sarcastic tone. She really didn't seem keen on the idea to join this fight. "Next thing I know, scary youkai will be knocking on my doorstep."

"Come on now, nobody would attack a friend of our clan. Also, we are trying to save the mighty Onieda Masato... Mamoru's and Mayuri's father."

Araya stayed silent for some time, thinking about risks and helping her friends Ritsura presumed. "It is Onieda Masato, I can't afford to be stubborn here I guess..." Araya mumbled silently. "Alright! You need someone to hack into that system, no? Just give me access to your clan's and Kiyotsugu's network and I'll have some...  _friends_  be done with it in few minutes!"

"Perfect!" Ritsura replied. "You have Saaya's number so you and your friends communicate with her about it. I'll be busy with other stuff... oh, and what business were you on anyway?"

"Family business. Can't avoid it, seeing as I am the family's head" Araya said. "Bye and... good luck I guess?" she said and ended the call before Ritsura could ask anything more. She remembered Araya mention she is the head of the family once, but Ritsura thought she was joking... granted, she wasn't sure if she were or were not joking now either.

But those thoughts can wait for later. Now, it was time to focus on current issue.

"Ah, there you are!" her mother's voice foretold that she won't be bored while she waits for Saaya to be done. A moment later, her mother Tsurara fell from the sky, no doubt by jumping from Hebinyoro. "What do you think you are doing?"

"Leading a rescue operation?" Ritsura answered in an annoyed tone. She hoped nobody would find time to object to what she was doing, but of course she was not that lucky.

Tsurara sighed. "Listen Ritsura, I am the one that-"

Next moment, she went silent and both she and her daughter created ice bats and hit the person that tried to sneak up to them.

Itaku Kamaitachi fell on the ground, holding his nose. "Good to see that you are still keeping your guard up no matter what... unlike Rikuo." He said, in his usual tone and with a bloodied poker face.

"Father just doesn't want to bother with it so he lets you get your way." Ritsura objected to his claims.

"Yeah right." Itaku rose up. "I see you are still spoiling her Tsurara-san."

"Not that again Itaku-san..." Tsurara sighed. "There is no reason to let her needlessly fool around and risk her health when the clan has enough people to take care of it."

"Rikuo was five years younger than her when he waged war against the Kyoto Youkai and the Hyakku Monogatari." Itaku replied and Ritsura nodded.

"He was  _forced_  to take up those duties." Tsurara complained. "Had Rihan-sama been alive, he would have also kept him from the conflicts."

"Like how Nurarihyon did?" Itaku smirked. "Had Rikuo not been spoiled, the Nue would not have been revived in the first place and less would have needed to die."

"Yeah mom, listen to what Itaku says." Ritsura said with a nod.

"It is Itaku-san, Ritsura." Tsurara scolded her.

"Itaku is a Toono youkai, I am a granddaughter of a Toono youkai and in Toono, we speak like that." She said with a rised finger.

"Indeed." Itaku nodded in agreement. "You should learn some Toono manners from her, Tsurara."

"Ughhh... the two of you" Tsurara pur a hand on her forehead.

"Anyway, pampering can just hurt her and will put her life in danger later on." Itaku continued. "Also, I am not having an impression that things will stay peaceful for long. Peace and war require the mother to make a different-"

"Alright, alright Mr. Toono, I get it." Tsurara started to feel annoyed by him so she cut him off. Then she turned to her daughter. "So? What were you doing sitting here in the first place."

"Waiting for Aotabou." Ritsura answered with a smile. She was very much pleased to see her mother giving in.

"Aotabou?" Tsurara was confused. "Why are you waiting for-"

Loud noises and lights of a dozen motorbikes cut her off.

"Ah, here they are!" Ritsura jumped from her seat and ran to the road.

A moment later, Aotabu and his gang came. For some reason, Aotabou was holding a bike in his left arm. "Here is your bike Waka!" he said, not aware of the danger nearby.

" _Her_  bike?!" Tsurara was not entertained. "What do you mean by  _her_  bike?!"

"Ugh... the elder Yuki Onna is here..." Aotabou went pale.

"What do you mean with  _her_  bike Ao?!" Tsurara asked again, freezing the air around.

"Eh... you see... this..." Aotabou became even paler. Tsurara was always rough on him, but even more so when she thought he was playing too much into Ritsura's hands.

"It is what you heard mom." Ritsura answered instead of him. "It is  _my_  bike." She said as she jumped on it. "I am a delinquent girl mom. I need this for my image." She said as if it was a completely normal thing to do.

"YOUR BIKE?!" the air became even colder. "Where did you get that... and who taught you how to drive it in the first place?!"

The moment she finished the question, Aotabou turned on his bike in an attempt to flee.

"NO YOU AIN'T!" Tsurara hit the ground with her feet and think ice enveloped both his bike and his legs. "Are you responsible for all of this?!" she asked with a face of a killer.

"I-I-I-I... she made me teach her!"

"And you accepted..." the now evil Yuki Onna said. "...and you try to blame it on my daughter... Aotabou you..."

"Eeeeeekk!" Ao turned to Ritsura for help.

"Now now mom, it is my fault as he said."

"As for you little lady... YOU AIN'T GOING ANYWHERE ON A BIKE!" Tsurara now turned to her. "Feet yes! Hebinyoro yes! Taxi yes! Slave Aotabou yes! BIKE NO!"

"This is no time to fool around mom..." Ritsura said as she replaced her kimono with her school uniform which was a bit more comfortable for driving a bike. "We can leave this argument for later, but for now this is the best method for reaching Onieda-san."

"Hebinyoro is safer and can fly!" Tsurara didn't want to give up.

"It is also easier to shoot down a flying snake than a fast bike in an urban city that is surrounded by various obstacles." Ritsura took out her cell and typed in a number. "Saaya, how is it going?"

"Hey, don't ignore me like that..." Tsurara complained, silently.

"Good timing!" Kiyotsugu's daughter replied. "We found the car and will keep sending you the coordinates of its moving."

"Is Onieda Masato in the car? He didn't leave it or anything?" Ritsura asked.

"The camera's saw him so unless he has a clone, he is in the driver's seat."

"Driver's seat? Why would someone wealthy and influential like him be driving himself?"

"He is simply that kind of person that trusts more in himself than others. So you get him driving his own subordinates around, sometimes even in a limo."

"Well, whatever." Ritsura sighed. "Thank you Saaya, we'll be on our way then. Please, send the info to the rest of the clan as well."

" _Be it as it may..."_

A deep female voice suddenly cut in. Ritsura and the others looked around but couldn't find anyone. However, thbe only thing they noticed was silence: even semaphored stopped beeping.

" _...I see you found my target so lets start the game..."_

The female voice seems to be coming from everywhere: cellphones, public speakers, radio's in the parked cars...

"You are Shiori, aren't you?" Ritsura asked. "How long have you been spying on us."

" _Fufufufu..."_  the voice giggled.  _"Long enough. Anyway,I said: now that all players are prepared, lets start the game!"_

"Game eh... this sure is nostalgic." Aotabou said as Tsurara's ice freed him and his bike.

" _The rules are as follows: Nura Clan has to save Onieda Masato, my Hyakku Monogatari has to kill him. Seeing as there are no other rules... 5... 4..."_

"She is not taking this seriously, is she?" Ritsura commented. She found this whole behavior of hers bizarre.

" _...3..."_

"She is... Hyakku Monogatari was originally a game so this is part of their Fear." Her mother said. "And I see she even has personality fitting to those people."

" _...2..."_

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Ritsura said as she turned on the bike.

" _...1...START!"_

Suddenly, something jumped from top of a skyscraper onto the street. As the dust cleared, they could recognize a five meter tall youkai with a the head of a bulldog and arms of a gorilla.

"If the girls kiss me, imma let ya go." He said with his tongue slipping out. Ritsura heard about him: he was the kind of youkai that asked women a perverted question and if you scream or reject his offer, he tries to kill you.

""Hell no!"" the Yuki Onna's replied in unison.

"WRAAAAGH WHYYYYYYY?!" he started yelling and jumping around. If tales are true, he does that for some time in order to give his victims a chance of escaping thus turning it into a hunting game. Of course, his enemy won't be trying to escape from him this time.

"Ritsura, Ao... you guys go on!" Tsurara shouted. "Me and Itaku-san will keep him away!"

Ritsura starred for a few moments and then nodded. "Alright! Be careful mom!"

"And you drive carefully." She then threw a menacing look at Aotabou. "She better return without a scratch Ao..."

"Y...yes!" Aotabou answered. As big as he was, Momma Tsurara freaked him out.

"ALRIGHT, LETS GO GUYS!" Ritsura said and after few moments, they drove of.

"A big guy... he doesn't regenerate, does he?" Itaku asked as he took his weapons out.

"I think not... either way, he should be a piece of cake compared to  _that guy_." Tsurara said with a smile as she created a weapon from ice.

"You seem pleased." Itaku asked as he prepared to jump on his nemesis. "Are you excited for the fight or are you actually proud your daughter will do something productive?"

"Who knows?" Tsurara said with a smile.

* * *

Ritsura and Aotabou rode through the streets while listening to the cellphones. and since all cellphones used the same channel, it was hard to recognize words due to commotion.

"Gahhh!" Aotabou screamed. "Calm down guys! I can't hear anything!"

"We can hear enough: most of our clan members were attacked." Ritsura commented. "Damn that Shiori surprised us... how the hell did she know that we would try to save Masato in the first place?"

"Maybe there is a spy in our ranks..." Aotabou offered.

"Ugh... lets hope she just used cameras or something... she did use the technology for talking after all, even the ones that were supposed to be turned off."

"Lets think about it later, waka." Aotabou said. "I can feel someone's Fear coming after us..."

A moment later, an explosion of light occurred and a golden bike whose biker held a shotgun appeared behind them.

"Garh!" Ritsura yelled. "Half an hour ago I munched an apple and annoyed Saaya. Now, I am in middle of a full scale battle between two Hyaki Yakou's!"

"Exciting, isn't it?!" Aotabou yelled.

"Yes... and worrisome." Ritsura commented. "It means we have enemies ready for war again..."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And after a big delay, fifth chapter is finally here. Luckily for ya all, it ain't as big as ch4 :P

\- a new character got introduced: Kiyotsugu Saaya. I think it is not that hard to guess who the mother is (shame I wasn't able to find a good opportunity to mention it). Originally, I planned to introduce this character later on but changed my mind

\- and another villain got introduced: Shiori who is, as Saaya and Ritsura suspect, part of the HM. Although she was the last villain introduced, she is (alongside Ritsura) the first character I created. And while her name was mentioned only now, she was actually mentioned before (name not revealed because I didn't come up with a fitting one at the time :P)

\- and we also got a RikuTsura conversation. It is a bit frustrating that first 6 chapters are happening during the same day as Rikuo doesn't get a chance to get his own screentime. Bad planning from my part, I know...

\- Rihan got an opportunity to show some of his "Vigilante" side. That stance of his and his ruthless approach to dealing with enemies can be expected, though are more important for the plot than it initially seems like

\- Ritsura also got to show some of her serious side as well. Although she has a short temper, she knows when she must calm down, call the clan and lead them in taking care of menace when it arises

\- and just where did Mamoru disappear to...

\- next chapie will be the first action-packed chapter of the fic. Lets hope I am up to it ;P

**All in all, thank you guys for reading and I hope you review after reading.**

**So, 'till next chapter is out, cya!**


	6. Battles in Tokyo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Desiring to make a name for herself, Nura Ritsura had tried to find a worthy enemy to fight against. However, that lead her to finding out about a plot to murder Onieda Masato, a very important person in the society. Ritsura had immediately notified the Nura Clan which immediately moved in to pacify the renegade youkai acting on their turf. little did they know that this would turn into a large conflict.

 Two figures faced one another in an otherwise empty backstreet of Tokyo.

"Hmph! They are cowards, all of them..." the youkai Hitotsume Nyudo started saying while smoking his pipe. "Swords, claws, fangs... all weapons for the craven. You get what I mean?"

Hitotsume Nyudo was celebrating his ascension in human society by enjoying a meal in a luxurious restaurant with his most loyal subjects and closest associates when suddenly Ritsura-ojou-sama ordered the Nura Clan to assemble. Normally, he would have ignored her now that he has become a big-shoot in human world and thus no longer required to deal with the lowly youkai world, but after hearing the details about the mission he decided it might be helpful for his reputation if he ended up saving Onieda Masato's life.

So he ran from the restaurant, leaving his comrades behind. No, he didn't inform them about the mission: the less rivals there are, the bigger the chances he saves Onieda Masato himself. A decision he came to regret when he found out that Masato was targeted by a Hyaki Yakou and that they attacked the members of the Nura Clan.

Luckily, he managed to sneak past most of the enemies, but then he got attacked by the person he is now facing.

The person standing around fifteen meters away from him was wearing an old-fashioned brown hat and a long brown coat. His head was fully enveloped in aged bandages, hiding both his eyes and nose and mouth. Same kind of bandages were on his hands, both of whom held revolvers.

And Hitotsume was pleased to finally meet an enemy fighting with pistols, just like he used to.

"Silent, eh? Of course, you understand what I mean so there is no point in wasting your breath." Hitotsume, still in his suit and tie that he was wearing at school, nodded. "They have guts to call guns a coward's weapon while being afraid of it being pointed at them. Cowards, ha! You and me, we face guns with pride and courage, don't we? Obviously, we are the braver ones."

"..."

"No, not bravery... the idea of a true gun duel EXCITES us." Hitotsume left his smoking pipe in his mouth as he took out two guns from the 16th century. "Yes... I don't even remember when it was the last time I had a proper duel. It makes one's blood boil doesn't it?"

"...can we just get on with it?"

"Heh, of course we can..." Hitotsume suddenly went quiet.

"Fuuu... what is it now?"

"I forgot..." Hitotsume started sweating. "Ojou-sama didn't allow me to take loaded guns into the school so..." Hitotsume clapped his hands as if asking for a favor. "Would you mind lending me some ammo... or a loaded gun?"

"Sure, you can have my ammo."

"Oh really, I didn't think you wou-"

"Here, catch." The enemy raised his guns and started firing bullets at Hitotsume.

"Gyaaaah!" Hitotsume screamed as he took cover behind a container. "Come on, shouldn't you give me a fighting cha-"

The next moment, Hitotsume noticed something appear beside him.

His reactions was instant. "Ha, fooled you!" he shouted and shot... a trashbag. "What the..."

"One of the heads of the Nura clan being that stupid to come into battle unprepared... I won't fall for something as ridiculous as that." The opponent said in a calm tone.

"Tz." Hitotsume smirked. "Well, guess we'll have to do this the usual cowboy way."

* * *

_Head of a bulldog_

_Arms of a gorilla_

_Five meters tall_

_A lady he asks_

_To kiss his slimy mouth_

_If a scream comes_

_Madness of disappointment_

_And half an hour long hunt_

_Perversion or Hunger_

_One may get satisfied_

_Else his luck is stolen_

_They say a new youkai has appeared and that he hunts the urban streets of Japan. A five meters tall, bulky youkai with a head of a bulldog and arms of a gorilla, he targets women asking for a kiss._

_If he gets one, he rewards her with a wish._

_If the victim screams or rejects him, he becomes hostile but gives his prey enough time to you don't get caught for half an hour, he gives up and they say good fortune will follow you for an entire year._

~  _The hundred tales of Tokyo_

* * *

The bulldog-like youkai finally stopped with his tantrum and went into offensive, with Tsurara as his target.

Although a large monster was running towards her, Tsurara stayed calm. "I can't feel any decent amount of fear coming from you." She crossed her arms and smirked. "This will be a short fight."

She didn't even have time to start reciting when her  _ally_  kicked her into a closed store on the other end of the street.

"What was that for, Itaku?! Why are you destroying my cool scene?" she asked Itaku who jumped over the enemy youkai and tied him with his ropes.

"This is a good training opportunity." He said, landing close to her. Then he threw his scythe into a store and took out a boxed pair of kitchen knives. "I'll use these two small kitchen knives while you use whatever weapon you want. But only that weapon, none of those fancy spells."

"...huh?" Tsurara was dumbfounded by suggestion. "We are having a life and death situation here and you are talking about training?!"

"Every fight is a training." He tried to sound cool but the image of him taking out pink kitchen knives lessened the  _cool effect_  considerably. "Or are you afraid that you would lose against this weakling?"

"No, I-"

"Or has peace made you into a craven sloth?" he asked with a menacing glare.

"Hey, I am not a-"

"Your husband would never reject this. Do you want to disappoint your husband? Do you Tsurara?" his eyes took their animalistic shape.

"Awawawawa ALRIGHT I'LL DO IT! I'll follow your stupid rules!" she said and created an ice spear.

"They are not stupid rules." He seemed insulted.

"Sorry Itaku-san, but it is. I wouldn't even be surprised if you took a chef's hat and an apron and forced yourself to get out of the fight without dirtying the apron and losing the hat."

Itaku suddenly turned into stone, with a surprised look on his face.

"...what?" she felt worried.

"You sure do have a knack for this Tsurara." He turned to look into the store.

"Wait, you don't really intend to..." next moment, an image of Iron Chef Itaku appeared in her imagination. And then she rated the chances of him winning like that...

"Ah, seems they do sell those." He said and made a step towards the store. "Wait a moment, I'll be right-"

Tsurara put a hand on his shoulder. "Itaku-san..."

"What is it?" He then made the same horrified face as Ao does when she gets angry at him due to messing with her daughter. "Tsurara? Is something wrong?" he broke his own character by making an awkward smile.

"My sweet daughter just rode into danger. My little son will likely also participate. If you go too far, we lose and they get hurt due to it..." Tsurara smiled. "There will be a frozen hell to pay..."

"Yyyyyou are completely right, Tsurara-chan." He started apologizing with his out-of-character grimace on, even going as far to talk in a more respecting manner. "Lets not get too far heh heh..."

"Good... and it seems he is ready to attack again." She sighed. "Mo, I should have finished him while he was still tied up. You Toono guys are just so..."

"So it is true that she turns into a horrifying woman when her kids are in question..." he whispered to himself.

"Did you say something?"

"Just talking to myself. Anyway, lets not waste any more time! Lets go!"

"Right." She agreed and ran after him.

As she thought of having to fight that youkai without using her stronger techniques, her grip on the spear hardened. The enemy didn't seem nearly as harmless now that she had to fight him like this.

_Rikuo-sama, seems your friend was right: I do need to practice my other skills if I want to be a wife worthy of you!_

"Here it comes!" Itaku said as he got close to the enemy. "These are weak weapons, but as long as we hit fatal points we will win!"

"Hai!"

"I predict that he will try to punch me with one of those bulky arms of his." Itaku continued telling his plan. "When he does, I'll dodge and cut through his arm. You use the situation and find another point to wound."

"Hai!" Tsurara said again, planning to hit him in the abondmen or, if possible, his neck.

"YOU ARE A..." the youkai said as he rose his arm.

"Here it comes. Tsurara, prepare yoursel-"

"...NUISANCE!" the youkai swinged his left arm side-ways, which is close to what Itaku predicted. However, it was faster than they anticipated and Itaku was thrown all the way into the upper half of a distant skyscraper. "Now we are alone, sweety! Hi hi hi!"

"Geh..." Tsurara felt awkward, both because her ally has been taken care of and due to his remarks. "Don't worry Rikuo-sama, I won't let this pervert-KYAAH!"

He tried to grab her but, due to already having witnessed his speed, she dodged it by jumping just before he caught her.

While still in the air, she threw her spear into his arm. However, it didn't pierce and fell onto the ground.

 _Guess his skin is tougher than a human's._  She analyzed the situation as she created a new spear.

"Why do you keep rejecting me?!" he shouted and tried grabbing her with both arms, which she dodged by jumping backwards. "Waaah!" he screamed and his attempts to grab her continued, all of which she dodged.

 _He is too quick... I can't reach him like this._  She looked towards the skyscraper. Although the hit must have hurt him, Tsurara was sure he was alright.  _Itaku-san, I hope you hurry back down and help!_ It looked like dodging 'till help arrives was all she could do for the time being.

But suddenly, the youkai fell into another tantrum. "ARGGGHHHHH! WHY DO YOU KEEP REJECTING ME, PRINCESS?!" he shouted as he jumped around, swinging his arms in all directions. Tsurara had to give her best to not lose her footing. "I WILL EAT YOU THEN! I WILL TEAR YOU APART AND DEVOUR YOU! ARGHHHHH!"

Tsurara could feel his Fear growing with each moment and realized he was turning into a bigger threat.  _Sorry Itaku-san, but this is no longer a game!_  She crossed her arms. "O kin housed in my body! Welcome our guest with a-"

"GRAAAHH!" the youkai screamed and jumped at her, forcing her to stop her attack and turn back to dodging.

He was no longer trying to grab her without harming her. He was now trying to pummel her, constantly moving his arms destroying the street.

_I need to widen the gap between us if I want to freeze him properly!_

And to widen the gap, she needed assistance. "Hebinyoro!" she shouted and the Nura Clan's flying snake approached her. Tsurara jumped on it without wasting time. "Quickly, fly up!"

"GAAARH!" the enemy tried to grab them both but they managed to get away at the last moment.

"Alright, this should do it." She crossed her arms again. "O kin housed in my body! Welcome our guest with a chill! Fuusei Kakurei!"

Tsurara released one of her stronger attacks, hoping to freeze the enemy.

Next what she saw was a car's downside followed with the feelings of pain from being hit by it.

"Hebinyoro!" she yelled, worried about her comrade who was also hit with it. She saw him falling but, remembering the danger she faced, she turned around and made another ice spear.

She saw the giant palm going towards her and she instinctively trusted her spear into it.

"GUAAAHH!" the spear pierced into his palm, stopping it's movement.

However, she didn't have good fortune to land on her feet. Instead, she fell onto her back and pain from falling from such height stormed through her body. Had she been a human, she would have been dead now.

She couldn't afford the luxury of resting so she tried to get back up. It was too late and the youkai's hand finally caught her.

"Ki ki ki ki..." the bulldog head giggled as he raised her up. "You suure are cold, ain't ya? Mmmm, I always wanted to try eatin' ice cream..."

* * *

_Just how did we manage to get ourselves HERE?_ Hitotsume wondered while standing atop the bullet train, facing the opposite direction of the train.

His nemesis was also atop the same train, facing him.

The two of them spent a good amount of time running around the streets of Tokyo and trying to shoot one another. One thing led to another, and now are they here.

Hitotsume didn't suffer any serious wounds but he was exhausted from all the battling while running around. In the end, even youkai have their limits. Still, he was more irritated about his expensive, new suit getting dirty.

The enemy wasn't showing signs of exhaustion, but unlike Hitotsume he suffered a number of wounds and no doubt the good humans will be shocked to find countless bloodstains on the top of the train.

For few moments, they simply continued looking at one another, simply because they both needed to take a break. Then, the enemy started running towards Hitotsume.

"Tz, you sure are an enduring fellow." Hitotsume commented as he started shooting with his guns.

The enemy dodged most of the bullets, but got hit by few others into his right arm and left leg. And unlike Hitotsume, he didn't fire his bullets.

"Heh, just come closer... you'll make it easier for me to WHAT THE..."

While Hitotsume was talking and shooting, the enemy youkai took out an ignited dynamite and threw it towards Hitotsume.

"Hey, thats cheating!" Hitotsume shouted and dodged the explosion by moving a few steps backwards. Due to the train moving at high speed, the dynamite wasn't even a real threat.

But the enemy didn't seem interested in harming him. instead, he ran past him.

"You bastard..." Hitotsume quickly turned around but the force of the moving train hit him hard into his huge eye. "Gyaah!" and then he felt an ankle hit him below his chin.

 _You bastard... you want to throw me down do you?_  At the last moment, Hitotsume cauught his enemy's ankle.  _Well, then fall down with me!_

And fall they did. Luckily, Hitotsume suffered worse wounds in the past so this didn't hurt much. He was preparing himself for another round when his enemy announced:

"Mission accomplished."

"Huh?" Hitotsume asked, ignoring the excitement of the nearby humans, most of whom thought this was some kind of show. "What do you mean? I am still alive!"

"I only kill under the conditions set my tale." The enemy youkai said as he put his pistols back into his pockets. "Hahaue ordered us to delay you guys and we are far enough that you at least won't be able to interfere with our plans."

"You bastard... is that why I haven't suffered any wounds?" Hitotsume was enraged. He valued his life, but he couldn't stand being dishonored like this. He raised his guns at him again. "You dishonored our fight! I won't let you walk away just like that!"

"I won't fight." He told him. "Or is killing an unarmed person your definition of honor?" the humans, still believing this was all just a show, nodded in agreement.

"Keh..." Hitotsume lowered his weapons. "I won't let this go unpunished..."

"It is your fault you got lured by me." The enemy turned his back to Hitotsume. "If you want to fight me, learn my tale and seek me out. Just then will we have a true battle of fears."

As he finished his sentence, he started running towards an advertising monitor. He jumped into it and disappeared as if he jumped through a house's window.

The humans were in awe of the quality of the show while Hitotsume was frustrated.

 _Damn right I'll find you bastard._  He started looking around the street, contemplating his next action. _But I won't accept your victory just yet!_

* * *

The bulldog-headed youkai opened his mouth, with sole intention of eating the prey he just caught.

The stench coming from it was unbearable, but Tsurara, who was whispering so he couldn't hear her, endured it. Just before he threw her into his wide-open mouth, she made her attack.

"Fuusei Kakurei!" she released an ice attack right into his mouth, forcing him to scream and releasing the grip on her.

"WGAAAAAHH!" he yelled as he ran backwards, holding his hands on his throat.

"Good one, I was already afraid you were done for." She could hear Itaku's voice. Next moment, Itaku appeared next to her, still holding his pink knives. "His punch was sure something."

"Itaku-san!" she was happy to see a friendly face. But she couldn't afford to celebrate "Be careful, he ain't mindless as he looks."

"Don't worry..." Itaku replied as Fear started gathering around him and his pupils narrowed. "No amount of wit will save him from me now."

Next moment, he threw his two knives at the enemy, piercing through both of his legs.

However, his attacks didnt stop yet: Tsurara noticed that he was carrying a dozen of kitchen knives. "I got them from the apartment I was thrown into." He explained and then, one after another, he threw them at the enemy, piercing him on every part of his body.

"KRAAAAAHH!" the enemy yelled in agony.

"I am still not done!" he said as he took up two butcher's knives, both of which were tied with ropes. He imbued them with even more fear than the ones before. "Now THIS will hurt you." Itaku started spinning them around and then threw them at the enemy, making them rotate the same way as his trademark scythes.

While the kitchen knives just pierced him, the butcher's knives went through him, taking out a good chunk of his meat.

"GAAAAH!" the enemy yelled. "The hunt is over! I have to fleeeeeee!" he knelled down and jumped high into the air towards a skyscraper. With his usual speed, he continued climbing up.

"You aren't getting away just yet!" Itaku shouted and used his ropes to get the butcher's knives back into his hands. Then he used them to start climbing the skyscraper himself.

Although Itaku was winning, Tsurara felt like the danger was not over just yet. "I have to go after them... but how?"

While she contemplated about it, someone patted her back.

"Kya!" she quickly turned around. "Hebinyoro! You are alright!" she was happy to see that her comrade only suffered a few scars after being hit by a car.

Hebynyoro seemed unusually angry however and looked towards the skyscraper. He then put his head down. "Ah, you want to go after him? Good, lets go!"

Tsurara jumped onto him and they floated upwards.

She saw the enemy youkai successfully reach the top, with Itaku not being far behind him.

"Hebinyoro, hurry up." Tsurara ordered while creating a giant ice maul in her hands. She'll take care her next attack is the final one.

Hebinyoro and Tsurara passed by Itaku, who was now a few meters away from reaching the top, and she was now facing down towards the enemy, intending to jump and finish him. However, what she saw made her change her plans.

"Itaku, jump aside!"

Next moment, the giant youkai hit the edge of the building, crushing a good part of it into pieces. Due to debris and smoke, Tsurara was unable to see if Itaku dodged it.

She immediately looked towards the enemy and he looked up to her. But his earlier aggressiveness was now replaced with fear and he started running away, jumping to another skyscraper.

"Are you kidding me... just how much can he jump?" Tsurara stood in awe.

"I heard certain rumors soon after we came to Tokyo." Itaku said as he reached the top of the building. Although there was blood on his head, he seemed to be fine. "Humans and youkai talked about seeing an enormous youkai jumping around the urban areas as if he were a monkey in the jungle. They must have talked about him... but enough of it, lets go and finish him." Itaku then jumped on Hebinyoro.

"Hai! Hebinyoro, after him!"

"Hisss!" Hebinyoro replied and floated forwards him with more speed than usual.

After few more jumps, the youkai stopped. Standing on the edge of a skyscraper, he turned towards his pursuers.

"Are you surrendering?" Tsurara asked.

"Move away!" he demanded. "Move away or I'll squash those ants below, be it with my fist or with my dying body!"

"What are you..." Tsurara started and then noticed great many humans walking below.  _Wait... why are humans down there... no,thats wrong... something else is weird here..._

"What should we do?" Itaku's ords brought her back from her thoughts. "I'd like to kill him here and now, but this is the Nura Clan's problem."

"Ah... right." While Rikuo is absent, she is the acting leader of the clan. She will have to leave her worries for later.

She faced the youkai. It was true what he said: if he falls down from here, this five meters tall monsters will take a few of the human lives with him. If he falls while alive, the number of casualties will be bigger.

After few moments of thinking, Tsurara opened her mouth. "You have attacked the wife of the Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan and your group has attacked ours. I can't let you walk away freely." She strengthened the grip on her icy maul. "I ask again: will you surrender?"

"NO!" he yelled. "Either I go, or humans die!"

"Is that so..." she turned towards Itaku and tapped on his rope. Then she turned back to the enemy youkai. "By Rikuo-sama's orders, every enemy of the humans is the enemy of the Nura Clan. If you are rejecting our offer to surrender, you don't leave me much choice."

The next moment, she jumped at him with her maul. He tried to block it with his arm, but the maul's strike froze his arms and then broke them into pieces, pushing him over the edge with Tsurara.

"So my tale ends..." Tsurara could hear him whisper. "...Hahaue (mother)."

" _Noroi no Fubuki!_ " she made her final attack. " _Yukigesho!_ "

While he continued falling, Itaku caught her hand and brought her back to the top of the building.

"Thank you." She said and looked down.

Had anyone else been here, his threat may have worked. However, she was a Yuki Onna who knows a technique that would freeze the victim and shatter it into pieces.

Thus, with melancholy in his eyes, the enemy youkai shattered into countless crystals and was swept with the wind.

They have won.

"Haaah..." Tsurara allowed herself to fall down and sit. "I'll never get used to executions."

"Don't be that compassionate." Itaku said. "He didn't feel any for you when he tried to eat you."

She sighed. "I know, I know..."

"I am sure Rikuo would be proud with what you have done."

She was pleased. "I know, know..."

After a few moments, she rose up and walked to the opposite end of the building and looked towards the area she came from.

"So you noticed it too." Itaku commented.

"Yes... at first I was surprised to see humans here, but then I realized... why were there no humans in the street we fought in?"

"I noticed few as I was returning back to you." Itaku added. "All of them started leaving the place for different reasons: some went shopping to Shibuya, some went to visit relatives... I even contacted others and most of them noticed the same thing: the streets and buildings were abandoned."

"You Toono people know a lot about Fear. Is there a youkai that can do that?"

"This wasn't done by a youkai. There is a power in the air, but is is Onmyoujutsu."

"Onmyoujutsu you say? Are there really powerful enough Onmyouji to-"

Hebinyoro cut her off. "HISSSS!"

"Eh? What is it Hebinyoro?" Tsurara asked as she turned around. She looked towards Hebinyoro but then felt a strong youkai approaching and turned her gaze in directions the Fear came from. "...who are you?"

She was facing two people.

One was a giant black skull with teal light emitting from it's eye sockets and mouth. Looking at it a bit more, it was actually an enormous skeleton who looked like he was standing.

There was another person however, sitting on it's head. She wore a western black and red dress, a mask that cowered the upper half of her face and a fan in her right hand. The dress also lacked a sleeve for the left arm, thus revealing a bare hand with a black tattoo. The tattoo showed laughing skulls, connected into a ring with a black string. Some kanji were written on it, but Tsurara couldn't read them.

"Just who are you?" Tsurara asked and Itaku took a fighting pose, this time holding his scythes.

The person didn't answer and instead looked around.

"Seems we are late, nee-san." The skeleton said without moving it's jaw. "They seem to have killed him."

Something in the atmosphere about these two persons made Tsurara feel tense. She made a guess about who the woman was. "You are Shiori, aren't you?"

The masked woman looked towards her and then took out a piece of paper.

"Be careful Tsurara, that is an Onmyouji's talisman." Itaku warned her.

"I know that..." she created an ice spear, preparing for another fight.

" _Shinseina kitsune ni kuru_." She whispered and threw the talisman. " _Kawagara Seru_."

The talisman exploded and a four-tailed fox shikigami, two times bigger than a dog, appeared. Before Tsurara and Itaku could move a muscle, the fox growled at them and disappeared as suddenly as it has appeared.

The next moment, Tsurara felt too afraid to make a move. The weird thing is, she was not sure what was it that she was afraid of.

"What have you... done?" Itaku asked, seemingly as hit by it as she was.

The giant skeleton then raised his arm, preparing to strike them.

"I must... I must fight..." Tsurara managed to resist the fear she felt. However, she realized she would be unable to fight to her full power like this and started thinking of ways to escape.

"Put your arm down. We just came to curse them." The masked woman said as she patted the skeleton. "If we harm their commander's wife, we will start a war we are still not ready for."

The skeleton obeyed and lowered his arm. Tsurara felt so relieved she was ashamed.

"Good. Lets leave, there is nothing left for us to do here."

"As you say, nee-san." The skeleton turned around and walked away.

No, floated away. Tsurara saw that he had nothing below his chest.

"What is going on..." Tsurara said a fee moments after the danger has passed.

"I remember reading about it." Itaku, whose face also showed signs of being horrified, answered. "Some ancient Gokadoin Onmyouji used to cast this kind of curse to make parts of Hyaki Yakou's unable to fight. It doesn't last for long however."

"Doesn't matter how long it lasts!" Tsurara clenched her hand. "I want to go help my children... but the state I am, I would just end up being a burden." She was sure she could fight. No curse would be able to hold a mother down. What matters is that in this state, she would be unable to put up a proper fight.

"Just sit down and rest then." Itaku gave her a cold answer. "Or practice resiting in case it happens again."

"But..."

"Don't worry about Ritsura. I trained her and I know fully well how capable she is, likely more than anyone in your over-protective clan does. And from what I hear, your son is quite capable as well. You can't keep protecting them forever anyway."

"Accepting something like that..." Tsurara smiled. "For a parent, it is easier said than done."  _Unless we are talking about my mom that is._ "Besides, the rest of the clan is out there as well. When you think about it, I am not as needed as I want to think. Still..."

Frustrated, she looked up to the sky.

"Ritsura, Rihan... fight well and stay safe my darlings."

* * *

The cellphone of Gokadoin Kashaimaru was ringing. "Who is it now? Oh..."

The name written over the screen was Shiori.

"Moshi, Moshi... ah, Shi-chan!" he answered the call. "How nice of you to call me!"

" _Hello."_  She replied.  _"You are not busy I hope?"_

"Actually, I am in middle of exorcising an old school." He said and at down on a table. His pet fox immediately jumped on his lap, seemingly wanting a break as much as he does. "But I could use a break anyway."

" _Oh good. I just wanted you to know I used up all of your talismans."_

"ALL of my talismans?" the talismans he gave her were some of his best and that is few levels above what best of the Onmyouji world has to offer. "Did something big happen?"

" _Kinda..."_  she said.  _"I decided to try and assassinate Onieda Masato while he is..."_

"Are you kidding me?! Onieda Masato?!" he shouted, which resulted in his pet fox softly bitting his finger (which wa it's way of telling it's master to calm down). "Are you kidding me? Do you really think you stand a chance in a full fight with the very head of the Shin Sekai?"

" _Calm down Drama Boy, I sent ONE youkai after him."_  she sounded annoyed.  _"I just took a chance."_

"I'd say thats good... if not for you mentioning the part of spending all of my talismans which ,to be honest, makes me REALLY worried."

" _Yeah... the Nura Clan found out about it, one thing led to another and now we are battling around Tokyo."_

Kashaimaru ended the call, put the phone down and started playing with his pet fox.

The phone rang again and he answered the call.

" _Hey, don't just-"_

He ended the call again, put the phone down, took out some salami from his pocket and fed his pet fox.

The phone rang again and he answered the call.

" _HEY!"_

"Call me one more time please."

He ended the call again, put the phone down, took out a comb and combed his pet with it.

The phone rang again and he answered the call. This time, he was the first to talk: "STARTING A WAR WITH THE NURA CLAN?! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!"

" _Geez, calm down Drama Boy. You don't really think I'd get myself killed."_

"It is still possible you get yourself drunk and do something stupid... please tell me you did this while drunk."

" _I don't drink."_

He ended the call again, put the phone down and asked his fox about what movie should they watch when they get back home.

The phone rang again and he answered the call.

" _You are seriously starting to piss me off with that!"_  Shiori complained.

"Thats the intention, Shi-chan." He said to her. "But I guess I'll be a gentleman and let you explain to me why you attacked the sleeping dragon."

" _I am busy so I'll explain it to you later. But don't worry about me, I'll be fine."_

"You better be. To save the Gokadoin House I must become the new head. To become a new head, I have to find a way to become immortal. And to do it before my cousin, I need your genjutsu. And for that I need you alive."

" _Oh good, I was already getting afraid you were worried about my own well-being."_

"Sweet dreams my lady, sweet drams."

" _Anyway, could you make few more talismans and send them to the address I will mail you?"_

"Won't we meet personally soon?"

" _I may need them before that. I'll explain later."_

"I love when you give me the  _I'll explain later_  replies. They are such satisfying answers to my question that they should be banned." Kashaimaru sighed. "Which talismans do you need?"

" _I won't need any of those that keep humans away from trouble. Other than that, the ones I usually ask for."_

"Great, those are a big pain to make. If that is all, I have exorcising to do. These puny youkai seem to be planning to attack me together in a horde."

" _Alright, stay safe there."_

"You too Shi-chan." He ended the call and raised himself up, holding his pet fox in one arm while with his other hand, he took out two pairs of talismans.

" _Shinseina kitsune ni kuru!_ " he shouted and threw one pair of the talismans.

The talismans exploded and two two-tailed fox shikigami, large as dogs, appeared.

He then threw the other pair onto the foxes. " _Yakeru_!"

The talismans burned and their flames engulfed the shikigami. However, the fox spirits didn't seem bothered by the fire that replaced their fur.

"Lets continue with our training guys!" he told them. "If you can't beat this lousy bunch, you sure as hell won't stand a chance against the Nura clan's Fourth Commander."

The foxes growled and jumped at their prey and the next moment the dark building was filled with orange light and screams of dying youkai.

* * *

 **Author**   **Notes:**

And thus two battles are dealt with and the current win ratio is 1:1 (though Hitotsune still hasn't given up... just what could he mean by that...)

Originally I intended to have most of the battles in one chapter but after some careful advising with my mighty associates, I decided to instead split it into multiple chapters, each one having one or two battles and some  _calm_  scenes so you readers wouldn't get tired.

I am surprised myself that I managed to make Hitotsume kinda cool, especially since I tend to use him as a comic relief XD Well, he is canonically a strong character (even if a bit of a clumsy douche) so I think this is a treatment he deserves. And then we have a newly introduced character... a member of the family that caused so much trouble for Rikuo-chan. We didn't see much of him but I think those talismans Shiori used are good enough hint that he is not a pushover ;)

Anyway, thanks for spending your free time on reading this fic of mine and hope you review it and continue reading the chapters that are to come.


	7. Ritsura's Predicaments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although Tsurara and Itaku managed to defeat one of the enemies, it had little consequence and the numerous battles continue to rage across a small part of Tokyo. Ritsura, as well as Onieda Mayuri, are trying to reach Onieda Masato in time, but the enemy would not just stand aside and let them move uninterrupted...

_Want someone dead? Then muster as much golden jewelry as you can, put it into a yellow bag, write on it the name the desired victim and at 1AM stand in middle of a highway for up to ten minutes._

_If nothing happens, you need more gold._

_If you see shining golden motorcycle going in your direction, throw the bag towards him and he will catch it. Chimei Senko (Deadly Flash) has accepted to slay your enemy._

_And he will do it with a BANG._

_~The Hundred Tales of Tokyo_

* * *

"Slow down Ojou-san!" the radiant, golden biker shouted at Ritsura. "I can't aim at you if you keep going left, right, left, right..."

"What a pushy man..." Ritsura complained to herself. She, Aotabou and five of his gang members were riding their motorcycles through unusually empty streets. "Aotabou, do you know who this loony is?" the youkai following them hasn't done anything of note yet, but Ritsura had a bad feeling about him and that shotgun in his hand.

"I think that he is Chimei Senko, waka." Aotabou answered. "A very dangerous youkai assassin. And I am not talking about silent assassins here."

"Come on Ojouuu-saaaaan!" the vulgar youkai continued. "I'll be gentle, I promise. It will be a gentle baaaaaang!"

"Yes, I can see he isn't a silent type." Ritsura looked towards the others. "You guys stay behind and keep him busy. I don't want him to stop us from reaching our goal!"

The youkai looked towards Aotabou, as if asking for approval.

"What are you waiting for?! Do as waka says!" Aotabou ordered them.

"HAI!" the youkai cheered and slowed down.

"What is this, Ojou-san?" Senko shouted as Aotabou's comrades got in his way. "This is not how it is supposed to go."

"Well suck it!" Ritsura shouted back.

"If your mother hears you talking like that, I'll be frozen." Aotabou said with an awkward smile.

Ritsura didn't feel like having small talk so she returned to the subject. "Ao, you said he was dangerous. What exactly have you heard about him?"

"I have never seen him in action, but I have seen places where he killed his targets." Aotabou turned serious. "It always looks like someone threw a dozen of bombs... even my fists couldn't cause so much damage."

"That is..." Ritsura regretted telling her comrades to stay behind. "Was it wise to leave them alone with him?"

"Don't worry waka, they are tougher than they look." Ao ensured her with a wide smile.

But she was still not relieved. "Ao, lets go back... we can lose a few minutes to deal with him and take care that-"

A strong flash from behind and thunderous sound cut her off. But before she and Aotabou could even find time to turn around, one of their comrades fell in front of them, which was followed by another thunderous shoot and him exploding.

Seems the enemy was able to blow his victims into pieces.

The proximity of explosion blinded Ritsura for a moment and she barely remained balanced. Four explosions later, she looked behind herself and saw another of Aotabou' comrades being thrown into high into the air, only to be blown up the next moment.

"They are... I can't feel their Fear anymore..." Ritsura was shocked. In only few moments, all five of them have been killed.

Aotabou, who thought of them as his close comrades, needed more time to realize what has just transpired.

Then something flashed left of her. Riding just besides her was Chimei Shinko, holding something in his hand. "Here my pretty Ojou-san, have a gift." He tossed the object to her and slowed down, letting them go ahead of him.

Ritsura didn't think too much about how he got so close to her. Instead, she looked at what she caught and her eyes widened.

"YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Aotabou was first to react at seeing a severed head of his comrade. "I WILL CRUSH YOUUUUU!"

Furious, Aotabou closed to the enemy youkai, who didn't even attempt to distance himself from Aotabou.

"GO TO HELL!" skulls appeared around Aotabou and his Fear increased tremendously. " _GOURIKI RAISAN_!"

His punch striked near his opponent, destroying the whole street in the process and causing an earthquake.

"Ha ha, got you..." Aotabou laughed.

"You didn't." Ritsura said in a low tone, still looking at the head in her hand as it was disappearing in black smoke.

Chimei Senko's voice immediately confirmed her claim "What a magnificent baaaaaang, big guy! A shame I am fast as flash though, so it was a baaang without the true baaaang!"

"What... how?!" Aotabou was surprised. "That was practically a direct hit! He should have-BWAH!"

One of Senko's bullets hit him into his chest. Luckily, he was both tough and a skilled at bikes so the hit didn't do any major damage nor did it throw him of.

"That bastard..."

"What is it Ojou-san? You have been silent this whole time!" Senko returned to taunting her. "Are you shivering from fear? You wanna go into your mommy's arms?"

"Waka, this is too dangerous... leave him to-"

"Shivering from fear you say? Fu fu fu..." Ritsura, looking at the now empty hand, smiled. "There will be shivering from fear, Senko..." she took out and raised Nenekirimaru into the air, imbuing it with her fear. "...but it will not be me shivering due to yours!" Next moment, she hit the ground with it, filling road behind her with ice and ice spikes as she passed.

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!" she was seeing Chimei Shinko yell as he evaded the spikes and kept his balance. "Magnificent, but not something I can't handle!"

"Waka, I fear a frozen road won't pose his skills much of a problem..."

"I am sorry Ao..." she raised her other hand towards him.

"Huh?" He was confused for a second but then, when he realized what she wanted to do, he smiled. "Ha, don't worry about it. Lets show the fetcher who rules this city!"

The next moment, he turned into black mist which enveloped Ritsura, with Aotabou's now empty bike falling behind.

She was using  _Matoi_ , a technique invented by her grandfather, the second commander Nura Rihan. Based on the idea that youkai can possess human beings, a half-youkai can let a friendly youkai possess his human half, thus adding the youkai's fear to his own.

Rihan invented two methods of the technique: the offensive  _Izutsu_  (Fear Cannon) and the more defensive  _Kasane_ , both of which allowed the possessed to use the abilities of the youkai.

However, the method she just used is the one her father invented. Based on the idea that a possessor can influence the mind of the possessed, the method allows the user to, instead of special abilities, acquire skills and experience from the youkai. Currently she didn't need Fear that would make her attacks stronger, but Aotabou's direct help on riding a bike.

"Prepare yourself Senko..." Ritsura spoke in a low tone to her nemesis, all while preparing to hit the ground with ice-imbued Nenekirimaru once again. "...for this ride is going to get much, much more extreme!"

She hit the road again, creating ice hundreds of meters around her.

"This trick again?" Senko complained. "Ojou-san, I already got used to WOAH!" he barely evaded an ice spike she threw at him.

Thanks to Aotaobu's skills, ridding the bike was now as natural as walking to her. Thus, she was able to focus on other things, like attacking her enemy.

"I won't make this quick, Senko..." she turned her bike around and took out her fan. "Five strikes for five lives you took."

Chimei Senko aimed his shotgun at her. "Seven lives. You forgot to count yourselves and that fatty."

"Hmph." She smirked and waved her fan towards him. " _Samui no Arashi_!"

Before Senko could pull his trigger, he was taken aback by the cold gust of wind her technique has created. Still, he managed to remain balanced.

"One." She said as she slashed her sword through his gun, then turning sword's trajectory downwards and cutting part of his hand.

"WAAAH!" he yelled. Still, he stayed composed enough to turn his bike around.

"Two." She said as she turned around herself, pointed two fingers towards him and threw an ice spike into his chest.

She started ridding towards him.

"Three." She said as she slashed his bike into half.

"W-what..." Senko tried talking. "How can that even be-"

"Four." She said as she cut him upwards, causing a grave wound.

Still holding Nenekirimaru in air, she said " _Izutsu_.", changing the Matoi method. Next moment, she was holding a giant skullshaped hammer above Chimei Senko.

"Now that sure is a magnificent bang, Ojou-san..." Chimei Senko muttered his last words.

"FIVE!"

Sound of bones breaking confirmed his death.

* * *

With Chimei Senko dealt with, Ritsura immediately released Aotabou.

Aotabou appeared in front of her, kneeling on the floor and shivering.

"Ao..." she wanted to say something, but couldn't form a sentence.

"Ha ha, don't worry waka..." Aotabou gave her a forced smile and tried to rise himself up. "I am made of tougher stuff than others, a little cold won't be able to..." he fell back onto his knees, his dark skin now paler and his body shivering. He wasn't able to hold his facade, just like nobody else was.

"I am sorry..." she apologized.

"It ain't your fault waka..." Aotabou changed his approach. "We did what we had to do. A bit of cold... to avenge our comrades and... destroy an enemy youkai... is a small price to... pay."

She clenched her teeth.

Although as a half-youkai she is able to preform Matoi, the strength of the fear she inherited from her mother affects the youkai she Matois with by freezing them. And the stronger her fear became, the more painful it was for her comrades to aid her with the technique. She could just hope her fear doesn't get too strong and fatally overwhelms a comrade of hers one day... or more exactly, she had to make herself stronger so she wouldn't need to use the clan's strongest technique.

"Anyway, don't worry about... me waka... in a few days, I'll be fine." Aotabou forced another smile. "You have a job to do... don't you?"

She nodded. "Stay safe uncle Ao."

Giving him a bow, she turned around, phoned the clan to send someone to help Aotabou and was on her way. If she wastes too much time, all this fighting will have been for nothing.

* * *

Rihan, Dohiko and Mayuri were running through Tokyo. Since she couldn't run as fast as these youkai, Dohiko carried Mayuri in his arms.

Usually, this kind of situation would make Mayuri blush. However, the only things on her mind now were concern and fear to the point she was thankful that she didn't need to run and worry abut bumping onto someone or something.

She often heard in movies the proverb that you don't know how much someone means to you until you lose them. Now, she personally felt how brutally true those words were: now that his life was in danger, she was on verge of crying.

She never had a good relationship with her father... no, it would be more exact to say that she didn't have any relationship with him as she rarely saw and talked to him. She understood that her father, Onieda Masato, was an very important person for both Japan and the world and that his company's inventions made countless lives better... yet, she still felt angry that he put everything in front of his daughter. She knew it sounded selfish, but who can blame a child for wanting her parent to be a... parent?

If at least he tried to spend time with her, she might have been able to look pass his other bad sides. But instead she ended up hating to see him come to visit her because the only things he cared about were her grades and public behavior while her own happiness didn't seem to concern him. It was like one of those cliche movies.

And so she made herself believe that, as long as she has Mamoru to depend on, that she wouldn't care in slightest if her father disappeared.

And as if the gods wanted to teach her a lesson, her father is being threatened, she is worried about him and her dependent brother is nowhere to be found.

"Damn them!" Rihan's shout made her turn towards him. Only now did she realize that he was talking to the phone. "We have to be careful."

"What is going on?" Dohiko asked.

"Whoever this Shiori may be, her friends are attacking almost everyone from our clan. They didn't even shy from attacking nee-san and mother so I am sure they will target me as well as..." he threw a short glance at Mayuri and seemingly decided to not finish his sentence. "Anyway, we have to be more careful."

"No..." was the only thing Mayuri was able to say. As if it wasn't bad enough that her father was under attack, now she and her friends are also threatened.

"Who the hell are these guys anyway?"Dohiko asked "I know about all of the youkai clans and was hired to work for many of them, but have never herd about a clan led by... what did you say her name was?"

"Shiori." Rihan answered. "Toono is a remote, country village so you probably don't hear much about clans made of urban legends."

"Ah, the city boys. I admit that I completely forgot about those."

"Many such clans have formed in last few years inside great cities, especially Tokyo." Rihan continued. "And most of them are not exactly friendly towards humans."

"Isn't Tokyo supposed to be protected by the Nura Clan?" Dohiko wondered. "It sounds lame that they are forming in your own territory, right under your noses."

"Yes, Tokyo is our territory. And father personally destroyed quite a few of those clans. The problem is that for every their youkai we kill, a new one or two are born."

"Communication Technology..." Mayuri said the words she remember Araya speaking. "While in past legends slowly spread from mouth to mouth, now they spread through the Internet. The numbers that used to be reached in years can no be reached in a single day."

"Not to mention Tokyo used to be the home of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan which was known for being able to create youkai by spreading such legends." Rihan continued. "it is possible that Shiori is one of them or at least learned their techniques."

"Creating youkai... Itaku told me about it." Dohiko didn't sounds impressed. "Absurd!"

"Why..." Mayuri opened her mouth again. "Why do they want to kill my dad? Why are they going this far just to kill him?"

Dohiko decided to answer that question. "I guess it is because-OUCH!"

"Forgive me for stepping on your foot." Rihan cut him off. "Doesn't matter why, Mayuri. Me and nee-san will take care that your father survives."

"I hope so..." Mayuri was thankful for his words, but she was still worried. "But I still want to know why-"

Suddenly Rihan, and then Dohiko, stopped running. Mayuri knew she had to leave her question for later.

"What is it?" Dohiko asked.

"An enemy is getting close." Rihan took out his katana, calmly looking in a certain direction. "Enemies... no time to explain, you two go on and I will get rid of them."

"wouldn't it be better if-"

"Go! I know how to handle these guys. I beg you to take care no harm befalls Mayuri and take her to my sister."

Dohiko didn't think for long. "Alright, but don't get hurt or your lackeys will get tiresome again." He said and started running again.

"Rihan!" Mayuri shouted in his direction but soon last sight of him. "Please, don't leave me now..."

She felt a big hand pat her head. "Don't worry human child, he left you to Toono Clan and we are far above this trash that wants to hrut you. You may be an Onieda, but friend of my friend is my friend." He tried to encourage her.

"Thank you..." she said. "I am sorry for being such a burden." Still, she wished Rihan was here and not this youkai she just met... especially since he has something against her family.

"Ha, don't worry about it." He replied with a smile. It was hard to believe that not long ago he looked at her with disdain.

"Rihan sure can be glad to consider you a friend. A second after he was gone, you start flirting with his woman." A female voice commented from beside them. Mayuri turne her head towards the source of the voice and saw a young woman with golden eyes, pink hair and wearing a yellow kimono and holding something small in her arms. Seeing as she was able to run as fast as Dohiko, Mayuri concluded she was also a youkai. "Glad to meet you, I am Toono's Yuki-Onna Reira."

"O, Reira!" Dohiko blushed. "I was just-"

"Dohiko is..." the thing Reira was carrying started speaking. "...a pedo!"

Next moment, the thing jumped from Reira's arms into Mayuri's.

"Hyaa!" Mayuri screamed. She then noticed that she was carrying a tiny, black-haired girl.

"I am Zashiki-Warashi called Yukari." The girl introduced herself. "Glad to meet you!"

"Glad to meet you guys two." Mayuri nodded. "My name is Mayuri." She introduced herself to them. Due to seeing how Ametou and Dohiko reacted to word  _Onieda_ , she decided to not mention it for time being.

"Hold her well and no misfortune will befall you." Reira advised with a warm, motherly tone, bringing a small smile to Mayuri's face. "And definitely a better protection than this ape here."

"Ghhh! Why didn't you stay and help Rihan?"

"He refused my help." she shrugged. "Anyway, where are we going?"

"To the very heart of danger." Dohiko replied. "Sounds exciting, wouldn't you agree Reira?" he then looked towards Mayuri. "And while we run, I'll tell you what might be the reasons your father is targeted."

* * *

The streets of Tokyo were unusually unpopulated as Ritsura rode her bike through them. she hoped she would find some of her comrades along the way, but it seems Shiori doesn't leave anything to chance: almost everyone from the clan had to deal with at least one of Shiori's youkai.

The state on the battlefield itself wasn't that bad though: although the Nura Clan lost a number of it's own, most of them seemed to be capable of taking care of themselves, partially because they were stronger than these weaklings and partially because most of enemies seem to be more focused on keeping them away from Masato then killing them.

Speaking about it, Ritsura felt pressured. Saaya claims that Masato still isn't in danger, but the gap between her and Masato was so big that the chance Ritsura gets to him in time is low even if nobody gets in her way... but for some reason Ritsura was sure that Shiori will send someone to attack her. In that case, Ritsura had two choices:

One is to face the opponents and disposes of them as soon as possible. Bit she was sure that Shiori would either send someone strong enough to pose challenge or someone skilled enough to keep her occupied. That means that if she wants to resolve the fight, she would need to use some of her stronger techniques. But the fight against Chimei Senko already exhausted her and if she ends up using too much of her Fear, the chances are that she will be too tired to face that clown from the poem that is supposed to attack Masato.

That leaves only the other option: she will need to run away from what made her frustrated was the fact that she was unable to make a plan due to not knowing what Shiori may send at her. And so, instead of planning her next move, Ritsura could only worry. And worrying just made her more exhausted.

 _Come on Ritsura, stay focused! How can I claim to be a worthy heir if this is enough to tire me up!_ Ritsura took a deep breath and then released it.  _I can't afford to worry about stupid stuff now. The enemy can attack me from anywhere and I must keep my attention on... what is going on here?_

What she saw made her worried. Cars, bycicles, motorbikes, trucks and even skateboards... everything was torn apart. She slowed down a bit and looked around and in front of her... all that can be used for transport in a long radius around her was destroyed.

She didn't need long to realize what is going on: the enemy was intending to attack and rob her of her bike and they took care she doesn't get a substitute.

 _Damn bastards...I must not let them..._  the next moment,she felt Fear in front of her. Not long after, she saw a young girl lying on the road, holding her hands under her chin. Ritsura's eyes could see a smile on her face.

And Ritsura had the misfortune to know who she was.  _You were the last thing I needed..._

Before Ritsura could even move steering wheel, the girl flew toward her with a scythe in her hands and a maniacal smirk on her face.

 _Damn you..._  Ritsura had no choice but to jump from he bike. The fall wasn't painless, but Ritsura knew worse pains. As a matter of fact, what hurt her the most was hearing sounds that hinted at her bike being split into two halves.  _Ahhh... just how much allowance just fell into water!_

But she couldn't afford herself to lie on the concrete so she jumped back and landed on her feet, creating an ice spear in the process.

"Good eveniing, Ritsu-chiiin~" the enemy youkai shouted with a singing voice and turned towards Ritsura. The female youkai looked like a schoolgirl dressed in one of those old school sailor uniforms. Her eyes were bright yellow and her brown hair looked like it didn't see neither a comb nor a shower for years.

But what was most notable about her was a long ,black scythe in her hands, the fact that she was floating in the air... and the fact that she lacked legs.

"Kashima Reiko,... didn't think I'd meet you here..." Ritsura greeted the youkai who caused terror in Tokyo for decades but nobody from the clan was able to get rid of her yet. Ritsura herself met her a few times bur she also didn't have much luck in destroying her. And to her misfortune, Reiko took a liking to her. "...so, you are also one of Shiori's lackeys?"

"Hmm, Shi-chin's lackey you say?" Reiko made a few spins. "Well, I guess I am now, no matter how lame it makes me sound."

 _Tz... sending someone who has experience in fighting me... well done Shiori, well done..._  Ritsura looked straight into Reiko. To look around for an escape route might alarm her of Ritsura's true intentions so she instead tried to leave the opposite impression: that she wanted to face her in a fight.

"Well, I guess I am lucky!" Ritsura said with a smile and cooled the air around herself in order to make her bluff look more legitimate. "...I get another chance to kill you."

"Ah, so you really do car about me!" Reiko replied and started spinning around Ritsura. As if the fact that Reiko knew her wasn't bad enough, the fact that Reiko wa fast and agile just made Ritsura's plan to run harder. "But you know... you Nura's always say that... yet I always manage to get away."

"Try until you succeed." Ritsura took a fighting stance and made the air around even colder. Also, her school uniform was replaced by a kimono. Reiko replied by taking her own fighting stance and retreated back a bit to where the air wasn't as cold. "Don't worry Reiko, my kisses aren't reserved for men only."

"Ugh, a yuki-Onna's kiss... couldn't you give me a less painful death... like a spear into my head?" Reiko answered while spinning and juggling her scythe that cost so many humans and youkai their lives or body parts.

"As you wish!" Ritsura ran at her and took her fan out. " _Samui no Arashi_!" she shouted and let out a cold wind.

But Reiko didn't seem concerned. As a matter of fact, her face showed signs of admiration. "Woah, a new technique! Oh, this will be so exciting!" she sad and, just before the wind hit her, she flew up into the air with high speed. "Hey Ritsu-chin, is this your only new... Ritsu-chin?"

For a few seconds, Reiko just floated in the air and looked through the empty street.

Then she exploded. "HEY, YOU CAN'T START RUNNING AWAY FROM ME LIKE THAT!"

While Reiko was flying left and right with high sped, Ritsura used her Nurarihyon's Fear to hide from her. She wasn't as good as her father or brother right now, but if she is careful and lucky enough, Reiko won't notice her.

But Reiko's speed proved to be a bigger nuisance than Ritsura anticipated. Not a minute could pass without Reiko flying through the same place two or three times. That made Ritsura's retreat a lot slower. Although she had abilities of a Nurarihyon right now, against someone on Reiko's level that only made her better at hiding. If Reiko faces her directly, she will see her.

Then Reiko yelled: " _Hikine_ , stop being a sloth and help me!"

 _Hikine? Don't tell me that he is-_  the next moment, someone jumped from a lamp post beside her and caught her arm. He looked like a young man with tan skin, a tempting face and with cat ears on his head. "I apologize young lady..." he told her and, before Ritsura could react, he threw her into nearby bushes. "Reiko, I found her!"

"HA!" Reiko didn't need more than two seconds to appear beside him. "There will be a hell to pay! You promised me a battle Ritsu-chin and a second later you run away like a mouse from a cat!

"What did you expect? The young lady is in a hurry." Hikine sighed. "Besides, this is a game where we win if we delay her long enough and she wins if she gets away, one way or another. Those are Hahaue's orders. And for that reason..." Hikine slashed his hand at Reiko's scythe, cutting the blade out of it. "...you won't need this. Her death would mean a premature war after all. Well, not that I would let a young lady die."

"KAAAH!" Reiko screamed. "My... my... my scythe! You moooonster!"

"I don't want to hear that from a serial killer..." Hikine turned towards Ritsura who still just sat in the bushes and starred at these two. "...young lady, I apologize for the troubles. I promise you that you won't be harmed and for that I will fight using my bare hands." He told her and bowed.

"What a gentleman." His extremely polite way of talking and his tendency to call girls that looked as if they were around his age ' _young lady'_  annoyed Ritsura. "I am surprised to see that someone with your reputation is a member of the Hyaku Monogatari."

"I am a mother's son." Hikine replied and bowed again. "I apologize for the brutality of my... comrades. But as they say: the difference between friends and family is that you get to choose the first ones."

"Tz." Ritsura raised up onto her legs and started cleaning her kimono from dust and leafs. In a reply to it, Hikine took a boxing stance while Reiko started spinning her scythe-turned-staff.

"Well, maybe I am not allowed to slaughter you but I am sure I can beat you into oblivion!" Reiko said with an evil grin. "I think you'll be the first Yuki-Onna with blue skin rather than pale."

Hikine hit Reiko's staff from her hands. "I won't let such barbaric violence hurt a young lady."

"Ahhh... you damn pervert! Why did I have to get paired with you on this mission?" Reiko sighed and floated to her weapon. "You know what? I lost my will to fight. You play with her, and I'll keep an eye out so she doesn't run away."

Hikine didn't reply but instead concentrated on Ritsura. It was obvious he didn't intend to let Ritsura get an opening.

* * *

_Many girls between thirteen and twenty five found a mysterious novella titled 'Hikine' amongst their stuff. The novella was a tale about a schoolgirl who felt as if someone with ill thoughts was stalking her. That feeling of dread grew with each passing day. No matter whom she asked for help, nobody found anyone and everyone concluded she was imagining it, maybe even going mad. Desperate and starting to believe that she really wend mad, she jokingly asked a stray cat to protect her from harm. From that moment , the cat followed her no matter where she went and it's presence made her feel calm for some reason._

_Then one night, a car stopped at front of her and her stalkers attacked her. She never found out what they wanted to do with her, but the perverted stares they gave her hinted at a bleak future._

_And then the cat walked out from the shadows and she felt relieved for reasons she couldn't understand. One of the attackers noticed her relief and, wanting to destroy the hope in her, he took out a gun and shoot a bullet at the cat._

_But to everyone's surprise, the cat took a humanoid form and caught the bullet with his hand. Where once a cat stood, there was now a young, handsome man with eyes as black as darkness, holding a western medieval sword in his hand._

_Surprised and terrified, the attackers ran to their car to take out their guns. A black mist than engulfed them and the knight walked to the girl, took out an MP3 player from his pocket and handed it to her. He politely asked her to put the earphones on and leave for home while listening to music as no princess should see nor hear the screams of death. Not waiting for her reply, he contineud walking towards the darkness where the attackers were supposed to be. Black mist engulfed his body and took shape of a transparent, black samurai armor_

_The girl listened to his request and left for her home. His words and the music he gave her gave her a strange feeling of safety and she could not feel nor fear nor worry. And never again was she stalked or attacked._

_Many of the girls who read the novella and found themselves in danger, be it due to humans or youkai, were saved by the man from the novella. And thus he became an urban legend who protected young women from meeting a premature end, giving his best to not allow even a scar to be left in their lives._

_~The Hundred Tales of Tokyo._

* * *

"You damn cat!" Ritsura whispered to herself as she fought for breath. She heard that this youkai was formidable, but she felt it herself now: even with a handicap, he was able to fight her on higher ground. She had no doubt that, once he gets serious, that he is on a far higher level than someone like Chimei Senko.

Truth be said, Ritsura wasn't giving her best either but even her weaker techniques are usually able to at leat be a nuisance to the enemy. He however didn't seem affected by her attacks in slightest: the cold air didn't seem to affect him, any ice weapon he blocks and somehow shatters and even trying to get him stuck in blocks of ice only ends in the ice getting shattered by the black mist that pours from his body.

Her enemy kept his promises: he didn't harm her yet but only blocked her attacks, pushed her around and took care she doesn't run away from him. But that hurt Ritsura's pride more than any bruise would.

_This could go on till dawn... what should I do? To get serious and get rid of him? No... he doesn't seem like an enemy whom I could easily dispose of... I need to find a way to get away from him, but how? Is there something from his tale I could use?_

After a bit of thinking, she made her move: "If what I heard was right, you re a knight who protects young maidens, am I right?" Ritsura stopped moving and asked him.

"You have heard well young lady."

" _Young Lady_... you sure are going on my nerves with it..." Ritsura replied to him. "You know your mother wants to kill a certain man whom I want to save." She than added "Who, by the way, Father of a girl you are sworn to protect from any kind of pain. What do you think, how much will the sight of her brutally killed father disturb her and how much she will cry at his funeral? And with you helping him get killed."

Seeing as this youkai not only protected girls from harm, but also went to extreme to keep both their bodies and minds healthy, Ritsura hoped that, if the tales are true, this fact would shake him up a bit.

But her nemesis kept a poker face. "A bit of suffering for one girl against deaths and greater sufferings of hundreds. I know my math, young lady."

"Deaths of hundreds? What are you talking about?"

"Heh, seems like you don't even know whom you are saving." Hikine smiled "Truth be told, that girl may suffer even more if he survives as-"

"Hey!" Reiko, who up till now was silently lying on the ground, announced: "Keep your mouth shut! Or have you forgotten the rules of the Game?"

"Don't worry, I have not." He shrugged his shoulders and turned back to Ritsura. "I apologize, but I can't talk more about this issue."

"Hmph. Don't tell me that Shiori persuaded you that serving her will bring to greater good or something?" Ritsura gave up on the last topic. If the easy-going, chatty Reiko gets so serious about it, than this stuck-up guy will be even less happy to talk about it.

"What exactly do you mean by  _greater good_? It is a broad term." Again, her words didn't have any effect on him. "But don't worry, I am aware of the sins my mother perpetrates and I am well aware that heroism is not something that tends to motivate her."

"Yet you serve her." Ritsura commented. "Your place isn't amongst those murderers."

Her words seem to have entertained him. "I think this is the one thing you and my... comrades agree on."

"Allow me to translate!" Reiko announced. "Our friend here doesn't discriminate where offenders are concerned. He kills everyone equally. Heh, if I wasn't technically a schoolgirl, legs likely wouldn't be the only things I lack."

Ritsura understood what she meant: this man doesn't shy away from killing his own.

"Don't look at me like that, young lady." He answered to her as if reading her thoughts. "We are not a company of friends that love and agree with one another. When our mother commands, we will do her will as a clan. But when we are fulfilling her orders, we are all leading our own separate lives... we are our own separate tales."

"Tz, I don't think I an understand that screwed up way of thinking." Ritsura took out Nenekirimaru. "But it doesn't look like my words affect you."

"Careful there boy, listening wasn't the only thing she did while you were busy blabbering."

"What..." before he could even start a question, Ritsura used the same technique that she used against Chimei Senko earlier when she froze up the road and made ice spikes appear from the ground. Reiko easily got away from danger while Hikine was attacked in full force.

Still, he dodged all the spikes and jumped on top of a car, his back turned towards Ritsura.

"Impressive... but quite exhausting as well I take it."

"Advice!" Reiko announced: "Don't take your eyes away from a Nura."

"Ah..." he quickly turned around towards Ritsura who was already on her way to hit him with Nenekirimaru. But her strike wa blocked by a western broadsword that appeared in his hand. Black mist jumped out of it and engulfed Nenekirimaru, but had no effect on it so it just dispersed. "A sword that didn't shatter... nice weapon you have there."

"Warning!" Reiko made another of her Public Service Announcements. "That is one dangerous thingie."

"Heh." He once again faced Ritsura. "I guess I'll have to break my promise and use a weapon. But only for defense, I have no intentions to attack you with it."

 _Dammit!_  Ritsura became Desperate. She was already exhausted due to fighting Chimei Senko and the Matoing, and her fight against Hikine not only made it worse but she was going nowhere with it.  _Is there really no other way but use all of my Fear? But if I do that, the chances I won't be able to face whatever attacks Masato are high._

Ritsura looked in direction she was supposed to travel in.  _Forget that... what are the chances I reach him in time!? Will I really need to..._

"Just give up young lady." Her enemy suggested. "Even if you beat me, i will not matter as you have already lost. Me and Reiko destroyed most of vehicles which means you will need to travel a good amount of way on foot... quite tiring and slow, wouldn't you agree?" he smiled at her. "But even if you weren't that far away and were in shape..." her enemy continued with his attacks. "Do you really think that mother left a red carpet for you to woke on? No, me and Reiko aren't the only obstacle on your way. We are just a small piece of it."

His words were like a confirmation of a brutal truth in all of it's light and all optimism that Ritsura allowed herself to have evaporated. No matter if she beat him or not... no matter if she found a new bike or not...no matter if reinforcements came or not... the situation looked grim.

 _Will it really end like this... with my orders bringing nothing but pointless deaths to my comrades?_  Ritsura raised her eyes back at her enemy.  _Argh, forget about it! No matter the situation, I MUST beat him to proceed anywhere!_

"Dangerous eyes you have there, young lady." Hikine noticed.

"Hey, Ritsu-chin!" Reiko started. "Why don't you at least kill him? A captain less for the enemy clan and you and me will be able to have a proper deathmatch!"

If her comrade was bothered by her words, he didn't show it. He contineud to keep watch over Ritsura.

 _True, at least Icould kill them..._ Ritsura squeezed her sword.  _But... he himself doesn't seem like that bad of a person and I don't think that killing him would be beneficial in the long run anyway._  Although he served the wrong side, he wasn't a direct threat to neither humans nor her clan. And due to that, Ritsura had trouble finding motivation to kill him. if there was hope she could finish her task, she could muster the will for it, but as it is... it seemed like a pointless death.

"Anyway, let me admit that there is probably no reason to worry about Onieda Masato-san." He started. "That man is-"

Suddenly, a bullet hit him into his head.

"And there goes one of his seven lives!" Reiko commented while taking her weapon into her hands and her starting to look around for enemies. "Where did that come fro... what the..." seems she found her culprit in the sky.

Following her example, Ritsura looked up. There, she saw a flying ship. The flag on the mast showed the symbol of the Nura Clan, a thing that made her hopeful again.

"Hey, Ojou-san!" she heard a voice from above. "It seemed to me you were being late so I brought a ship with me!"

"Uncle Nyudo!" she was never that happy to see that big eye of his.

"I am no uncle of yours, brat!" he said with a a smile on his face. It was quite some time since they made that exchange of words. "Come on girl, hurry up." He threw a rope to her.

Ritsura didn't waste her time and took it into her hands with youkai from above pulling her up.

"You think I'd let you run away like that?" Reiko yelled and stormed at her.

"I am really in no mood to be stopped, Reiko!" Ritsura turned to her and blew cold air right into her face, causing her to stop. Then a few youkai jumped from the ship and pushed her onto the ground.

As she was being pulled up, she looked down. Although he was shot into his head, Hikine didn't seem to have suffered notable injuries. Two of the youkai that jumped down ran at him but the moment they got close, he knocked them unconscious in mere seconds. Ritsura felt relieved to see him both unharmed and him not killing her comrades.

"I didn't know we had this." Ritsura said as she climbed onto the ship.

"Takarabune. Thats how this youkai is called." Hitotsume replied, still smoking his pipe. "Anyway Ojou-san, you can admire him later." He said as he took a sniper into his hands. "From what I hear, there is a rocky road in front of us!"

"Better a rocky road than no road." She replied with relief as Takarabune went on. There was hope of reaching Masato after all.

However, a small look towards the ground showed that she wasn't yet done with that duo.

* * *

_It woke up, the eternal darkness and silence replaced by imagery it didn't immediately understand._

_It didn't yet fully understand where it was... or what was it's name or what was it's gender or even what it was doing._

_But it knew it must kill...that it must hunt... and whom it needed kill and hunt._

_And so, somehow knowing where it's pray is, it started hunting._

_It will "remember" what it was while it hunts._

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the end of another SS chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviews my chapters, your reviews are the best motivation one can ask for :)

Anyway, unlike other chapters this one was dominated (with a small break) by one character: the 4th heiress herself. The battle is tough and stressful for young Ritsura but I am sure she will be able to handle it, even if she (yet) lacks her own Hyaki.

Shiori continues being an obstacle, even if she doesn't fight anyone. She managed to exhaust her enemy and cut Ritsura from rest of her comrades, all while putting a number of strong opponents in front of her to serve as both a physical and a mental obstacle. However, Uncle Ao can crush through bones of any enemy (literally ;P) and Uncle Nyuudo showed Film Hatter he ain't that easy to delay (though one wonders where other Takarabune's are...). Shiori was outwitted but one doubts she will just shrug her shoulders to this. And time is of essence for Ritsura, especially since the new Tale was born and started it's hunt.

We are also introduced to three new characters, though one got banged (sorry for the pun). Kashima Reiko is a youkai you may have heard of while Hikine is both an original youkai and (surprisingly?) is not entirely evil. Both Reiko, who evaded Nura clan's gangsters for decades, and Hikine, who didn't have much trouble fighting Ritsura, promise to be threats. And as Ritsura noted, it is unlikely they will retreat just yet.

And during all that, Mayuri looks back at her relationship with her father. And now that Rihan is not there no keep them quiet, the Toono will give her some lore on her own family's secret side. Oh, and where the heck is Mamoru? You didn't see him since ch4 and I didn't see him since the deleted scene in ch6 :P Well, everything in it's time ;P

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and hope you review it!

P.S. Kibiki sisters and Yashagoro are kinda missing aren't they? Well, they will make their appearance in next chapter... or the one after.


	8. The Hellish Plot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle between the Nura clan and Shiori's Hyaku Monogatari continues, with members of the Nura clan scattered around to the point that even the young heirs have to fend for themselves which becomes harder due to the fact they have no time to spare. Fortunately Kiyotsugu Saaya and Ichinoe Araya offer indirect help in the battle but unfortunately there is more than one enemy the Nura clan has to deal with.

 

**Chapter _8 - The Hellish Plot_**

_One of the most basic elements of human nature is the inner conflict between the virtue and the sin. It is only natural that this conflict ends up being represented in countless legends all around the world. That is also the case of the story of Koushin, battle between the Jade Emperor Ten-Tei and the demon Shomen-Kongo._

_Japan had always been well-known for its religious plurality as well as having numerous beliefs and deities. And those numerous religions constantly intervened with one another, giving birth to more beliefs. One of those beliefs was called_ " _Koushin_ " _, a Japanese folk religion that appeared before the Heian period._

_The Koushin religion stated that three worms, the Sanshi, lived within every human body, keeping record of both good and bad deeds the humans committed. Every sixty days, the night of Koushin-Machi occurred, when the worms would leave the humans to go to deity Ten-Tei, the Jade Emperor and ruler of bad people were punished with illness, shorter lives or even instant death. That was why people were influenced to live virtuous lives. And the religion became more and more popular, cleaning sin in its path and making the world a better place._

_But just as there were those who fought for virtues, there were those who fought for sins. One of those was the King of Yasha, Shomen-Kongo, a Maou from India who had come to Japan with an army of loyal Yasha's and ambitions of conquest. He and the Koushin soon became bitter enemies. And, after seeing how many humans lived in fear of Ten-Tei's punishment, Shomen-Kongo planned the destruction of the harmony brought by the Koushin._

_One of Shomen-Kongo's abilities was and causing diseases that not even the Sanshi were immune to. Any human who spent an entire night praying to Shomen-Kongo would be blessed with death of their Sanshi, thus allowing them to live a sinful life without fear of the divine retribution._

_Of course, many of Koushin's faithful warriors rose to fight the new menace and restore order. But Shomen-Kongo was not someone to be underestimated. He may have been a mighty and temperamental demon with ability to casue and heal illnesses of all kinds, but his true power was his wicked, manipulative mind. He despised virtues and the virtuous warriors who fought evil to no end, so he killed many of them, but not the most virtuous ones. His plans for them were worse. He toyed with them, confused them and turned their virtuous zeal into fanaticism and insanity, turning those once virtuous heroes into villains. And, soon enough, the Koushin religion was defenseless with all of its protectors either going insane or joining the enemy._

_Without anyone standing in his way, Shomen-Kongo walked into Shitennou-ji, the most sacred and oldest Koushin Temple, and there he declared himself a god and took the name Koushin-san. And, as Koushin-san, he claimed to protect the humans from the sin. In truth, he protected sinners who showed him respect and loyalty while the rest were punished for the smallest sins just because he enjoyed it. However, everything comes to an end, and so did Shomen-Kongo's life when the Second Commander of the Nura Clan visited him in Shitennou-ji._

_And so, his reign of terror had ended._

* * *

_Nine years back in time…the Maou Sanmoto Gorouzaemon walked through the bleak place where all humans and youkai are destined to go once they die, waiting to rejoin the circle of reincarnation – in other words, Hell. He was a man who relished in all kinds of joy when still human. And, as such, he hated that dull world and seeked to return to the world of the living and all of its dark pleasures. Had it not been for Nura Rikuo, he would have returned to life, and, had it not been Nura Rihan, he would have been a deity by now._

_Although he liked to spend his time dreaming about revenge, different thoughts were now going through his ghastly head as the powerful ancient youkai and Kami, Maou Shomen-Kongo, had invited him for a conversation. Sanmoto had no idea what Shomen-Kongo could want from him, but he didn't dare to reject his invitation. While they were both still alive, Shomen-Kongo was a valuable ally of his and could be useful again, so it would be a very good idea to keep getting along with him and a very bad idea to anger him. The problem, however, was that Shomen-Kongo had a short temper and was utterly unpredictable. One wrong word could cause great problems to Gorouzaemon._

_Finally, Sanmoto reached his destination. On the ground, a gigantic three-eyed, blue-faced Oni with six hands sat. Two of his hands were closed as if in prayer, one was holding a bow, one was holding arrows, one was holding a Buddhist wheel and one was holding a sword. He was surrounded by a sea of Yasha's, demons from India who gave their lives to serve him. All of them were sitting with their eyes closed and deep in meditation, thus looking like statues. Behind their master, three monkeys were jumping around and playing, occasionally closing their ears, eyes and mouth._

_Sanmoto prostrated himself in front of him. "You asked to see me, Koushin-san?"_

" _Ah, Sanmoto... fat and disgusting as always." Shomen-Kongo greeted him. The earth shoke as he spoke in what was, for him, a low tone. "Good thing you have lost your face, so I don't need to look at that ugly mug of yours. Feel free to rise up."_

" _I humbly thank you, Koushin-san." Sanmoto rose up and formed fists with his hands, not wanting to look disrespectful and take any risks as he hid his anger._

" _Say... how long was it since you asked me to save you from your Sanshi?"_

" _Around four centuries, Koushin-san." Sanmoto answered. Sanshi were a great threat to the sinners in Edo Period and Sanmoto had feared they would be the end of him, so he had also been one of those to pray to Shomen-Kongo for salvation._

" _Ah, yes... not only did you spend an entire night in prayer but you also sent me a very generous gift in form of money. I built and decorated great many temples with it. Heh, heh, heh." He sounded pleased._

" _I am glad to hear that." Sanmoto rubbed his hands and tried to smile. "Your blessing was worth every coin. It brought great fortunes to me."_

" _Life sure is more pleasant when Ten-Tei isn't meddling in it. But Sanmoto..." Shomen-Kongo's face took the form of an angry grimace. "...you also payed to me with the promise you would become a Gachirin and create an interesting new world that would please me greatly. But all your misdeeds remained nothing more than misdeeds. Your failure to pay me back properly was a huge insult to my name!"_

" _I-I-I..." Sanmoto was terrified. He wasn't sure in how much danger a dead youkai could be, but Shomen-Kongo is someone who was able to cheat, fight and beat the heavens themselves. There was no saying of what he was capable of. "Maybe not everything went as originally planned, but it is still not over, Koushin-san. Please give me some more time, and I shall-"_

" _Ah, stop shivering. You may have failed to entertain me, but at least you still have some value." Shomen-Kongo calmed down. "Abe no Seimei was better than you in every regard and look what happened to him. I expected a lot from him, you know? To the point I even gave him my Shoukera. Now, he is dead and Seimei is worthless to me! Bah!"_

" _Seimei-dono was a force to be reckoned with, yes. But his fall is the fault of that accursed Nura Clan, Koushin-san." Sanmoto tried to use the situation. "They tried their best to ruin any plan we ever came up with!"_

" _Not only yours." Kongo frowned. "Aotabou... I invested years in creating that youkai. And guess what happens? The Nura clan finds him and makes him one of theirs. And that very Aotabou ended up being the one to kill my beloved Shoukera. A shame... a great shame!"_

_Shomen-Kongo loved only two things: the divine position he had acquired by himself and misleading promising humans and youkai into becoming his Champions, no matter if they were aware of who their master was or not. As instance, Shoukera used to be one of Ten-Tei's most zealous servants and a follower of the Koushin religion, as well as a bitter enemy of Shomen-Kongo. But through skillful manipulation, Shomen-Kongo corrupted his soul and mind. As time went on, Shoukera fell more and more into insanity and his mind progressively became weaker. He then found hismelf a new religion, Christianity, and was even able to hear the whispers of God. But little was he aware that those whispers actually came from Shomen-Kongo and that he had unknowingly become his servant._

_That was how fearsome Shomen-Kongo was._

" _I intended to repay them in kind you know. Once Nura Rihan's beloved wife died, he was weakened and I thought I could use that. Just imagine: making their very commander Nura Rihan MINE." Shomen-Kongo continued "Aotabou for their commander... a fair deal, I would say. But I underestimated the Nura Clan and their commander. And now I am here, in your company and with my power over humans diminished."_

" _As I said, the accursed Nura Clan." Sanmoto said with an angry face. Inside, however, he was pleased due to finding out that Shomen-Kongo and him had a common enemy. "Aren't you just frustrated about how those bastards still haven't answered for their sins?"_

" _Ha, ha, ha, ha..."_ _laughing, the Maou Shomen-Kongo raised to his feet. "HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! MWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" his laughter was silent at first, but it gradually became louder and created earthquakes around him and Sanmoto, who, unable to keep balance on his feet, fell onto his bottom. Still, the Yasha's surrounding them remained calm, while Sanmoto could not even imagine what would make him laugh like that._

_And then, suddenly, Shomen-Kongo calmed down. "Sanmoto... I will need your help." he said as he walked up to him. Sanmoto could only shiver from fear as this monstrous giant stood above him. "Coward, just like I remember. But, don't worry, Sanmoto. I promise you that once you hear what I have to say, not even your great cowardice will save you from shivering from laughter." Shomne-Kongo smiled. "Your and my Fear will create an Champion that no youkai shall ever forget."_

_And as promised, Sanmoto's fear was replaced with ecstatic pleasure._

* * *

_Back to the present time, the battle between the Nura Clan and a Hyaku Monogatari continues…_

"Things are not going well, Ritsura." Saaya's voice spoke through a cellphone. "It is as if Shiori expected this entire conflict to happen."

"Saaya-chan, mind giving me some substance?" Ritsura replied. "I know you well enough to guess that you keep an eye on every part of the town."

"As I said, it's going on poorly." Saaya continued. "Don't hope to see much of reinforcements. Shiori delayed literally everyone. I have no doubts there are more enemies in front of you but they are hiding themselves from the city's cameras."

"They are already around me." Ritsura could feel many different kinds of Fear below her, as if the youkai wanted her to know they are close. Until today, she couldn't even imagine they had so many enemies inside Tokyo. Maybe Rihan was right and the Clan should have taken stricter measures to assure their dominance in the city. "Were I not in the air, I'd already be swinging my sword in all directions."

"Don't relax too much." Saaya warned her. "It is quite possible that the enemy is assembling a flying army or something."

"That's exactly why I am relaxing. Else, I'd be too tired when I get attacked, and, trust me, you don't want to be tired during a fight." Ritsura told her. "What about humans? The streets seem deserted."

"Only the ones close to you guys. The rest of Tokyo is as lively as ever." Saaya said to her. "It seems Shiori was kind enough to do something that keeps human victims bearing the minimum. The streets that are no longer filled with youkai already returned to normal."

"I am not sure if I should be thankful or concerned." Ritsura sighed. She didn't like the fact that Shiori had the ability to do something as big as force a good chunk of Tokyo to leave the endangered areas, as it implied that she had other equally big cards to play.

Why Shiori had gone through all the effort to keep the humans away was something Ritsura couldn't understand. There were youkai that tried to keep the humans away from their wars, but Shiori's youkai didn't seem the kind to show mercy towards humans, other than few exceptions, like Hikine. Not to mention that human victims tended to make that kind of youkai stronger, which was another reason they should want humans to be present.

And there was something else that bothered her.

"By the way Saaya, do you have an idea of why Shiori would want Onieda Masato dead? She sure is giving her best to harm him."

"I have no idea." Saaya answered with a tired tone. "It could be anything from some kind of master plan to Shiori fooling around just for the sake of it. Shiori may blabber a lot about her youkai, but keeps her own personal stories for herself. Even her tales don't have any link that connects them."

"Irritating..." Ritsura turned toward Hitotsume, who was standing on the edge of Takarabune and shooting a bullet downwards every now and then. "Hitotsume, do you think we could catch one of them and beat him into spitting out some information?"

"I am sure we could, Ojou." He answered, still looking down. "But please let's leave that for another day. We already have our hands full here."

"Good point," Ritsura nodded and put the cellphone back to her ear. "Anyway, Saaya, how far away are we from Masato's location?"

She didn't get an answer.

"Saaya?" Ritsura repeated. "Saaya, are you there? Do you hear me?"

But still no answer. She then noticed that her cellphone got turned off.

"What...? I am hundred percent sure that it had enough power for an entire week!" Ritsura had a bad feeling. "Shiori... I guess you will soon make your mov-" she then went silent.

When she raised her head, she saw a woman before her, clothed in a black-red western and dress hiding her face under a mask and a fan, sitting on edge of a skyscraper. The moment Ritsura's golden eyes and her red ones made contact, the woman made a V sign with her fingers.

"Hitotsume!" Ritsura didn't waste time and immediately took out Nenekirimaru and prepared for a fight. Hitotsume didn't answer, but she heard him preparing his sniper.

Ritsura intended to immediately jump at her, but then she felt a powerful Fear that made her pause for a moment. From the other side of the skyscraper, behind this woman's backs, an enormous, black skeleton with blue fires in its eye and mouth holes appeared and too quickly got dangerously close to them. It then raised its hand with obvious intention to crush them, but Takarabune immediately reacted and lowered itself to dodge the attack. Then, the living ship surprised Ritsura and Hitotsume by quickly rotating itself vertically, forcing them to start falling down.

"The hell are you doing?!" Hitotsume demanded, but, instead of answering, Takarabune then made a fast horizontal turn and hit them with all of its strength. They flew far away and their fall was, by no means, painless. But they were successfully thrown away from the imminent danger, which was doubtlessly what the Takarabune wanted.

Ritsura ignored her pain and immediately jumped back to her feet. The scene she witnessed when she did so was horrid: Takarabune tried to flee from the floating giant skeleton, but the enemy was as fast as it was big and, with both of its hands, it caught the flying vessel. As she was too far away to be able to do anything, she could only watch as the proud youkai Takarabune was minced into wooden boards and thrown into the skeleton's mouth and hear the skeleton chewing it.

Ritsura didn't even realize she had started running towards it until Hitotsume grabbed her, "Calm down, Ojou!"

Ritsura tried to get away from him. She wanted to make that youkai pay the same price that Chimei Senko had payed. She saw far too many die this night.

"Ojou, you felt that guy's Fear! Even the First, with his Hyakki at his back, would get himself busy with it! You, who have nearly nobody with you, will just end as its snack!" Hitotsume continued. "Besides, you must have realized by now who that bitch is! That thing is unlikely to be the only one protecting her!"

Ritsura then kicked the ground with her foot in anger, freezing everything in her vicinity to the point that even Hitotsume fell down, no longer holding her back. But she didn't continue running and, instead, fully aware she couldn't do much and that she had missed her chance to kill the enemy's leader, she could only watch as Shiori jumped onto the skeleton's hand. Shiori also threw her a quick glance, and, for some reason Ritsura remembered the gesture that Shiori had made when their eyes met, which only made her angrier.

"Ojou..." she felt Hitotsume's hand on her shoulder. "We gotta get out of here before that monster drops down on us!" his voice was shivering as he talked.

"Don't worry. It won't be attacking us. If it were, Shiori would continue sitting at a safe distance." Ritsura answered coldly. And, as she predicted, the floating skeleton turned in another direction and started leaving. She did not have any idea where they were going, but they were getting farther away from where she was planning to go.

"Phew... I was already seeing Kokehime making pearls at my funeral!" Hitotsume didn't hide his relief.

"I hope you have your guns with you." Ritsura said, still looking in the direction the skeleton took. "The streets ain't exactly empty."

"Of course I have." She could hear Hitotsume taking out something from his pockets. "While we're at it, I can feel more of those bastards coming after us. We should get on our..."

Ritsura turned towards him. "Uncle Nyuudou, sorry for asking you this, but could you keep them away for some time while I go forward?"

"I am no uncle of yours, brat." Hitotsume replied with a small smile. "Wouldn't it be safer if you didn't go alone?"

"It is not only the Yuki Onna and human bloods that flow through my veins. I am sure you are aware of that." She replied to him and started walking. "If I am alone, there is hope I get away without meeting too many enemies."

"As you wish." Hitotsume accepted and shot a bullet into the darkness in front of him, causing something to scream in pain. "But don't let anything happen to you. Or else, your mother will turn me into a snowman!"

"Don't worry. I'll by evading most of them." She raised Nenekirimaru. "Most of them... but first, an eye for an eye." she said and ran towards the group of youkai in front of her.

* * *

 

"Ahh..." Kiyotsugu Saaya felt frustrated. Sitting in front of her computer in her room, she was thinking about the current situation.

While talking with Ritsura over the phone, the connection was cut and couldn't be re-established. Usually she would think Ritsura's battery went out but she knew Ritsura well enough – there was no way she would not check on her battery when lives were at stake. And since Saaya heard no sound before it broke, she was certain Ritsura's cell wasn't destroyed. That left only one (creepy) possibility: the enemy blocked their communication. Saaya's suspicions were confirmed after she tried phoning the Nura Clan and other people in her phone's address book. Nobody from the Clan could be reached while her human friends were available.

She leaned on her chair, deep in thoughts. Ever since Shiori spoke to Ritsura using all kinds of tech present on the street, Saaya had the feeling she would also be able to influence their communication. She could try to be creative and find another way to contact them, but next time, the enemies could take the simpler route and attack her. She could move somewhere else too, but what if she was needed in the meantime? After all, although Saaya could not fight, she was able to take her father's role of keeping the clan informed about what is going on around the city and by collecting information about the Urban Legends, most of whose powers and weaknesses could be found on the net.

Sound of bells ringing took her attention.  _Well, guess they decided to both block the connection AND deal with me,_ she concluded. Since the Kiyotsugu family was in close relations with the Nura and offered them technological support, there is always the threat of Nura Clan's enemies attempting to use or attack it. For that reason, her father had placed various protections around the mansion, including the one that alerts them when supernatural beings broke into the mansion.

Saaya didn't panic. She hit a few buttons on her keyboard and the surveillance cams around the mansion showed her a video footage in which three youkai broke into her house through an opened window. One of them had a head of a frog and was wearing a purple kimono. Second one was a hare in brown robe and was carrying some kind of steel staff. The third one was a two meters tall bulldog who was sniffing around. Saaya had no doubt the bulldog will track her scent to her room.

_That's enemy logic for you: send one youkai on warriors of the Nura Clan and three on a helpless human girl. Well, no time to lose._  Saaya thought as she opened a drawer of her working desk and took out a few talismans that were given to her by her father's Onmyouji friend, Keikain Yura. She then stuck the talismans around the closed doors of her room and she sat on her bed, embracing a teddy bear while keeping an eye on the video footage. Knowing she had to remain calm, Saaya took a few deep breaths.  _Come on... this is neither the first nor the last time you found yourself in danger. You have strong protections, including a back-up plan if it comes to the worst!_

As she expected, the dog-like youkai was the first to reach her bedroom, breaking the doors in the process and almost ruining all of her calming exercise. But before the youkai could even properly look at her, the talismans flew up, surrounded the dog and exploded, leaving their victim seriously wounded.

"What was that noi-" the frog youkai ran into her room and stopped after noticing his comrade squealing on the floor. He then rose his frog eyes towards Saaya, "You will pay for this, you bitch!"

The hare was the last one to enter her room. He also looked down towards his fallen comrade but, unlike the frog, he didn't seem affected, "Heh... I told you to stay careful." He then looked towards Saaya. "What is it, little girl? You think that teddy will protect you?" he asked, comfortably holding his staff on his shoulder.

Saaya smiled and put the teddy down on the floor, "What if I tell you it will?"

"Now that you mention it... I do feel  _Fear_  coming out of that thing." he took a more cautious position. "It might be a tsukumogami..."

The teddy brought itself up onto it's feet and turned towards the intruders.

The frog didn't seem impressed, "Bah, what can something so small do to us?"

The teddy started running in their general direction.

"I mean, just look at how cutely it runs." the frog smirked.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." the other party stayed careful.

* * *

 

_Three years ago, in the middle school that Saaya was enlisted in, a certain transfer student wanted to join a certain club…_

" _Hello!" a red-haired transfer student entered the clubroom and bowed in front of Saaya. "Is this the school's youkai club?"_

" _This is the Supernatural Investigation Club." Saaya answered and returned her attention to playing solitaire on her tablet. "But Youkai Club is our nickname so you aren't wrong either. I take it you have something to report?"_

" _Nope, I want to join the club" the girl declared._

" _Kh...!" Saaya's body stopped moving. Shima and Ritsura had just graduated, why were they already getting recruits?_

" _Well, I guess I should introduce myself!" the girl continued. "Please call me Ichinoe Araya. You are the president of the club, right?"_

" _Not by my own will..." Saaya complained to herself but accidentally said it aloud._

" _You don't seem very... enthusiastic..." Araya gave out an awkward smile. "...for the club president, that is."_

" _If I said my name is Kiyotsugu Saaya, would you understand?"_

" _Ah... so you are the daughter of The All-knowing Kiyotsugu-sama..." Araya recognized the name, as one would expect from a youkai enthusiast. "Family business, I take it?"_

" _You got that one right." Saaya sighed. "Anyway, I guess I should welcome you to-"_

" _Huh? Do we have a guest he-" Rihan asked as he entered the clubroom but went silent after noticing Araya. "I... Ichinoe?" he asked with an obviously fake smile._

" _Ah, Rihan-kun!" on other hand, Araya was as cheerful as before. "I didn't expect a han'you to be a member of a youkai research club."_

" _You know her, Rihan?" Saaya asked for formality's sake. They obviously knew one another and Araya even seemed be aware of his youkai blood._

" _Yes, we got to know one another few days ago... and yesterday she moved to my class." He answered. "Ichinoe... don't tell me you want to join the club?"_

_Araya answered with an energetic nod and Rihan's skin turned pale._

" _Aha... I see..." Rihan put his hand under a chin, as if thinking about something. "Did Saaya tell you about The Test?" Rihan asked and raised his pointing finger._

" _A test?" Araya asked with a smile._

" _A test?" Saaya asked in confusion._

" _Yes, a test!" the usually silent Rihan acted all enthusiastic now. "I must warn you that our club accepts only the best of the best! Thus, you must prove yourself!"_

" _Heeeh..." Araya seemed entertained. "And what kind of test is it?"_

_Rihan showed her three fingers on his left hand and five on his right. "To prove your investigating skill and efficiency, you have to find THREE rare supernatural phenomenons or youkai in FIVE days! But I repeat: rare! So keep in mind it must be something that is not commonly known!"_

_Araya stayed silent for a few moments and then muttered. "Five and three."_

" _Five and three?" Rihan repeated._

_Araya walked up to him, softly grabbed his collar and lowered his head to her height. "Three phenomenons in five days is too easy. I'll find you FIVE phenomenons in THREE days." She then let his collar go, walked to the exit, bowed and left._

_Rihan was still looking at the doors when Saaya said: "Well, this will be an interesting Saturday. Let's call all the members!"_

_Truth be told, Saaya cared less about these phenomenons and more about seeing Rihan in despair._

* * *

 

" _Here we are, folks, the first destination of our tour." Araya said to the members of the SIC as she brought them to some kind of store hidden in the old parts of the city._

" _This place?" Shima seemed unimpressed. "Well, it does look spooky."_

" _Ahhh... why did I have to wear my new dress?" Mayuri said, obviously worried about trivial things. "Even from here, I can see the inside is dusty."_

" _The Super Teddy Shop..." Rihan read the name of the store. "What kind of stupid name is that?"_

"' _Dark Hunters are not allowed to enter'." Ritsura read a warning on the doors. "Oh, there is another warning beneath it... 'Any Dark Hunter that enters will get taught a lesson by a Teddy Bear'. Whatever these Dark Hunters, are they are not liked by the store's owner."_

" _Look at this pamphlet..." Saaya said as she took out a pamphlet that sat on the small desk in front of the shop. "The only good Dark Hunter is a dead Hunter. If you agree and want to discuss further, send an e-mail to..."_

" _So far, so good, Ichinoe-san." Onieda Mamoru said with a nod. "Let's see if it is as impressive from inside."_

" _ARE YOU DARK HUNTERS?!" an very unfriendly old grandma shouted the very second they entered. For some reason, she was holding a baseball bat in her hands. She also had fake bear ears on her head. It was obvious why the place looked as if it hardly had a customer._

_Everyone shaked their heads._

" _ARE YOU HUNTING DARK HUNTERS?!"_

_Once again, everyone shaked their heads._

" _Welcome, sweeties, to my Teddy bear shop~" the bat disappeared and the grandma now looked like the friendliest person in the world, as if the scene from few moments ago never occurred. "Want to eat some candies while you look around, sweeties?"_

" _Hello, Shino-Obaa-san." Araya greeted her with a smile. "I brought some friends here."_

" _Oh, you are Araya-chan's friends?" faster than anyone Saaya had ever seen, the very friendly grandma took out a small desk from a nearby room (that looked like a teddy's head) and a few stools (that looked like teddies). "Here, have some sweet, warm tea for all of you!" with the same speed, she put cups of tea (with pictures of teddies engraved in them) on the desk._

" _T... Thank you very much." Mamoru said and everyone took their cups of tea._

" _Just how fast was that granny when she was younger?" Shima wondered as he sat down. "You know, I bet she was a beautiful athlete..." he then closed his eyes and started daydreaming._

" _I'll let my tea cool down a little. Anyway, there sure are many teddies here..." Ritsura commented as she looked around, finding out the place was just a dusty, western-like shop which only sold one product: teddies. At least there were different kinds and sizes of the toys._

" _There can never be too many teddies, sweetie." The very friendly grandma commented._

" _Anyway, Ichinoe mentioned that there is something weird about this shop." Rihan commented._

" _There is nothing weird here, sweetie." the very friendly grandma replied. "These are just teddies."_

" _Hoo..." Rihan smiled and looked towards Araya._

" _Hee..." Araya also smiled and then looked towards a teddy. "Oh, my, I want a candy but my legs hurt. Is there a valiant hero who would save me?"_

_Suddenly, the teddy jumped down and, while everyone silently looked at it in shock (aside from Shima, who was still daydreaming), it ran to the counter, took the bowl of candies and put it to the desk after which the teddy fell onto Araya's lap._

" _Heh." Araya smirked at Rihan._

" _See, it is just a normal teddy that helps and protects its master." the very friendly grandma said as if it was completely normal. "I can't count the number of times they saved me from those evil Dark Hunters and their scary monsters."_

" _Wait... every teddy here is like that?" Ritsura asked._

" _Yes, all of my five-hundred teddies are like that." the very friendly grandma said with a smile. "But then, what teddy isn't like that? Ho, ho!"_

"" _CUTEEE!"" Mayuri and Ritsura shouted with stars shining in their eyes._

" _I'LL BUY A DOZEN!" Mayuri declared._

" _I'LL BUY AN ENTIRE HYAKKI!" Ritsura declared._

" _He, he... Sure sweeties, just choose the ones you like."_

" _Please, nee-san, don't buy something that stupid." Rihan asked._

_The next moment, Araya positioned herself behind him and started strangling him with her arm. "What did you just say? Did you just call teddies stupid? Do you also have something against girls who still sleep with teddies?"_

" _Brat... let's go drink some tea in the backroom and have a little chat." the very unfriendly grandma pointed towards the doors (with a teddy face engraved on it) while holding the baseball bat in her hands again._

" _I think he has trouble walking. But don't worry, Rihan-kun, I'll help you." Araya said and started pulling him into the backroom._

_Rihan, unable to speak, held his hand towards his sister but both she and Mayuri were busy choosing teddies. Shima was still daydreaming, Saaya intentionally ignored him and started browsing while Mamoru just absent-mindedly watched the light-hearted atmosphere, leaving poor boy to face cruel destiny._

_And, as Saaya came to learn soon after, those teddies were incredibly strong youkai._

* * *

 

" _Here we are, folks, the second destination of our tour!" Araya proclaimed in front of a dark alley._

" _Ugh... another creepy-looking place..." Saaya commented._

" _Well, we are a Supernatural Investigation Club!" Ritsura replied while patting a small teddy that sat on her shoulder. "Creepy places are what we are supposed to visit!"_

" _Good thing we have teddies!" Mayuri said with a big smile, hugging a teddy bear._

" _Look at this picture, Nura-kun!" Shima was showing Rihan something on his cell. "After carefully analyzing the granny's attributes, I concluded she looked like this when she was younger. Very hot, am I right?"_

" _Yes... Teddies are awesome." Rihan said in a dull tone, not paying any attention to him. There were no signs of physical violence in him but it was obvious the poor Han'you suffered in that backroom._

" _This also looks promising, Ichinoe-san." Mamoru commented. "Please, do lead the way."_

_And so, the SIC walked into the dark alley. The place had such a creepy vibe that nobody made a sound, besides lifeless Rihan preaching about teddies and Araya humming some kind of song. Finally, they reached the end of the alley. There, sat a man clad in black clothes and hat and smoking a cigarette. Next to him, there was a table and some kind of parchments with a price tag hanging above them. It should be noted that the price was not exactly low._

" _Well then, I see that quite a few puny mortals today seem to want to gain the power to make devilish contracts." he said and exhaled a big puff of smoke. "Or did you just get lost?"_

"' _Devilish contracts'?" Saaya repeated. "Please, do explain."_

" _You see, this is no ordinary paper..." the man said as he took a piece of paper into his hand. "First, your write a contract onto it. You know... defining rules and all that good stuff. Then, the one who makes a contract puts his signature on the bottom and... voila! They're forced to follow the terms of the contract!"_

" _Ooooh..." Ritsura seemed intrigued. "Ho, ho, ho, ho..." and then made a sinister laughter._

" _That seems quite useful actually..." Saaya commented._

" _Hmph... heard about that scam. A few people have bought it and tried it out but it didn't work." Rihan, who had seemingly returned to his old self, smirked. "Ichinoe, you know what that means, right?"_

" _Nah, 'tis no scam. There are just copycats..." Araya said while sweating. "Honestly, this is a true devil contract."_

" _Your words say one but your body is more honest." Rihan pointed a finger at her. "You failed the test, Ichinoe!"_

" _Why not try it out, then?" the man seemed untouched by his customer's skepticism. "Why not make a devil's contract with the girl? Of course, you will buy the parchment."_

" _No... no need." Araya rejected._

" _Ha, trying to get out of this eh?" Rihan smiled. "Alright, we will buy a parchment and try it out." He said and turned towards Araya who, to his horror, was now smiling. "Ichinoe... why are you suddenly so confident?"_

" _Nura-kun, sorry to complain, but... this was just such an obvious trap." Shima said and sighed. The rest also shaked their heads._

" _Kh...!" Rihan turned to stone after realizing his mistake._

" _Alright, the contract has been written!" Araya proclaimed. "Here, Rihan, do sign it."_

" _Ah... hah..." Rihan took the paper into his hands and read it: "'I, Nura Rihan, son of Nura Rikuo, thereby proclaim this to the writer of this contract: for the next fourty-eight hours, I shall act towards you like a butler from a Shoujo Manga, take care of your well-being and constantly compliment everything you do, no matter how stupid or wrong I actually think it really is'." Rihan read it and looked towards Araya._

" _You promised to try it out... and I am not buying another parchment." Araya said as she gave him a pen._

" _Heh, heh... well, not like it is gonna work." Rihan tried to grasp onto his hope as he accepted the pen. "Alright... so better write my name and surname."_

" _Does the order of the name and surname matter? That is, would it accept only a signature in Japanese style or would it also work if it was signed gaijin-style: name first, surname second?" Saaya asked the man. Rihan looked at her as if she were a traitor. Seems he hoped to avoid the contract by reversing the order of the names._

" _No, it doesn't." the man shrugged. "You can even put your nickname. The contract can't be cheated by something that simple."_

" _Ugh..." Rihan took a deep breath. "Well, you only live once!" he said and signed it._

" _So... how is it, little brother?" Ritsura asked with a sinister smile._

" _I don't feel anything weird happening." Rihan shrugged. "Though I am pretty sure it works in a way because I know that the kind and smart Ichinoe-san would never be able to disappoint us."_

" _Oh, look! It worked!" Ritsura proclaimed with a big smile. "I am gonna buy quite a few of these!" she then averted her eyes aside. "And use them wisely… keh keh…"_

" _Heh, she sure got you there, Rihan..." Saaya said to him._

" _Of course, I was very stupid to think my lady could be wrong..." Rihan said with a pained expression. "But now I know better and shall be more careful and considerate in future."_

" _Hum, hum..." Araya nodded. "Well, that takes care of the second case."_

" _Indeed, it does. Shall we see what great thing you have in store for us next?" Rihan said as he grabbed Araya's hand. "Oh, yes, you did say your legs hurt you in that shop, didn't you?"_

" _You know that was a lie. But what does that have to do with any—HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"_

_The next moment, Rihan grabbed her and put her over his shoulder as if he was carrying a potato sack, "Now, now, my dear lady, no need to be so considerate towards us. Your legs hurt and I, who am sworn to take care of your well-being, shall carry you myself!"_

" _Put me down! I already said my legs don't hurt!" Araya demanded. "Don't you dare carry me through filled streets like this!"_

" _Sorry, my lady, but your well-being comes before everything else. The contract put quite a focus on it." Rihan said as he started walking away. "Granted, I do pathetically consider this an act of revenge, but the fact is that this is for your own well-being."_

" _Gaah! I knew it was intentional!"_

" _Oh, and it is kind of hot here isn't it? Here, let me cool you down a bit." He said and started waving her skirt up and down._

" _Gyaaaah! Get your hands of my skirt you pervert!" Araya started grabbing her skirt while Rihan laughed. "You got your revenge now put me doooown!"_

" _You know..." Saaya started talking while watching the circus. "As entertaining as the scene may seem... This kind of pisses me off."_

" _You can say that again." Mayuri agreed. "How come I didn't come up with the same idea she had?"_

" _No... I am pretty sure she didn't plan that to happen." Saaya noted._

" _Well then, let's see what else Ichinoe-san has in store for us." the always-calm Mamoru said. "Don't worry, I bought enough paper for all of us."_

" _Huh? What do you need that paper for, nii-san?" Mayuri asked him._

" _Sensei stuff, of course! My students will LOVE it!" Mamoru said with a sinister voice. "Fu, fu, fu... they will finally meet their God..."_

" _And thus, the age of darkness for our school starts." Saaya sighed and the rest of the group started leaving the alley as well._

* * *

 

"What an embarrassment..." the hare youkai complained. "To be beaten by a teddy bear and forced into a human's servitude by that contract thing... the entire youkai world will laugh at us!"

"Less complaining and more work, please!" Saaya admonished the intruders.

"But why do we need to be dressed like this?" the frog youkai complained. "Why couldn't we have gotten the butler clothes?"

"Because you tried to kill me, that's why. Until you make amends, you will have to stick it out!" Saaya replied. "Now please stay silent, I have my own work to do!"

After the teddy bear beat them up, Saaya offered them two choices: death or making a contract with her that would cause them to become her servants and bodyguards until she decided to release them from their service. Of course, they chose the second option, and, for extra entertainment, she had also forced the two men to be dressed like maids while they clean the house as she worked on her laptop. The dog was still wounded but had also made a contract with her, using his paw as a signature rather than written text.

Then, she got a video call from her laptop. "Father!" she immediately accepted it and the next moment she was looking at her father's face.

"Hi there, lovely daughter~!" Kiyotsugu greeted her, cheerful as ever. No matter how much she liked to complain about him, she was happy to see and hear him her father after all she had to go through. "I heard it is quite rowdy there in Tokyo~"

"Yes, the Nura Clan youkai are fighting in the streets... I tried to contact you but I got the message you were off-limits."

Now that Saaya thought about it, it was quite possible that Shiori had blocked him as well. "But how did you hear about it?"

"Ichinoe-kun contacted someone in this town and they found me and told me about the whole situation." although he took a more serious expression, he still left an impression of a cheerful person. "Though it took some time to break through all these hacks... but, hey, your daddy knows what he is doing! Ha, ha, ha!"

"So Araya-san found you..." Saaya felt quite indebted to her today.

"Anyway, how are you? Nothing happened, I hope."

"Ah don't worry, Tou-san! I managed to hire some youkai as mercenaries!" Saaya lied to him. She didn't want to worry neither him nor her mother. "Where is Kaa-san, by the way?"

"Ah, she fell unconscious due to meeting a youkai up close. She is still scared of youkai but I am sure she will soon get over her fear soon!"

"Will she now?" Saaya asked with an awkward smile. No matter how many youkai she met, Saaya never saw her mother get used to it. And seeing how she had heard her mom deal with youkai since she was younger, she was pretty sure she'd never get over it.

"But I am proud to see you dealing with this all so well." her father gave her a big smile. "Not only hiring protection but I also heard you took care to keep the Nura Clan in order. I am so proud of you!"

"Heh, don't mention it..." she wasn't sure why, but she felt happy to hear the praise. "Anyway, I lost all the contact with them. Shiori seems to be-"

"Don't worry about it, I shall take from here." her father winked. "Rest a bit and then I'll ask you a favour."

"'A favour'?"

"Yes!" he put on a serious face again as he typed something on another computer. "Seems the enemy has quite a Hyakki Yakou here. It is worrisome that they managed to build a Hyakki Yakou on Nura-kun's very turf and I'd like you to look into it. Not sure if we'll need to know more for today, but you never know."

"Hai!" she nodded. She wasn't sure she would be able to find anything but she didn't want to bother her father by mentioning it, who now had more important things to do. "I'll leave you to deal with this then. Good luck."

"You too, Saaya. Take care!" he said with another of his big smiles and ended the call.

_Well, then... guess I should get to work._  Although her dad suggested her to rest she didn't want to waste precious time.  _Actually, I should call her first..._

She dialed Araya's number hoping she was not blocked.

"Hello?" Araya answered the call. "Ah, Saaya... did your dad call you?"

"Yes, he did." Saaya replied. "I heard I have to thank you for finding him."

"No worries. I am glad to be of help." Araya answered. She sounded a bit tired.

"By the way, are you at home?"

"No, I am actually in a hotel room." Araya answered.

"Huh? What are you doing in a hotel?"

"Resting. I was supposed to be on a party but since its main guest, Onieda Masato, probably won't be coming, I decided to leave those perverted rich old farts. You know how it is at such parties." Araya sighed.

"Ah, so that's what you meant when you said you were busy... wait, I thought Masato was going for his home?" Saaya started to be worried if she sent Ritsura in wrong direction.

"The party is held close to the Onieda Mansion so that is a trivial information. Else I'd have mentioned it." Araya assured her. "Anyway, I take it there was a reason for calling me during this whole mess?"

"Ah, yes, right! I wanted to ask you to be careful, I myself was attacked."

"What?!" Araya seemed concerned. "That isn't... who attacked you?"

"Three youkai broke into my house and assaulted me. A two meter-tall dog, a hare with some steel stick and a frog dressed in a kimono." Saaya replied. "But don't worry... thanks to you taking us to that teddy shop years ago, I am safe. And thanks to those contracts I got on the same day, I was able to... well, get servants... heh, heh..."

"Ah, I am glad to hear you are alright..." Araya sounded relieved.

"You take care as well... best move somewhere else, so Shiori doesn't find you."

"Don't worry, I will."

"By the way, if you know something about what is going on or where I could learn more, please mail me." Saaya asked her. "Dad asked me to look into it you see."

"Alright, if I find out something important I'll let you know." Araya told her. "By the way, did you question those youkai that  _visited_  you about it?"

"I intended to do that now. Anyway, take care and... thank you for all the help."

"No biggie... just be careful in case someone else comes." Araya replied. "Well then, I better go. C'ya!"

"Yeah, c'ya!" Saaya said and ended the call. "Hey you two, come here now!"

"You called for us, Ojou?" the frog asked, still holding a broom in his hands. The hare followed soon after. Saaya started wondering if she should let them dress in more normal clothes because men in maid clothes was kind of distracting.

"Yes... let's talk about what is going on out there." Saaya said and showed them towards a sofa. They sat onto it, looking nervous. "Shiori sent you, am I right?"

"Ummm... no." the hare replied. "We don't work for Shiori-san."

"You don't?" Saaya was surprised. "They why did you attack me? I thought Shiori sent you because she thought of me as a bother!"

"No, it wasn't her." The frog replied. "Our client just thought of using the situation and..."

"'Client'?" Saaya repeated. "You are assassins or something?"

"Mercenaries, to be exact..." frog said while sweating. "With a good reputation if I may say so... but after what happened today..."

The hare, who was the more composed of the two, cut in, "Anyway, our client said something about using the situation and eliminating the Kiyotsugu family while the Nura Clan is busy. Seems he has something against the Nuras you see."

"Ah... so there are other factions playing this game..." Saaya wasn't too glad to hear the whole situation was more complex than it originally seemed. "So, who is your client and what is his relationship with Shiori? And please don't talk about professionalism: your lives are at stake here."

The frog gulped but the hare remained calm. "As you say, Ojou... we may be punished for this by  _him_  in the future, but I'd rather try to face that than die here like this. Anyway, from what I understand, our client is opposed to both the Nura clan and the youkai serving Shiori-san." he informed her. "The one who hired us is Yanagida, the Prophet of the Cult of Messiah himself."

* * *

 

Rihan, in his youkai form, was running through Tokyo. However, he was neither in a rush nor bothered to be too careful, even though he knew around five enemies were tailing him from the shadows, likely thinking that he was unaware of them. It was not that they were bad at hiding, though. Actually, Rihan was impressed at how they kept following him, not making a single sound.

But it was useless. He wasn't fully sure why, but he has developed an ability that allowed him to feel an Urban Legend's presence. Even if they were invisible, soundless and as fast as a train, he would know where exactly they are. To him, who spends a lot of time hunting urban legends, it was an very useful ability.

But although he knew they were nearby, he didn't intend to face them just yet. The number of humans on the streets may have lessened, but was still only ' _lessened_ ', so he ran towards a location where he could worry less about a random human stumbling upon him and his enemies and more about dealing with his pursuers. And that was the location he had just reached – as far as humans were concerned, it was an abandoned school dormitory with a courtyard that resembled a park. As far as youkai were concerned, however, it was a place which many Urban Legends through the entire century called their home. Due to some nasty youkai residing there, two months ago he and his sister raided it. Rihan didn't know if more youkai moved in already, but he didn't really care: if a villain faces him, he shall make short work of them. In his youkai form, he rarely felt merciful.

"Alright, guys, here we are!" he shouted to the air as he put his sword on the shoulder. "Come on, get out already. I know you were following me." he challenged them, but nobody came out. "If you want, I can even count you. Let's see... one is hiding behind the outer wall... another one is hiding behind a tree with a friend sitting on it and the fourth has just sneaked into the dormitory behind me."

Finally realizing that hiding was useless, the four mentioned youkai came out. The youkai who had sneaked into the dormitory looked like a mummy, but was dressed in ragged businessman clothes and holding an axe. The one that had hid behind the wall was a young woman in a ragged red dress. Her left eye was wrapped in a bloody bandage while her right eye was widely open. In her hands, she held a loaded crossbow. The one hiding behind the tree was a thin, horned oni while the youkai that was hiding on top of the tree was a Tengu.

"Well, well... sure looks like a fun group." Rihan commented, feigning friendliness. "Seeing as you were stalking me... you guys are my fanclub, I take it?"

"Cut the crap, you bastard!" the mummy yelled. "What we want to do is kill you, not admire you!"

"We caaame to take reveenge..." the woman said in a tone so low a human ear could confuse it with moaning. "You will paaay foor killing myy..."

"Ah, 'revenge'?" Rihan interrupted her, not too interested in her last words and ignoring her angry moans. "Weren't you sent by Shiori to play with me or something?"

"'Plaaaay'?" the woman's arms started shaking. "Yesss... we caaame to plaaay."

"We don't serve anyone. While Shiori-san keeps your shitty friends away, we shall deal with you, boy!" the mummy shouted. "I assure you we'll finish you long before any of your friends arrive!"

"Hi, hi, hi! We shall BUTCHER you!" the oni said with a wide smile and started jumping from one leg to another. "And I shall take your HEAD and wear it like a—AKH!"

"You guys don't seem to have made your research... shame. This won't even be a fair fight, then." Rihan, now standing behind the oni whom he had just stabbed in the belly, proclaimed, while the other three youkai shifted their attention from what seemed to be a mirage to the real him. "Hmph, due to all the jumping, I missed the  _spot_." he said and pulled the sword out. "Well, when you get to hell and meet whomever you came to avenge, tell them it was my pleasure." he said with a sinister smile and beheaded the oni with one swing of his sword.

"You damn coward!" the Tengu shouted and flew up.

"'Coward', eh?" Rihan looked up and smiled at him. "So what does it make the three of you, who shiver in fear before a coward?"

The Tengu did not reply and instead flew into the group of trees. At first, Rihan thought he was fleeing but he noticed he was carrying throwing spears, called javelins. Rihan realized what the plan was and, as he predicted, the Tengu threw a javelin at him. At the same time, the red woman released the bolt from her crossbow and the mummy jumped at him with his axe.

"Ah, the plan is better than I expected. But..." Rihan didn't move. There was no need – the three of them attacked his mirage.

"Damn it!" the mummy complained and made a long jump backwards. "Compose yourself, guys! Don't let his Fear confuse you any further!"

"You should have told them that earlier..." Rihan admonished him with a bored tone. "The attack will be futile now that I know how it works." and then he smiled, with sole intention of making them feel fear. "Thus the three of you are going to die." he saw his words hit the mummy and the woman. He wasn't sure about the Tengu, who jumped from one tree to another.

"A... attack!" the mummy yelled. The next three attacks failed as well, but not because they were targeted at the mirage – Rihan simply dodged.

"Come on, I didn't even use my fear..." He lowered his sword "Well, I guess this means you really don't have any other tactics planned. Seems it's safe to go offensive."

As expected, they used the same attack again. But this time, Rihan caught the javelin with his left hand, deflected the bolt by swinging his sword upwards and kicked the mummy's stomach, cracking his bones in the process.

"Hiriki!" the woman shouted in what was, at least for her, a loud tone.

"I... I am alright..." The mummy, who was supposedly called Hiriki, managed to stay on his feet despite obviously being in pain.

"Good. It is easier to hit your heart if you are standing." Rihan said and the next moment his sword pierced the mummy into it. "Now let's try and see if it will work this time."

The Fear started dripping from Hiriki and onto the sword, seemingly causing great pain to him. A heart was an important organ, even for youkai, usually serving as food that can make a youkai stronger and Rihan believed it could be used for other things as well. However, the morbid scenes stopped and Hiriki died like all the other youkai slayed by Nenekirimaru. "Tz, seems I need to concentrate better." Rihan looked at his sword. "Or is it because of this sword's nature?"

The sword Rihan used was similar to his sister's. Keikain Akifusa, who had remade the first Nenekirimaru, forged that one, but for certain reason, it was weaker than the original. Rihan wasn't sure if the technique he was developing continued to fail due to him needing more practice, that being an exorcist's sword or because it simply wasn't strong enough. But he'd need to leave the thinking for later. The Tengu, still hiding behind the trees, had thrown a storm of spears at him.

"What are you waiting for, Kairi?" the voice from Tengu's direction demanded. "You don't have time to waste!"

The crossbow woman, supposedly called Kairi, just stood and shivered as she watched Rihan dodge the spearss.

"Damn it, what kind of hunter are you?" the Tengu continued not stopping with his attacks. "Did you forget why you are here? We have to-"

"Too noisy." Rihan said and took a gigantic cup of sake out of nowhere. "I hate using this technique because of the heat it causes, but I really want to just get this over with...  _Meikyou Shisui_!" as those words left his mouth, blue fire exploded amongst the trees where the Tengu was hiding. The Tengu was barely able to let out a short scream before he got turned into ash.

"No... waay..." The despaired Kairi fell onto her knees. "How coome..."

"He called you Kairi, didn't he?" Rihan started talking. "I think I heard that name before..."

Noticing he was closing onto her, Kairi groveled backwards but was stopped by the dormitory's wall.

"Ah, yes... 'if you meet her on the street around midnight, she will start hunting you with her crossbow' or something." He was now standing next to her as she shivered, "You know, I always wondered... how does it feel when, for the first time in your life, you turn from the one who causes despair into a victim of despair?"

" _Good question!"_  a mechanical, female voice suddenly suddenly said.  _"Maybe I could show you sometime?"_

Before he could even ask who it was or finish Kairi off so she couldn't be rescued, something hit his stomach and pushed him all the way into a tree. Then it flew away before Rihan could even see how it looked like.

"Who are you?!" he asked and raised his sword. He couldn't feel anyone for some reason, but somehow, knew that this enemy was far more dangerous than the four youkai that attacked him.

He didn't get an answer. Instead, black skulls with blue fires in their eye sockets and mouths flew and filled the place with blue light. He could feel Fear coming from those skulls so he was certain it was the work of some youkai – likely, the youkai that had hit him. What he wondered was why he couldn't feel it coming.

"You know, there is a tale that is being written." Rihan heard a female voice say. "A tale about two Maou and an angry slippery eel that thought itself a knight." He was able to see the voice belonged to a young-looking woman wearing a mask and western dress that entered the dormitory's courtyard. "How do you think it will end? In tragedy or comedy?" she asked with a smile.

He didn't answer. Instead, he looked over her and the skulls, prepared to be attacked. He also felt he should finish Kairi as he had no intentions of letting someone like her get away. But the moment he made his first step...

"You know, there are certain circumstances when your kind of Fear won't work." the woman said while her red eyes kept contact with his. "So don't bother."

"Hmph." Rihan sighed and crossed his arms, as enough time had passed for him to regain composure. "So you are immune to my sneaking?"

"Not really. As I said: circumstances." she answered and then turned towards Kairi, who just realized there was still hope for her.

"Shi... Shiori-saan...?" Kairi muttered as she brought herself onto her feet.

_Shiori?!_  Rihan's grip on his sword strengthened.

"So, what will you do? Run away or continue with your fight?" Shiori asked Kairi.

Kairi looked at Rihan for a moment. But when he threw an angry look at her, she chickened out and started running away, only stopping to give a small bow to Shiori as she passed her.

"Running away..." Shiori started as she looked towards Kairi. "Such a development usually leads to the character getting killed in few minutes... or puts it onto a quest to getting stronger and returning with a vengeance." Shiori turned towards Rihan as she took out a fan from her pocket and opened it. "Maybe I should ask her to join my clan? She seems promising."

"Do what you want. If I see her again, I'll kill her no matter how strong she is." Rihan said and sat under a tree. "Well, that is if you yourself manage to get away from this situation that is."

"Hmm, you don't look too concerned about my presence."

"I am resting, reviewing my situation and making plans. Maybe some help arrives in meantime as well." he told her. "But if you want to cut to the chase, feel free to do it. Time is on my side after all."

"Really? We are away from cameras so your friends should think you are playing around with small fries as they never saw me come. It is more likely they'll lend help to someone who they know needs it." She seemed to also be at ease as she sat on a nearby bench herself. "On other hand, my allies might come any time."

"Oh, don't worry, I am not one to shy from retreating if I need." he shrugged.

Although the head of the enemy clan was sitting few meters in front of him and her death could end the war, Rihan didn't rush and attack her. No matter how attractive the idea was, he had to compose himself and think his situation through. He learned the value of caution the hard way and lives had been lost for him to realize that attacking someone without thinking could often end in tragedy, especially when the enemy was someone prone to backstabbing and deception.

Shiori was a person he felt would be an dangerous opponent. Even if he didn't know she was the leader of the enemy Hyakki Yakou (and likely someone with the ability to create youkai), the fact that she was so relaxed and confident in her safety would have alerted him. He was certain she had something planned and he had to try to see what she may have planned. He was a little worried about the fact that he could not feel her or her pet, but as long as he could see them, that was a trivial problem. If possible, he could make her lower her guard and attack by surprise.

The person called Shiori put her hand into her pocket, took out a candy and threw it into her mouth.

"So, why talk to me rather than my sister?" Rihan decided to be the one to start a conversation. "Wouldn't she be more interesting than me?"

"Oh, the two of us are talking... even at this very moment." Shiori winked. "This is, after all, a battle between her and me. Words are not the only method of communication. So, while I am here, I decided to have a chat with you..."

"So you really are the one behind this? Are those youkai your creations or..."

"Who knows..." she shrugged. "I am not the one to give spoilers."

"Hmph, I see you are enjoying this whole situation." Rihan frowned. "Well, not that I expected anything else. So... what did you want to talk about?"

" _Matoi_..." she then started to speak while playing with a candy. "A technique developed by the Nidaime of the Nura clan, Nura Rihan himself. It is a technique representing harmony of light and darkness, trust and... love. Truly, an honorable technique."

"Come on, don't be stingy. Throw a candy or two this way." he requested her.

She threw him two lemon-flavored candies and continued, "And then comes his grandson and namesake. Not having much trust nor love, he makes an abomination out of it, representing hate and death. I don't say it is not pretty in it's own way, but some would call it disappointing."

"You sound scared. It is made for killing murderers like you." Rihan didn't seem touched by her words. "If you thought such lame words would shake me up, you are watching too many dramas. Like my grandfather, I only want to protect."

"'Protect'? You?" she seemed entertained. "Do you know what is the biggest difference between you and the rest of your family... your clan? Why you are unable to be in sync with them?"

"Guess you will tell me. Throw some more candies, by the way."

"What a sugarophile." she complained and then threw more candies towards him. "They want to protect, thus they kill. You want to kill, thus you protect."

"Interesting. Please, do explain more." he teased her.

"You know... there is a tale about a thief who was killed and then turned into a youkai obsessed with killing youkai... until a certain Nurarihyon came and taught him better." She said.

"Ah, you mean Kubinashi." Rihan smiled. "Yes, he repeats that story to me over and over claiming I am like what he used to be." he looked back at her. "You agree?"

She didn't give him a direct answer. "Your sister fights with sole wish to protect. Killing ain't the point, it is the consequence. You, however, fight to kill and protection is just a consequence... and an excuse. That's why you didn't stay with Onieda Mayuri. That's why you were more concerned about finding a place where you could kill those four youkai without interruptions." she frowned. "That's why you weren't concerned about the fact that your sister was going to face my army of youkai alone."

"I trust the strength of the Toono youkai. I know Mayuri will be alright." he answered calmly.

"So why not let them take care of the enemy while you protect your  _own_  friend?" she replied. "If I am attacking her father, it is to be expected I would attack her as well."

"Seeing how well you planned all this, you would have attacked her sooner or at least some of your youkai would have been following her and Mamoru-sensei. Yet I know you didn't so I take it you are not interested in her. Am I wrong?"

"No, you are right. She is not someone I am interested in." her words made Rihan feel a bit calmer. Although he sounded as if he were assured of Mayuri's safety, he had his doubts.

But there was still something that worried him. "What about Mamoru-sensei? Where did he disappear?"

"I am not interested in him either." She answered him. "As for where did he go, why not ask him yourself tomorrow? Or whenever you meet him next time. So, why did you bring those four here?"

"It was safer to bring the enemies here." He told her. "People like them would not mind using humans as a shield."

"You could have finished them all in a minute. Not to mention that humans like visiting spooky places like this one."

"I am confident in my abilities, but am not deluding myself." He answered. "And if there were humans here, I would have finished them in less than a minute just like you suggested."

"So why didn't you?"

"I wanted to practice the technique which called abominable." He said and winked.

"Just as I thought. Rather than finishing them off and going to help your comrades whose lives are in danger, you wanted to practice your technique." She gave him a sinister smile and Rihan couldn't come up with a quick answer. "Nothing to say I see? Alright… so what about sister?"

"My sister is strong and resourceful enough to take care of an entire hyaki." his eyes narrowed. "Not that you would dare to harm her."

"Ha, ha..." she laughed. "True, I still don't want a full-out war... neither do lesser clans and youkai. They may have a grudge against you, but everyone respects your charming sister. However... Mizuchi of the Kyuushuu Clan would happily kill her. Yanagida-san would happily butcher her. The Shin Sekai would murder her, if she is lucky. Certain exorcists would also not mind slaying her, I think. If you sum it up, that's around sixty percent chance she meets someone who wouldn't mind killing her."

"Ah..." Rihan sighed, stood up and started stretching his arms. "You are even more tiring than Kubinashi. Didn't expect that from a murderer. But I know myself well enough to say you are full of bull. All in all, that I do not jump around those I care about does not mean I don't care about what happens to them." he looked her into the eyes. "Believe me, I trust them. And, if you know what is good for you, you'd better not make me show you how much I care about what happens to them." he took out his sword. "But let's say your words hold water. Whether protecting is a reason or a consequence doesn't matter: it is protection. But I don't think someone like you would know the meaning of that word to begin with."

She looked at him for a few moments and then started laughing, "Well, you sure are a tough nut to crack." she looked at him again, "Well, I should be glad I guess. Boys with strong will are commendable."

He didn't reply. Time for talking was over as far as he was concerned. Hoping to catch her by surprise, he jumped towards her with intention of finishing her before she could even blink, crossing more than five meters in a second. Her face didn't stop smiling when his sword got close to her, though he noticed that she was sweating. But he was too focused on her to the point he didn't notice that another youkai joined them until it got too close. Reflexively, he moved aside and turned his sword around as to block any incoming attack, but he failed – a sword thrust into his left shoulder and he jumped backwards as fast as he could, increasing the space between himself and Shiori's bench.

"You went for a kill there..." Shiori complained to the youkai that joined them. "...Hikine."

"I was worried about your safety, Haha-ue. So I forgot that part of your orders." Hikine said, then turned towards Rihan, who immediately realized that he was lying – Hikine looked at him the same way Rihan looked at the Urban Legends: a look that showed he wanted to kill you no matter what.

"I really hope you follow the plan." Shiori complained. Then, one of the floating skulls floated up to her, grew in size and black bones started growing from it, turning it into something that looked like a skeleton. Shiori jumped on it's head and, after a few seconds, Rihan was looking at a floating giant skeleton (which only had the upper part of its body).

_This is bad... I don't know what that thing is, but it gives me chills._  He lowered his eyes and saw Hikine standing in front of him, watching his every move. He did not know how strong Hikine was, but he knew that he, the skeleton and Shiori together made a dangerous combination. However, only one person needed to die for him to consider that battle a victory. As long as he defended himself against Hikine, broke through that skeleton's defense and slayed Shiori, he could retreat with a clear conscience.

Shiori, now sitting on the skeleton's head, looked at Rihan, "It is not consequence that matters here nor what is right or wrong, but character development which ain't so convenient that good deeds mean bright future for everyone. If I just let it be, the answer to my question from before shall be  _tragedy_." Rihan saw her frown again, "But I myself would prefer a  _comedy_... no, I must at all costs take care it ends in a  _comedy_." By her words, one could see in her eyes that she would not allow anything to stand in her way, "But, enough talk. I am sure the youkai blood in both you and Hikine is already boiling, so... let the battle commence."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here we are, chapter 8. The fic's second largest chapter up to date. Makes me really wonder why I thought I could have finished all this in two big chapters...

We start the chapter with a story about Koushin faith and Shomen-Kongo. The Koushin religion is present in Japan and Shomen-Kongo was actually mentioned in the Manga in chapter 106 and related to both Ao and Shoukera and shown as a demon rather than a benevolent Kami. So I decided to include him in my fic, made him buddies with Gorouzaemon and gave him a title of the Maou. Now, what plan did these two make nine years ago... Sanmoto plotting with other Maou's doesn't necessarily end well.

Back to the present, we see that Hitotsume and Takarabune's arrival gave Ritsura only a small break. Shiori doesn't waste her sweet time and Ritsura will need to deal with more obstacles in the way. Still, she is getting closer (in a way... he is in a car after all).

Most of chapter however belonged to Saaya and her flashbacks. Although she is a human with no special abilities, Saaya knows how to tale care of herself and has quite an inventory of charms. Even without Araya introducing her to those nice thingies three years ago she may have gotten out on top, one way or another.

The flashbacks themselves her fun to write and a good break from all the action. Also, wonder if we will ever get to "see" the other three attractions Araya had planned...

We also had a mention of the Dark Hunters. for those who don't know, they were introduced in one of Volume 25 omakes and the lead of Hiroshi's Dark Pawn omake is practically a Dark Hunter as well... and for some reason I felt a need to mention them here.

And if you thought Rihan had it easier than Ritsura, we now see that he ended up having to deal with the big bad herself... and she sure likes to talk about weird stuff.


	9. The Dreadful Dolls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shiori continues her fight against the Nura Clan, successfully delaying both of the heirs from reaching their objective. While she personally keeps young Rihan preoccupied, Ritsura is forced to make her way through a number of Shiori's subordinates. In meantime, the rest of the Nura Clan continue with their fights while Kiyotsugu Saaya tries to find out more about the nature of the conflict as well as on Shiori herself.

 

**Chapter 9 - The Dreadful Dolls**

"Alright guys, Ritsu-chin is supposed to be somewhere in this neighborhood!" Kashima Reiko, the murderous ghost of a schoolgirl that had only upper half of her body, yelled at a dozen youkai that filled one of Tokyo's streets. "And let me repeat: we are just delaying her! D-e-l-a-y-i-n-g! So no killing attempts, trying to snatch all the glory for yourself or any similar bullshit! I am not tolerant as Shiori-san and I'll HAPPILY cut in half anyone who disobeys this! Understand that birdbrains?!"

"Yes…" the youkai answered half-heartedly. The Fear of the youkai of the Hyaku Monogatari was that of horrors. They exist to cause terror and orders like these are both frustrating and hard to follow. Even Reiko was not too fond of this, but she understood that they couldn't afford a full out war just yet.

"And another thing! If you see or hear ANYTHING immediately let everyone else know! Although she is technically more of a Yuki-Onna than a Nurarihyon, she still has blood of the youkai who are experts at killing unnoticed! We are taking no risks here boys and girls, got that?!" Reiko knew very well how cunning Nura Ritsura was and she wanted to decerase the chances of her getting away as much as she could.

"Yes!"

"Good, now scatter around and hunt me some Ritsu-chins!" Kashima Reiko ordered. "The stupid  _Net Fairy_ may reject to give us a hand, but lets show her we don't need her! Alright?!"

"Yes!" the youkai replied again and scattered around. Kashima Reiko also joined the search.

* * *

"Tz, that Reiko…" Ritsura hid behind a nearby building. She had to give her best to not make a sound while those youkai stood there. She knew they were likely not listening to anything but Reiko at the time, but Ritsura had no intentions of underestimating Shiori. Too much was at stake. "Anyway, how am I going to sneak past these bastards?"

Although there were many buildings here, Ritsura could not enter most without being noticed. While nothing near level of Shibuya, it is still a district filled with all kinds of shops and public services. They were all tightly locked and even if Ritsura could break into them, the enemy was checking every of those shops for signs of intrusion.

In short, she was stuck here while time was of essence.

Luckily, it seems hope didn't leave her just yet…

"Helloooo there, is this Ritsura-kun?!" Ritsura heard the faint voice of Saaya's father speak into her right ear.

Since youkai had exceptional hearing, even small vibrations of a cellphone could be heard by youkai paying attention thus being a nuisance if you tried to sneak past someone. So, the members of the Clan had the option of setting their cellphones to  _Sneak Mode_  which turned light, sound and vibrations off and let the rest know they couldn't answer because they were hiding. Also, they would put small devices into their ears which allowed at least the caller to send information. The devices were modified to release sound that no human ear could hear… but a youkai could.

" _I know you are in a hurry so lets immediately start the briefing, okay? Ahem ahem! Alright Ritsura-kun…"_  for gods know which reason, Kiyotsugu started talking in a deep voice which made him sound even more ridiculous than usual.  _"…your mission is to reach our Mighty Shogun BUT, as you already know, the enemy has put quite a few obstacles in your way. So here is what you need to do: reach the train station not far from the location your cellphone's GPS system is showing me. There, a train will pass at exactly 0:30 AM, less than 15 minutes from now. Jump at that train and jump at XYZ town and you should have successfully lessened the gap between you and Masato-kun."_

_Wait, hasn't Saaya checked the train routes already? None should be of use to us…_  Ritsura thought. Due to all what happened this night, she worried about everything she could.

As if reading her thoughts, Kiyotsugu added _: "True, this train was not supposed to pass through this route. But a small unfortunate bug in the system shall happen to redirect the train at the last moment, before the enemy faction realizes it he he. Shame for the few passengers though."_

Ritsura was surprised to hear he managed to hack this. One of inventions the Onieda family made was fully computer controlled public transport. And although some people on the net entertained the idea of hacking them via Internet, nobody was able to hack Onieda family's security systems. From it's very first version, it was an impregnable system.

Once again, it seemed like Kiyotsugu read her thoughts:  _"But make no mistake, I didn't hack that. I simply contacted Masato-san's son Mahiro-kun who took care of the rest. Everything is legal… in a way. Anyway, good luck! Over and out!"_

_Well, at least we managed to contact one of his sons… where is Mamoru anyway? Bah, no time to think about him!_  Although most of things were ready, there was still one problem: Ritsura had to reach the station itself.

Once again, she checked the surroundings. Two youkai were patrolling nearby, with Kashima Reiko passing through with her usual speed every few moments. Ritsura was sure she could sneak past these two without much trouble.

As for places, there were a flower shop, a solarium, an ice-cream shop, a shop that sold clothes for  _games_  with this week featuring policemen, firemen and medical uniforms.

_Well, there is a certain way to for me to reach the station without much trouble but_ … she looked towards the cameras set around the district.  _There is someone watching._  At this point, she was certain Shiori used those to monitor the streets, just like the Nura Clan did. She currently hid at a blind spot, but she was certain those cams would notice her. She wasn't sure even grampa Nurarihyon himself could evade being recorded by cams yet alone her. And Ritsura did not want to let the enemy know about  _that_  ability of hers just yet…

" _Oh yeah, I forgot to mention something else that might be useful to you!"_  Kiyotsugu broke the silence once again.  _"I had asked Mahiro-kun to turn off the surveillance cams in the area so you don't have to worry about 'Big Sister' watching you. Bye bye!"_

Due to all obstacles gone, Ritsura smiled. "Well then… I have to go shopping and then on to the trip…"

* * *

"Did you say Yanagida?" Saaya repeated the name that the hare youkai gave her. Saaya has heard that name a few times in past.

Yanagida is the oldest known living member of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan and fanatically loyal to his master, the Maou Sanmoto Gorozaemon. While Gorozaemon was alive (as well as after he died), Yanagida  _collected tales_ , that is seeked youkai who could join the clan as well as rumors that could be used to create real youkai. He was one of the seven leaders of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan and had the title of  _Sanmoto's Ear_ and was one of the three leaders to survive the battle against the Nura clan.

The mentioned war lasted for less than a day, but was catastrophic: countless humans died brutal deaths and Shibuya was ransacked. Luckily, the Nura Clan got out of it without major loses.

Today, the biggest consequence of that war is the story that got created… the false story of an  _evil_  youkai Nura Rikuo fighting the unnamed  _Messiah_. Saaya's father did his best to weaken that tale as it not only weakened the Nura Clan's Fear but was also a potential problem for later. Unfortunately, the tale is still popular and problematic.

Yanagida himself founded the  _Cult of Messiah_  and many humans who survived the tragedy quickly joined it and new human followers are believed to have been recruited in years that came. Even in Ukiyoe High there few students who carry around plastic skulls, which are supposed to represent Sanmoto Gorozaemon (or Messiah how the call him), around their necks or as cellphone straps. And these humans today don't care about saving lives or anything as idealistic. They believe that the Messiah will bring a different sort of salvation: he will save them from this dull world by filling it with darkness and terror, thus making it more  _interesting_.

But it is not only the humans that follow him. Many youkai worship him as a  _Kami_  as well and the cult seems to be growing in popularity in westernmost Japan.

The Nura Clan and the Kiyotsugu family tried to track Yanagida down but their efforts have been fruitless. All of the cultists chose death rather than betrayal and those unaffiliated know nothing.

"But isn't Yanagida the acting leader of the Hyaku Monogatari?" Saaya asked Usamaru, the hare youkai. "I am pretty sure Shiori declared herself a member of the Hyaku Monogatari… so how are they unrelated?"

"Isn't the Hyaku Monogatari that minor clan that was destroyed around twenty years ago?" Usamaru looked confused. "I know Shiori-san claims to have restored it, but how is Yanagida-san related to them?"

"Because he was one of the leaders of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan." Saaya answered him. But Usamaru and Kerotsu, the frog youkai, looked as if they didn't know that. "Well, I guess it is not public knowledge. They are a secretive clan after all."

"Hmmm… so Yanagida-san and Shiori-san are actually in cahoots?" Kerotsu thought loudly.

"That just means they originated from the same clan, Kerotsu…" Usamaru seemed annoyed. "Sooner will Yanagida-san start preaching about how much he loves Nura Rikuo than he will be in cahoots with Shiori-san."

"Is something going on between those two?" Saaya asked.

"You mean other than that the followers of the Messiah and followers of the Mother, aka Shiori-san, are uncompromisingly killing one another and competing on who can collect more Fear?" Usamaru gave a sarcastic reply. "No, not much."

"Two crazy youkai clans competing for who can cause more terror… Great, it is exactly what we needed." It goes without saying that Saaya was not pleased with the news. "But lets return to the topic: what can you tell me about Shiori?"

"Not much." Usamaru shrugged. "She appeared out of nowhere three years ago, just after the Nakano Incident, slaughtered-"

With extreme speed, Kerotsu hit Usamaru with his tongue, as if telling him to keep quiet. Knowing how  _smart_  he is, Saaya didn't doubt that he thought he was too quick for her eyes. But she decided to play along for now and pretend she didn't see it.

Usamaru also pretended that nothing happened "…slaughtered great many humans and youkai who at the time were at…" he slowed as if choosing his next words. "…the most sacred shrine of the Messiah in Tokyo. From then on, she joined the game for Fear and started recruiting youkai, some of whom are quite fearsome, like Kashima Reiko-san."

"Just after the Nakano Incident you say…" Saaya frowned. It seemed downright impossible to leave that tragic incident behind. "What did the Cult and Shiori have to do with it?"

"I can tell you a few rumors…" Usamaru offered. "But you may as well take a notebook and make a few yourself from thin air. I guarantee you: they will be more or less the same as the ones I would tell you. In other words: if they had anything to do with it, they are keeping it as a secret."

"So you know nothing… a shame."

"But…" Kerotsu raised his finger. "I heard the Cult was preparing for something  **huge**  around that time… something so huge it would shake the entire world. And after the Nakano Incident, all those talks about something coming up disappeared."

"The Nakano Incident did just that." Saaya commented.

"No no no you stupid girl!" Kerotsu was angry and Saaya didn't bother to condemn him. "If it were that, this smart rabbit would have said it so already! And those bastards would be boasting all over the place!"

"Hm, indeed." Usamaru nodded. "The cult seems to view the event as a minor incident."

"Aha… how long after the Nakano Incident did Shiori strike?"

"Nobody knows for sure…" Usamaru replied. "It was soon after, maybe even the next day. Very few came out of it alive so there is no reliable source."

"So could it be possible that Shiori sabotaged their plans?" Saaya asked and the two youkai nodded. "Alright then…" she made a note in her notebook to investigate that later. "Anyway, you mentioned some kind of sacred shrine in Tokyo? Where is it located?"

"We can't say." Usamaru crossed his arms and Kerotsu looked aside.

"You can." Saaya demanded.

"We can't say." Usamaru repeated. "You can threaten us and torture us but nothing will make us talk about it. Nobody would dare to talk about it."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because some sensitive secrets are protected by a powerful youkai." Usamaru said. "An extremely powerful youkai who will…" Usamaru closed his eyes and clenched his rabbit teeth. "Sorry, but there are things we can't say."

Saaya stayed silent for a few moments, thinking about what they said and their reactions. She decided to let it go for now. "How annoying… return to your cleaning duties, I'll call for you if I have any more questions…"

""Thank you Ojou-sama…"" the two youkai bowed and returned to do their original chores.

_This whole situation is getting worse by a moment…_  Saaya was in thought.  _I am not sure we should even be glad about the fact that Yanagida and Shiori are not allied or concerned because their little competitions will end up causing more victims._

Since her father is currently busy, she decided to send a mail instead of calling him. She will also have to ask those two if there is someone who could tell her more.

* * *

"Khhhhhhh!" Kashima Reiko was frustrated.  _Where the hell is she?!_

They were searching for around ten minutes, but nobody managed to find Nura Ritsura yet. With size of her search party, Reiko expected at least one of them to meet her by now or at least get offed by her. Yet, neither did anyone see her nor was anyone harmed.

_Could she have taken another route? No, if she wanted to reach Masato on time, she has to pass through this area…_   _I'll try asking these bird-brains if they noticed something._

"Hey you!" she called to one of the youkai. "Tell me have you heard or noticed anything extraordinary?"

He shaked his head and Reiko quickly flew to someone else.

"Have you noticed anything?"

"No."

"Alright then, bye!" she flew to the next one who looked like an Oni. "You there, noticed or heard anything yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"Alright." Reiko flew away but then returned. "Huh, what is that on your neck?"

"Huh what are you?" he put his hand on it and both him and Reiko noticed it was blood. The next moment, he fell down on the ground, dead.

"…eh?"She looked around and saw that he was bleeding for some time. "Huh? How did he walk around with a slit throat… no, he just wasn't aware of it…" Unlike humans, youkai die when their Fear disappears so physical damage doesn't work the same as with humans. It is theoretically possible that someone could cause a fatal wound and hide it using Fear, thus delaying the victim's death. However, Reiko knew nobody who could do that. "Hey, anyone saw something strange in the area?!"

"No, did something… What the…" another youkai answered. "Reiko, come here! Quick!"

It took a second for Reiko to reach him. On the ground, there was another one dead, also with a slit throat. From the look of it, he also walked for some time before falling dead.

"Hey, someone is dead here!" someone shouted from east.

"Oi oi, what happened?!" another one yelled from another side.

"One of ours was killed!" Yet another one proclaimed.

Every few seconds, someone was found dead. "She must have brought an ally… gah, the plan has failed, everyone is on his own now!" Reiko gave her order and flew to check the more distant locations.

She flew through the streets but could find nobody.

She checked some trash containers but could find nobody.

She checked some of the shops but it seemed nobody broke in.

She then reached a train station and stopped, not because she saw something suspicious but because it made her remember painful memories. It was a train that made her like this, as well as human wretchedness and her own suffering.

And the pain... the pain never ended. The pain of getting split into half by a train and the pain that should have ended with her death... just that she never died and even at this very moment, she is feeling the tremendous pain throughout her entire body. She got used to it eventually, partially by forcing others to feel a small part of that pain, but seeing a train or a railroad made that pain even more excruciating. She wanted to leave, and as soon as possible.

Then, for a mere second, she felt cold at her back. She immediately flew forward and turned around, barely dodging a katana. She only looked for a moment at Ritsura who then breathed cold air right into her eyes, blinding her.

"Kyaaah!" she shouted and flew further backwards, not wanting to give Ritsura a chance to attack her.  _Calm down and concentrate… she is surrounded by cold air and I will feel it if she goes for a hit._

But the strike never came and enough time passed for her to regain her sight.

And the next she saw was a moving train in front of her.

* * *

 

Carrying a school bag, Ritsura jumped on top of the moving train and froze her left arm and legs onto it in order to stay attached on it. Then, she formed an ice wall in front of her in order to deflect the wind.

"Mission accomplished." She said with a smile. She managed to evade the enemy and reach the train in time. It was a shame she couldn't finish Reiko, but if she ended fighting her she would have risked missing the train. "Well, lets move somewhere more comfortable."

She created a saw in her free right arm and started making a round hole on top pf the train. She was sure the train company will cry in agony for this damage, but she could not afford to care. She threw her bag inside, detached her left hand to catch the edge of the hole. Then detached her legs and plopped inside.

* * *

During this conflict, Kubinashi and Kejorou were busy fighting in an empty street. Like so many times in the past, the headless assassin and the long-haired courtesan stood back to back, facing against an inhuman adversary.

By now, the battle was over and the two of them rested on the ground, with their backs against one another's. Although Kubinashi had no obvious major injuries, Kejorou's neck had red lines on it, showing signs of strangling.

The enemy himself hang on a tree, still alive but tied with strong, red strings and thus unable to move. He wore biker's apparel, minus the helm due to lacking a head. He was the infamous  _Headless Rider_ , ghost of a man whose life came to an end when his neck hit a piano string while he rode his bike. Remains of his bike were scattered around, torn into pieces by Kejorou's hair. His weapons, a black scythe and piano strings were also on the ground, but destroyed in case he somehow manages to escape his predicament.

The enemy used to fight using his piano strings, usually to catch his victim by the neck and drag at high speed till they die, either due to being strangled, by hitting something hard or due to countless injuries on a long ride. Kejorou got caught at one moment (thus her neck injuries) but was saved by Kubinashi not long after. He also used a scythe but hitting either of them proved to be hard.

"We have rested enough…" Kubinashi said and tried to stand up.

"Impatient…" Kejorou however disagreed and pulled him back down. "Did you even get your strings back? You can't just leave them hanging around."

"There are more important things to do, Kino…" he complained but remained in sitting position.

"You mean reach Ritsura-sama? Impossible." Kejorou sighed. "By now, she is too far from us, not to mention there are enemies between us. And even if those weren't an issue, you heard what Kiyotsugu said: Ritsura-sama is trying to keep low profile and if we are told where she is, the enemy might overhear it." Was it due to a mole or simple technological hacks, Kejorou couldn't say but there was no doubt that the enemy could listen to their communications. Nura Clan's use of technology may give them an edge against more conservative clans, but it was less so against enemies who also used those.

"In that case we should protect Waka. What if the enemy focuses on him while we are busy with the small fry?" Kubinashi rose up again. "Or protect the Main House or assist some of our comrades. Anything is better than just sitting."

Since she had no arguments anymore, Kejorou just sighed and rose up as well. They needed to take a rest, but she knew Kubinashi was too stressed for it. Although he made a list of things they could do, she was well aware that he was only interested in finding the young Rihan towards whom he was over-protective.

"Alright, but we should at least deal with him first." She pointed towards the Headless Rider.

"Ah yes…" for a moment, Kubinashi has forgotten about him. "You take him to the Main House for questioning then."

"Will you be alright alone?" Kejorou asked.

"Of course I will be alright." Kubinashi replied. "These guys are-"

"Why not just question me here then?" the Headless Rider cut in, revealing that he regained consciousness.

Both Kejorou and Kubinashi turned towards him, instinctively preparing for another fight. The enemy was no young tale, but an old member of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan who survived the  _Tokyo Tag_  and his clan's dissolution. He could still have an ace in his sleeve.

"Come on guys, lets not waste your and our time." He said. "Taking me all the way to your house is a waste." His voice seemed melancholic and lacking in energy. However, Kejorou and Kubinashi didn't feel like it was due to the recent fight.

"So you will answer any questions we ask?" Kubinashi inquired. He had an angry look on his face. "You sure are fast to betray your comrades."

"Oh please Aniki…" The Headless Rider called Kubinashi Aniki for some reason, possibly because they were similar youkai. "…I never said I'd be able to answer anything."

"What are you talking about? Didn't you just say we don't need to-"

"You misunderstand… I just want to show you something." The headless body said. "Something that will make you realize that humiliating us by capturing us alive is pointless."

"What are you talking about?" Kejorou asked.

"You'll see… hey,  _Network Fairy!_ " he suddenly shouted and the two of them turned around, as if looking if there was someone else in here. "Fairy, are you there?" after a few moments of silence. "Hm? Did you turn off the cams?"

"Kubinashi, lets just take him with us and-"

Once again, the Headless Rider cut in: "Please turn them on. I won't show you anything unless Shiori-sama gets to see it."

After a few moments of thinking about what he said, Kubinashi asked: "Who is this Network Fairy and why do you want it to see you?"

"Network Fairy is one of our leaders, Aniki. A dreadful Internet youkai and Shiori-sama's Eyes and Mouth."

"Eyes and mouth?" Kejorou asked. "Did your Shiori also split into a hundred parts."

"Oh no, no… the leaders just have such titles." The Hadless Rider answered. "She is eyes because she… well, keeps an eye out on what is happening around. And she is Mouth because her other role is like Enchou-sama's was: spreading tales so a youkai could be born from them."

"And who are the other parts?" Kubinashi asked.

"As for why I want her here…" he ignored his question. "Well, I want my death recorded."

"Huh? What are yo-" Kubinashi started but was cut off again.

"That's all I have to say. Unless I see that Fairy is watching, I'll stay silent until I die."

Kubinashi and Kejorou looked at one another. "What do you think?" Kubinashi asked.

"I think it is a trap." Kejorou said. "Lets just kill him and be on our way. You know how these guys operate."

"If I may offer a suggestion myself…" Kiyotsugu's voice could be heard from Kejorou's cellphone. It was not rare for Nura Clan to keep their cellphones on so Kiyotsugu could listen what isgoing on. "Saaya-kun just sent me a mail about what she learned and… well, I have a hunch we should let him show us what he wants."

"What did you find out?" Kubinashi asked him.

"Not sure myself, but I think we should give it a try. It is not like the enemy doesn't know that you guys are there." Kiyotsugu continued. "But it is just me. You guys are the ones risking your life and should be the ones to decide what to do."

"Alright… let Shiori's guys see what is going on here." Kubinashi decided and looked at Kejorou who said nothing.

"Fairy-chan, you there?" the Headless Rider asked again. "Fairy, you there?"

"yEs…" a mechanical voice could be heard from around them.

Both Kubinashi and Kejorou tensed. A bit late, but they started wondering how does one fight an Internet youkai.

"I… I am going to break the  _Rule_." The Headless Rider proclaimed. "I am going to see how much I can say before…"

"dON't" the voice ordered. "HahAUe wiLL FoRBid"

"So this is the gal that spies on us…" Kejorou made a silent comment. It was hard to believe something that speaks in such a manner could be a narrator of the Hyaku Monogatari.

"I am going to die anyway."

"sAVE yOu" it argued back.

"No… not likely… besides, my Tale went for too long. It is not good to stretch a tale too much." His voice became even more melancholic than it was moments ago. "It is time to give it an end already…"

"tHiS NOt fiTTiNg End"

"An end nevertheless…" he answered. "I failed to earn a better ending so allow me at least choose this and try to learn something for Shiori-sama… lets see if me not having an actual mouth changes something… after all, they can't break my jaw to shut me up."

The Internet youkai stayed silent for a few moments and then said: "ApprOVeD"

"Alright then…" his chest boasted as if he took a deep breath. "Aniki and Aniki's woman… take a few steps back and brace yourselves… this is not going to be pleasant."

The duo took a few steps back before Kejorou opened her mouth to ask a question. However, she did not get a chance to say aynthing before…

"Hihihihihihihihihihihihihihihihi…" sounds of shriekish voices filled the surrounding.

"What is… going on…" Kejorou and Kubinashi were surprised to see that everywhere around them were countless dolls of all sizes and types. All of them had large smiles on their faces and everyone carried a weapon, either a normal one or something that could be used as one like for example an skrewdriver, bottle opener, razor blade…

The Headless rider started talking again, as fast as he could. "Let me tell-AGHHHHHH!"

A broken porculain doll slashed him with a katana accross his chest.

But he continued: "-you the name of-KAHHHH!" a toy that looked like an old Englishman started cutting him with scissors. "-the leader of-UFFF! AGH! GROKH!" a teddy started constantly hitting him with a butcher's hammer which had spikes on the hitting end.

Then some of the dolls brought an old radio, put on an CD in and started playing it.

A male voice started speaking from the radio:  _"Let me remind you of the Golden Rule…"_

The Headless Rider could no longer get a chance to speak: a dozen dolls started torturing him with no stopping.

" _A rule whose breaking is punished with ten minutes…"_

As Kubinashi and Kejorou stood an looked in shock, the morbid scene, filled with screams and giggles, continued.

"… _of_   _some of worst tortures imaginable…_ "

Some of the dolls, dressed as pink nurses, fixed his wounds with unimaginable speed, likely to prolong his suffering.

" _Revealing spoilers, be it by speech or by any other method…_ "

Kubinashi and then Kejorou moved. He may be an enemy, but one would now want such a fate to befall even their worst enemies.

"… _about tales from other Players of the current Hyaku Monogatari to those outside the Game is not tolerated._ "

Kubinashi and Kejorou tried to reach their old enemy, but the dolls stood between them. Although they did not seem intent on killing or torturing the two of them, they did not shy away from causing smaller injuries to keep them away.

" _It should also be said that revealing information about…"_

The torture continued: he was cut with sharp weapons, smashed with blunt weapons and some dolls cut inside his body and caused internal injuries. Some dolls even ate parts of his body. And through all that, certain dolls healed him again so he would not die.

"… _the sponsor of the current game… the Shin Sekai…"_

Kejorou and Kubinashi continued to fight and the dolls grew more violent. Soon, some monstroesque dolls bit into their hands and some larger dolls hit them with large weapons, making the gap between them and Headless Rider widen.

"… _will be considered as a spoiler and is thus punishable by this same rule._ "

The pitiable victim continued to cry in agony to such an extent that it felt like he tried to kill himself by screaming. But death didn't come yet.

" _So I, BIIIIIIP Masashi, the Sandaime of the Shin Sekai, order. So play fair. Over and out._ "

The radio stopped playing but the torture continued, with neither Kejorou nor Kubinashi managing to end it.

After ten minutes of torture have passed, the dolls ran away in all directions and their Fear could no longer be felt. Nobody went after them.

Bruised and speechless, Kubinashi and Kejorou walked to what was once a living youkai. Less than half of his body remained hanging, looking more as meat in the butchery than something that one had a human body. Meat, blood and bones could be seen on it, and even more around them.

But those dolls did not end only with torturing and killing him. The dolls used his blood to paint the walls with bizarre faces and messages. " _Here died shitty biky!", "Stairway to Hell was here! :D", "Smelly Pants!"_ were just some of those, further humiliating the already pitiable victim. Also, some of the body parts were used to make all kinds of tasteless, vulgar toys.

For a few moments, the two of them just looked at him in silence.

"How horrible…" Kejorou said.

"They are insane… they are just… insane…" Kubinashi managed to say.

They now understood why information on the Shin Sekai and its accomplices is so scarce.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here we are, at the end of the shortest chapter yet (it was originally supposed to be larger but I felt Rider's execution should be end of the chapter). However, it being short doesn't mean it was uneventful.

So, with help of Kiyotsugu Ritsura managed to find a way to reach Masato (oh, and just what is thatgirl hiding?), Saaya found out some inforation about Shiori, Reiko got trained and the KubiKino duo got the honor of witnessing quite a show. Rihan's and Hikine's fight is delayed for the next chapter I am afraid.

Oh, and the conver image changed. Should have changed it at chapter 5 though…

And now I am adding something new: characters replying to reader comments! Enjoy!

**Anime Chick344034** : " _LOL Rihan and Araya are too funny. They make such a good couple_ "

"C-couple?" Rihan started as he walked around the clubroom. "I must let you know that you misunderstood my relationship with that girl. Maybe we like having fun by bullying one another, but that's it. Not to even forget to mention that, due to her playful spirit and lack of manners and common sense, she is hard to deal with as is. Yes, she can be fun, but when I imagine trying to handle her…"

"Oh? Maybe you could show me…" Araya suggestively whispered into his ear as she put her hands on his shoulders from behind. "…how you imagine you would  _handle_  me in intimate detail?"

Rihan's face turned red "Hyaaah! A-Araya? You misunderstood what I meant wi-Gaah!" he jumped out of her grasp, hit into a bookshelf and, soon after, found himself burried under a heap of books.

"Heh, a literal bookworm." Araya smirked.

"This… this is what I was talking about…"

**Citsimsan** :  _Yay! I have to say I really like Shomen-Kongo there. By making use of one hint from canon, you've created a rather fearsome enemy! It's not the strong ones who should scare you, but those who can make you become their strength!_

"Ah, finally someone who respects my true abilities…" Shomen-Kongo replied with pride. "You should come here sometime, so I can show you all of my accomplishments (I keep an improvised photo album)! Maybe we can play with another victim together?"

"But Koshin-san…" Sanmoto joined in. "You never showed me those…"

"Stop talking and continue polishing my nails!" Shomen-Kongo released another earth-shaking shout, making Sanmoto squeel and immediately return to his sacred duty.

**Mary-Bunny** :  _"and here, I was hoping for a Ritsura vs Shiori showdown :( But go Ritsura!"_

"Tz, tell me about it… Even I looked forward to it!" Ritsura crossed her arms. "But I guess we can confirm one thing, possibly useful in our future endavours, from this: Shiori is… straight! There is no other explanation: why otherwise would she not have an epic battle against me and instead go after my little brother? Wait a second…" Ritsura finally realized "Hikine also decided to go after him rather than after me… does that mean that he is… oh my, dreams of countless schoolgirls will be minced into pieces if this comes to light!" Ritsura started panicking but, due to coming to another realization, she suddenly calmed down. "No wait, does that mean that Shiori and Hikine would fight over him? But Shiori was the one who planned this… *gasp* she wants to make a yaoi sequel to Hikine's story!" she started walking in circles. "What should I do, what should I do… on one hand a yaoi continuation would be sweet to read, but this is my little brother! Gahhhh couldn't she have chosen someone else for that role?! Now I gotta hurry so I could get to save my little brother in time!"

"Fu fu fu…" Kejorou laughed. "Like mother like daughter… both have such cute panic attacks."


	10. The Darkness in the Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nura Ritsura managed to avoid Shiori's youkai and find a way to reach Onieda Masato and in case nothing else happens, she should reach him soon. In meantime, the young Rihan is busy dealing with Shiori and one of her stronger underlings… and an even bigger threat preys at him from Hell…

**Chapter 10 - Darkness in the Night**

In middle of the night and under the blue light emitted by the fires of those black, floating skulls, Nura Rihan of the Nura Clan and Hikine of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan fought one another.

Although Rihan was afraid that he would be at disadvantage due to having to deal with both Hikine and Shiori, the situation was not nearly as grim. Seems Shiori felt more comfortable with safely sitting atop her skeletal minion than fighting against him. Also, Hikine created weapons from his own Fear which put him at a disadvantage due to Rihan using his Nenekirimaru, a blade created for the sole purpose of cutting Fear. Although his blade was only a copy of the one his father used (and which was now being used by Ritsura) and thus weaker, it was still strong enough to cause serious injuries even to the strongest youkai.

However, the battle wasn't that easy either: although Hikine's shadowy swords broke whenever Nenekirimaru touched them, he was able to create more and his agility alone made him a tough opponent, not to mention that the swords he created varied in shape and size so Rihan found it more difficult to get used to his fighting style. Shiori standing at safe distance also made Rihan's plan to evade Hikine and slay her harder to accomplish.

 _This is taking too long…_  Rihan thought as he tried to make a horizontal cut on Hikine, who evaded it by jumping up and trying to slash him with a claymore, a long and heavy western sword. Rihan blocked it with Nenekirimaru and Hikine's sword disappeared, only to get replaced with a katana which he tried to thrust into him once he found himself on the ground, but Rihan evaded by moving right.

 _The more time passes, the more likely it is that Shiori's youkai come to help this guy._   _Time to get serious._

Up until now, Rihan fought Hikine by using only his swordsmanship skills. And that was his usual tactic against stronger opponents: fight with his sword only so the enemy gets used to it and then he would use his Fear to confuse the enemy with a mirage and strike at a vital spot without him noticing until it was too late.

Rihan ran at him and and went for a vertical strike which Hikine, as expected, dodged. Rihan then left a mirage, stepped aside and went for a diagonal slash upwards.

However, Rihan failed to notice that Hikine held a dagger in his other hand, which found itself in Nenekirimaru's trajectory, until it was too late. While the dagger broke instantly and Nenekirimaru continued without stopping, seems Hikine noticed it as he dodged Nenekirimaru.

Hikine jumped two meters backwards, creating another dagger.

Rihan then realized what was going on: Hikine was prepared for this so every time he made a strike, he moved his dagger to where he expected Rihan could strike and his agility allowed him to dodge it the moment he realized that Rihan confused his senses.

Rihan however kept trying as it was impossible for Hikine to make a hundred percent sure guess on from where Rihan would strike. And he was right: he managed to scratch Hikine a few times. However, scratching him was the best he could do.

He gave up on trying to hit Hikine and returned to his original plan: to strike down Shiori with one, swift strike and end this war. He managed to move close enough to one of javelins the now dead Tengu threw without Hikine noticing and thus had a way to attack Shiori.

He released all of his Fear and moved away, leaving his mirage at certain distance away from Hikine. He managed to get close to the weapon when…

"Hikine, Hatsu!" Shiori shouted the name of the technique used to cut the enemy's Fear and thus negate his technique.

Hikine stopped moving towards Rihan's mirage and instead started collecting Fear around himself. "Hatsu!" Slashing his sword in air, darkness filled the space around for a moment and when it was gone, Rihan could once again be seen.

It didn't take long for Hikine to notice what Rihan was after. He threw his sword onto the javelin, breaking it in half. He then took care to destroy other javelins left, robbing Rihan of the ability to use ranged weapons.

_What… how did she…_

"Sorry Riha-chan, but I am afraid you will need to use more Fear to hide yourself from my eyes." Shiori stated with a smile.

"This is getting tiring…" Hikine finally spoke. "Just lower your weapon and give up."

Rihan turned his attention back to his current enemy. While Hikine seemed as exhausted as he was, Hikine was at no disadvantage. Once Rihan gets tired enough, Shiori and her  _horse_  will likely move in and take care of him.

 _Damn it, what am I supposed to do here…_  Although the situation was grim, Rihan had no intentions to give up. He was going to continue fighting, hoping he would see an opportunity.

Suddenly, the number of youkai in this abandoned courtyard increased. "Waka! Waka is having trouble there!" Rihan could see around six youkai from Nura Clan, led by one looking like a wolf, enter his field of view. They were far in the darkness, but eyes of a youkai could see both far and in the dark.

"I told you guys! I told you Waka might be in trouble!" another youkai said.

"Yes, yes whatever you say! Lets go and help Waka!" the third one complained.

Rihan was so pleased he made a wide smile. The old situation where he was overnumbered was finally turned around and now the Nura Clan was at good position to slay Shiori.

 _Seven members of the Nura Clan versus two enemy youkai. We can't possible los…_  wait a second… Rihan finally realized something was off _. I can feel two youkai but there are three enemies here… no wait, to begin with I could not feel Shiori and her skeleton so there are those two, Hikine and…_

"Guys, be careful!" Rihan yelled at them. "There is one more enemy hiding here somewhere!"

"I would ask you guys to leave but…" Shiori, who was on the other end of the courtyard, turned to them. At the same time, the skeleton raised its hand and widened its fingers as if it was going to grab something "…you are members of the Nura Clan. A more threatening situation wouldn't make you turn tail and run."

When she ended her sentence, the skeleton punched the air… or more exactly, his hand detached itself from him and flew towards them. Two youkai got stabbed by two of its giant fingers, dying instantly.

Realizing how dangerous the situation was, the Nura Clan's youkai did not stand and watch: "Guys, split away from one another."

"Too laaaate!" an unknown, cheerful voice screamed and a figure flew out of the abandoned building. It was the youkai whose existence Rihan felt.

The enemy was of a short stature and was made of wood. His eyes, nose and mouth were painted on his wooden head and he was wearing a long black, ragged cloak. His most prominent feature however were four arms.

The enemy faced the four remaining youkai and pointed each of his hands at them. From each of his fingers, dozen needles attached to strings flew at his prey and stabed them. Two tried to avoid them, but the needles just changed trajectory mid-air and flew at them before they could dodge.

"Aaallow me to introduce myselfff!" he shouted after catching all four of them. "I am Shiori's Fingers, Kouri. Myyyy role is to forceee subjects of a Taaale to play the role Haha-ue meaant them to plaaay!" he talked as his victims tried to resist his manipulation but seemingly only caused pain on themselves. "Well, my Feeear is best used on unsuspecting viiictims elseee it gets painfuuul for them. Not to menitooon they are hard to controool. So… death by  _Seppuku_."

"Waaaaaah!" the leader of the group, a wolf-like youkai, shouted and cut the enemy's Fear, freeing himself from Kouri's strings. The rest, however, committed suicide just as they were ordered. "You damn bitch! You will pay for this yourself!" he turned into a giant wolf and started running towards Shiori.

"Fool." A voice came from the source-less shadow beneath the wolf youkai. Next moment, Hikine jumped from it stabbing the wolf into abdomen with two longswords. "You should have ran in the opposite direction, to bring help if not to flee." Hikine threw the bleeding youkai onto the ground and made his swords disappear, replacing them with a claymore he held in one hand. "Here, reward for mindless bravery." He said and beheaded his enemy.

"No… way…" Rihan mumbled. The shock was soon replaced with regret. "Why did I just stand and watch… I should have acted…" Now that it was all over, he realized that he spent too much time looking at what was going on instead of doing something.

"Kouri, how did they come here?" Shiori asked the wooden doll. "I asked you to keep possible intruders away from here."

"Sooorry Haha-ue, I was a bit borrred and thought it would be more fuuun to let few slip and kill in front of his eeeyes." He said to which Shiori just sighed. Noticing the look on Rihan's face, Kouri replied: "Oh don't wooorry, young Nurarihyooon. Other than theeese six, nobody was harmeeed. I just stabbed them unnnoticed and made theeem, you know, change their miiind about where they weeere going, make them wooorried about someone eeelse or simply confuseee them."

As glad as he was to hear he caused nobody else's death, Rihan was not relieved. He was afraid… realizing how many strong enemies he is facing and that likely nobody else will come to his aid made him feel as if he were already defeated.  _This… this can't end this way… I am…_

* * *

 

From a balcony of one of skyscrapers, a black monkey was watching over what went on between Rihan and Shiori.

Actually no, it was not monkey who watched. It was monkey's body and monkey's eyes, but he was not the one watching. The one watching was sitting in Hell, in meditation.

The six-handed Maou, Shoumen-Kongo, opened his eyes. "Seems my little plaything is in trouble… bu bu bu…" He spoke to himself as he rose up back on his feet. "It would be a disgrace if my current plaything… my favorite plaything I ever had… were to lose against my old plaything which evaded my grasp."

He walked up to the three monkeys.

"Hear no evil?", "See no evil?" and "Say no evil?" they said with worried look. They knew very few words so that's the only thing they were able to say.

With each pair of his six hands, he grabbed one of the monkeys. "I think it is about time I send you another gift, young Rihan." He said as he was squashing the monkeys with his hands. After a minute of sounds of bones being broken and meat being knead, Shomen-Kongo now had three meatballs in his hands. "After all, what kind of Koushin-san would I be if I didn't punish evil, eh? HA HA HA!" he laughed and, with all his incredible strength, threw the three meatballs into air.

* * *

 

Rihan was still standing paralyzed when three black balls jumped our of the ground. He looked as the balls turn into black, red-eyed monkeys, with fangs in their mouths and claws on their hands.

"Ah yes…" he remembered these monkeys. "You were the ones who gave me that ability to feel Urban Legends… and who thought me how to create  _that_  technique… how come I always forget you…"

He looked at them calmly, as if talking to a friend. A weird sight, seeing as the three monkeys were jumping at him as if they were intending to shred him into pieces.

" **HEAR ALL EVIL!"**

" **SEE ALL EVIL!"**

" **SAY ALL EVIL!"**

* * *

 

"Shit!" Shiori shouted when she saw Shomen-Kongo's monkeys appear and jump at Rihan. "I feared  _he_  would join in!" she took out a pistol, which looked like it came from 16th century, from under her dress.

Hikine was quicker then she was and he managed to strike one monkey down by throwing a dagger into his head. Shiori quickly aimed her gun at another one and fired a shot at him. The fact that he turned into black smoke suggested she managed to hit him.

She fired another bullet but this time she missed. Unfortunately, Hikine also missed.

The last remaining monkey hugged Rihan and put his hands onto his eyes. "SEE ALL EVIL!" he shouted once again and turned into Fear which engulfed Rihan.

"WAAAAAAHHHH!" Rihan screamed fell onto his knees, holding his head with his hands.

"Hikine, get away from him!" Shiori started giving orders as she jumped onto the ground. "And prepare to fight with all you have!"

Hikine nodded and engulfed himself with his own Fear. After a few seconds, he was clad in what looked like a shadowy samurai armor.

Shiori then turned to Kouri. "Kouri, you prepare yourself for using  _that_  back-up plan!"

Kouri nodded and flew away. Shiori then turned towards the floating skeleton.

"You go away." She said and the skeleton disappeared, without a word. Although powerful, it was a wild card that could disobey her at any moment and she didn't want to have it around during a critical situation like this one.

"Netto!" she shouted at the air. She had her cell hidden and turned on so she could stay in contact with the Network Fairy. "Are preparations for using Nose's Tale finished?"

"YeS" A robotic sound gave a short answer.

"Good." Shiori closed her eyes and concentrated. Youkai are made of Fear and Fear is fueled by people's thoughts and once enough people believe in a certain Tale, it is possible for it to be born. Shiori, who is able to use the Fear from the Teapot of the Hundred Demons, is able to enforce that birth. And she was going to create another youkai now.

Black Kanji started floating around, representing thoughts of humans who know the Tale of the new youkai to be born. Then the Kanji turned into Fear and engulfed the pistol she held, turning it into a Tsukumogami.

"Ha ha ha…" Rihan, still on his knees, started laughing. " **Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!** How stupid of me…" he rose back onto his feet, with his head still turned towards the ground. "Thinking about unnecessary things. Worrying about unnecessary things. How stupid of me…" he turned towards Shiori. "Ripping you guys apart… that was the only thing I should have been doing." 

His formerly worried face was now replaced with a wicked smile and glowing yellow eyes. It was a face of a killer… a cruel killer.

Hikine ran at him, with a katana in each hand and protected by his armor.

"Ah yes, the kitty cat." Rihan said, looking annoyed rather than wary. Rihan rose his left hand diagonally and, when Hikine's katanas came close enough, he punched them both with one swift strike, both throwing them away and breaking them into pieces.

Shiori noticed that Hikine tried to evade him, but Rihan's enormous Fear had paralyzed him so Rihan managed to grab him and raise him up. Rihan's Fear mixed with a portion of a Maou's own Fear made him a powerful adversary.

"There is a reason kitties run away once you get close to them you know." Rihan said with a smile. "You should have acted more like your Senpai's you know."

Rihan threw him into the ground with all his strength and Shiori was certain she heard the sound of bones breaking. She tried to move, but his Fear was so strong even she was affected.  _I am a leader of a Hyaki Yakou! I can't let myself get affected by his Fear like this!_

But before she could muster strength to move, Rihan had already stabbed Hikine. Then he rose his sword and stabbed him again. "No screaming eh? Well, that is disappointing…" he said and rose up. "Maybe you just don't want your mommy to see you cry? Well then, just you lay down and wait a bit." he turned towards Shiori again. "Maybe once you see her tortured and killed in front of your eyes you will change your tone?" he said snd started walking towards her again. The way his eyes looked at her made it certain that he was honest about what he said.

"Hmph…" Shiori, still far away from him, frowned. "Is this how a-"

"Pssst." He put his finger onto his mouth and silenced her. "Your words mean nothing, villain. So don't waste your last minutes on this."

" _How ironic."_  Shiori thought to herself.

"You know, for some reason…" Rihan started "…I feel like all those who were killed by you villains spoke to me… as if they let me feel how they felt when they were killed by evil youkai… and their wish for vengeance upon them." He put his right hand over his chest. "And I can give it to them… by murdering every last villain, I can give it to them."

_Ha, so Kongo made him go insane by filling him with thoughts of countless humans and youkai while they were being killed. And knowing Kongo, he chose the best ones for the role._

"So, Shiori-san, I shall kill you slowly until every last of them is satisfied." He gave her a maniacal smile. "Every last one of them…"

"Nooot so fast, young Nurarihyon!" Kouri's voice could be heard again.

"Ah… the blockhead is back…" Rihan sighed. "I really hate these interruptions."

"Wa…ka…" a voice, belonging to neither Shiori nor Hikine nor Kouri, munmbled "You… are alright? I am… so glad."

It was a youkai from the Nura Clan, captured by Kouri in case the situation got bad and they needed a hostage. And this was definitely a situation to use that card.

Rihan stopped walking as he saw a youkai with big, masked head, be forced to walk up to him. The youkai held a sword under his own neck.

"Fu fu fu…" Kouri giggled as he floated high in the air.

"Fu fu fu…" to their surprise, he giggled back. The next they saw was the mirage of him standing disappearing and the youkai getting beheaded by Rihan's sword.

"Whaaat?!" Kouri was surprised, as was Shiori.

"Using a hostage… " he said in belittling tone. "How cheap."

He then punched the giant head into Kouri. Then, before Kouri could regain balance in air, Rihan jumped up, caught his hand and brought him to the ground.

"Yo…" Rihan winked at him. "Wanna go yoyo?" he said with a cruel smile.

As if Kouri was a yoyo he spin him around by his hand for a while and then threw him into the abandoned building, breaking the wall in the process.

"Finally alone, sweetheart…" he turned back towards Shiori. "Come on, don't be so shy…" he said as he closed to her.

"Killing your comrade…" she commented. "What kind person you have become… as a matter of fact, the complete opposite of your grandfather."

The younger Rihan shrugged. "I see the chicken is trying to save herself by buying time."

"Haah… I see that talking to you has become meaningless."

"It always was." He replied. "After all, I don't really care about your opinions."

"Still, killing your comrade?"

"He would have died anyway." He gave a cold-hearted answer. "After all, I had no intention to let you slip away. Might as well do it myself."

Shiori didn't say anything back at him.

"Anyway, where is that skeleton of yours? I only see these skulls floating and emitting light."

"Pft." She frowned. "I don't need that to deal with you."

Rihan's smile finally disappeared and he wrinkled. "You think you have a chance of beating you."

It was time for Shiori to give him a wicked smile.

"Huh? What is it?" he seemed to have started to get frustrated. No doubt  _this person_  wanted Shiori to shiver in fear in front of him and seeing the opposite happen irked him.

"Hahaha…" she laughed a bit. "An amateur of a villain thinking he has a chance of a professional like me." She smiled. "Your sword won't be able to even scratch me." She said as she pointed her pistol at him.

"Good thing I am no villain then…" he said, now standing three meters away from her.

"You are no hero either… heroes protect, villains murder. Motives are nothing but excuses, which I guess befits someone with your lame character development." Shiori said. "Anyway, lets end this with one strike."

Without saying a word, Rihan ran towards at her, his sword prepared to cause a painful wound.

Shiori didn't pull the trigger or evade. She just continued standing.

And the sword slashed through her, with him passing past her.

"What… how come…" Rihan started muttering as Shiori, still in one piece, turned towards him.

"I won." She said and let the pistol, whom she has turned into Tsukumogami, aim itself. She then pulled the trigger, with the bullet hitting him into his left shoulder.

"Waaah!" he screamed and fell onto the floor. He let Nenekirimaru fall so he could cover the wound, from which Fear was sipping out at, with his right hand. "Is this an…"

"An exorcist bullet." She answered. "I had a skillful Onmyouji make it for me. It is still a prototype though… the final product should be as strong as your Nenekirimaru." She said and fire another bullet at him

"Argh…" he fell onto the ground, still in agony. "How come Nenekirimaru didn't… " he started saying but then stopped.

Shiori didn't wait for him to continue and instead took Nenekirimaru without him noticing and moved away from him. She shot another bullet at him, again into a non-vital spot.

"I see… I should have realized it the moment I saw those skulls emitting light!" he seems to have finally realized why he wasn't able to hurt her. "Youkai can see in the dark better then when there is light… you… you are a human!"

"Bingo!" Shiori confirmed. "Well, I can't blame you for this mistake. After all, it is quite unconventional for a human to lead a Hyaki Yakou." She winked.

"Damn it… I knew something was afoot when you didn't attack me… or when you were so composed in front Nenekirimaru."

"Yes, yes… whatever…" Shiori had no intentions to talk with him anymore. "Good night, Nura Rihan."

Shiori fired few more bullets at him, until he fell unconscious from pain.

"Netto, everything ready?"

"YeS" she gave a simple answer again.

"Good… time to save this damsel from distress then."

Creating youkai was not the only thing Hyaku Monogatari was able to do by controlling spread of Tales. After all, not all Tales are about introducing new characters. Some are about giving special attributes to certain items. Enchanting an item to have special effects was possible, especially when it fits it and it is already magical.

She put her hand on Nenekirimaru and started creating a Tale about it. Black Kanji started floating around.

Shiori started silently reading some of them to give those elements special strength, thus turning them from black to red.

" _Nenekirimaru is a sword belonging to a certain youkai clan."_

" _Nenekirimaru has become a very symbol of that Clan."_

" _It represents their chivalry."_

" _It represents their pure hearts and heroic spirit."_

" _They are weapon that protects their master from harm."_

" _It slays the wicked and protects the good."_

" _It is no sword for a villain, but a sword of a hero."_

" _A heroic sword for a heroic soul."_

" _As it fits the sword, its master will always be a hero."_

" _No Maou can change that fact."_

She read the final sentence with extra srength.

" _Even if its master falls into darkness, this sword, which embraces the wishes of those who need protection, will be the reason he comes back to light."_

The Kanji turned into Fear and engulfed the sword.

"And it is done." She said and walked back to unconscious Rihan and put the sword back into his hand. If everything goes as planned, he should return to his old self, at least for a while.

"I still claim… that we should kill him." Hikine's told her. Due to wounds inflicted by Nenekirimaru, he was unable to remain in his human form so her turned into a black cat.

Shiori sighed, walked up to him and took him into her hands. "And I want otherwise. Yet, you will still disobey me and continue trying, will you not?"

Hikine said nothing.

"Hah… anyway, you held yourself well there." She pat him on the head. "I am promoting you Hikine. You are now my Shadow."

"Shadow?"

"Yes, for you are protecting me from shadows… from behind my back."

After a few moments of silence, Hikine simply said "I am honored."

Shiori turned back towards Rihan. Although she won, what just happened made it certain that he was close to becoming Shoumen-Kongo's pawn.

And she had no intentions of letting that happen.

* * *

 

Back in Hell, Shoumen-Kongo laughed.

"Ah Shiori, my dear girl… guess you won this one. Good, it would have been boring otherwise. One would think you could even succeed to stop him from fully becoming my peon. But you know Shiori…"

Shomen-Kongo lay down on the ground and out his hands behind his head.

"That what you have done with that sword tale… on the long run, you have just made it easier for me…"

* * *

"Masato-dono…" Yashimotsu Hiroto begged. "WHY are we standing here?"

Onieda Masato, who sat on a bench near a train station, didn't reply but continued to type something on his cellphone. Masato, Hiroto and two Onmyouji were driving through Tokyo when youkai started attacking them. And just when Masato managed to avoid them, he suddenly stopped his car here and just sat on the bench. The two Onmjouyi, both of whom have been in Masato's service for years, stood around looking unconcerned. Hiroto, an exorcist specializing in foreign arts, was employed only a month ago which might be the reason why he was not as composed.

"Masato-dono!"

"You will see." He finally said something. "Now shut up."

This man, dressed in long black coat, wearing a hat and holding a walking stick (which he did for decorative purposes), was Onieda Masato himself. He was a genius whom few could understand and his behavior, always composed and serious, was more than fitting a legendary reputation he had.

But the truth was that he was even greater than most knew: Onieda Masato was also the leader of the Shin Sekai, the organization that will reform the world and make it perfect, both materialistically and spiritually. And Hiroto worshiped this person who made reacing something impossible look so simple. To ne honest, he was more worried about what might happen to Masato than to himself.

"Youkai are coming." One of the Onmyouji said.

"Eek?!" Hiroto cried.

"Finally…" Masato threw his cell into his pocket and leaned against the bench. "Now lets enjoy the show."

"The show? We are going to be… AH THERE THEY ARE!"

Two youkai appeared from around the corned, one being a male with an umbrella and the other being a female in a colorful kimono and holding a mirror in her hand.

"Ha! We finally caught you!" the male one proclaimed.

Masato continued sitting like nothing was happening. Hiroto and the Onmyouji put their hands into their pockets to take out their tools when…

…giant ice spikes flew from the air and thrust into the road.

"Huh? What is that?" the female youkai wondered.

And then someone jumped from behind the four men, right onto the largest spike. And that person then whistled.

"Attention please!" the female voice, not belonging to the female youkai who was pursuing them, declared. When Hiroto saw her, he was left speechless.

She was a teenage girl with white-teal hair. And, what was even weirder, she was dressed as a policewoman with a miniskirt. The badge on her chest and the bedge on her hat however had a paper sticked on them, with kanji for Fear.

"In case you are not aware yet, you are attacking someone on the Nura Clan's turf." The mysterious girl said with one eye closed. And then she used her whistle again and put her left hand on her hip. "I am Nura Ritsura and I came to restore law and order here!"

Then another woman, with pink hair and in yellow kimono, came from a different direction and stood right of Ritsura "So prepare for trouble." She said in a composed tone.

"AND MAKE IT DOUBLE!" someone shouted and jumped to left of Ritsura. He was a youkai in form of a gorilla wearing a bandana and old fashioned Japanese clothes.

"In short…" Ritsura added with crossed arms and a big smile. "You are royally screwed."

* * *

**Now it is safe to check the full illustration of Nura Rihan Jr.! (link on my profile, as usual)**

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And chapter 10, which I am sarcastically sure didn't shock anyone, is here. In case you thought I'd go easy on young Rihan, you were wrong ;) Shomen-Kongo is not someone who fools around after all. It should be "fun" to see Rihan after he wakes up and remembers what he did to his comrade. And yes, the yellow glowing eyes was inspired by the scene in OVA where grampa Rihan tried to strangle Setsura (it was what gave me the idea for this development in the first place).

Luckily, Shiori's spell should return him to his old self… and lets hope it lasts and he wins against Shomen-Kongo's influence, shall we?

Oh, and Ritsura and the Toonp youkai officially reached Masato-dono. Woohoo!

…I'd say more but this was an incredibly short chapter. Still, it was likely the most important chapter yet.

Now onto replies to some of reviews!

 **Guest:** _"Kyaaaaa!? my coment got a reply XDXD_

_Anyways very good chapter. Cant wait for the next one."_

"Due to not being able to PM them personally, all Anons get a reply." Nayrael said and winked. "Glad you liked chapter nine and I hope you liked this new chapter as well!"

 **Anime Chick344034** :  _"Woah woah woah. Ritsura...what do you mean THAT ability. Omg don't tell me you been holding back on us."_

"Fu fu fu fu fu.." Ritsura laughed silently. "Of course! I am Nura Ritsura, the Yondaime of the Nura Clan. I have quite a few tricks up my sleeve. You see, I just LOVE to see surprise on faces of my enemies once they realize I can do more than they expected."

"What happened there anyway?" Araya asked her.

"And now, I am gonna eat some ice cream…" Ritsura said with a smug smile.

"Hey, don't you just ignore me! Hey stop walking!"

 **Citsimsan** :  _"Shiori is powerful, but after seeing the punishment of the Shin Sekai, they're the most fearsome enemy around. I hope they don't end up being Big Bad Wannabes (although I doubt it; after all, the fic is named after them)."_

"Indeed, nii-san was a fearsome man." Onieda Mahiro said with a pleased face as he drank from his wine glass. "Although he is no longer with us, we all follow his example. Right Azuru?"

He turned towards another seat only to see it was empty.

"Ah yeah right, she went to check up on her new boyfriend." Mahiro sighed. "Anyway…"

"…look forward to more from us." Voice of an old man said through a speaker. "Although Mahiro is a disappointment, I guess even he has something in store for all of you."

"Gramps, I will kill you one of these days… wait, what is that speaker doing there anyway?!"


	11. Shadows and Salesmen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although Rihan lost in his fight against Shiori, his sister Ritsura managed to reach Onieda Masato just before Shiori's youkai did, as did Reira and Dohiko of the Toono Clan. The battle between the two Hyaki Yakous is nearing its end…

 

**Chapter 11: Shadows and Salesmen**

"Hey, someone is laying there!" a man's voice woke Kashima Reiko from her sleep "Hey, are you alri-" the man stopped in middle of his question and then stood in silence for an entire minute "What the hell… she is missing half of her body?"

As if he hit a trigger, Reiko flew up and slashed him with her scythe.

That is, she would have slashed him if she had one.

"A… a Teke Teke! Someone help me!" the man yelled and ran away. Since she lacked her signature weapon, she let him go.

"That Ritsura… ow ow ow…" a surge of pain stormed through her body and she fell back onto the ground. Although she survived, being hit by a bullet-train, it still caused some major wounds, both physical and psychological. As a consequence, she could not afford to spend her Fear to float least she spends too much of it and ends up dying.

However, she couldn't afford herself to stay here for too long. Petty humans may run away and lock themselves in their houses, but an exorcist or a member of the Nura Clan would spell a premature end of her tale.

Normally, Netto would send someone to get her to safety, but one look at the still cameras suggested that they were turned off. She checked her skirt pocket to see if she still had her cellphone on her but, just as she feared, it was not there anymore. Just like her scythe, it must have fallen off after the train hit her and before she fell here.

This left her with no choice: she will need to drag herself to a safer place, just like a lesser Teke Teke would, who unlike Reiko didn't have enough Fear to float… as one would expect from mere imitations created by Kyousai and Enchou.

However, she soon realized that even dragging was too exhausting for her so she found herself laying on her back, gazing at the starless sky.

"Ha, guess this is how the Tale of Kashima Reiko ends: fooled with a stupid prank, hit by a train and laying on the floor until humans or the Nuras kill her… well, at least it is comical, that must count for something."

Proper death… that was Kashima Reiko's greatest desire. And it was a desire that most Urban Legends, especially the ones who lacked a parent like Shiori, shared. Very few desired long and healthy lives… most desired a death to be proud of. To Reiko, being killed by someone like Nura Ritsura seemed like a promising end to this pointless and miserable existence. Even if she were the one who killed Ritsura, the entire Nura Clan would come together to kill her. And causing such pain to the mighty Nura Clan that they would send everything they have to get their revenge would be a beautiful end to a tale.

Yet the same woman robbed her of it, giving her this disgrace instead. But she shouldn't have been surprised. After all, Ritsura is not only the member of the tyrannical Nura Clan, but also its future leader and thus its very representative. And the Nura clan had no respect for the modern youkai: for living on their turf and collecting Fear on it, they will beat you up if you are lucky. Else, they will kill you.

Sure, there were many unaffiliated youkai in Tokyo and the Nura Clan leaves them alone. But all of those are youkai had their tales created before Edo became Tokyo and most before Kyoto ceased to be the Capital. Unlike the young Urban Legends, those youkai are respected if for no other reason than for their lineage. On other had, most of the Urban Legends are treated as invaders, rather than youkai born in Tokyo. Tokyo is their home, yet they are hunted down as vermin.

Of course, the Nura Clan under Rikuo strongly saw themselves as protectors of both youkai and humans and since most Urban Legends are evil and hostile to humans, they saw them as enemy not worth their mercy. And Reiko understood that: the Nura Clan simply followed its Fear, like all youkai do. Still, that wasn't a reason to not hate them.

And not to mention Rikuo's son, nicknamed  _The Butcher_. He seems to find pleasure in hunting and killing them, and the worst part is that it seems impossible to run away from him. Very few met him and got away, and that's usually only due to luck. No matter what skills you may possess, he WILL find you and kill you.

And as far as she was concerned, humans weren't worth protecting, especially since the Urban Legends were created by human thoughts and hopes and killing humans was simply doing what those humans wanted them to do. Even Reiko was not an exception: due to the fact that she died while various tales were spread by too many humans, Reiko was robbed of her death and forced to become a monster, able to live only to sow terror and entertain the humans and their imagination. Reiko never desired to be like this… yet she became such because humans desired it. Feeling mercy or feeling sorry was hard.

The Tales created by the Hyaku Monogatari at least had a reason for existing. But those like Reiko, whose birth was accidental, didn't have even that. Their life was nothing but pointless misery and a glorious death was the only thing left for them.

And death is coming for Reiko. It is not the one she dreamed of, but at least it will end her pointless existence. So she decided to just close her eyes and wait for whatever ends her.

" _Hey."_  for some reason, she remembered Shiori's words.  _"Why don't you join us?"_

Reiko opened her eyes again. She remembered that weak human girl who abandoned the possibility of having a happy human life just because she wanted to protect the wretched and evil youkai like Reiko. Reiko never understood why she cared, but she…

Reiko tried to float again.  _Damn it! I survived being split in half by a train! I won't die just because I got hit a little!_

She couldn't allow herself to die. She realized that death is no longer the only thing she cares about. As much of a monster she was, she didn't want to abandon her new mistress by dying such a pathetic death. Shiori gave her both hope and made her feel like her wretched life means something… as well as a place to be.

Then she fell down again. No matter how much she tries, the fact remains that she is afraid of trains on a traumatic level. And the more a youkai fears something, the more damage it does to it.

"Shit! Shit! Shit!" she cried.

"Cursing is not nice, Teke-chan." A male voice said to her.

She opened her eyes and saw a young man in suit. He'd look like a businessman if not for the fact that he was carrying a spraycan.

"Kaito-san? What are you doing all the way here?"

He was Ishikawa Kaito, a human and one of the  _Players_. Thus, just like Shiori, he had the ability to create youkai, though it was more limited. This seemingly polite guy likes to vandalize streets at night by spraying images of youkai, many of whom turn into ones.

Luckily for Reiko, this  _Player_  was on Shiori's side. "One does not always get a chance to have the whole district empty… which makes my job easier." He was saying as he took Reiko up. "And lucky for you too. Since it is not good to get caught, I have a tendency to leave small youkai around to keep watch. And one of them stumbled upon you." As if wanting to boast, a small lizard-like youkai jumped onto his shoulder. Like all of his youkai, it was black like a shadow, with only its eyes glowing.

"This is embarrassing." Reiko commented as he made her hang on him from behind, with her holding herself by his neck. "Ah yes, Ritsura is-"

"She is most likely keeping Masato-dono company by now." He cut her off. "The youkai from Toono seem to have reached him as well."

"This sounds bad." She commented.

He turned his head at her. For some reason, he was smiling. "By the way, Shiori and her new kid are about to reach the  _target_  as well."

"I don't think Shiori and a newborn should face someone on Ritsura's level." Reiko complained. "Especially when Toono are with her. Everyone knows that Toono are not your average fighters."

"Huh? What are you talking about?" his smile widened. "Who said anything about facing Ritsura?"

* * *

"Well then…" Dohiko turned to the two girls. "There seem to be two of them and three of us. How shall we split? Nura Clan and Toono Clan?" He suggested, hoping to fight alongside Reira.

"Guy versus guy, girl versus girl." Ritsura suggested another option. "I stay guard here."

"Huuuh?" Dohiko started complaining. "We are not your lackeys! Why would WE let you relax while we fight?"

"Because I am exhausted." She replied in a whiny tone… and made a few moves with her fingers. The youkai of Toono developed a sign language as it is advantageous for their missions and Ritsura learned it herself while she was training in Toono.

"Tz!" Dohiko faigned anger. "You will owe us for this." He said and jumped towards the male youkai who started retreating, either to run away or to fight in a more advantageous position.

Reira just nodded and went after the female youkai who already moved somewhere else.

Ritsura stood in one place for a few moments and then suddenly ran into a supermarket, breaking the window and kicking another enemy into the shelves.

"Ha! Destroying public order to catch a criminal." Ritsura proclaimed and fixed the police hat on her head. "I am a true movie policewoman."

The enemy no doubt tried to hide and was waiting for the air to be clear by making his opponents pursue his comrades. Ritsura however noticed him before it was too late.

The enemy youkai rose up. He looked like a… salesman: a fancy suit, pretty hairstyle, cool glasses and a suitcase. "This would be quite expensive to clean. Could I interest you in some Cleaning Powder?" And he acted like one.

"Eh?"

"Not only that, but with this powder all furniture will be safe from breaking for an entire hour!" the salesman youkai continued. "And it only costs five hundred thousand yen!"

"Sold!" Ritsura found herself yelling. "Wait, why did I say that?!"

The man threw his powder around and suddenly the market was back to what it once was.

"The money has been taken from your bank account." He confirmed the deal. "But those police badges are such an amateurish work. For forty thousand yen, I'll turn them into true Nura Clan badges!"

"Sold!" Ritsura accepted again and the badges on her hat and chest changed so that Nura Clan's symbol was now on them instead of a fake police symbol.

"But hey, such a young girl like you should also buy a yoyo!" he took out a blue yoyo with a kanji for Fear written on it. "You can even alter its moving path with your thougts, perfect for impressing friends and relatives!"

"Oh no, you won't force me into buying that!"

"And it can be bought for a mere price of a million yen!"

"Sold!" something forced Ritsura to accept an outrageous deal again. "Waaah?! What a hell are you?!"

"Now if you excuse me, I have to go." He turned towards the exist.

Ritsura whistled and then said: "Stop right there criminal scum! You are going to return what you stole from me!"

"Oh, so you want to negate our deal?" he said and then turned back to her. His formerly dignified face was replaced with a maniacal one, his eyes have turned red and a long pointy tongue was sticking our of his mouth, not to mention he gained sharp teeth. "Alright. You will have to either buy death for free or literally return it all to me. Accept or can I just leave?"

"Finally a deal I actually want to accept!"

"Okie dokie!" he said and a black mist enveloped him like a tornado. After the mist disappeared, Ritsura was looking at a monstrous youkai whose lower side of body was like that from a legless cartoon ghost. His head was huge with his mouth open all the time, tongue sticking out and four large fangs on it. "May the sale debate commence!"

* * *

 

"Seems to me like the air is clear." Mayuri, who was hiding behind a corner, asked the small female youkai on her shoulder. "What do you think Yukari-san?"

"All clear!" Yukari proclaimed!

"Yes!" Mayuri said joyfully and ran out toward the man who was raising up from a bench "Father!"

However, before she could reach him, two of the men jumped onto her path, holding talismans. "Stop right there girl… I see you are not a youkai but what is that thing on your shoulder?"

"A thing?" Yukari said in her usual, cheerful tone. However, Mayuri could somehow feel she did not like being called so.

"It is a Zashiki-warashi, you idiots." Onieda Masato said as he got close to them. "A harmless youkai!"

As if ordered, the two men moved away before her father even finished talking.

"What are you doing here, Mayuri?" her father asked, with his usual lack of emotions.

"I was worried about you of course!" Mayuri replied. "Someone is trying to kill you!" To her surprise, neither her father nor his men looked surprised. "You already knew?" Mayuri realized.

"I knew the moment that brat put that poem on the Internet." Masato said and walked past Mayuri. "A foolish decision of hers… though not nearly as foolish as yours."

"Father… I was worried…" she started walking after him.

"So you asked  _youkai_  for help and went into streets filled with  _youkai_  to come to a man who is supposed to be killed by  _youkai_." The way he kept pronouncing word youkai was filled with disdain. "What did you think you could accomplish other than get yourself killed? Even if I were to die, the only difference you would have done is to give  _her_  the luxury of killing both me and my daughter."

"I… how do you expect me to control myself?" Mayuri said, though she felt ashamed. "I mean, my own dad was going to die!"

"Well learn how to control yourself then." He said and stopped in front of a café, which used one of those new locks that were opened with a card. "You are an Onieda. It is beneath you to act rashly like that." He took out a white card on which word 'Master' was written in latin and the doors opened.

"Isn't this… illegal? Why are we going inside anyway?"

"Yes. And I'll take responsibility." He said and they entered the café. "Anyway, I am interested in watching those monsters…" Yukari made a disdainful sound when he said word  _monster_. "…fight so I had Mahiro reprogram the TV here so I can easily watch it all."

"Father…" Mayuri whispered to herself. "Just  _who_  are you?"

* * *

 

"Stop running already you damn coward!" Dohiko yelled at the enemy. Annoyed, he grabbed a trash container and threw it at the youkai he was pursuing. "Stop I said!"

Although Dohiko missed, the youkai he was pursuing stopped and turned towards him.

He looked like an nine years old boy with an umbrela on his head, wearing a blue yukata and a paper lantern.

Dohiko recognized those features. "You… are an Amefurikozō, are you not? The youkai of rain…"

"You are right, mister!" the kid confirmed. "I am one great and mighty-"

"Ugh… what guy versus guy… This is just a brat." Dohiko facepalmed. "If I beat a brat, I'll look so uncool."

"Hey! Who do you think you are mister!" the brat started raging.

"Aghhh!" Dohiko also started to yell. "I already made him cry!"

"Are you ridiculing me?!" tears started coming out of Amefurikozō's eyes.

"Oh noooo! Now it has gotten serious!" he could already see it…

" _Making that poor boy cry… I am so disappointed." Reira said, hiding her mouth with her kimono's sleeve. "Farewell Dohiko, I can't stand being in company with you anymore."_

" _Reira, no…" Dohiko begged as she was left him behind. "I can explain!"_

" _Lets go Reaira-chan…" Itaku jumped down and put his hand over her. "I'll show you how a real man treats kids."_

" _Oh Itaku-san, you are so gentle…"_

" _No… this can't be…" Dohiko fell onto his knees._

" _Reira…"_

" _Itaku…"_

" _Why don't we both… take care of kids…" And then Itaku closed his face to hers "…our kids."_

_And then he kissed her on the cheek._

" _Noooooo!" Dohiko screamed in his imagination._

"Noooooo!" Dohiko screamed in reality and fell onto his knees, crying.

"Mister are you alright?!" the boy ran up to him.

"I… I am nothing…" Dohiko said as he entered the world of depression. "My dreams have been crushed."

"Mister… you sound so lame…"

"I know, right?"

"What is going on here?" someone asked.

Dohiko wiped off his tears and looked in direction of that voice. It was another Amefurikozō, but this one looked like a fifteen years old kid.

Dohiko walked backwards and prepared for an actual fight. An Amefurikozō reaching such an age meant that he was an exceptionally strong youkai. Dohiko didn't waste time and attacked.

The fight was short.

* * *

 

Unlike Dohiko's, Reira's opponent started running before she even started pursuing her. The Toono's Yuki Onna wasn't far away from losing the sight of her opponent.

Fortunately for her, the opponent moved from the streets into an elementary school. As big as the school was, Reira was still more comfortable with a closed environment than running the streets. She is a youkai from rural areas and as such urban streets weren't to her liking.

The school was dark, as one would expect at nightime. Of course, it wasn't a problem for youkai as they were creatures of the night and thus their eyesight was actually better in the dark.

It didn't take long for someone to attack her. Something incredibly fast went past her and Reira barely dodged its attack. By the time she turned around to face her opponent, he was already gone. Then she heard a sound from behind and turned around. Accidentally, she dodged an arrow due to turning around. The enemy, looking like a skeleton with a longbow ran away.

"This was a trap…" Reira realized. Seems like this dark school was to be a place where the enemy would lure someone and attack him all at once. Yet something was weird. Reira couldn't put her finger on what exactly, but she felt something was off in this whole story.

Not wanting to be a sitting duck, Reira started walking, prepared to not only dodge any attack that might come, but to also freeze whichever enemy felt like confronting her. And soon enough, she saw a shadow move past the window. Looking through it, she saw something move through the bushes in school's small courtyard. Not being the one to care for the damage, Reira simply broke through the window and froze the bushes she suspected the enemy might hide in. But nobody was there.

Another sound came from behind her and she saw someone run past a corner and Reira immediately went after him and soon found herself back in the school.

"Something is off here…" Reira was frustrated. As she walked through the seemingly empty corridors, she heard a sound from behind a corner. She continued walking at her current pace, but created an ice ball in her hand and threw it.

An axe tried to make a vertical hit, but missed. Reira ran to it, but when she reached the place where the enemy youkai was supposed to be hiding, she saw nobody.

"Come on now!" Reira said in a louder tone. "I am not some human you guys need to pull on her nose. Come out and lets fight like youkai should."

Yet nobody came out.

"Alright then, you cowards…" Reira started collecting her Fear around her. "You will pay for making fun of a Toono youkai." Then, she released her Fear and froze around half of the school.

Yet she didn't feel like she got anyone. And after a bit of walking around, she was certain nobody got caught.

And there was still that feeling that something was off… and then she got an idea what it might be.

Once again, she collected Fear around her. "Hatsu!" she yelled and released the same technique again, but a stronger variant, specialized for cutting the enemy's Fear.

Although once again she didn't feel like she caught anyone in her technique, she did feel foreign Fear being cut.

Whenever a youkai prepares to attack someone, the air changes so that both humans and youkai would feel something is amiss. Only certain kinds of youkai, like Nurarihyons, could ignore that rule.

Haunted buildings gave the same aura. And once Reira's was done freezing the school, the air turned to normal. It didn't feel like there were any more youkai here… or more exactly, the school was not haunted anymore.

"I have been fooled…" Reira jumped out of the window, frustrated at what happened. The enemy lured her into this school, turned it into a haunted building, which made Reira think it was the enemy's trap, and then ran away.

After taking this ability into the account as well as the enemy's appearance, she had a few guesses on which kind of youkai this was. The most likely possibility was a Kage Onna (Shadow Woman) who used illusions to haunt buildings, with some being able to make a normal building into a haunted one. The stronger Kage Onnas were even able to attract youkai, thus making it haunted with more than just petty illusions.

The enemy most likely went back to Ritsura and the Oniedas. Reira had to go back and warn them. Although her Fear was easy to cut, the fact that she didn't need to be present inside the haunted building suggested that she was not one of the weaker Kage Onnas.

Then Reira stopped walking as she felt youki coming from the gym. "Ah yes, my Fear only cut the school." For a moment, she thought of just ignoring it, but then decided that the Kage onna might be hiding in there. "Well, checking it out would not waste much of my time."

When she entered, she saw a big armor with a club. Since she attuned her senses to discover illusions, she knew this was one as well.

Reira turned around, not paying the illusion any head as it couldn't hurt her "Well, this was a waste of time."

Then, she remembered that illusions made by stronger Kage Onnas could be harmful while the strongest and oldest ones could even create youkai.

But she realized it just a moment before the club his her head, making her fall unconscious onto the ground. The illusion then disappeared.

* * *

 

"Well then, this is one annoyance less." A young woman in colorful kimono stood on top of a semaphore and looked into the her hand-mirror. She was Heiko, a Kage Onna.

"Now then… should I go deal with that Yuki Onna or with Masato-san and his exorcists?" she thought. She was told she should deal with any of those two in order to meet  _that_  man.

After making her decision, she raised her mirror to catch moon's beam and strike human-filled buildings with it. Her goal was to create minor illusions in order to scare humans and collect some Fear before going to deal with her chosen opponent.

* * *

 

"Just what is going on here?!" Ritsura yelled as she evaded another of the Salesman's attempts to eat her. Once again, though she knew by now it was meaningless, she tried to cut him with Nenekirimaru in right hand and an ice katana in her left. Both just passed through him.

"Bwuahahahaha!" her opponent laughed. "Such low quality junk won't be able to destroy me!" he then tried to grab her with his tongue, in similar fashion a frog catches a fly.

Of course, Ritsura dodged that attack. She created an ice wall between them and jumped backwards, but the Salesman just passed through the wall as if it were not even there.

And that was the problem: the enemy was like a ghost who was able to pass through anything, including weapon and Fear-based attacks. Even Nenekirimaru wasn't able to cut him and it is a sword that is supposed to be able to cut even the strongest youkai.

Yet, he was able to touch and harm her.

Ritsura tried to break through the window and retreat into the streets where she could have more space for maneuvering, but the glass was indestructible… everything in the shop became indestructible due to the fact she bought that first product of his.

"Sorry, but leaving the area before we settled on is it sold or not is forbidden." The Salesman shaked itself. "Not that a girl so unethical to reject trying my merchandise would be able to understand something like that." He sighed and then flew at her, trying to grab her with his hands.

Ritsura just jumped aside and created a snowstorm in order to at least block his vision. Since she had a Yuki Onna's Fear, her eyes could see through a snowstorm so she would be at least at some advantage.

But to her shock, the enemy seemed to be able to see through it as well as he didn't waste much time on searching for her. She managed to dodge him, but his fang scrated her ankle. At the same moment, she slashed through him with Nenekirimaru.

Unfortunately, this wasn't like that WSJ Manga where the only time the hero could touch the enemy was when the enemy would touch him: she got hurt, the Salesman did not.

Exhaustion started crawling up Ritsura's back again. She was not sure how much longer she could hold against an untouchable enemy.

" _There is no such thing as a youkai that could not be harmed."_  For some reason she remembered one of Araya's lectures.  _"Though a youkai can appear immune to harm, there is always a trick which can be used to beat him."_

After remembering Araya's lecture, she also remembered a story Kurotabou once told her, about a ghost of a girl that could only be killed in a certain way. In other words, Ritsura should think about what is the trick behind this youkai's Fear.

"But enough of this." The enemy flew at her again, trying to slash her with his claws, another attack she managed to dodge. While his left claw tore a part of her miniskirt, his right hit a can on the shelf. Since it was indestructible, the can remained standing.

And Ritsura finally realized the trick behind his Fear. As a matter of fact, he himself kept throwing hints at her during their battle.

Ritsura took off the police badge she had on her chest and put it in her left hand, not letting him notice it. "Waaaaaah!" she screamed as she ran at him with Nenekirimaru.

"Stupid girl, I told you such a cheap sword wouldn't be able to hurt me!" he let it pass through him.

Then she took the star-like badge and hit his right eye with it.

"Whuaaaaaah!" the Salesman finally screamed, putting his hands on his stabbed eye.

Her suspicions were right: only the merchandise that he sold her could harm him. That's why he could pass through anything besides the items inside this store, all of which have been affected by his merchandise.

"Well then…" Ritsura sheathed her sword and took out a yoyo. "You told me this yoyo could be moved by using my own Fear, right?"

"Y… yes! No matter in which direction it flies, its course can be altered" he gave her a thumbs up. "It is an awesome toy is it not? Perfect for-"

"Aha… yeah, I see…" while he was still rubbing his eye, Ritsura played with yoyo a little.

"Anyway…" the now one-eyed salesman said after he stopped rubbing his wound. "…it is not like you can use it to strangle me or anything. After all, I have no neck mwuahahahaha!"

"He he…" Ritsura laughed a bit and then threw the yoyo's head in a way it circles around her opponent. "Ritsura Spin: Ice Saw Technique!" As she said that, countless small ice claws appeared on yoyo's string. "Sorry, this may hurt a bit."

"Oh oh…" the enemy youkai understood he was in for a thousand years of pain.

By the time the yoyo returned to its master, the Salesman was back in his human form, laying and bleeding from every inch of his body.

"Woah, this is cute!" impressed, Ritsura stared at her yoyo.

* * *

**Ritsura-sama acquired a new weapon: Nura Yoyo!**

**Ritsura-sama acquired a new technique: Ritsura Spin - Ice Saw!**

* * *

"Cool, is it not?" the Salesman jumped back onto his feet, fixing his glasses and holding a suitcase again. Bleeding all around, he looked like a freakshow.

"…you are still alive?" Ritsura was surprised someone could survive that.

"Ho ho ho!" he laughed. "It is one of my products which I, sadly, don't currently have on me as I used it an hour ago!" he fixed his glasses again. "So, it is settled then! You get your money returned and, as a bonus, can even keep that yoyo and those badges!" he smiled and gave a thumbs up again.

"You know, I should probably kill you so you don't cause any more damage." Ritsura put her left hand on her hip and pointed at him with her right. "After all, you and your people have caused quite a mess on our turf."

The youkai salesman smiled again. "In that case, you will be stuck here for quite a while." He said and took out a key from his pocket. "Even if I die, my products remain. And this store can't be messed with. Yes, that includes opening the door… will be bad if someone attacks your friends while you are traped in here"

"…"

"But that is not all!" he made an exaggerated posture with his right hand. "I will even give you and your clan better deals in future that you will just  **LOVE**! Don't worry, nothing nearly as outrageously priced as the earlier deals! And no traps attached."

"Huh? Are you not one of Shiori's underlings."

"She is my mother, yes." He spread his arms. "However, my only relationship with the Hyaku Monogatari is that they tend to be my clients. But I have many other clients as well so it is nothing special. It is in my Fear to stay as neutral as possible!"

"Yet you still joined this war." Ritsura continued questioning him.

"Yes, but that's for promotional purposes!"

"Promotional purposes?"

"Yeah!" he smiled widely and gave a thumbs up. "I wanted to show you how good a salesman I am!"

"Yet you still tried to kill me."

"Nah, I just tried to beat you and blackmail you into paying even more outrageous price else I tell everyone how weak the Nura Clan's heiress is!"

"Ughh…" Ritsura became even happier that she beat him. "What about humans who reject your offers?"

"You really think any human would be stupid enough to attack me? Also, I only offer such outrageous deals when they piss me off with their behavior. You wouldn't believe just how we salesmen can be treated. I'd lose my business otherwise…"

"Ugh… I get it already…" Ritsura put her hand on her forehead.

"So will you make the deal?!" he took her hand and asked with stars glowing in his eyes… literally. "Will you? Will you?"

"Alright, alright… as long as you increase your prices to our enemies threefold compared to ours!" she accepted. Although he was created by the enemy, her intuition told her that he wasn't such a bad guy.

"Yeeeeaaaayyy! You will not regret this!"

"I sure hope so…" she turned her head aside and said.

* * *

**Nura Clan has acquired a new merchant: The Super Outrageous Youkai Salesman!**

* * *

"Oh, by the way…" he started. "More of Mother's youkai were supposed to arrive. What happened?"

Ritsura, who already went towards the exit, turned around and said: "You really think I am the only member of the Nura Clan to arrive?" She felt embarrassed to not notice earlier that her comrades pretended to be delayed so they could sneak past Shiori's youkai. "They are cleaning nearby districts."

For a moment, she thought of asking him about Shiori's plans, but then remembered that message which Kubinashi and Kejorou sent. Asking him about it was pointless so she just left the market.

And the first thing she saw was that female youkai checking on the buildings.

* * *

 

Pretending that she wasn't aware of the Yuki Onna following her, Heiko went into a clothe-store and used her Fear to turn it into a haunted building. Then, she ran and hid behind a curtain to the changing box.

The Yuki Onna walked in and was immediately assaulted by an illusion of an ogre. But instead of moving, she just created an ice shield and deflected the blow.

Heiko made the illusion move away and made it look like more youkai jumped out of hiding. Then, they all ran at her.

The Yuki Onna just sighed and let them hit and stab her… and Heiko then saw her disappear.

"Huh? What?" and then the Yuki Onna appeared in front of her, grabbed her by her kimono and threw her onto a wall. "Ugh…"

"Nice illusions…" the Yuki Onna dressed as a policewoman played with her hair. "What kind of youkai are you anyway?"

"A… a Kage Onna…" Heiko, not used to getting physical wounds inflicted upon her, grabbed parts o her body. "I thought you were a Yuki Onna."

"Half of me is." The Yuki Onna winked. "Of the rest, three quarters is human and one quarter is a Nurarihyon… which conveniently is a youkai who also plays with illusions."

"You-"

"Sorry, but I am already tired of all the fighting. Just now, I had to deal with the most annoying salesman in entire Japan…" the Yuki Onna took her sword out. "I'd normally foce information out of you, but I know Shiori's dogs are not able to talk and-"

"Huh?" Heiko was confused. "Who is Shiori?"

A few moments of awkward silence ensued. "huh?" the Yuki Onna opened her mouth "What do you mean you don't know who Shiori is? Are you not part of her clan?"

"I am part of no clan!" Heiko said proudly. "I am independent woman who needs no boss!"

"…huh?" for some reason, it made the Yuki Onna look angry.

"I… I just wanted to meet Hikine-sama who everyone talks about and they told me that if I-"

"HUH?!" the air froze to a dangerously low temperature.

"Umm…" the young Kage Onna was starting to feel scared.

"There is a bottle of sake in that shop out there…"

"…so?"

"You… are going to pay by joining my Hyaki Yakou…"

"Huh? Why would I join your stinking HYAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!"

* * *

**Ritsura-sama has acquired a new Hyaki Yakou member: Kage Onna Heiko!**

* * *

"Ugh…" Reria held her head as she walked. The pain of being hit so hard still didn't go away.

To her right walked Dohiko, her comrade from Toono. To her left, two Amefurikozō's were walking, one older than the other. "Alright, so you two and this Kage Onna are not part of any youkai clan? Then why did you attack Onieda Masato?"

"No, we are not." The older Amefurikozō sighed. "I apologize for that, my friend Heiko and this brat tend to do stupid things when left alone." He hit his little brother on the head. "I'll tell everything when we meet your boss."

"She is not our boss!" Dohiko yelled. "We are from Toono! We serve nobody!"

"Yes yes, calm down." Amefurikozō waved his hand. "Then once we meet your…" suddenly, he stopped "Hah?"

In front of them, Ritsura and Heiko were sitting on a bench and the faces of both girls were red. And under the bench a bottle of sake was lying… a big bottle.

"What… is going on here?" Amefurikozō asked when he got close to them.

"I ammmm… agh…" Heiko started and then fell onto the floor, seemingly drunk.

"Phew, that girl can't even handle one quarter of a sake." Ritsura said, drinking what was left. Although she drank three times more than Heiko, she seemed far more sober. "Anyway guys…" Ritsura grabbed Heiko and raised her back up. "Finally someone accepted to join my Hyaki! If I knew I just had to beat them senseless, I'd have done it so much sooner!"

"You… beat her up?" Dohiko asked. "And forced her into your servitude."

"Yep!" Ritsura said with a wide smile, as if she did a good deed or something. Reira and Dohiko tensed up, prepared to fight in case this half-drunk powerlusting female Nurarihyon jumped at them with evil intentions. "You! Are you her friend? She muttered something about serving no Shiori and I demand explana- hey, why are you facepalming?"

"This stupid woman getting herself into stupid trouble all the time…" he muttered and sighed.

"Hey, don't you dare be all Mister Mature in front of me!" Ritsura puffed.

"Well, are you supposed to be drinking on duty, officer?"

"Huh, what are you…" then she looked at her uniform and said: "Oooohh… you know what? You forget this and I won't fine you for being mature! Deal?"

He just put his hand back on his forehead and shaked his head.

"Anyway, something is veeeery off here!" Ritsura started.

"What is… off Ritsura?" Dohiko asked, still prepared for any sudden assaults.

"I mean… have you read that poem?" Ritsura took out her cellphone and showed them a poem "Here, read this!"

_On eastern night of starless sky_

_Yet star-filled towers_

_The Shogun of Sun's Origin_

_Is forced to play three games_

_By the clown in white_

_A game of agility_

_That makes the steel horses cry_

_A game of hiding_

_That makes sun's children cry_

_A game of Clown's riddle_

_That makes the Shogun cry_

"See what I am getting at?" Ritsura pointed at it. "We lack a game of agility, a game of hiding, a game of riddles and, most obviously, a goddamn clown!"

"Hmph, cowardliness must be in blood." Masato and Mayuri appeared on the street and walked up to them. "I'll take it your clan hasn't yet realized it, but the enemy has started retreating."

"Huh? How do  _you_  know that?" Dohiko asked in an impolite tone, not even trying to hide his disdain for this man.

"Who do you think put all these cameras around Tokyo, you ape?" Masato replied in equally disdainful tone.

Mayuri caught his sleeve. "Father, please show respect!"

Dohiko opened his mouth, but Ritsura cut him off. "You sure seem to know a lot about youkai world, Masato-dono." Ritsura rose up from her bench, no longer acting like a half-drunk girl.

"Everyone worth something in this world knows about the youkai world." Masato answered. "But why do you ask me such pointless questions? Aren't you supposed to be wondering what your enemy is doing? Pointless questions just waste time and wasted time means wasted lives for you."

"Alright, Masato-dono-sama…" Ritsura toned down her politeness. "Mind you telling me why her poem didn't come true?"

"That's because Miss Coward chickened out and jumped at a safer target." Masato took out his cell and showed her the news. "As you can see from this traffic report, the game of agility already took place. Well, it is that stupid Yakuza's fault for claiming the nickname of a  _Shogun_."

* * *

Okuzawa Masaji, leader of one of local yakuza, was sitting in his mansion and was holding a towel on his shaking head.

He was riding in his limo when suddenly a monstrous youkai attacked him. His driver rode for a few miles while the monster followed him around, destroying quite a few cars in the process. Finally, it hit his car, killing his driver. Masaji barely saved his own life by jumping out of the car before it hit a pier and blew up. Then Masaji took out his gun and stopped another car, forcing its driver to give him a ride home. The stupid driver tried to turn on his car and flee, but learned better when Masaji shoot his wife and turned his gun towards his children. Luckily, the monster didn't follow him and he reached his household. Naturally, he had his men get rid of the  _witnesses_.

"Of course he wouldn't follow me…" Masaji smiled. "I am Okuzava Masaji, the toughest yakuza in Tokyo! I am the 'uckin Shogun! He must have randomly attacked someone and it got to be me!"

Yes, he believed he deserved the title of a  _Shogun_. Born in one of most prominent Japanese families, he graduated at the highest university and joined the world of politics even before that, at age of seventeen at orders of his strict father.

It took only three years for him to climb high enough in his political party and soon enough found himself in the House of Councilors, the Upper House of Japanese legislative body. There, his prominence rose further and he soon became the owner of many businesses and even had the Prime Minister in his grasp.

No longer needing to be active in politics himself, he left the House of Councilors and his own party, all while retaining his grasp on both the Prime Minister and many of other Councilors. So against his father's wishes, he joined a dying yakuza group, made himself its new leader, restored it with his connections and rose even further in power.

From there, he found out there was more than just the human world. Immediately after he learned about existence of the youkai world and the House of Sanmoto, a union of various rich families (all of whom are descendants of some merchant from Edo Era) which created and controlled youkai, he made new connections… which he even used to get rid of that meddlesome father of his.

And his growth in power continued… after he gained all power he could via the House of Sanmoto, he supported the dark side of Onieda family and helped them destroy the House of Sanmoto and steal their wealth and authority… of course, he got part of it as well.

How would anyone dare to attack someone as high and mighty as him?

Then his cellphone beeped. "Ah, who is now!?" he shouted and looked at it.

" _Found ya! Time to start the Game of Hiding and for sun's children to cry"_

"Huh? What is-"

"KYAAAAAH!" "NOOOOO!" "TO ARMS! TO ARMARGGHHHT!" "PROTECTAGHHH!"

From all around him, his household was screaming. "Someone… someone is going to get me?" Masaji was too afraid to move. "You… have to be kidding right? Right?! Who would dare to…"

As if answering his question, someone broke through his wall. Masaji saw a silhouette which left just before he could take a better look. Instead, a masked girl in late teens entered.

"Well then… You are not the one I originally planned to kill today, but whatever… you were on my list anyway." she said as she removed her mask. "Mind if we talk a bit before I kill you, Masaji-ojiisan?"

"You…" he knew that face. She is the last survivor of the leading family of the House of Sanmoto whom Masaji met on a few occasions, last time being four years ago when she was still Onieda Masashi's hostage… a hostage who ended Masashi's life. "You are… Kuruguya Midori…"

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And we reach the end of chapter 11! Only two more chapters and we have finished this long arc (and can move to another long arc!)!

\- we start with a Reiko scene which shows us a bit of what goes on through the head of a common Urban Legend. The reader should mind it however that Reiko is quite biased

\- what an outrageous salesman…

\- two new youkai from Japanese Folklore have been introduced to the story: an Amefurikozō, a kid aligned with rain, and a Kage Onna who is not a popular youkai but I still managed to find info on her

\- no, her brother would likely not spare the salesman…

\- you can hype yourself as much as you want, but that won't allow you to beat Ritsura without much trouble. And yaay, she got her first underling!

\- one wonders… is this Shiori's victory because she fooled by attacking someone else or Nura's because she was forced to change her plans? Nevertheless, the guy who is going to be killed deserves it

\- for those who don't remember, Kuruguya Midori is the girl Rihan met in Nakano eight years ago. Check chapter 2 for more

All in all, thans for reading! And please review, even if it is just a small sentence: to a fanfic writer, reviews are equal to payments!

And now onto omakes…

* * *

 **Anime Chick344034:**   _"Wow such a great chapter. Cant wait for the next. And what the heck RISTURA. WHERE DID YOU GET THAT POLICE OUTFIT. LOL XD"_

"I got it soon after Kiyotsugu-san told me the cams got turned off." Ritsura, still wearing the uniform, started explaining. "So on my way, I visited that shop near where I was hiding while Kiyotsugu-san was briefing me, borrowed the uniform and a bag and changed into it when I boarded the train. It was cool, was it n-"

"RITSURA!" Tsurara, who just arrived, cut her off. "That uniform!"

"Ah… mom is here." Ritsura gulped and turned around. "Is something wrong with it mommy?"

"Is something WROOOONG?!" Tsurara pointed towards an a mark drawn at the bottom edge of the uniform. "Where did you get that?!"

"In… a police station?" Ritsura bluffed with a smile.

"That ain't from no police station, young lady!" Tsurara continued attacking "That came from that shop for… adult needs."

"Well, I just saw the uniform while passing and… wait a minute mom, how come you recognize such a mark?"

After five seconds of silence, Tsurara turned red as a tomato. "Don't change the topic young lady! You have no reason to know about your dad's and mine se-" she turned red again. "Um I mean… oh look at the time, I have to prepare breakfast." She suddenly turned and left. Ritsura could swear that there was steam coming from her head.

"…disturbing images a daughter should never imagine were forced into my maiden head…"

* * *

 **xxice-maidenxx** :  _"Very interesting chapter! And Shiori is human? That just makes it more interesting. I really dont think humans are as weak as they show them in anime and manga. They should be soooo much stronger!"_

"Well, we humans ARE weak individually." Shiori started her lecture. "No matter how physically fit you may be, you still have no chances to survive against a weaker youkai by yourself. Humanity itself however is a different thing and youkai are forced to hide themselved from humans as only the strongest youkai, like the Nue, have hopes of surviving a full out war against humanity."

"As a matter of fact, the youkai world has suffered a lot due to humans…" she continued "…most significantly the older youkai who are kicked out of their natural habitats due to humans building roads, factories and such. If something is not done, most youkai may go extinct… well besides the urban legends which are born in different enviorenment."

"It should also be mentioned that…" she just doesn't want to stop talking "…the biggest threat to both humans and youkai are the Shin Sekai which are a human organization, representing many of essential elements of the human world like constant advancement of species, conquering nature…"

Zzzzzzz…

 **xxice-maidenxx** : " _(even stronger than gokadoin! They suck!)"_

Gokadoin Kashaimaru (guy you met at the end of chapter 6), who fell asleep during Shiiori's lecture, woke up. "What did you say gurl? Did you just say we suck? Well let me give you some facts about…"

Since Nayrael's patience was already spent on Shiori's lecture (so he has none to spare for Kashaimaru's), we will skip it.

* * *

 **Dennou Writer** :  _"I'm starting to think my suspicions that Rihan will have to fight Ritsura at some point are right..."_

"This may come as a shock, but the two of us already had an epic battle." Ritsura replied.

"Huh, we never had a… wait, you don't meant  _that_!?" Rihan reacted.

"It was many years ago, while both of us were still chibi…"

"Wait, is that… Oh no, not the flashback blur…"

(THE FLASHBACK BLUR)

" _You have been warned nee-san!" in the Nura clan's hidden dojo, chibi Rihan proclaimed as he started running towards his chibi sister. "I will show no mercy!"_

" _Hohohohoho…" chibi Ritsura giggled. "Come at me, you greedy little brother!"_

" _You reign of terror ends now! Opa!" his ferocious attack stopped when he slipped on ice that chibi Ritsura created beforehand and found himself in midair._

" _Your arrogance was your downfall!" Chibi Ritsura proclaimed. "But it is not over yet!" she breathed out cold air and created an ice-ramp under him, like the ones they have in skateparks._

" _Oh no!" he shouted as he fell onto it and started slipping towards the other end of the dojo._

" _Oh yes! And there is more from where that came from!" she ran and created another ramp, this one constructed in such a way he would slip to yet another part of dojo._

" _Aaaaah!"_

" _But I am sure more is needed to teach my rebellious brother a lesson." In a few minutes, the dojo turned into an skatepark where chibi Rihan was caught in eternal slippery._

" _What is going on here kids?" their father, Nura Rikuo, came in._

" _Nothing, my little brother was hungry for some extreme sports so I made him an amusement park." Chibi Ritsura explained._

" _Heeeeeeelp!"_

" _What was that?" Rikuo asked._

" _He said Heeeeeell yeah!" Chibi Ritsura lied with a 100% innocent face "See, he is loving it!"_

_Rikuo sighed. "Alright, I'll let the two of you have your fun." Rikuo said and turned around. "But next time don't do it in the dojo. This is for training, not for playing around."_

" _Yes daddy. See ya daddy!" chibi Ritsura waited until he left and than turned back to play with her brother some more._

_Then her mom found them and she got grounded._

(END OF FLASHBACK BLUR)

"Ahh… those were the times…" Ritsura said with a smug smile. "We should do it again someday."

Rihan didn't answer. The memories of that day made him feel nauseous and he fell onto the floor.


	12. Peace at Last

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle between the Nura Clan and Shiori's clan is over, with neither side winning or losing. Shiori takes care of few last things before she retreats, the Nura Clan is ready to rest and the young Rihan will have to deal with a problem of more personal nature.

 

**Chapter 12: Peace at Last**

Silence finally returned to the Okuzawa Household, though not because the danger has passed but because everyone but the attackers and the household's head lay dead. In mere minutes, this yakuza household turned into a haunted mansion filled with youkai.

"Glad to see you still remember me, Ojii-san." Shiori, real name Kuruguya Midori, said as she sat on a small table. She was the leader of the youkai that attacked the hopeless yakuza.

On the floor in front of her sat Okuzawa Masaji, a yakuza infamous even in the underworld. However, in front of the girl that had youkai following her, he was nothing more but a rabbit surrounded by wolves.

"What do you want…" he asked, shivering all around. Midori's youkai cut the electricity so the only source of light was a floating skull in whose opening blue fire burnt. "I am sure this all could have been avoided if you came and talked to me."

Shiori didn't say anything and just shoke her head.

"Is it vengeance you want? Venegance for your House… for what happened in Nakano?" he asked, still shivering and looking around. He knew youkai hid in the darkness around him as the Fear they emitted could be felt even by normal humans… especially the soon-to-be victims.

He had a hand in destroying the families descendant from the Sanmoto family and Midori was the last survivor of the main family, the Kuruguyas. Thus, it would make sense that she was after him for revenge. Up until now he believed that the Oniedas, the main culprit in all this, would protect him but now that he sat here on verge of death, he realized that Oniedas probably did not care about him. After all, more useful people than him were recently killed by Onieda Mahiro personally.

"Even if it is for vengeance's sake…" he continued, trying to save his own hide. "…I was nothing more than a small fry there you know! Actually, I could help you to-"

"The Golden Rule by Onieda Masashi…" Midori started talking. "…makes it impossible for accomplices of the  _Players_  to give information about the Shin Sekai.  _Players_  can share information between themselves and their minions, but mere accomplices from outside the  _Game_  are not allowed to do so… least, the Dolls come."

"Still though, I could be of help right?" he suggested but her face showed no reactions. She went to open her mouth but he continued before she could do so: "Wait wait wait… please wait… I… don't you remember what happened eight years ago?" thinking he found his winning card, he regained some composure. "I was the one who suggested to spare you… you owe me for that!"

"Oh, do I now?" Midori didn't seem touched by his claim. "That family you kidnapped… a normal yakuza would just order them to shut up, but you ordered to kill them. Oh, and what did you say when one of your less dignified men made an ugly face when he noticed the girl? Oh yes, you told them to do it  _however_  they want." Disdain in her eyes was such that it felt like it could be cut with a knife. "Are you telling me that such a person saved me for the good of his heart or because he believed a small girl didn't deserve death?"

"I…I…"

"Don't try to force an unexisting debt onto me, Ojii-san. You are not a person who would do something for the sake of kindness."

Okuzawa was getting more desperate. His attempts to offer her something in return and to gain sympathy failed. Thinking about what he could do next, he tried to blackmail her: "Then… why didn't you just kill me? Yes, that's right…" he was now certain he could get away. "…you want something! Well, if you don't promise me you will let me go then I won't say a word even if it kills me… I have no reason to!"

Midori looked at him for a few moments and then asked: "Why are Oniedas searching for me? Destroying the House of Sanmoto made sense while Masashi was alive, but after his death it became pointless. So why are they after me? Unless it is a sensitive information that is."

Okuzawa did not know the exact reason why Oniedas were so keen on killing off every member of those evil families from House of Sanmoto. He knew it had something to do with Onieda Masashi and was somehow related to the youkai world, but he did not know how nor did he care at the time.

But it didn't matter: he gained the only thing that mattered now: the means to survive. That fact alone made him calmer. "Because you killed Masashi of course." He gave the obvious answer.

Though not so obvious to Midori. "Oniedas don't even know how to be sentimental."

"Maybe not Masahide and Masato, but Mahiro does." he answered. "You know, that guy dreams about the day he kills you."

"Is that so…" she said and jumped onto her feet.

"What? Is that it?"

"To be honest, I wasn't actually interested in anything of importance." She said as she put her mask back on. "It is just that I felt like talking a bit before sending you off. We are acquaintances after all."

"Wait… wait!" he shouted as Midori turned her back on him.

"What? I never promised anything." She told him as the light disappeared. "And even if I had, I am letting the youkai decide what to do with you so I would not be breaking any kind of promise. I myself don't really care if you die or not so if you persuade them to spare you, I will be fine with it. Well, if you do die send my regards to my two suitors."

"WAAAAAIIIIIT!"

* * *

 

As Shiori left into the courtyard, she saw that she wasn't the only human present… and that there were some tensions between her followers.

The family that Okuzawa sentenced to death were back in their car, though they didn't dare to move as some of Shiori's youkai surrounded them. On top of the car, stood Hikine holding a western broadsword in his hand and his shadow on the ground was unnaturally big, as if perpared to strike anyone who dared get close to the car.

It didn't take long for her to realize that Hikine was protecting the family from his comrades. Although they all served Shiori, her followers themselves weren't necessarily friendly towards one another, especially if their Fears conflict one another.

"Alright guys, it is over for today!" she said loudly, intentionally not showing attention to the situation at hand. When the youkai realized that Shiori had come, the tension dispersed and everyone's attention was now on their commander. "Now disperse and hide. The Nura Clan will have their eyes open tonight so skip collecting Fear and beware the crows." The Nura Clan's Senba Garasu were youkai who controlled crows and used them when they searched for someone or something, thus these birds were now a threat to Shiori and her followers.

Some youkai just left, some cheered first and soon enough only Shiori and Hikine were left.

"Haha-ue, if you don't mind I will help these guys to safely reach their home."

"Do as you will." Shiori nodded, again keeping a poker face. She saw it as her duty to lead and protect Tales, evil and good alike. She can't let her personal preferenecs get the better of her.

Hikine turned back into a cat and jumped into the car, telling something to the man inside. Soon enough, the car drove away.

Shiori let out a smile. Creating a heroic tale is not an easy task: not only is Shiori's ability best used for horror tales, but unlike humans of old who saw youkai as beings to be both feared and respected, modern humans see youkai purely as something to be feared… and they like it that way. Hikine's Tale being well received and him managing to be a strong youkai thus made her proud.

She felt someone laughing.

Shiori looked up and saw the large black skeleton float above her. "What, is there something you find funny?"

The youkai in question could not talk, but Shiori was able to feel some of its thoughts.

"Yes, you have a point. But no, I shall not. Now leave me and keep killing those crows, I am getting tired of you." Shiori told her. The skeletal youkai laughed again and then disappeared.

* * *

"What do you mean it is too late?" Nura Ritsura asked Onieda Masato. Although they shared only a few words between themselves, the atmosphere has already become uncomfortable.

"As I said,  _girl_ …" just like Ritsura, Masato had and annoyed look on his face. "Youkai have already entered Okuzawa's mansion and killed everyone inside. It is too late to save anyone."

"Why then, my  _good man_ … " the two didn't just look annoyed, but said certain words in the tone that made it clear it was meant as an insult. The comrades of both just stood and looked at them in silence. "…why haven't you told anyone about it?"

"If I did, those youkai may have actually returned their focus onto me. Saving some lowlife like him is not worth the bother."

" _Bother_  you say?" Ritsura didn't seem to like his choice of words. "Didn't you mean  _danger_?"

"There was no danger,  _brat_." He answered back, this time with a more direct insult.

"Father, please…" Mayuri tried to stop him, but nobody payed her any head.

"No danger you say?!" Ritsura became increasingly louder. "Do you know how many lives were lost to them? Do you really think-"

"Yes, I do think so. They would be a bother to me, I can tell you that for sure. And don't try to guilt-trip me, it is your fault those deaths happened."

"Are you underestimating our Clan's strength,  _Masato_?"

"Oh, I am not underestimating your clan… just the commander and her ridiculous decisions." he corrected her in a venomous tone. "If I found out one thing, it is that a certain girl who likes fooling around has too much authority."

Ritsura bit her lip. His words hit her where it hurt the most.

"But I guess it is not a kid's fault but-"

Ritsura grabbed him by the collar and the air around turned cold. Ritsura could guess whom he intended to insult next.

"Oh, a savage animal shows her true face." Masato smirked. "As one would expect from a youkai."

"STOP IT ALREADY!" Mayuri's scream ended the whole argument… and stopped the Toono youkai who started moving towards him as well as her father's entourage which already put their hands into the pockets.

Masato turned his eye towards his daughter "Mayuri, stay away from-"

"Are you a spoiled Middle-Schooler, dad?" she cut him off and then looked towards Ritsura. "Sorry Ritsura-san, my dad has… well, you have seen."

If anyone expected Masato to act angry, they would have been disappointed: "Hmph, you are right. This is below me." Masato said and pushed Ritsura's hand away. "Now, I think we both have important things to do." He said and turned away, with his three bodyguards following him.

"I swear Mayuri…" Ritsura started talking to her, not moving her eyes away from Masato's back. "If he were not your father, I would have my first murder on my hands."

"I am sorry!" Mayuri bowed to her. "I am so sorry for his behavior!"

"Uh…" Ritsura was bewildered due to Mayuri's sudden move. Although Ritsura came to hate that man, his daughter was still her friend. "Don't apologize, I did it for you… After all, it is not your fault that your father is…"

Due to Ritsura not being decisive about what to say, Dohiko finished the sentence for her: "…an arrogant, stupid asshole. Hmph, should have expected that from Masahide's son and heir."

"Still, I am sorry!" she said once again and than raised her head.

"Mayuri, get here already!" Masato shouted at her.

"I am coming father!" she shouted back and then turned back to the youkai. "Thanks for all that you did." She said and bowed again. "I know you may think he does not deserve what you did, but he is still my father so at least I am thankful."

"Mayuri!"

"Anyway, stay safe!" she waved to them and ran away.

"Aaagh… I see Mayuri was right when she said that her father was an unlikable ass." Ritsura scratched her head.

* * *

While youkai from Nura Clan and Tokyo Hyaku Monogatari Clan were in upheaval, the assassins from the Hashima Kyushu Clan continued to lay low. Yashagoro himself decided to take a walk around the city, checking on occasional fights he stumbled upon but trying to not get noticed himself. Since the current location looked safe and he could feel no enemy youkai, he walked without trying to stay hidden.

"Seems like the battle is over." A voice came from a pond he just passed. Then, steam came out of it and a handsome, young man dressed in a white yukata came out of it.

"Ah, Crocer…" Yashagoro greeted the youkai with a weird name. "Do you know who won?"

"No, my friend." Crocer decided to walk with him. Like Yashagoro, he was a member of the Kyushu Clan though certain traits of his personality made Yashagoro dislike his company. Still, he was a strong youkai and should be useful in battle against the Nuras. "Well, some Nuras look like they are relieved while others look pissed."

"So they neither won nor lost." Yashagoro scratched himself on the head. "Shame, I hoped that one of the siblings would have passed away and we would not need to waste time ourselves. But I guess we are not that lucky."

"We should have joined in Yashagoro." Crocer commented. "In all this confusion, the siblings would have been easy targets."

"No, that would not do." A voice came from behind them.

Both Crocer and Yashagoro turned their heads around towards a man short blond hair, an earie earring on one of his left ear and with white papers sticked onto his clothes.

Crocer immediately put his hands together and bowed. "Glad to see you, great prophet."

This youkai called Yanagida was the leader of the so called  _Cult of Messiah_  which was based in Hashima and which preached the arrival of the Messiah who would create a new world of darkness, fit for youkai of all kinds. Supposedly, the Messiah almost arrived around twenty years ago but Nura Rikuo slew him before he could arrive in his true form.

The Messiah has many followers amongst the Kyushu youkai and much of Kyushu's hate for the Nura Clan comes from them considering the Nuras to be the traitors of the youkai world and the archnemesis of their god. Although most, like Crocer, were far from fanatical, they still showed respect to Yanagida and his god.

Yashagoro, however, wasn't one of those who followed Yanagida's teachings. "And why is that, Yanagida? The Nuras could have been both an easy pray and we could have put the blame on their enemy."

"Son, just who do you think their enemy was?" Yanagida asked.

"One of the numerous Urban Clans I take it?" one of the first things that surprised Yashagoro when he arrived in Tokyo was the number of modern youkai that filled it, usually called  _Urban Legends_. Conflicts between the Nura Clan and the Urban Legend Clans, or Urban Clans for short, were common. Still none of them were able to inflict considerable damage onto the Nuras and usually ended getting destroyed.

Yanagida smiled. "Yashagoro-san, were you not the one who told me that it is wise for an assassin to research EVERYTHING before making a move?"

"Never said I planned to use this situation. Lack of knowledge about what was going on made it too risky." Yashagoro sighed and looked towards Crocer who held his head low in front of Yanagida. "Crocer did." He then turned back to Yanagida. "Anyway, so who was this clan who fought the Nuras?"

" _That_  bunch of heretics." Hate could be seen in Yanagida's eyes. "It is followers of that treacherous bitch who betrayed our great Father."

"Ah, you mean  _The Mother_?"

"Yes, that's how some call her." Yanagida answered with tone filled with disdain. "I may be safe because I serve the Father, but had you guys moved in I have no doubts the heretic bitch would have turned on you so you wouldn't cause trouble for her."

Yashagoro's eyes narrowed. "And why are you safe and not us?"

"Because I serve the Messiah of course!" Yanagida's voice turned back to that of a preacher. "Only if the entire Kyushu puts itself under protection of our Lord will-"

"Yes yes, whatever…" Yashagoro cut him off before he became even more annoying. "Why do you think that the  _Mother_  would have been aware of us?"

Yanagida put his hands on Yashagoro's shoulders. "Because that bitch's eyes and mouth are everywhere. Not to mention that these heretics are far from weak or lacking in number." Yanagida put his lips closer to Yashagoro's ear. "So why not accept our Father already and let him give you the power you need to-"

"And why don't you remove your dirty fingers from my darling?" a woman hugged and whispered into Yanagida's ear, although even Yashagoro could hear it. "Else your puny god will need a new prophet."

The three quickly separated from one another. Just as he suspected, the woman who joined them was another of his acquaintances.

"Tokyo sure is a small place." Yashagoro sighed. "What are you doing here Azuru?"

Azuru grabbed Yashagoro's arm as if he were her boyfriend and said: "I got worried if you lost your head, Orochimaru-chan." She said with a happy face and added: "But since you are safe, lets go on a date, throw some eggs onto Sakura's house and kiss while she looks through the window!"

Instead of replying, Yashagoro just pulled his hand away and turned back to Yanagida.

"Well, seems like young people want to have some fun." Yanagida smiled and left in another direction. Only now did Yashagoro remember that Onieda Mahiro mentioned Yanagida's name.  _Just as I thought, Yanagida IS planning something…_

"Oi oi Yashagoro…" Crocer pulled him on his sleeve. "Who is this chick?"

"…this is going to be a long, annoying night…" Yashagoro sighed.

* * *

"Can you remind me why we are doing this again?" the older Amefurikozō, called Kazuo, asked.

He and Dohiko from the Toono Clan were standing in middle of a basketball playfield, as if they were going to fight one another. The rest of Toono youkai and members of the Nura Clan that were brought by Yami, were standing and sitting around, some looking at these two while others were celebrating the end of a fight. Ritsura, who was back in her kimono, created herself a higher place to sit on and enjoy the view at these two.

"Your woman hurt my woman." Dohiko said to him. "Someone has to pay for it and I'd rather not hurt a woman… so you are going to jump in just like I HEY WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!"

"This is really something that doesn't concern me…" Kazuo replied. "And I really don't care… and looking at it, neither do  _our women_." He pointed towards Heiko who was throwing up due to hangover and Reira helping her.

"Coward! You just want to flee like a chicken!" Dohiko provoked and put his hands on his hips in order to imitate a chicken. "Ko ko ko!"

"Yes yes, whatever…" Kazuo didn't seem to bite at it. "I am a bird, whatever."

"Oh for heaven's sake Dohiko!" Ritsura shouted. "Just attack him already!"

"Yeah!" "Hime-sama demands entertainment!" "Show him what you can do!" "Impress your woman!" "Put him in his place Kazuo-sama!" youkai around them cheered.

"Why must that girl always cause trouble like this…" Kazuo complained to himself.

Dohiko, however, accepted Ritsura's suggestion and jumped into the air, prepared to strike him down. "No words will save you this time, kozō!"

Kazuo sighed and just jumped back, taking out something that looked like a smoking pipe from his yukata. Dohiko's Fear was strong enough to destroy the cemented floor and some of rubble scratched Kazuo who himself didn't seem to care, keeping his usual poker face.

"Ugh… I am going to be the one to pay for the repair fees, won't I?" Ritsura complained.

"Kozō, you are too young to smoke." Dohiko pointed at him.

"Don't worry, this is just a toy." Kazuo commented and put it into his mouth. Soon enough, bubbles started coming out as he ran backwards.

"Ha, it is obvious those bubbles are part of your technique." Dohiko grinned. "I see a kid has yet to learn that brawns doesn't actually mean no brains!" Dohiko shouted and jumped into the air again, thus evading the wall of bubbles.

"And people say I act like a kid…" Kazuo sighed and pointed his pipe towards Dohiko.

The bubbles reacted by few merging with one another (but not changing their size) and floating up. They, they started hitting Dohiko in the air, as if they were made of stone and not water.

After the beating was over, Dohiko started falling with his head down. Dohiko stretched out his arms, dropped onto them and threw himself back onto his feet, thus evading falling onto his head. Although his face showed that he was beaten up, he stood and breathed as if it were nothing.

"You sure got me there, Kozō …" Dohiko grinned. "Guess it is time to get serious…"

" _Serious_  is such an unfitting word for all this…" Kazuo sighed again and started creating more bubbles. He then pointed a finger towards Dohiko who just stood without moving. Even when the bubbles surrounded him, he stayed calm and continued smiling.

"Well now, it is time to show you how Toono-"

The bubbles blew up and even destroyed another part of the cemented ground.

Dohiko continued standing without moving a muscle, although his clothes were torn apart and he had a few bleeding wounds.

"Kozō… I had it enough with your pranks…" Fear started collecting around Dohiko. It was clear that his next move will be dangerous. "With this next attack you will."

"I give up." Kazou proclaimed, threw his pipe onto the ground and raised his hands.

"Eh… what?"

"I am giving up." Kazuo repeated. "I know better than to fight an overwhelming Fear like yours."

"…eh?" Dohiko's Fear dispersed.

A moment later, the youkai around them started shouting insults and provocations at the youkai who wasn't man enough to fight.

Ritsura jumped down from her seat and opened her mouth to stop them but then…

"Alright you guys, that is enough!" Dohiko yelled. "I take it you all could have done better so come at me already!" seems like this fight earned enough og Dohiko's respect for him to immediately stand in his opponent's defense.

A few went silent but quite a few felt like accepting his proposal… but they stopped the moment air turned cold which was usually the sign that Nura Clan's Ojou-sama wanted them to calm down.

"It was short but interesting!" Ritsura winked as she walked up to them. "After all, it is no small thing to do even that much to a Toono youkai."

"Hmph, I went easy…" Dohiko crossed his arms. "But he is still good enough." He said in a low tone.

"Alright guys, you can now have the whole place for partying!" Ritsura shouted to everyone. "Party or have a few more fights, it doesn't matter! This playground is haunted by us now!"

Everyone cheered and the surrounding turned chaotic again.

"You said you were called Kazuo, right?" Ritsura started talking to him. Dohiko seemed to have wanted to say something as well, but some youkai pulled him away, likely accepting his challenge.

"Yes." Kazuo took his pipe back and placed it inside his yukata. "I hope Heiko hasn't caused too much trouble."

"Nah, I went through worse." Ritsura shrugged. "Anyway, we didn't have time to talk before so I still have no idea what happened. Come, we stole drinks from a market." She said and pointed towards boxes of juice and alcohol on an improvised table.

"Heiko was too drunk to explain it herself I take it?" he accepted her offer and followed her to the table. He threw a glance at his younger brother to make sure he is alright and was glad to see he found himself a few friends to play with.

"Ha, you can say so." She confirmed.

"To keep it short, me, my little brother and Heiko lived in an abandoned house near a rural village in Chubu region." He said. "Our Fear kept humans away for a long time, but… well, an abandoned building can't stay such for too long these days and we were forced out of it."

"That story again…" Ritsura sighed. "So, why move to Tokyo of all places?"

"A stupid reason." Kazuo replied and looked at his little brother playing with other childish youkai. "Heiko heard about some guy called Hikine and-"

"Went to find the love of my life!" Heiko appeared behind him. Her face was so red it was clear she was still drunk. "The vigilant, handsome, strong Hikine-sama!"

Kazuo just shoke his head.

"Ah, Hikine is my enemy you know." Ritsura said and pointed at her. "And thus is yours as well now."

"Yes, I know." She didn't seem bothered by that fact. "But true love shall prevail and Hikine-sama shall kidnap me and we shall both run away from Tokyo, leaving all you guys behind so we could live a happy, love-filled life in a small cottage in the mountains, surrounded by roses and violets and beautiful children and…" Heiko continued dreaming as she danced away.

"You see what I have to deal with?" Kazuo said.

"Yep…" Ritsura scratched her head. "…and now she is mine. I should really think things through before making hasty decisions. Oh…" she turned back towards Kazuo. "What about you now that she had joined my Hyaki?"

"Nothing." he shrugged. "If she stays here, I stay here at least for some time. Unlike her, I don't need a haunted house to live."

"So, why not make a pledge with me as well?" Ritsura offered. "After all, I need more people in my Hyaki Yakou."

"Sorry, I won't pledge my life for someone I just met. And beating me up won't make me do it either."

"Well, you never gave me a reason to beat you up… unfortunately." Ritsura said, a bit disappointed he rejected her so easily. "Well, there is an abandoned house near our mansion which we usually lend to guests who need one. You three can stay there from now on."

"I thank you for your hospitality." He replied. "While I won't make a pledge with you, I'll return the favor by being at your disposal if you need a fighting hand…" suddenly, they heard Heiko sing. "…and whenever you need someone to keep her in order… which is what I have to do now." He said and walked away.

Ritsura stayed there, standing and looking at her clan having fun.

"Are you alright Ritsura-chan?" Reira walked up to her. Seems there was something she wanted to talk to her about. "You seemed quite hit by what  _that man_  said."

"I am alright." Ritsura replied. "It is my duty after all. You Toono may not understand it, but the clan is always in the same mood as their leader is."

No matter what went on, she has to look the role. Only once her mother arrives, can she do something to excuse running away and having some time for herself.

* * *

"Waka! Waka up!" the young Rihan could hear Kubinashi's voice calling him.

"Eh… what?" Rihan opened his eyes and saw Kubinashi and Kejorou stand above him. "Huh? Where… am I?" he asked once he noticed he was in some kind of room and that he was laying on a bad. He tried to sit but pain stormed through his whole body and he fell down onto a bed again.

"Stay down, Waka…" Kejorou commanded. "You are filled with wounds!"

"Yes… what happened?" Kubinashi asked, looking desperate. "It is a miracle that none of your vital organs have been hit!"

"I don't remember much…" Rihan mumbled. He tried to remember what happened, but everything was blury. "…where am I anyway?"

"You are in-"

"Araya Super Medical Company!" Araya's face appeared above him as well, for some reason wearing a pink nurse hat. "Well, at least it  _could_  be called that." She said and smiled, a refreshing change when compared to Kejorou's and Kubinashi's worried faces. "To be more exact, you are in a private hospital owned by an acquittance of mine. Don't worry, the doctor is not foreign to youkai medicine."

"Sorry Waka, our medics are everywhere around Tokyo healing our own… and trying to save those in worse state." Kejorou commented.

"How stupid, Waka should be the priority!" Kubinashi didn't seem as pleased with the current state of affairs. Due to Rihan's name, Kubinashi was ridiculously over-protective of him… something which young Rihan himself found irritating at times.

"Giovanni is as good as your Zen, if not better." Araya replied, still with a smug look and not bothering to use honorifics. "And since Zen is unavailable, Giovanni is the best he could get so this is for the best."

Rihan guessed that this Giovanni is the doctor of this hospital. He remembered Araya mentioning a few times that her personal Doctor is some big-name foreigner.

Kubinashi didn't reply but turned his head aside. Rihan felt he would have liked to object her claim, but decided to let it pass.

"Anyway, what happened?" Kejorou asked again. "We found you bleeding and fileld with bullet wounds on-"

"HEY! Stop it you two!" a woman's voice commanded. Rihan raised his head a bit and saw his mother walk into the clinic, giving her best not to start running. His mother tried to keep composure when she reached him, but her eyes quickly watered and she hugged him as softly as she could so she wouldn't hurt him. "Are you alright, sonny?"

"Yes, I think I'll be alright mom." He put one of his hands on he shoulder. "How is nee-san? Did we win?"

"Yes, we did… though the enemy got away." She nodded and let him go. "I will now go check on your sister to see if she is alright. Once the situation calms, we will bring you home and you can spend the next day at home." Tsurara said. Rihan understood she was worried about Ritsura who was in midst of the worst. If he ended like this, she may have gotten some injuries as well which would naturally make his mother worried..

"Don't worry, you will be able to go on the trip." Araya jumped in and winked. "The wounds should heal by afternoon, although you probably won't be able to properly use your Fear for some time."

Although she said he could go on the trip, he had a bad feeling that his mother will send an entire army to be his and Ritsura's bodyguards.

"Can this Giovanni's words be trusted?" Kubinashi asked. "He is just a human after all."

"Knowledge, my dear youkai, is available to everyone." A foreigner in black coat and hat entered, followed by a Japanese nurse holding a doctor's bag. "I am sure Zen-dono mentioned I know at least a little bit if nothing else."

"You are going somewhere, Giovanni-san?" Kejorou asked before Kubinashi could complain.

"Hm." He nodded. "Rihan-dono is alright so I'll take the opportunity to check if I might be useful somewhere else."

"Once again, thank you for your help Ichinoe-san, Giovanni-dono." Rihan's mother bowed and than turned towards Kejorou and Kubinashi. "You two keep away from asking any more questions. My son needs a rest from all this." She ordered in a strict tone she usually reserved for her duties as the mother. "Oh, and you haven't told anyone else about this since we talked?"

"No, we did not Tsurara." Kejorou answered. "Why do you want to keep this quiet anyway?"

"Ritsura should be exhausted enough from all this." Tsurara replied. "I want her to rest, not worry about her brother or the fact he got wounded."

"Aha, you have a point." Kejorou agreed. "By the way, tell Ojou-sama that me and Kubinashi are congratulating her on job well done."

"Yes, I will." Tsurara said with a proud face and turned around to leave. "Anyway, I will be going now. Keep safe!" she waved and left with Giovanni and his nurse.

Not long after his mother left, Kubinashi's head floated back to Rihan. "Alright, now you tell us what happened!" he demanded. "Please, it could be very impo-"

"Aaalright Kubinashi!" Kejorou grabbed his by his ponytail and his body by the collar and started pulling him away from the room. "We will check the streets to make sure there are no bad guys around. And I swear, if you dare sneak back to Waka, not even your lack of neck will save you from suffocation!"

Rihan listened at them leaving until he was finally left in the room alone. He closed his eyes to rest.

Alone with a very dangerous girl actually. He opened his eyes and saw an injection above him.

"Araya-chan… what are you doing?" Rihan asked with a worried smirk. "What is that injection?"

"Something with a cool symbol on it." She answered.

"A… cool symbol?"

"Yes! A skull!"

"Are you trying to poison me?!" he jumped up and tried to move away but failed due to feeling pain. "What is- eh?"

He forgot what he wanted to ask once he saw the bizarre sight of her being dressed as another of Giovanni's nurses, full with pink nurse clothes and white thighs… and holding an injection in each hand.

"Now now Riha-chan, don't you see I am dressed as a Nurse?" she said with a big smile. "These clothes increase my medical skill by fifteen points."

"THIS IS NOT A GAME!"

She took another step close to him and winked. "We can't know until we try, right? Also, I lied: this ain't poison."

"…then what is it?" he asked though he was sure he won't like the answer.

"I mixed various chemicals I found." She winked. "You can thank me once you become a mutant superhero!"

"THIS IS NOT A MANGA!"

"Fu fu fu…" she was now over him. "Don't be afraid, let Araya-chan put it in real good!"

"I humbly reject your kindhearted offer!"

"Just kidding, it is nothing dangerous." She put on a more serious expression and sat beside him. "This is something important, so just trust me alright?"

He just starred at her for a few moments. He couldn't fathom neither why he would need an injection nor what she could possibly have for him. He thought of asking what it is but for some reason decided not to so he just closed his eyes and let the girl dressed like that do what she wants. He also realized that she was wearing a perfume.

He sat there waiting for a needle, but nothing came and after some time he opened his eyes and saw her stare at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I am still trying to process why you told me it is okay to prick you with an unknown injection." She answered and sighed.

"Well, you did tell me to trust you…" he scratched his head. "…and that it was important."

"So you trusted me without asking?"

"Well… yes. Should I have not?" he was confused. "Well, what is the injection?"

"Just normal water I planned to spray into your ear once you rejected..." she sighed. "But seeing you trust me kinda ruined my mood."

He found her behavior weird… or more exactly, he couldn't understand her reason for turning from playful to moody. "Why did this scene become awkward?"

"It is nothing, I just remembered something." She averted her eyes. "Something I'd rather not talk about. Don't mind it." she said and tried to rise up.

"Hey Araya!" he shouted at her.

"Hm, yes?" she asked.

"Ah, umm… do you know what happened?" he asked

"Happened where?" she asked back, still sitting.

"You know,  _there_." He replied.

"Ah, you mean in general?" she said and turned her head away, making her ponytail bounce.

"Yep!" he nodded.

"The enemy failed to stop your sister and she reached Masato. Nothing much to same, just another victory for the Nura Clan"

"Well, that is good to hear."

"There were casualties however." She said in a somber tone. "Quite a few have died it seems."

"Eh?" a trigger was turned when she said that.

He suddenly remembered following those youkai to that abandoned place, meeting Shiori, those youkai killing his comrades and…

He remembered his comrade looking at him.

He remembered his comrade being happy he is alright.

_He remembered hope in his comrade's eyes._

_He remembered being annoyed._

_**He remembered** _ _**killing his comrade.** _

Rihan's face turned pale. He almost screamed, but stopped himself by reflexively pushing his hand into the mouth and bitting it.

Next moment, he noticed Araya looking at him, still serious. "What is it, Riha-chan?" she asked.

"Ah…" he took out his hand from his mouth. "Nothing… I just felt something sting me so I… reacted." He didn't dare speak about it.

"…really?" she said. "You don't look like that."

"It is alright…" he answered back. He felt disgusted at how calm he looked. "It is alright, trust me…" he said, as if those words were supposed to be magical.

Araya said nothing.

After some time, she tried to to break the somber atmosphere by hitting the end of injection and spraying some water onto him, but his reaction was meak. So both just stayed there, sitting in silence.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

One more chapter (the arc epilogue) and the arc ends! As a reader of Manga, I tend to be happy to see a new arc but, Dear Lord, I am even happier as a writer to see that a new arc can start and I can get some fresher air.

Anyway, not much to say here. Hope you enjoyed the chapter (and the arc in general), thank you for reading and I really hope you review!

* * *

 **Guest** :  _"Hwaaa, good chapter! Wish you write more though! :D I mean, that scenes with Ritsura and the damned salesman just freaking funny. And, I want to see Rihan and Ritsura fight each other! That would be super awesome... Oh well, I can hope right? AND WHERE'S ARAYA?! I miss my little troublemaker already! xD Hope she'll snap some sense into Rihan thick foggy heads already! Go Araya! Slap him, kick him, butcher him! ANYTHING! He needs it. *smirk*_

_Anyway, updates!"_

Come on now, the last three updates have been both large and appeared not long after one another ^_^; And I see that people really want to see the siblings fight it out between themselves XD As for Araya… don't worry, she is one of main characters so you will see her enough to get sick of it ;P


	13. The Shin Sekai Report

**Chapter 13: The Shin Sekai Report**

" _Alright then Ojou-san, if you want to know what youkai have against your family, I shall explain it to you._

_Fifteen years ago a certain… how do you city guys call them again… ah yes, a businessman… wanted to do his work in Touhoku. However, some small youkai in the region caused some trouble. That businessman then decided to assemble a group of exorcists to clean it._

_It is nothing new that humans hire Exorcists to fight us youkai… but this man went incredibly far with it. He assembled some of the best exorcists in Japan, including the infamous Gokadoins as well as the Kengo Group from Shikoku. We can thank Rikuo that some of Keikains didn't join them as well._

_It was a large group, which made most youkai laugh. After all, the old geezer hired them to clean a small number of weak youkai. Few however suspected they planned something bigger. Unfortunately, I wasn't one of them._

_And it sure was big. That group went to exterminate every living youkai in Hokkaido and Touhoku. They slew everyone they could find, even the youkai benevolent towards the humans._

_Before we could even prepare, the exorcists assaulted the Toono Village. I am not overestimating when I say that we from Toono are some of the strongest youkai you can hope to meet. Also, our village is protected by many barriers as well as by youkai born for sole purpose of keeping us safe._

_Yet they cut through those defenses like they were butter and we found ourselves in a battle that killed a great number of us. If not for Nura clan and Kyoto Clan coming to our aid… well, I am sure we would have still won, but the loses would be…_

_Anyway, Rikuo managed to persuade the exorcists to disperse and leave us in peace and in return the old businessman could do as he wants throughout Japan without any youkai getting in his way. Yes, even if they were not our friends, what happened made everyone fear him._

_But what is really frightening is the fact that they dispersed without a fight and everyone is weary that it isn't over._

_And I am sure I don't need to tell you who that old businessman is, right?"_

* * *

"Onieda Masahide…" Mayuri mumbled as she lay on her bed. "…my grandfather."

A lot has happened this night which made her question a great deal of what is going on in her family, especially once that ape youkai Dohiko told her what her grandfather did while she was still a babe. She was used on her family doing incredible things, she would have never expected that they could do something so big in the youkai world. Thus, she was unable to sleep.

She rose back into the sitting position.

Granted, she barely knew her grandfather and that what she knew she learned from news and magazines… in other words, he was a complete stranger to her. Sure, she did personally meet him on a few occasions, but they acted like an old-fashioned Japanese family where children keep silent and never talk with the family head. Even her father, when he would attempt to speak to him, would get an angry look from grandfather.

She didn't know her other two brothers either. Mahiro was always an unpleasant company who seemed to detest her and she found it fortunate that she met him only on very rare occasions. Masashi, although he looked nicer, rarely got an opportunity to speak with her as Mamoru seemed to be keen on keeping their older brother away from her. When he died, she didn't care much about it.

And Mamoru… after hearing Dohiko's story, she started wondering how much she knows about him. She remembers the time when she was still a kid and he came and said that they are leaving their old home and moving to Ukiyoe. There, interestingly due to him pushing her for it, she came to befriend the Nuras. No matter how you look at it, it was simply too coincidental to end up both moving to the town where a major youkai clan lived and even befriend the heirs of the said clan.

And there was another unpleasant coincidence: her brother disappeared just before the poem about her father getting attacked reached the Internet. And soon after she split from Ritsura, she got an SMS from him, telling her his battery went out and that he will call her as soon as possible.

And what about the attack? Although Dohiko suggested it might be due to what her grandfather did in northern Japan, it didn't seem like that was the motive. Furthermore, her father seems to be aware of who this Shiori person is, making this whole situation even more worrisome.

Thinking about it all wa uncomfortable so she decided to try and forget about it for a moment. So she lay back onto the bed and said: "TV". On he ceiling, a wide screen moved and positioned itself so that she could get a good view at it. Even if she started walking, it would turn around so she could always be able to see what is on it.

It was an expensive luxury which Mamoru would rather not have in this home of theirs, but she insisted. Mayuri's " _Sunshine Princess_ " nickname is students making fun of her for always wearing expensive make-up, dresses and in general using expensive luxuries. She however didn't care: if she has to be stuck with this farce of a family, she may as well use its status to get something in return.

Unfortunately, even the television program didn't seem to let her forget about her family: the current commercial presented another of Onieda family's inventions, this time some thing that be able to generate a story from parameters inserted into the computer.

Luckily, the commercial was at the end and it was replaced with a movie.

She watched the said movie for a few minutes when her cellphone rang and the TV automatically muted itself, generating subtitles. She took the cell and saw Mamoru's name on it. For some reason, she was afraid to answer and contemplated not answering it.

"Hello Nii-san." However, she decided to accept the call. "Where were you?"

" _Ah, I was at a friend's…"_ he replied. _"And my battery ran out so…"_

"Really?"

" _Yes… I am sorry, I know it must have been tough for you."_  He apologized. Mayuri could swear he wasn't being honest. _"I already talked to father and-"_

"Why are you not home yet?" she asked. She found it suspicious that he didn't come to see father personally. No matter what you think of your parents, hearing that they were on verge of dying should shake you up. Yet, her brother only seemed worried about her.

" _I have some business to take care of."_  He said.  _"That is, a friend's friend needs something fixed and… you know how it is."_

"Will you be home tomorrow?"

" _Of course I will! I organized the trip after all."_

"Alright then." She replied. "I am going to sleep now nii-san, a lot has happened and I am tired."

" _Good night Mayuri. The worst has passed."_

She ended the call and the TV turned the volume on again. She decided to take a break from thinking and turned back to watching TV and trying to clear her head.

* * *

**6** **th** **Head of the Shin Sekai: Onieda Mayuri**

_The title is of purely formal nature as she isn't even aware that our organization exists due to Onieda Mamoru keeping her in dark. Her current role is to keep Mamoru, who is categorized as a threat, in line least the sister he loves gets harmed._

_However, due to Mamoru's desertion and Mahiro being considered mentally incapable for the role, Mayuri is the only potential heir to the organization and the Onieda Household. Thus, she is not to be harmed._

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

"Oh, fancy of you to come visit me so late at night, Kashaimaru?" Kashaimaru was greeted as he entered a garden filled with kerria flowers.

He turned around and saw an elegant woman, clothed in black, with long, black hair and with eyes that were also completely black. She was Hagoromo Gitsune, a powerful and legendary ayakashi who ruled over the Kyoto Youkai Clan.

"Well, it would be more exact to say I have come to spend a night." He yawned. "Had to do some exorcising not that far away and this place is cheaper than a hotel."

"Maybe I should make you pay by doing some chores around the mansion." Hagoromo Gitsune suggested as she walked around and looked at the flowers. Due to possessing memories of a certain woman, she developed a liking for the flowers so she had a few planted in the garden of her mansion.

The mansion itself was built in western style, which might be surprising seeing as she is an old and conservative ayakashi. Kashaimaru guessed it was due to her current host who was probably to blame for her obsession with black color as well.

"If needed, I can give a helping hand." He shrugged.

"That was a joke." She replied in a strict tone. "You are above doing jobs of a mere servant."

Although soul of Kuzunoha, the ancestor of Gokadoins, was no longer part of her, she was still in good relations with some of her descendants. That would be thanks to Abe no Yoshihira, son of Abe no Seimei, who was the only head of House Gokadoin to survive the war with the Nura Clan and, fred from role of serving his father's dark interests, Yoshihira went on to reform the House of Gokadoin as well as to make peace with the Kyoto Youkai Clan and the ayakashi whom he still treated as his grandmother.

The Gokadoin House itself is, sadly, split about what course to take for future. Yoshihira and Kashaimaru are proponents of reverting to ideals which Abe no Seimei once used to hold, which is to uphold the balance between yin and yang, youkai and humans. Another faction however desires to turn Gokadoin House into a full-pledged Exorcist order whose goal is to destroy youkai.

And for that reason, they support the Shin Sekai. And to oppose them, Kashaimaru sided with Shiori, though that alliance is the secret to the rest of the House, even to Yoshihira… and especially to Hagoromo Gitsune.

"Anyway, you are going somewhere?" he asked after noticing that she was dressed differently than usual. "A date maybe?"

"Hmm, is something wrong about it? I am not so old to be unable to still enjoy such things."

"Well-"

"Onee-sama, where are you?!" a girl's voice could be heard from afar.

Staying true to her elegance, Hagoromo Gitsune's face made no reactions. "Kashaimaru, please…" she said and quickly walked away.

"As you command…" he said and turned around. "…granny." He whispered to himself. It was his guilty pleasure to use that word while she is not aware of it. Though if her fox ears ever hear it, he would be in deep trouble.

Kashaimaru concentrated in order to hear from where the voice came from. "Onee-sama, where are you?!"

"There!" he shouted and ran towards it.

"Eh?" the girl in question could not even properly react before he grabbed her and spinned her around, causing the skull she held to fall onto the ground.

"Oh Kyokotsu-chan, I am so happy to see you again, my love!"

"Kyaaah! Get away from me you pervert!" the girl pushed him away, although he tried to grab her again. "Kashaimaru, where is Onee-sama?!" the girl with a form of a sister-complex asked.

"She went to fill your and mine marriage application froms of course!" he continued teasing her.

"NOOOO!" she turned around, trying to grab her skull. "Let me go, I have to pluck your eyeballs out!"

"Bad reason. Try again, my love."

"Stop fooling around already! Gosha-"

"Okay okay, I am letting you go…" he let her go, not wanting to deal with Goshadakuro.

Kyokotsu escaped his grasp and immediately took her skull back. "Now, where is Onee-sama?"

"As I-"

"If you say that bullshit again, I swear I shall take care you never get happily married!" Kyokotsu said as snakes from her skull surrounded him.

"She went out a bit." He decided not to risk her wrath. "What, did something happen?" he asked, though he had a good idea it might be as Kyokotsu and Nura Ritsura are close friends.

"Nothing that concerns you, pervert!" she was still pissy about his joke. But then, he liked pissing of girls this way, no matter how childish it was.

"Well, since it is obviously nothing important and you are so rude, I guess I am gonna take a nap."

"Hey, you wait here!"

"No." he rejected.

"I said…" he could feel her using Fear to create those snakes again. "…wait here!"

He turned towards her and took out a talisman. "If a fight is what you want, a fight is what you will…"

Then the both just stood there for a minute, as if frozen in time.

"On second thought lets not do this…" Kyokotsu broke the silence.

"Yeah, we would harm the garden." Kashaimaru said and lowered the hand that helf the talisman.

"And then Onee-sama would kill us both." Kyokotsu made her snakes disappear.

"Yeah, that would be kinda bad…"

Even when she is not present, the mighty Hagoromo Gitsune instills Fear.

* * *

**8** **th** **Priority Threat: Kyoto Youkai Clan**

_Once of the oldest youkai Clans and filled with powerful youkai, now a decadent faction that needs to hide on its own turf. Even before the war against the Nura Clan and then the Nue, the numbers of the Kyoto Youkai Clan were small, which also make it impossible for them to restore their authority over Kyoto. Although they made peace with their old enemy, the Nura clan, their relations with the Keikain House are far from good which serves as another obstacle to restoration of their authority._

_However, it should be kept in mind that, although small, the Kyoto Youkai Clan is filled with extraordinarily powerful youkai. Any member of the organization should keep away from provoking a fight with them unless ordered by the leader himself. And although they themselves are not a very high priority threat, their alliance with our other enemies means we should take care of them._

_Measures to be taken: it is possible to ignite a war against either the Keikain House or against Shiori's group. Should that be accomplished, a swift attack might allow a successful extermination._

* * *

**7** **th** **Priority Threat: Gokadoin Kashaimaru**

_A strong member of the Gokadoin House and one of the two people with good chances of becoming its 12_ _th_ _head. Should that come to be, not only would our alliance with members of the House of Gokadoin be endangered, but the Gokadoins might ally with some of our enemies._

_It is also suspected that he is allied with Shiori, which makes both more dangerous. He should be eliminated as soon as possible._

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

**5** **th** **Head of the Shin Sekai: Onieda Mahiro**

_Elevated to the rank of Fourth Head after his brother Mamoru left the organization, Mahiro has been given a great deal of authority and power inside the Shin Sekai._

_However, he has been declared unworthy of being the heir of both the Shin Sekai and the Onieda Household. The reason for it is his lack of loyalty towards the organization, his sadistic personality and due to lack of ambition needed to lead the Shin Sekai. However, he is still useful for dirty work and to instill fear in our enemies and allies alike._

* * *

During this whole affair in which his father's life was (supposedly) endangered, Mahiro was in his apartment in the business sector of Tokyo. The apartment was located at the top of a skyscraper, with glass walls and good look over Tokyo which made him feel as a King.

He didn't do anything in particular, but just walked around and occasionally threw a glance on the city his family practically controls. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for or what he wanted to do… he just often didn't feel like sleeping or doing anything. Usually, he would waste time by speaking with Azuru, but she left to check on Yashagoro.

"Mahiro-sama…" a voice called from intercom. "A youkai called Yanagida says he desires to meet you."

"Let him in!" he said, pleased that he will get some company.

After a few minutes, the youkai called Yanagida walked into his apartment. "Good to see you again, Mahiro-dono." He bowed. "I heard you made good use of the gift that I sent you."

Some time ago, Yanagida gave him some of Conqueror's Tea, which's power is to make the consumer addicted and insane, which Mahiro used on a recent party to kill some untrustworthy old supporters of the organization.

"Yes, although Shiori turned the situation against me."

Due to him not paying attention, the slaughter ended up getting shown to other guests at the party which resulted in chaos, the Shin Sekai losing some of their more important supporters as well as monetary costs for  _damage control_.

"Yes, that woman grows bolder with each passing minute." Yanagida said and stood beside Mahiro who looked through the window.

"Well, it is my fault after all." Mahiro smiled. "I provoked her and she started acting."

"I can't see your father being pleased with it."

"No, he hoped to catch her by surprise." Mahiro turned away from the window and walked to the bar. "Still, it ended well. The Nura Clan and Shiori's gang started killing one another and I expect more conflicts between them in future. That should be beneficial for us."

"Beneficial yes…" Yanagida turned towards him. "…however, my lord does not want that upstart to harm the siblings. That honor should be his and his alone."

"You mean, that Fear should be his and his alone." Mahiro talked as he poured some wine.

"Same thing, really." Yanagida walked to the bar and took the glass that Mahiro offered him. "Anyway, she won't do too much harm to the Nuras I fear. Those guys are not to be underestimated, that's what I learned after all our feuds with them." Yanagida drank some wine and walked back to the window. "Either way, she has no place in my master's Tale. The sooner she gets killed, the better."

"Come on now, ain't you interested in what she will do?" Mahiro said after he poured himself a glass.

"Your brother said the same thing and look where it brought him." Yanagida smirked at him. "Also, don't you seek revenge?"

"Yes, I do." Mahiro smiled back. "But first I want to see what the woman who killed nii-san is capable of. I want to remember her as someone worthy of my hate, not as some meaningless, small fry."

"Well then… lets hope we don't get to regret it." Yanagida drank his glass in one sip. "Your brother died way too soon after all… way too soon."

* * *

**3** **rd** **Head of the Shin Sekai: Onieda Masashi**

_The illegitimate child of Onieda Masato and a woman from one of the families of House of Sanmoto. His reason for existence was to put the Hyaku Monogatari under full control of the Onieda Family by killing everyone who was in front of him in line of succession._

_Although his mental state was not the one desired of a member of the Onieda Family, he was brutally efficient and practically destroyed the House of Sanmoto. However, he was keen on seeking petty entertainment, probably due to his mother's blood which is one of main factors that caused his demise._

* * *

**6** **th** **Priority Threat: Hashima Hyaku Monogatari**

_Calling themselves 'Cult of the Messiah', they are one of our allies and the ones who make it possible to research the Youkai Creation. Their services in doing dirty work and manipulating some of youkai factions is also of high value._

_However, they are untrustworthy and the probability of them planning a betrayal is 100%. Once 'Project Izanami' is finished, their worth as an ally will diminish. When that time comes, we should exterminate them. It should be kept in mind however that they are probably aware that we don't intend to have a lasting alliance with them so they should be prepared._

_Onieda Mahiro, who is on good terms with their leader, should be eliminated before making a move on them._

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

**4** **th** **Head of the Shin Sekai and 5th** **priority Threat: Onieda Mamoru**

_Originally a promising member and heir to the organization and the Onieda Household, his morals took the better of him and he left the organization. The probability of him supporting our enemies is high and, since he is a member of the Onieda Family, he is not subject to the Punishment and thus is able to reveal sensitive information about the organization. Thus, we have to use Onieda Mayuri in order to take care he doesn't get too far._

_Due to lack of a proper heir, his elimination is not desired._

* * *

"Is this it then?" Minemawa Kirie asked Mamoru. She was a girl of short stature, hair died white and wearing gothic clothes.

"It is highly likely that it is." Mamoru replied to her. They were standing in front of an abandoned car factory, far away from an urban area. They visited a few other locations, but didn't find what they were looking for.

"You Oniedas and your manners of speech." Kirie sighed, took out a chalk and started drawing a youkai on the wall of the factory.

"Is this really necessary?" he asked her.

"Netto finished spreading the tale I made." She answered. "So may as well create a bodyguard in case we hit the jackpot this time."

Minemawa Kirie was one of the  _Players_  and thus able to create youkai, though not on the level of Sanmoto Gorozaemon or Shiori. Mamoru also noticed that Kirie's youkai tend to not be very resistant to damage so he wasn't sure how useful this one will be.

The  _Players_  can be split into three factions: the ones loyal to Sanmoto Gorozaemon, the ones loyal to Shiori and the ones loyal to the Shin Sekai. Kirie was in the third group until Mamoru pesuaded her, and few others, to consider changing sides to Shiori's group.

"Anyway, I am wondering why we are doing this today?" Kirie asked.

"Because Shin Sekai's eyes should be on what is going in Tokyo." Mamoru answered. "That gives a small increase in chances we get this done unhindered."

"How optimistic." Kirie replied and the two stopped talking. After some time though, Kirie opened her mouth: "Anyway, I heard Shiori say that you might be in cahoots with the Nura Clan as well."

"And what of it?" Mamoru didn't like talking about this, especially not with people who may get funny ideas.

"Once our two sides start fighting, whose side will you choose?"

"I already told Shiori the answer." He told her, not wanting to risk getting on her bad side. "Ask her if you want to know." The choice was easy for him: he would side with the Nura Clan. The pact with Shiori was for convenience as they have a common enemy and he needed every ally he could get.

"Ha, that ain't nearly as ambiguous as you want to think." she smiled. "Anyway, it is done."

She took a few steps back and the drawn youkai, who looked like a four armed man wearing a closed helm with oversized screws sticked into it, started moving and came our of the wall.

"Welcome to life, Bobby!" she jumped up and then ran to hug the creature. Kirie's naming of her youkai tended to be quite… unique.

"If that's done, lets check out this place."

"You heard the bad man Bobby. Lets break in."

"Uuu…" the creature nodded and broke the door with one punch.

Mamoru quickly entered it and raised his cellphone which then started bipping.

"Bingo!" he proclaimed. "Lets go! My cellphone will collect data, but it would be safer to find an actual hard disk."

"You sure there is something here?" she asked after they ran a bit. "There are a few ancient computers here, but everything is dusty…"

"Of course it is, it is a place where they are hiding some of their servers." He told her. "When they need to operate them, they use either distant control or ghost-type youkai."

"UWHAAAA!" Bobby punched the air and something exploded. For a moment, they saw a humanoid mirage which then turned into dust.

"Well, they are definitely using ghosts here."

"I told you Bobby would be useful." Kirie was pleased. "Now lets find some delicious info and sell it to Midori. I could use another  _Candle_."

* * *

**4** **th** **Priority Threat: Tokyo Hyaku Monogatari**

_Formed by the current head of the House of Sanmoto, Kuruguya Midori, this faction is an enemy we didn't expect. Not only does Kuruguya Midori know too much about the organization, but her ability to create youkai and her success in attracting Urban Legends to give her their support make her a dangerous enemy. Furthermore, she seems to have moles inside the organization which is another threat to us._

_However, this faction lacks any kind of headquarters and their members are completely disorganized when not on a mission. Thus, finding a place to strike at is hard. Best we can do is strike at the clan's key members and eliminating either Kuruguya Midori or Netto no Yose should put an end to this threat._

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

**3** **rd** **Priority Threat: Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan**

_Formed by an old and experienced youkai named Mizuchi, the Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan is a rising power in the youkai world. With goal of making entire Japan a land where youkai can live as they see fit, they are a major enemy to our organization._

_Although they claim to be fighting humanity in order to conserve the old lifestyle of the youkai, their military is unorthodox in the youkai world and more similar to human. The fighting members are regularly trained and taught discipline. Unlike regular Hyaki Yakous, which usually fight without any kind of organization, the Kyushu youkai are organized, strictly follow tactical plans and are split into various divisions to make them prepared for any kind of situation._

_Their numbers are also a point of concern as all youkai living on their turf who are able to fight are required to fight for the Clan. Furthermore, Mizuchi has brought in spirits from outside, mainly China where he spent a good deal of life living._

_Speaking about Mizuchi,that youkai alone is a high threat. Alongside being charismatic and capable, he is also ruthless and extraordinarily powerful. It also seems he is aware of our organization's existence._

* * *

**2** **nd** **Priority Threat: Kakure Kirishitan**

_A branch of the Roman Exorcist Order, the Hidden Christians have originally been considered a potential ally, mainly due to their hate for inhuman existences. However, recently Vatican has taken hostile actions against us and the Kakure Kirishitan have already caused considerable damage to us._

_The Kakure Kirishitan grew in power after the Battle at Spiral Castle as Abe no Seimei's manipulation of cosmic bodies did not go unnoticed by Vatican which then strengthened its support to Kakure Kirishitan Exorcists. Their tradition of hiding and their use of assassination as means of fighting makes them hard to keep an eye on._

_However, they are also in hostile relations with the Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan. We should strive to find a way to use this to destroy both of these threats._

* * *

"So, this is where you saw those people enter, is it?" a bearded samurai wearing a yellow kimono with a blue dragon on it, asked a frog-like youkai.

"Yes, I saw them enter right there, Mizuchi-sama!" the frog-like youkai said as he knelled. "And I saw them exit sa well."

"Well, lets hope it is not another red herring then." Mizuchi stretched his arms and started walking towards the small cottage on a clearing in middle of the forrest.

"Mizuchi-sama, you can't mean to go in alone again…" one of his bodyguards complained.

"As a matter of fact, I do mean to go in alone again." Mizuchi replied as he took out his katana. "Stay here and don't let anyone in, this is an order. Questioning it is forbidden."

As ordered, the bodyguards turned quiet.

"Alright then, lets check how this one looks." He moved his sword up and slowly waved it downwards. "Hatsu." He said silently.

Although he didn't put much energy into it, the attack was hazardous enough to make all youkai around sweat in Fear. The barrier that created the illusion of a cottage immediately broke into pieces, revealing a Japanese Castle, modern but built in style of Sengoku Jidai era.

Mizuchi raised his sword once again, but this time slashed it at higher speed. Water from ground, plants and ponds collected around him and turned into fog. He then turned into a deer and, engulfed by it, blew through the gates.

There were human guards and exorcists inside, but he made them all die by filling them with water until they blew up. There were also youkai that had the form of samurai armor which he forced to rust and turn into dust before they could even move an arm. There were some more unique youkai, but he killed them as well.

In less than half a minute, of hundreds souls living in the castle only one human was left. That human looked at him from a balcony and then slowly walked into the building. Mizuchi jumped up, entered his chambers and took a human form again, putting his katana back into its sheaths.

In front of him, an elderly, bearded man in brown kimono and with a stern look on his face sat on the floor, in front of a tea set. He pointed his hand at mat, inviting Mizuchi to sit.

Mizuchi accepted his offer and sat. Both men then took the cups of tea and drank a bit.

After a short silence, Mizuchi opened his mouth. "How disappointing, I'd have expected Onieda Masahide to have better protections than… this lot." He smiled at the old man. "I didn't even need to get serious."

"It is not their fault that they were met with Mizuchi himself." Masahide took another sip. "Well, not that I have so much value that I would get proper protection. I am going to die soon enough anyway."

"Ha!" Mizuchi smirked. "Anyway, I see you prepared an entire tea set. Have you been expecting me?"

"You have attacked a number of my fake homes already." Masahide said, calm as usual. "It was just a matter of time until you found me so I had tea prepared for a few days now."

"Hmm… so why didn't you just tell your men to leave so they wouldn't have to get killed?"

"I think you know yourself how hard it can be to keep fools from protecting you. And unlike you, I don't have a luxury of being the highest authority anymore." Masahide explained as he poured himself some more tea.

"Well, maybe your son sent them to-" Mizuchi started but when Masahide stretched his palm, he stopped.

Mizuchi continued sitting in silence, looking at how Masahide puts down another tea cup and a mat. The old human then turned his head to behind Mizuchi and said: "Why don't you stop hiding and join us… Nurarihyon-dono?"

Mizuchi quickly turned his head behind, noticing an old youkai with a gourded lean against a wall.

"Well, the man who brought ruin to Touhou sure lives up to his reputation." Nurarihyon smiled and did as he was offered. Nurarihyon then threw a glance at Mizuchi, but said nothing.

Mizuchi felt annoyed at this occurrence. He hoped to have a good chat with Masahide, but now that Nurarihyon is here he should keep any topics about Shin Sekai secret, least the Nuras find out that Oniedas and that organization are related. Letting Nuras find the truth too soon would give them an edge Mizuchi did not want them to have.

"So here we are… founder of the Onieda Cooperations, founder of the Hashima Kyushu Clan and founder of the Edo Nura Clan." Nurarihyon laughed and brought out a pipe from his yukata. "Do you mind if I smoke?"

"No smoking allowed." Masahide said, but Nurarihyon ignored him and ignited his pipe anyway.

"So… what shall this fun assembly of old geezers talk about? I am getting really excited you know." Nurarihyon turned his head towards Mizuchi. "That was quite a show out there. You sure improved since our battle centuries ago."

"Not everyone gets weaker the older they are, Nurarihyon-dono." Mizuchi replied.

"Well, I have no reason to get stronger." Nurarihyon smiled. "As much as I miss being at my prime, I must admit there is  _something_  in watching your offspring do the work for you."

"And there is  _something_  in seeing your offspring die, I take it?" Mizuchi provoked him. "No offense, I am just saying as it is."

Nurarihyon simply smiled to his provocation. "I would introduce you to some acquittances who might have thought the same but they have already passed away or learned better."

Mizuchi didn't reply, he just smiled back at him. Sometimes, nonverbal answers are more effective than verbal.

Seeing as Mizuchi had nothing else to say, Nurarihyon turned to Masahide. "So what about you, Masahide-dono?"

"What about me, Nurarihyon-dono?"

"You are the person who intrigues me the most these days you know." Nurarihyon puffed out a smoke. "So, who the hell are you and what are you doing?"

Just like Mizuchi, Masahide replied only with a smile.

"Well… this has gotten boring." Nurarihyon complained.

* * *

**1** **st** **Head of the Shin Sekai: Onieda Masahide (retired)**

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

Rikuo, Kurotabu, Shouei and Daruma standing in a lounge of a hotel that was closed due to renovation. Rikuo was clenching a smoking pipe, Kurotabou looked frustrated while the other two looked composed, though their faces showed signs of worry.

"I have to go back…" Rikuo said. "I thought nothing big would happen while I am away but…"

"Rikuo-sama, sorry if I sound incompassionate but…" Daruma was against the idea. "…if we leave now then-"

"They attacked my daughter!" Rikuo threw the pipe onto the floor. "They almost killed my son!"

"Still…" Daruma didn't want to give in.

"If me being away means that my children are endangered then-"

"Rikuo!" Shouei put his hands on his shoulders to calm him down. "Are you already forgetting why we came here? If we don't find out what is going on with this Shin Sekai, then the entire clan will be endangered."

Rikuo hit his hand away, but said nothing. He was painfully aware that their investigation into this group brought nothing and that they were finally close to something now. If he left, the Shin Sekai would probably get rid of this flaw in their secrecy.

"Rikuo-sama…" Kurotabou decided to speak out. "From what we have heard, the enemy doesn't seem to be  _that_  strong that you would need to concern yourself with them. They may have caught us by surprise, but they won't have as much luck next time."

"Still, they need to be dealt with."

"Yes… so let me go back to Japan." Kurotabou offered. "If this is really the Hyaku Monogatari again, then I am most fit to take care of them."

After a bit of thinking, Rikuo said: "Alright." He then turned around, with a more stern look on his face. "Kurotabou, you go back and see they are dealt with."

"I shall Rikuo-sama…" Kurotabou answered. "…I will take care we don't have to hear from them ever again, no matter what it takes. They caused enough tragedies for us." Kurotabou said and left.

Although the matter was taken care of, Rikuo still felt distressed. Although he was now stronger and more experiences than when he was young, he felt his role as the head of the Nura Clan just got harder now that he was a father and had to fear for his children's well being. He could imagine a bit how it must have been for his grandfather to lose his son and he didn't like it.

And most of all, he found a new respect for his grandfather who was able to stay calm as he watched his grandson put his life on line over and over again. It takes a considerable strength to do something like that.

"I know this may not feel like it is the right time but…" Shoei broke the somber silence. "What did you find out by speaking to that woman, Daruma?" all four of them decided to visit certain big names to check if they could find out something about the Shin Sekai and Daruma seems to have hit a jackpot.

"Quiet a bit actually." Daruma started, letting Rikuo sit in silence. "Seems like something happened in Japan not long ago that made her want to break all connections with the Shin Sekai as well as to find someone to protect her… protection we kindly gave her."

"I take it she revealed something important?" Shouei guessed.

Daruma smiled. "She indeed did… seems like there is some kind of research institute masquerading as an elite university not that far away from this city."

"And we are going there now to check it out…" Rikuo rose up. "We have no time to waste." If he has to put his children's safety on line for this, he decided he would take care he gets it done.

* * *

**1** **st** **Priority Threat: Nura Rikuo and the Nura Clan**

_Since early 16_ _th_ _century when it was formed by a mere wandering youkai, the Nura Clan from Edo was on a constant rise in power. Nurarihyon formed it, Nura Rihan expanded it and Nura Rikuo cemented it as the dominant youkai clan in a series of short wars._

_Although they only control Kantou, the word of the youkai who beat Hagoromo Gitsune, slew the Nue and formed a coalition of youkai clans and Onmyouji at one point has power in every corner of Japan._

_Thus, it is essential that we completely destroy this clan, which we should do by striking where it hurts the most._

* * *

**~)(~**

* * *

"Why aren't you in bed, Mayuri?" Onieda Masato asked his daughter while reading something on his tablet in the living room.

"You think it is easy to sleep after what happened today?" she said as she sat opposite to him.

"Point taken." He accepted, not moving his eyes from the tablet. "So, what did you want to ask?"

"Why do you think I wanted to ask you something? What if I only came to talk?"

"If you wanted to have a normal father-daughter conversation, you wouldn't be that formal about it."

After a few moments, Mayuri asked her question: "Why did you act like that towards Ritsura-san? She risked her life to save you."

"I didn't ask her for it, nor was her help needed." He answered. "And no, those were not insults but my personal opinions. I did not approve of the way she acted."

"Why are you so certain you didn't need her help? What if-"

"I assure you, I know more about Shiori than that friend of yours." He said, calm as usual. "Her attack was not even unexpected and had I not seen the Nuras jump in, I would have taken care of the threat immediately. But this way I got to see both of their clans in action."

Mayuri remained silent for some time again, as if she was afraid to ask the next question.

"Why were you… so interested in seeing them in action?" she asked, obviously not wanting to hear the answer.

"Because we shall become enemies in near future." Masato saw her eyes widen. "Mind that if you tell them anything, you are practically killing your own family. First and foremost, the Nura Clan are a monster-filled yakuza."

The girl clenched her ankles and stared sweating. "You… are not as secretive as I expected you to be…"

"I am your father, you are my daughter." He said in his usual cold tone. "Unlike your brother, I have no intention of hiding anything from you. That may not be a safe thing to do, but that's how it is."

Again, the girl went silent, contemplating what she could ask next. "What about… Mamoru-nii-san? Why did he never say anything?" she didn't understand what her family was, but her brother was what interested her themost right now.

"He saw it as beneficial for you to keep you in the dark. Knowledge is dangerous, as some would say." Her father answered.

"So why are  _you_  so open about it?" she asked, not liking the way he said it.

"As far as I am concerned, your safety and your knowledge are your responsibility. If you decide to accept his secrecy, I am fine with it. If you decide to learn more, I'll tell you more. I have no intentions to force either decision upon a grown up woman."

Again, Mayuri stayed silent. She realized it would be better to just walk away, but there were still some things she wanted to know.

"Where did Nii-san go?" she asked.

"Don't know, don't care. He went somewhere so he would not have to help in saving me and made up an excuse for why he was not able to help."

"You… talk as if he… wanted you…" she started shaking again.

"Yes, he wanted me dead." He said it without holding back. "He walks the path where the goal is death of everyone form our family besides yours."

"You… are kidding right?" Mayuri did not want to accept what he said. "You must be kidding… after all, he couldn't have know than this would happen."

Masato finally put his tablet down and looked at her. "You are smarter than that, Mayuri. Stop intentionally acting as an airhead and tell me how he could know. The answer is simple, really."

Mayuri didn't want to say it so she decided to keep her mouth shut. "He and Shiori are… allies?" yet, she still found herself saying it.

"Hmph, that hero of justice would never actually ally with her." He rose up from his seat. "But as far as this one night goes, you are right. He learned from her that I would be attacked."

Mayuri just stayed there sitting, not moving a muscle.

"Anyway, I have some urgent business in the States now." He said as he put his coat back on. "I will leave to you to decide what path you will walk. In case you need information, just ask  _me_. The others may not be as open."

"Why… are you going to the States?"

"A slippery eel is pushing his nose where it doesn't belong." Masato said. "So I have to go and minimize the damage."

And without any more words he left, leaving Mayuri to sit in the living room, digesting what she found out.

* * *

**2** **nd** **Head of the Shin Sekai: Onieda Masato (The Leader)**

* * *

**IIIII End of the Second Arc IIIII**

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here it is, the "epilogue" to the arc… or more exactly, the summary of all the sides participating in the war as well as the list of Oniedas, written the same day on which chapter 12 was published.

It is also the first chapter without any of the four main characters in it. But on the plus side, we had Hagoromo Gitsune, Nurarihyon and Rikuo!

Anyway, lets now move to the new arc… and collect some "fertilizer" to throw into a fan.  **Thank you all for continuing to read this fic and hope you guys review!**

* * *

**kuro** : _"Nayrael-san! You're really, REALLY quick. I mean it."_

This comment is probably responsible for why this new chapter was done in 24 hours -_-

* * *

" _I guess we would see more of Rihan and Shiori together 'cause they involved in the same accident."_

Damn that Nakano, it gets mentioned over and over again. Just what a hell happened there…

* * *

" _And dammit, Masato a real ass. AND I hate Azuru. That girl just insane."_

Azuru does not approve of this comment.

Masato wants to say that he is a human organism, though an ass is part of him so you are at least partially correct.

* * *

" _Kyaaaaa! Arayaaaaaaa... finally! xD Don't worry I won't get sick of her. Absolutely. Belive it or not it's the first time I liked OC's so much. I find her interesting , and she compliment Rihan really well. Both of them looked like OgaHilda pair from Beelzebub :D."_

Well, glad to know my OC's are being well received :D Anyway, she shall have more screentime in the following arc, amongst a few other characters.

* * *

" _And YES! I want to see the siblings fight! I mean, they were perfect angels around each other; but when I looked at my younger brother... I kinda... wish them to fight..? xD"_

"You are going down little brother…" Ritsura said with a smile. "Take this!"

"Sorry, but I use this spell and it fails." Rihan said with a smile. "Your life energy gets depleted and you are finished."

"Wait a second… THAT IS SHIMA'S CARD, NOT YOURS!" Ritsura said and threw the cards she held in in her hand onto the floor. Shima, who was watching them play the game, started checking his own cards "You didn't have it in your deck when the game started! You cheated!"

"Tz tz tz… nee-san, that just means I won BIG TIME." He said with a big smug.

"Eh? What do you mean?"

"We are Nurarihyon's nee-san…" he shrugged. "I used my Fear to win, so I am a better Nurarihyon than you both because you didn't do the same and because you didn't see me doing it."

"Tz… this really is a crushing defeat then…" Ritsura acccepted.

"Yep yep… I am the better sibling."

"Indeed, you are quiet skilled arent you now…" Ritsura nodded. "By the way little brother, do you know what in old times heirs of powerful families did with competent siblings?"

"…what?"

"Homicide." After a few moments of starring at one another, Rihan started running. "Hey, I order you to come back here!" she said and started running after him.

* * *

**Anime Chick344034** :  _"Ristura dont let what that man said get too you. Not your fault you take after your grandfather."_

Ritsura turns into stone because this is like saying she made a mistake.

* * *

" _AND WHERE THE HECK IS RIKUO WHEN YOUR CHILDREN NEEDS YOU?!"_

"I have to go home after all!" Rikuo suddenly shouted and went to turn the wheel on his car.

"Rikuo, no!" Shouei grabbed him. "I swear Rikuo, I'll punch you into unconsciousness if you don't stop changing your mind every five minutes!"

"Please, keep the eyes on the highway!" Daruma who sat behind yelled. "Wait, how did we end on the other track… OH SHI-"

* * *

" _As for araya...we need to pull her into a corner and start questoning her...that girls got history and I cant tell if shes a youkai or a human."_

"I find your suspicion towards me quite suspiciously suspicious ಠ_ಠ" Araya commented suspiciously.

* * *

" _Rihan...I wonder if the nura clan will find out what you did...hmmmm"_

Who knows… would it be a good or bad thing though I wonder…


	14. (A New Day)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle against Shiori is over and the sun rose to start a new day, even though the Nura siblings haven't gotten time to get a proper rest. It is time to look back at what happened as well as towards the future. But as they say, once a storm ends another one will eventually arrive.

**Arc III: A New Day**

**Chapter 14: A New Day**

"We will soon pass through Ukiyoe Town Station." The female announcer said through the speakers in a bullet train, making a certain sleeping Onmyouji wake up.

The black-haired Onmyouji in a long black coat yawned and stretched his feet and arms, almost hitting an sleeping, old lady who sat next to him. The Onmyouji looked through the window, waiting to see how Ukiyoe looks like. "Hm, how disappointing… it doesn't look any different from other parts of Tokyo. But then, not attracting attention is  _their_  Fear after all."

He rose up from his seat. He had no baggage, although his long black coat had many pockets, all of them filled with talismans and other items like his cellphone, wallet and even a few books. Had he not been wearing that all the time, he was certain that he would complain about how much weight this single coat has.

Although he had many pockets, due to his father's harsh training he always knew where everything was. After all, searching for the right talisman while youkai run towards you is a guaranteed way to die (unless you have extraordinary luck like his aunt and cousin that is). So, he immediately took his  _Multipurpose Personal Electronic Card_  and let the train's scanner check it and take the necessary amount of money from his banking account.

As he exited the train and the station, he stopped to look around him. Indeed, Ukiyoe Town was no different from other towns in Tokyo, but a skilled Onmyouji like him could feel a lot of Youki around. "There is no doubt to it…" the black haired Onmyouji with a soft smile. "…this is definitely a town of youkai Ukiyoes."

* * *

"Youkai, why are you here?" Saaya asked as she sat on her place at the dinning table.

"Come on now Saaya-kun." Her father, who returned half an hour ago, said. Although he didn't sleep at all, he was energetic as usual. To Saaya, that was nothing weird though. "You can't treat a friend like that."

"Yeah, lischten to your djaddy, Shaaya-kun." [Ritsura](http://i.imgur.com/PBBXnbO.jpg) said while she ate rice.

"Don't talk while you eat." Saaya admonished her. "Actually, stop eating as well while you are at it."

"Ha ha, girls are so playful at such age." Saaya's mother Kana said as she put another rice bowl on the table. She was also awake, though unlike her husband she actually slept… due to losing consciousness. "Now if you excuse me, I am going to take a bath."

"Bath… I think I am forgetting something important…" Saaya tried to remember but gave up. "Anyway, why are you here youkai?"

"I came to shee your father and yhou about whath you have to shay." Ritsura replied, once again completely ignoring the Japanese ethics. "I ham shkipping school today after all."

"You can't shkip schoolh Ritsura-khun!" Kiyotsugu complained while following Ritsura's model of table ethics and thus speaking while he eats. "Yhou can't whaste your yhouth like that!"

"Shorry Kiyotschugu-shan, but I am nhot in the mhood today. A lhot hash happened yhesterdhay." She then turned back towards Saaya. "Anhyway, I already sphoke to your dad sho you don't need to worrhy about it."

Saaya finished eating what was in her mouth before speaking, like a proper lady. "Great, I don't want to be late for school anyw-"

"HAAAAAAAAHH!" Kana screamed from above. "Youkaiiiiii!"

Ritsura jumped at her feet, Kiyotsugu turned to stone and Saaya just looked at him. "Dad, have you forgotten to tell her?"

"Hell, I did! Will do it now!" he then ran up and Saaya continued eating.

Ritsura, surprised at how calm the daughter is after hearing her mother's scream, decided to ask a question. "He forgot to tell her what?"

"Nothing to worry about." Saaya said after swallowing the rice that was in her mouth. "You know those three youkai that attacked me? Well, I used those  _Contracts_  and made them my servants and mom seems to have seen the one who uses the bathtub as his bed."

"You did WHAT?!" Ritsura shouted. "And did you say three?! You have a larger Hyaki than I do and I am the Nura Clan's Fourth Heir! How can a normal human like you have-"

Then Usamaru ran in, wearing a butler's uniform. "Ojou-san, did something happen?"

"…and that one is dressed like a butler!" Ritsura shouted while Saaya ate. Due to his cooperation, Saaya allowed Usamaru to wear more dignified clothing.

Then the frog youkai, Kerotsu, ran in while wearing a maid's clothing. "I swear Ojou-san, I haven't done anything! She just screamed and then passed out after seeing me!" Although she knew quite a few youkai, Kiyotsugu Kana was to this day terrified of them.

"Woof!" the dog youkai came in, wearing a maid's hairdress. "Woof woof!"

Ritsura just stood there and looked at them for a few moments. "Alright, this is getting ridiculous. Ridiculous!" She then said, turned around and started walking towards a window. "That's it! I am finished! Done! This place is too crazy even for me."

"Why don't you use the doors?" Saaya asked.

Ritsura turned around and tried to say something, but couldn't come up with any words so instead she just swinged her hands in Kerotsu's direction and then just shaked her head and jumped out of the window.

"I told you these clothes are not…" Kerotsu started talking with a displeased look but Saaya cut him off.

"If you don't like them, I am sure I can find you something else… like Mahou Shoujo clothes."

"…these clothes are not going to be liked by unrefined barbarians like that girl, no matter how beautiful and comfy they are…"

* * *

The [young Nura Rihan](http://i.imgur.com/P0IQhfA.jpg) woke up, though he didn't feel refreshed or even tired, but rather pressured. It is not due to getting only a few hours of sleep, but due to still being haunted by what he did. Even when he tried to not think about it, he felt down. Every thought and every move with his body felt as if they required all of his energy.

He looked around and saw that he was back in his room in the Nura Clan's Mansion.  _I guess someone took me here while I was sleeping…_

Remembering that his mother told him that he doesn't need to go to school today, he closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep again, thus leave the ugly thoughts behind. However, even that felt exhausting. But just laying here, waiting for mercy of sleep was painful. He took his cell and checked the time, thus noticing that he woke up just a little later than usual. If he skips breakfast, he should be able to arrive to school at time.

Thinking that being at school would make it easier to deal with his current mood, he raised up and started dressing. Then, so the clan would know why he is not in his room, he took a piece of paper and left a message saying that he has gone to school.

He put the textbooks and notebooks he would need for today's classes, as well as his Nenekirimaru, into to his school bag and left the room. Not wanting to meet with anyone and deal with their pity, he used his Fear to leave the mansion without catching anyone's attention.

Once he reached the courtyard, he stopped due to noticing an unknown girl in his school's uniform tieing her shoes. "Alright!" she boasted after being done. "Today is the start of Heiko's school life! I hope senpai saves me from some bad guy!" she shouted as ran through the gates.

"Who is that girl and why was she here?" Rihan wondered. "And if she is going to my school, why did she run in the direction opposite to it?" When the idea to stop her came to his mind, too much time has passed. At school, he will ask his sister if she knows who she is so he decided to just continue on his way.

Just as he has hoped, doing something with a clear goal makes him feel a bit better than doing nothing, although his mind was still filled with thoughts of what happened yesterday.

However, regret was not the only thing that made him concerned. On one hand, he regretted not letting Shiori go in order to save the member of his clan. On other hand, Shiori was responsible for deaths of many and no doubt more will die due to her, including more members of his clan. So had he managed to slay her, the rational part of him thought it would have been a worth sacrifice.

However, Shiori got away so his death was in vain. But not only did she get away, but he was also close to dying.

 _Wait a second… I was a sitting duck! Why didn't she kill me then and there?_   _No wait, she admonished Hikine for trying to kill me so she wasn't after my life in the first place._

Understandably, Shiori and her weak clan wouldn't dare to just attack the son of the Nura Clan's Commander. Rihan heard there were times when minor clans used to regularly challenge the Nuras (and get thought a lesson in humility) but since the defeat of Nue such attacks became less common as time went on.

Anyway, what enthralled Rihan's current curiosity was Shiori's motive for seeking him out and attacking him. They definitely didn't stumble upon one another and the way she talked to Hikine made it look like they had to do something which required them to defeat him.

"But what was it? After I was defeated, I was just left lying there. The only thing of value I had was Nenekirimaru but even the sword was with me when I was found…" Rihan thought loudly. "So why did Shiori attack me in the first place?"

"You were attacked by Shiori herself? Now isn't that surprising!" a female voice said to which he responded by nodding. "Maybe she wanted to do something perverted and dirty with your body?"

"What do you mean?" he asked, still deep in thoughts.

"Maybe she is one of your fans?" she started explaining. "You know… stroke your hair, touch your triceps, put her hands where they don't belong… if so, maybe we should call what happened yesterday the  _War for Riha-chan's Chastity_?"

"Uwww…" unpleasant images appeared in his head. "I think I'll just blindly hope that it isn't… waaait a second!" Rihan turned around towards the girl walking beside him. As he expected, he saw red pony-tail, teal eyes, glasses and that arrogant smirk. "[Araya](http://38.media.tumblr.com/abd021aa700c01267e13214ca6795bbf/tumblr_ndr7xfR0D31r8zfyfo1_1280.png)-chan?"

"Hmf, even tired you remember the fact you added  _–chan_  to my first name yesterday." The girl complained.

"Says the girl who shortened my name and added  _–chan_  not that long after getting to know me." He responded.

"It isn't the same when someone impolite as me does it and when someone like you does it." she raised her finger.

"Still, we use it for the same purpose... which is to annoy one another." he made an excuse.

Araya didn't reply. Instead, he felt someone angrily squeeze his earlobe.

Not being in mood to let her catch him in one of her games, Rihan's only response was a shrug. Instead, her mentioning the way he addressed her made him try to remember what they talked about yesterday.

He remembered that he found out about how her parents were killed by youkai and saw the fact that she liked youkai suspicious due to it, but the charming smile she made for being given a folklorist book was both honest and lacking in malice. He still couldn't understand why she would be so accepting towards youkai with such a past though he intends to ask her that when he gets a chance… but not now.

He also found out why this girl had such a tendency to get close to others only to do something to make them angry at her. To his joy, it didn't seem to be because she was insensitive but because she intentionally tried to distance herself from others. He can't understand what her motivations for that might be (another thing on the big list of things he has to find out about her) nor does it change what she did and said in the past, but a lot of anger he felt towards her disappeared due to it and he felt pleased due to her promising to stop doing it. and no longer having to fear that she would say something bad, he felt a bit more comfortable in her company.

"Anyway… you met with the enemy leader." Araya started a new topic. "Your sister will get pissy. She mentioned that she only met her for a minute."

"Shiori fought nee-san as well?" Rihan was surprised to hear it. Only now he realized that he never thought about what happened to others… or if someone he knows died. He felt regret for going to school instead of checking if everyone is alright.

"Only appeared to kill a Takarabune your sister was on and then left… well, a youkai that was with her supposedly did all the word, not her per se." Araya explained. "Speaking about it, your mother and Itaku-san also met her. It is possible she is also an evil Onmyouji as she summoned a Kitsune Shikigami and paralyzed them. Luckily, seems she left them both alone after paralyzing them."

Hearing that his mother might have been close to getting killed made him even more worried about everyone, to the point he almost turned around and went back home. But instead, he just asked: "Why didn't she attack them? She killed our underlings but left me, nee-san and kaa-san alone?"

"Ritsura commented on how the enemy leaders constantly repeated to their underlings that they are not to touch her as they don't want to start an all-out war just yet. Not surprising seeing the power of the Nura Clan and the fact that Shiori probably has only a few youkai under her."

"She still made herself our enemy."

"Yes, but you have other threats as well, no? No battle goes without some deaths and unless someone of high importance died, it won't cause  _such_  an uproar." Araya continued. "On other hand, had she harmed any of you three, what would the Clan and your father have done?"

"True… by the way, how do you know so much about youkai yakuza politics?" Rihan said with a fake smile.

"Happens when you are enthusiastic about such stuff." Araya shrugged.

"Anyway, have you maybe heard if someone else was… you know."

Araya looked at him. "You didn't ask your own clan?" Araya sighed and Rihan had  _that_  feeling that tends to appear just before she says something outrageous. After a few moments, she said: "Well, I guess you still didn't fully recover from everything that happened. In stories, it takes time for main characters to get used to it all…" luckily, his instincts were wrong this time. "Well, I didn't get any kind of detailed report for obvious reason, but I know Saaya was also attacked."

"Saaya too?!" he was surprised. He could imagine why the others were attacked, but not why they would attack Saaya. "Why would they attack a normal human like Saaya?"

"Normally I'd say to shut her up. However, Saaya confirmed that it wasn't Shiori's group that attacked her."

"What? Who was it then?" he completely forgot that this situation was not so simple that only one group is opposed them at a time. And that made him feel a bit frustrated.

"Someone called Yanagida." She answered. "Seems like the Hyaku Monogatari Clan has been split into a faction loyal to him and the one loyal to Shiori… and he wanted to use the situation to hurt you guys and put all the blame on someone else."

"Tz, sounds just like something that man would do." Rihan heard about that person called Yanagida. For centuries, Yanagida was considered a dangerous enemy of the Nura clan and since the  _Tokyo Tag_  the clan actively searched for him so it is impossible for a member of the clan to not know who he is these days. "Anyway, is Saaya alright?"

"If she weren't, we wouldn't be casually walking to school now, baka." Araya hit his head with her fingers. "You can ask her for details at school. She will visit the club room to give you guys a report or something."

"Right… I glad about that…" Rihan felt relieved and then changed the topic. "In the club room eh?" Rihan became nostalgic. It was Ritsura, Saaya and Shima who, inspired by their parent's club, formed the SIC during Elementary school. Since Saaya was the most responsible of the three and was Kiyotsugu-san's daughter, she was made the President… although Rihan knew she wasn't interested in the club and once the High School started, she joined another club which annoyed Ritsura a bit but Rihan was glad that Saaya decided to follow her own interests.

Now Shima was the formal president and Araya the actual one. Now that Rihan thought about it, it was Araya who was most in support of this weird situation, as if she didn't want to be the formal president herself… another thing he must add to the list.

"Yep… maybe I can persuade her to come with us on the trip. It would be like the old times." Araya commented.

"Heh, good luck with it." Rihan answered with a smile. "Nejireme doesn't have  _that_  you know…"

"Ah yes… well, maybe she grew up from it." Araya laughed. "Afte all she can't-"

Suddenly, someone ran into them and caught their hands. "Guys, guess what guess what!"

The attacker was Kibiki Sakura, their new club member. Her face was so filled with joy one would feel he might turn blind. Actually, she was so happy, she started spinning both of her victims around at high speed.

"Yesterday, Yasha-kun has KYAAAAHHH! I could barely sleep from happiness I don't think you guys understand how happy I am that I relationship level up KYAAAAH! I just want to run from happiness!" finally she let them go and ran forward, jumping every few steps and assaulting innocent civilians.

"What… what did just happen?" Rihan asked, holding himself by a pier while his head span around.

"Such violent, rapid destruction…" having nothing to catch, Araya fell onto her knees. "Could have only been a Tsuchigumo…"

Rihan laughed at that. Seems that at least for a time, he was able to forget about what he did yesterday.

* * *

"So we really are leaving this soon, are we?" Torii said as she walked around their hotel room. Expecting that to happen, she has already put her and her fiancée's things into bags, but she felt a bit down non the less.

"Sorry, but I have to go." Kurotabou said and sat on the bed. There was still a few hours before the plane for Japan leaves. "If you want, you can stay here."

"Whats the point?" Torii sighed, crawled up to him from the other side of the bed and sat, hugging his right arm. "After all, this is not my trip but ours."

Although she was in her thirties, Natsumi Torii still looked gorgeous as ten years ago when Kurotabou found himself falling in love with her. He feels guilty for forgetting that humans age faster than youkai so he took so many years to confess. And he wasn't sure if he should be thankful for her patience or even more regretful.

"Ha ha, well technically it is a mission, not a trip." He said and let his head fall on her shoulder. "Once this current war is done, I promise to take you on an actual trip… over the world maybe."

"Over the world eh? Don't cry when I force you to follow that promise he he he." Tori laughed a bit. "Anyway, you said war. Didn't Nura say that you are trying to prevent it."

"I am not as optimistic as Rikuo-sama about it." Kurotabou said, his face turning serious again. "Last night confirmed that at least one of our enemies might be ready for a war. It is only a matter of time when Kyushu attacks and I won't even talk about this Shin Sekai."

"You said those who attacked you yesterday are ready for a war… sorry if I sound repetitive, but didn't the clan say that it was a minor battle."

"This is  _Hyaku Monogatari_  we are speaking about." He pronounced the name of the enemy in a hateful tone. "Those cowards only stop hiding when they are ready to cause trouble."

Unlike other clans which tend to fight honorably on field of battle, the Hyaku Monogatari prefers to use dirtier tactics as a counter-balance to their lack of strength. What is more, they have a grudge against the Nura Clan so they have a tendency to target them.

The ones who attacked the clan yesterday may not have been Yanagida's faction, but he knew they were still bad news. Although Sanmoto Gorozaemon himself was bad, the House of Sanmoto was as bad, although in a slightly different way.

When more than three hundred years ago Sanmoto's son inherited his father's wealth and even changed the family name, Kurotabou thought Sanmoto's heirs and the Nura clan would not have qualms. However, even that son turned wicked with time and many of his heirs followed their ancestor's dark path.

And them following that path was one of reasons why Nura clan was in a constant feud with them for three hundred years until Rihan and Setsura slew their prime ally, the Tsukumogami King Chirizuka Kaiou. Although Chirizuka's wife was never found and house of Sanmoto continued existing, the Nura Clan never heard of them much. Even during the war against Sanmoto Gorozaemon the House hid.

Not a surprising move from their part as their youkai creating abilities were a joke. Sanmoto's youkai were weak and theirs were three times weaker and even more lifeless. Only few who tended to change their name to Sanmoto  _something_  after achieving it, could offer a challenge, though rarely on field of battle itself.

And he found out a person called Shiori was one of those, in other words she was Sanmoto Shiori. Due to being worried about Kyushu, many in the clan ignored his worries thinking he was over-reacting. Understandable since even those Sanmotos were underwhelming.

However Shiori proved to be of a even higher level than he expected. He didn't know the number of youkai she commands, but the fact that they were able to hold their own against the Nura Clan proved her Fear was higher than of most members of the  _House_. Kurotabou knew it would be the best to eliminate her as soon as possible.

He was forced out of his thoughts when Torii pinched his cheek. "Earth to Kuro Earth to Kuro, do you receive?" she let his cheek go. "Mo, you made that scary face again."

Kurotabou didn't reply and instead just moved himself a bit and looked at her face. Torii herself was twice used in a most horrible way by the Hyaku Monogatari. Actually, since they were behind the Shikoku Invasion, it could be said that three times she was their victim.

That fact made him fear for her and even more willing to destroy the clan he used to serve.

"Eh, Kuro?" she looked at him with a bit of confusion on her face and then turned her eyes aside a bit. "Ah, is it  _that_? Well, we do have some time so-"

Without any warning heput his arms around her and kissed her. After a second or two, she returned it back, both the kiss and the hug and both fell onto the bed.

He has to protect not only his leader and the clan, but also her. And if only to make her safe, he won't allow himself to see  _that clan_  survive again.

* * *

"Nurarihyon-sama!" the youkai of the Nura Clan's first generation shouted as they saw their old commander, who disappeared as usual, return. They were all still in Kyushu, for a reason known only to Nurarihyon himself.

"What happened?!" another youkai asked. "Your clothes are torn apart and you even have wounds!"

"Nothing happened." Nurarihyon answered. "Now lets return to Edo." He then noticed that they turned silent as he mentioned word Edo, the old name for Tokyo. "What, did something happen?" he asked, fearing the worst.

"The Clan ended up in a fight…" one of them replied. "Rihan-sama got wounded, but has recovered. No other major casualties, though it seems a few young-uns have died."

"Tz…" Nurarihyon wasn't pleased to hear that the clan got attacked while both he and Rikuo were away. He should have waited for his Grandson's return before leaving to check on Mizuchi. "Lets hurry up home, I want to be there in case someone gets the idea of attacking us again. You will tell me the details once I get a bit of rest."

His meeting with those two older men didn't last long, nor were many words said. It ended when Masahide put his arm under the table to which Mizuchi reacted by jumping back and hastily saying goodbye. Nurarihyon knew Mizuchi well enough to know that only something  **really**  dangerous would make that man flee so he retreated as well. Granted, he was experienced enough to feel something was amiss even before Mizuchi did anything.

Of course, Mizuchi is an opportunist and he tried to kill Nurarihyon while fleeing. However, Nurarihyon expected him to do it so he got away with minor injuries and chose a different direction for leaving. What he may have done may have seemed cowardly but he knew better than to make needless risks, especially now that he is no longer in his prime.

However, this journey of his wasn't fruitless: he confirmed that Mizuchi got much stronger then when he fought him four hundred years ago as well as that Masahide was far more dangerous than anyone expected. He didn't know why, but something was amiss about that human.

He just prayed that he doesn't get to see another tragedy in his family. And if prayers don't help, he will take care for it himself.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here is a new chapter and a start of the new arc! After so many tense chapters, it is good to get some peace and quiet again, if only for a few chapters. The chapter was originally supposed to be three times longer, but due to having only a day to finish it I reduced it to a fewer number of scenes. However, I think it is long enough.

Kuro's scene had quite a bit of exposition and I think I should comment a bit on it:

\- a few times in the Manga, it was hinted that the Nura Clan and the Hyaku Monogatari were at constant war that lasted for three hundred years. Yet, around the same time as those hints appeared, the author (Hiroshi) made it obvious that Enchou, Yanagida and the rest of the gang were hiding since Gorozaemon's first defeat. That means that I'll have to guess, analyze and make something logical to fill that

\- this ain't the first time I mention the House of Sanmoto, an union of families descendant from Gorozaemon, but I revealed a bit more about them. Seeing as Sanmoto was not that young and was a man of prominence and wealth (not to mention a pervert as well) it was just weird to believe that he didn't have any heirs himself. I gotta say the House changed itself so many times during story plannings that it is not even funny, but I think I managed to find a good story for them. Those who read the Tankobon omakes should know why his son would be so happy to get rid of that man's family name… and yes, his wife here is that woman with whom he fell in love in the Tankobon omakes (which resulted in him slaughtering her entire family and destroying her entire life so he could invite her to live with him… Sanmoto certainly had a unique way of flirting…) and Shiori is one of the his off-springs

\- the Tsukumogami King Chirizuka Kaiou is not an original youkai but a youkai from folklore. As his title says, he is supposed to be a leader of Tsukumogamis, usually of those that were items thrown away by humans. Such a tsukumogami appeared at the start of Hyaku Monogatari arc which is one of reasons I have added this youkai to the story which is his queen, also a youkai from folklore

All in all, thanks for keeping up with my fic and I greatly hope you  **review**  (in case someone doesn't know, you don't need na account here to do that).

* * *

 **Kuro** :  _"The hell, Nayrael-san? New chapter, done in 24 hours? Are you human?! xD"_

Nope, I am a Nayrael :)

" _Ahem, THIS chapter just awesome. Onieda family sure is complicated. But I'm kinda annoyed with Mayuri though. You need to let her know much more about things around her. I don't want to see another Kana again... that just depressing ."_

Ironically, taking care that Mayuri doesn't become a Kana 2.0 is one of challenges I had to face while planning the storyline. Unfortunately, most potentially good developments were either unusable or reserved by other characters :/

" _And I miss those super strong guys, Rikuo mostly. Hell yes I want him back to screens, and I like how Nayrael-san always inserted some information in the story 'cause they're really helpfull. And thank you for the reply! :D It's funny as hell! Say hi from me to the casts!_

_Anyway, keep up the good work. Ganbatte nee Nayrael-san! xD"_

Thankfully, a few of those strong guys will soon get a bit more screentime ;) Glad you find the info helpful!

All in all, thanks for Reviewing and I hope you enjoyed this new chapter as well :D


	15. The Uninvited Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even after he committed a grave sin, Riha-chan's life goes on… though a surprise awaits him at his school. In meantime, an Onmyouji and a Yuki Onna thirst for trouble…

 

**Chapter 15: The Uninvited Guests**

"Just… a little more…" declared a seventeen years old girl called Nura Ritsura as she sat in an arcade. So that she wouldn't waste her Fear, she was dressed casually this time: small dark gray jacket and skirt, a white shirt under it and, as usual, a white scarf. Also, many people were gathered around her this time, watching her beating the high score in the game she left unfinished the day before. "Yaaawn..." and due to not sleeping at all for more then twenty four hours (again) she was a little tired to say the least.

"This is not good Ritsura-sama..." whispered her mother's tsukumogami Jiizo while hiding under her scarf, who accompanied her to this place again making Ritsura wonder if he is keeping guard at this arcade. "Your mother is going to be angry at both you and me... I beg you to go back home where it is safe and then rest a bit!"

"NO!" she proclaimed. "I swore I'd get in Top 5 at all games here before the yesterday's ceremony." She replied in frustrated tone. "Although the bet has ended, I won't feel at peace until I hit the high score here!"

"But... your mother..."

"No... Don't you understand? This is a question of my honor!" she continued talking while playing a fighting game, "What will the other Youkai say if the heiress of the Nura Clan gets scared after one small battle?! Or even worse... That she hid in her bedroom!?"

"But you know it is dangerous. Your mother is worried with a good reason!"

"Risks must be taken."

"Dearie, we have to talk." Said a black-haired young woman, in an open blue jacket, pink shirt, blue trousers and wearing a similar scarf to Ritsura's, as she grabbed Ritsura and started pulling her away from the game.

"No… not again…" Ritsura said as she watched the words  _GAME OVER_  appear on the screen in front of her. Once again, her mother appeared at the worst possible time.

* * *

Ritsura was scared. She expected her mother to start yelling at her for skipping school or something else she has or hasn't done, but this time she just brought her to a patisserie and was currently inside the locale while Ritsura was sitting outside, anxiously awaiting her mother's return. An idea of running away came up to her, but she felt this was not time to fool around. Her mother is only so calm when she is either having something serious to talk about… or when she is trying to not explode from anger, an idea which terrified Ritsura at the moment.

"Here it is! A strawberry croissant for me and a-" her mother suddenly appeared, holding croissant.

"HYAAAAH!" Ritsura overreacted.

"Huh?! What?!" Her mother was surprised to the point the food almost fell onto the floor. "What happened?"

"Ah, nothing…" Ritsura said, trying to stay composed.

"Nothing?" her mother had suspicion on her face as she sat down and put the food on the table.

"Yeah… I just…" Ritsura had to make an excuse for why she yelled like that. "I kinda fell asleep and you woke me up so I got startled! Yeah, that's it!"

To that comment, her mother replied with a sigh. "Well, you were practically awake for forty eight hours straight. That would tire out even a full youkai, yet alone a hanyou. You should go get some sleep."

This was one of few occasions Ritsura agreed with her mother's complaints.

"Not now!" Tsurara said before Ritsura could do or say anything… correctly predicting what her daughter meant to say. "First, we have to talk about a few things."

"Y… yes." Ritsura muttered and took a chocolate croissant, fearing this is where her mother will get  _extra angry_.

"First, about the last night." Tsurara started and Ritsura, believing she would get admonished, tensed. She knew it was childish to be anxious about her parent's opinion on this matter, but she couldn't help it.

However, instead of looking angry, her mother had a gentle smile. "You did well out there. I am sure father will be proud as well… after he calms down a bit that is."

"Yeah, I am sorry about th… eh?" Ritsura wa a bit surprised.

Her mother seemed confused for a moment, but then made another gentle smile. "Don't you worry about what  _that man_ said to you, dearie."

"You heard?" Ritsura asked, again getting a bit down for remembering what Onieda Masato said to her.

"Reira told me about it. Seriously, when I heard it I just wanted to go and smack him in the face for it." Tsurara sighed. "Victims are unavoidable in battles. As the heiress of the Clan you should understand-"

"Yes, I know that." Ritsura cut in. "But it is the leader's duty to take care that there are as few victims as possible and… that they don't die for no reason."

Tsurara just starred at her for some time and then asked: "Dearie, what do you think is worse… trying to save someone and find out it may not have been needed or deciding to not risk and then finding out someone got hurt because you didn't dare risking." Tsurara put her hand on Ritsura's. "Mayuri-chan and Mamoru-san are your fiends, aren't they? Do you really think it was not worth the risk?"

For a moment, Ritsura felt better… but only for a moment. She still felt like it may have been possible to do better than she did. Still, she nodded to her mother.

However, her mother didn't fall for it. "Listen Ritsura, you may have issued a few orders, but it wasn't only you who made a decision!" Tsurara admonished her, startling Ritsura to the point she tensed up again. "Everyone who fought is veteran of at least a few battles! Almost everyone fought with your father against the Nue! Many fought for the Clan since it was formed more than four hundred years ago! And many were fighting wars before Nurarihyon-sama was even born! Had it been possible for a child like you to foresee what would happen, they would NOT follow the order!" Tsurara flicked her daughter's forehead. "That we did not complain at all should be proof enough that you did something nobody could object on."

"Still, had we-"

"Ritsura, please stop over-complicating it! This ain't that Manga about the murderous notebook where everyone is an incredible genius you know!" Tsurara started to feel tired. "You wanted to help a friend and you did as well as you could!"

Tsurara decided to just go on, not allowing her daughter to say anything before she is done.

"You did nothing wrong! As a matter of fact, you did better than anyone expected. First, you did not jump alone into all this…" Tsurara than lowered her voice a bit "…unlike certain other commanders who far too often acted alone…" than she returned to her original tone "…but have called the entire clan and prepared them for action at commendable speed.

Second, you fought well against that biker youkai and I hear you did well against few other strong youkai as well.

Third, you actually impressed everyone by sneaking through those numerous enemies without getting noticed… though it was a bit too risky as far as I a concerned.

And fourth, we learned a lot about the enemy from this battle so this whole affair is far from a waste you seem to think it is. Sooner or later, Shiori would have caused damage to us anyway."

Although she felt a bit better, "I didn't think it was a waste but…"

"Think about it a bit after you rest. For now, lets talk about something else."

"Something else?"

"Yep! It is about the trip you are going on today." Her mother smiled once again.

"Going on? It is not canceled then. "Why?"

"Why?" her mother seemed a bit confused. "Well you see, youth should-"

"For a while now, we had two enemies who may attack at any time and last night we practically declared war on a third one. And you guys, who are always so over-protective, want to let us leave the safety of Tokyo for a rural mountain?"

"Fu fu…" Tsurara giggled a little. "I should have known this kind of talk would brighten you up."

"Brightened up? I am being serious here!"

"Yes yes, as you say fu fu." Her mother laughed a bit more. "Anyway, you are going to Mount Nejireme. That's the turf of our strongest and most loyal subject clan, the Gyuki Group. It is as safe as Tokyo… maybe even safer seeing as the urban legends probably won't be hanging around rural territories."

"We underestimated Shiori once, see where that brought us." Ritsura objected.

"Ha ha… you sure got serious dearie…" Tsurara made an awkward smile. Of all things, she didn't expect her daughter to complain about the clan's lack of protection towards her.

"Granted, I have no doubts that you already decided on who shall escort us." Ritsura continued. "Aotabou would be able to go all out in the wilds so if he got better, he would be a fitting escort. Kubinashi should be able to make good use of all the woods so it would probably be good for him to come as well… Kejorou comes in the package with him of course, no need to mention that. I think we should also take one of the Sanbagarasu with us, preferably-"

Tsurara was saved by her cellphone's ringtone… though she had a bad feeling Ritsura would just come up with more demands of type one would usually expect from Karasu Tengu or Gyuki.

"Yes, hello?" she answered. "Hey, who are you calling a stupid Yuki Onna?! Grrr… what is it Ryuuji?" since she was hungry, Ritsura started eating her mother's croissant. "Ah yes, I remember… oooh… that sounds interesting. Huh? WHAT?! I am not planning to do anything with him, what do you take me for?! Well, I am not that kind of Yuki Onna! What I mean is that… alright alright, when is he coming?" Tsurara asked and looked towards the clock inside the store. "Yes, I'll be there in time." She said and turned off her cell.

"Who was that?"

"An evil Onmyouji." Her mother said as she rose up from her seat and put cash on the table, no doubt to pay for the food. "I have to go to the station to meet with someone. You… talk with Kubinashi or someone about all this, alright?" she said as she turned around.

"Wait! How is Rihan, I didn't hear anything about him." Ritsura asked as her mother turned around to leave.

"Well… you can ask him yourself. I got an SMS saying that he decided to go to school after all."

" _After all_  you say…" Ritsura's eyes narrowed. "Something happened…"

"Well, I didn't want to worry you but… well, he had misfortune to meet with Shiori herself."

It took a few moments for Ritsura to process what she just heard. "Huh?! What the… is he alright?!" Ritsura didn't know how strong Shiori was, but a leader of a Hyaki Yakou was no doubt the most dangerous enemy out there.

"He is alright…" Tsurara said with a gloomy face.

Ritsura decided she won't press her further about the issue. Since he was able to go to school, Rihan must have been alright so she could ask him directly about what happened… and why Shiori would attack him and not her.

"Anyway, I gotta go. You go home and get some rest, alright?" Tsurara said and ran away.

Ritsura sighed and turned around to leave. "Ah yes, I almost forgot." She turned back and took some the money her mother left on the table. "A Nurarihyon who pays for food… who ever heard about that?" although she said that, what she did was to just put the money into clerk's pockets. Traders around Ukiyoe already got used to finding money from Ritsura inside their pockets. "Well now, I guess I am going to buy some ice cream."

And while Ritsura fooled around, a  _certain person_  looked at her from distance.

* * *

"Mayuri-san, what are you doing there?" Rihan asked when he saw Mayuri hide behind a tree near the entrance to the school.

"Psssst!" she put her finger on her mouth and pointed towards the school with her head.

It took some time for Rihan to realize what she meant. "Oh good… there was a severe lack of eccentric in our school anyway." Rihan rolled his eyes when he saw a group of certain individuals in front of the school entrance.

For those wondering, the individuals in question are Itaku, Reira and Awashima… all three of them pretending to be students of the Ukiyoe High. Had Dohiko and Amezou looked more human and had Yukari been taller, they would probably also be here.

"Seeing as you suddenly stopped and started looking at these fellows, I take it that you guys know them." Araya commented. "Anyway, why are we hiding?"

Mayuri didn't reply. She felt guilty for what her father had done to their village and was a bit too afraid to show herself before them, even though she was thankful for their help last night.

"Yeah… we do… lets go through the other entrance…" Not being in mood for hanging with them and seeing as they didn't notice him yet, Rihan grabbed Araya's and Mayuri's arms and tried to sneak past them.

"Riha-chan, your decision-making leaves a lot to be desired." Araya commented.

Her sentence confused him. But before he could even open his mouth, a storm started and he realized what was his mistake.

"Gyaaaahhh!" a number of girls around, about whom Rihan completely forgot about, screamed in unison. "Rihan-sama is holding hands with both Araya-sama and Mayuri-sama! How lewd!"

Itaku, Awashima and Reira immediately turned towards him while Yukari's little head peeped through Reira's bag. Dohiko and Amezou, holding a costume-selling advertisement panels, suddenly appeared behind him as well. For some reason, Rihan felt like this was a page in the Manga, with the mentioned characters having big smiles, shadowed faces and stars in their eyes.

"Nura Rihan Junior loses 60HP!" Araya proclaimed as she pulled her arm back. "Sorry, but this game does not contain save and load features so… tough luck!"

"Ha ha…" Rihan tries to laugh as everyone around looked at him. Peaceful school days sure are a rarity. Luckily, the schoolgirls didn't need long to realize that he probably just wanted to evade these strange, new students so there shouldn't be much damage from that front.

However, the Toono noticed him thus his plan failed completely.

"A lewd player indeed." Reira gave him a small, elegant smile. "But then, his father had three flowers in his hands so this is still good I guess."

"Still, it is lewd." Yukari peeped out of the bag again and then pulled back before some human noticed her.

"No guys, you-" Rihan started but the red-haired Akuma that stood beside him cut him off.

"His father was chaste..." Araya said in a shy tone. "Rihan-sama though… oh, he was so rough with the two of us just a while ago. Being a concubine sure is hard."

The colors of the world around Rihan suddenly turned into a hundred shades of gray… and the eyes of the Toono youkai widened. At least she was whispering so that only Mayuri and the youkai heard her.

"C…concubines?" even Itaku looked surprised.

"Rihan-chama… bwuahahaha!" Awashima laughed.

"I see I was quite a bit wrong about you, Rihan-dono." Reira said, hiding her lower side of the face with her kimono. Adding a honorific to his name also must have held some meaning.

Yukari just peeped out and then pulled back, obviously rendered speechless.

"Just what are you, Rihan-sama!?" Dohiko was very impressed.

"Gyahhhaghah." Nobody knew what Amezou said.

"Just joking." Araya then decided to fix the situation. "Riha-chan is chaste enough to be a monk."

And the dark atmosphere, thankfully, disappeared… though Rihan started to wonder why everyone thought he would be able to do something like that.

"So that is this Araya woman I take it…" Dohiko commented. "I see she really is as dangerous as you claimed her to be."

"Ow, you talked about me Riha-chan?" Araya said while hiding her mouth with he hand. "I hope you didn't talk about-"

"I won't let you finish that sentence and cause another nuclear fallout." Rihan stopped her before it was too late and then turned towards the Toono Group. "Anyway, what are you guys doing here?"

"Bored." They all answered in unison.

"Yes, I know that…" Rihan sighed. "I just find it weird that you guys are still in Tokyo, especially since Toono is weakened."

"We have been sent to Tokyo with a certain task." Itaku answered.

"A certain task?" Mayuri beat Rihan in asking the question.

"Sorry, but we can't talk about it." Itaku crossed his arms. "Akagappa-sama's orders are to be kept in secret, even to the Nura Clan."

"Sorry, but since nee-san is not here and I know she would ask…" Rihan crossed his arms as well. "I think we have the right to know what you are doing here."

"Your father already said we can do what we want." Itaku replied back.

"Don't worry, we are not planning anything against you guys." Reira assured him.

"I know that." Rihan sighed. "But I'd still like to know what is going on..."

"Listen Rihan, it is not that we  _need_  to hide anything from you guys." Awashima said, chewing his straw. "If we said anything to you guys, Rikuo or Ritsura or maybe even you would look on how to help us."

"So… you are saying that you don't want Nura's help?" Mayuri asked.

"Exactly!" Dohiko answered her and patted her head, making Mayuri shiver a bit. "Our honor and reputation have been hurt by your gramps and we now need to regain it. And to do that, we must do it alone."

"So why are you here?" once again, Mayuri stole words from Rihan's mouth. "I mean… if you have an important mission, shouldn't you be doing it rather than loiter around here?"

"Why do you sleep at night, human? Just like how humans and night don't fit one another, so youkai and day don't fit." Itaku answered with a question. "Night is our time and we will do our work at night."

"So…" Araya joined in the conversation. "Are you just visiting or will you guys go to school while here?"

"Well, we never went to a human school so we wanted to check what Rikuo talked about all the time when he was younger." Reira said with a smile. "So yes, five of us will come here from time to time."

"Ha ha…" Rihan laughed under his breath, himself not sure why.

"That's great!" Araya however was happy. "There is so much I want to talk about with you guys. Oh look at me, I didn't even introduce myself yet! You can call me Ichinoe Araya."

"Ichi…noe…" Itaku put his hand on his chin. "I heard that name recently but where…"

"By the way…" Rihan jumped in. "You said five of you will be here. Not counting these two who can't possibly pass as humans and counting Yukari, there are only four of you."

"Ah yes, I heard that name from-"

"Araya-chaaaan!" a glasses girl with long black hair and with five heavy looking bags jumped at Araya and hugged her. "I was looking for you!"

"Ah, Youbi-nee-san! I am glad to see you here!" Araya answered to Fuguruma Youbi, a youkai from Toono who collects historical stories and items. "By the way, what is in those bags?"

"Notebooks I stole up till now!" she said, smiling as if she did nothing wrong.

"Why… did you steal those notebooks?" Mayuri asked while quickly checking through her bag. "And where are my notebooks?"

"I borrowed them! There is a lot of info that a historian should archive, especially in the personal diaries." Youbi answered.

"Please return my notebooks." Mayuri asked nicely. "And I demand that you give me my diary, without reading even a single page, else…" Mayuri demanded with a dangerous aura.

"Ah… sure." with a very sad face, Youbi returned the notebooks to the granddaughter of Onieda Masahide.

"Anyway, you and Araya-chan know one another?" Rihan changed the topic.

"Araya-chan eh?" Youbi made a lewd smile.

"We have similar interests." Araya answered. "There is nothing weird in two folklore enthusiasts to find one another and be friends, right?"

"Well, that does answer  **a lot** …" Rihan commented. This explains why she knows so much about the youkai world. Then, a bell rang. "Anyway, classes are going to start in a minute so lets go."

"Oh, having to be on time for classes!" Reira seemed happy. "This will be so exciting! Itaku, lets race!"

"Hm, good idea." Itaku tried to sound cool, but a small blush negated all his efforts.

"You guys go, I'll go and check how it is to be a lawless student and loiter around the school while classes are in session." Awashima said and started walking as well. "Maybe I should make a teacher force me to take late night lessons and then when I turn into a female… fu fu fu…" Awashima made evil plans.

"Ah yes, I gotta rob… I mean check the local libraries!" Youbi said as she took Araya's arm. "Araya-chan, show me the way to it." she said to her, although she did the pulling.

"Rihan, Mayuri! Don't dare to evade the clubroom today! We have important matters to discuss about the trip!" Araya said before Youbi took her away

"Well then, let us go to our classes then Mayuri…" Rihan said and everyone left.

Well, everyone but Dohiko and Amezou who had no idea what to do now and just stood there, forgotten and ignored by everyone.

* * *

"So in summary…" in an old mansion, Gokadoin Kashaimaru talked in front of a laptop. "…your mommy made a fool out of herself with this whole charade."

Instead of voice, he was answered with a text:  _"Don't you talk like that about Hahaue! OAO"_ although Netto no Yose could produce sound, she wasn't good at it so whenever she could, she preferred creating textual messages.

"Then please do tell me what good came out of all this?" Kashaimaru spread his arms. "You made the Nura Clan realize that you are a threat, you lost quite a number of your troops and in the end didn't even try to fulfill your objective."

"… _we made trouble for Gorozaemon-sama and Kongo-dono? o_o"_

"That could have been more efficiently done without a full-scale battle." Kashaimaru put his palm on his forehead as he said this.

" _-_-;"_

"What, are you already giving up? I have just gotten warmed up here…"

" _Look, it just didn't go as planned! Wars are not so convenient that everything goes as planned OWO"_

Kashaimaru sighed. "Yes yes, I know… anyway, are you guys planning anything else I don't know about? If yes, please do tell me so I don't need to worry about it…"

" _Nope, nothing you don't already know about :)"_

"Good… then I take it thats all?"

" _Yep :D Bye bye!"_  and just like that, Netto stopped sending him messages.

Kashaimaru looked around himself. He was in one of Gokadoin's safehouses. This one regularly maintained mansion now looked like an abandoned house, and even some of the wooden walls have fallen down.

"What a pathetic state… Just like it fits the current House Gokadoin…"

The heirs of Abe no Seimei were not that long ago the strongest Onmyouji House. Even though very few people were aware of their existence, the House has proudly produced countless powerful Onmyouji, eleven of which were powerful enough to warrant epics, songs and legends about them… and of those eleven, only Abe no Yoshihira remained alive, sparred due to Nura Rikuo's whim rather than skill. Centuries old Onmyouji, all killed in one single day.

And what destroyed the House were few small mistakes… firstly, Gokadoin Tenkai killed many of Gokadoins for an incredibly stupid reason.

Second mistake was done by Abe no Ariyuki, a powerful Onmyouji and manipulator. Had he and Enchou not betrayed Sanmoto Gorozaemon, the Gokadoin House would have had an ally in the  _Battle of the Spiral Castle_. True, they would need to destroy them later, but their numbers and Maou Sanmoto Gorozaemon would have forced the Nura Clan to focus more on defense and thus reduce the number of youkai that attacked the castle.

Third mistake was done by Seimei himself: he betrayed his own mother. Not only did this turn many Kyoto youkai against them, but this mistake was what wrote Seimei's end: the only reason Nura Rikuo won was because Hagoromo Gitsune was with him and they used the  _Matoi_  technique to combine their fears and slay Seimei.

Such seemingly small, whimsical mistakes were what destroyed their family. Although Kashaimaru did not support Seimei's beliefs, he was a Gokadoin and this pissed him off to no avail.

And that's without mentioning that wicked cousin of his, a man no better than Seimei. The very thought of that man becoming the twelfth head pissed him off to no end… and Kashaimaru will do anything to stop him. Although the thought of becoming a head in time looked ridiculous once, with Shiori's help it should be possible to achieve.

Then, his laptop started playing music, making him know that someone is trying to establish a video call. Kashaimaru accepted the call and the face of a long-haired Onmyouji Gokadoin Taisei appeared on the screen. Taisei was a skilled creator of spirit blades and one of the leaders of the House Gokadoin until the new head appears.

"Good to see you Taisei-sama." Kashaimaru raised from his seat and bowed. It was bad manners to sit while his leader talks.

"No time for trivialities Kashaimaru." He said in his strict tone. "I see you are still in Kyoto Prefecture so I have a job for you."

"A job? That's good to hear." Although Gokadoins kept their family name secret, they used to do exorcisms on a regular basis. But after the  _Battle of the Spiral Castle_ , Keikains and the Nura Clan took care that finding work becomes harder for them… not to mention that Gokadoins were no longer as secretive as before the infamous battle.

"Yes, that's why we can't waste time." Taisei started. "A few days ago, a great number of youkai attacked the XYY village, forcing its denizens to leave it. Since the youkai didn't leave in next few days, the villagers came to Kyoto to request help. One of our Onmyouji met them before they reached the officials and we got the job. However, it is only a matter of time until the officials hear about it and alert Keikain Yura who will send her Onmyouji to exorcise the village. Don't let that woman get the upper hand, got it?"

"Yes, I'll leave at once." Kashaimaru replied.

"Good. Show us that you really have it in you, head candidate Kashaimaru." Taisei nodded and then ended the call.

"Firefox, lets go! We have a fun sounding job to do!" Kashaimaru woke up his fox and started moving. He is interested in why youkai would do something suicidal like attacking a human village… in Kyoto Prefecture no less.

* * *

"Aneki! Aneki!" Ritsura, who was sitting on a bench and ate ice cream while reading a Manga (which she  _borrowed_  from a shop), heard someone call her and turned around to see a little boy with a baseball cap… and whiskers.

"You are from the Bakeneko Clan, aren't you?" Ritsura asked the boy as he tried to catch breath. "Did something happen?"

"Karuki-san… Karuki-san's bar is…"

"I'll go check it out." Ritsura didn't wait until he finished. Knowing that something bad happened and where it happened was enough to start running. Karuki was one of members of the Bakeneko Clan and owned a minor youkai bar not far from where Ritsura was sitting. It was hidden inside a normal looking house with a larger garden and surrounded by tall walls so that humans wouldn't notice youkai loitering inside.

After a minute or two, Ritsura finally reached Karuki's place. "What… is going on here?"

In front of her, there was a huge boar just lying on the ground and occupying more than half of the garden.

"Ojou-sama!" someone shouted and only then did Ritsura notice that youkai were squeezed under the boar.

"Are you guys alright?!" Ritsura asked and took out Nenekirimaru. She wanted to attack the boar, but didn't want to be too rash as it might endanger the youkai under it.

"Everyone is fine." A cat-like youkai confirmed. "For some reason, it doesn't hurt either… we are just unable to move."

"From where did this guy come from?" Ritsura looked at the boar who looked as if he was taking a nap. "And who is he?"

"Seems like it is a Shikigami, Ojou-san." The youkai said. "Some Onmyouji walked in, took one of our girls and summoned this boar when we tried to stop him."

"Oh, and he also told us to give you…" another cat-like youkai said and pointed towards a nearby table. "…well, to tell you to call that number."

Ritsura didn't say anything and quickly walked towards the table. There, she saw a paper with a telephone number written on it. She immediately took out her cellphone and dialed the number.

"Hello, is that Nura Ritsura by some chance?" a male voice asked.

"Nura Ritsura speaking. And who might you be?"

"Who knows." The man rejected to answer her question. "Anyway, if you don't want anything to happen to the kittie cat come to the abandoned dojo at the end of the street. And don't alert anyone, my agents are watching you."

"You agents?" Ritsura felt something walk on her shoulder and then noticed it was a rat. "HYAH!" She didn't waste time slapping it. She then noticed that there were more rats around, all keeping an eye on her.

"Ha ha… I see you noticed my mighty minions." The man commented. "Anyway, come to the dojo alone. Oh, and do prepare for a fight… prepare well. Mwuahahaha!" He said and finished the call.

"Tz…" Ritsura was annoyed. "And there I thought I'd get to rest a bit…"

Suddenly, the boar disappeared in flash of light and the youkai under it were freed. After confirming everyone was right, Ritsura started running towards the dojo. She was still tired since last night and she did not need this Onmyouji causing trouble.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And thus we come to end of another chapter. No special reason for it being short this time: I just thought there was no reason to make it unnecessarily long.

We start with a mother and daughter talk where we see that Ritsura acts more obediently when her mother seems to be getting serious… although the poor girl doesn't get much of a break: an Onmyouji has challenged her to a fight.

And we also see that the Toono Clan is staying in Tokyo for a while. I am sure the Nuras will be extraordinarily pleased about that ;P

And then we have a Gokadoin scene. Lets see what is going on with that village, shall we? And for those who don't remember, Taisei is that Gokadoin whom Rikuo fought when he went to take Nenekirimaru (you know, the mega-necromancer dude with a funny looking scythe).

Anyway, thanks for reading and kindly ask you to review. Until the next episode… I mean, chapter….

* * *

**Anime Chick344034:** _"Omg that was great. I have a bad feeling though...Another tragedy!? I bet its gonna be Rihan."_

Poor Rihan Junior… he is at the point everyone turns towards him when they smell that something bad is going to happen XD

* * *

 **Kuro** :  _"IS THAT YURA?! AND RYUUJI?! Damn, you're the best Nayrael-san! Hope too see them soon :D. God, I've already thought about the possibilities, but to thought that I jinxed it... Kiyotsugu Kana? Wew, Saaya doesn't looks a bit like her though. That girl doesn't even inherited her father genes. So who's daughter is she?! xD. Kyaaaa—aaa! Love Rihan and Araya xD. Rihan's so angsty... TTvvvTT And KuroTorii is back to screen—but really, Masahide and Mizuchi are interesting._

_Anyway, great chapter as always Nayrael-san! Please do me a favor and don't make another Kana's please! WAITING FOR THOSE STRONG GUYS! Ganbatte nee :D"_

Well, it ain't Ryuuji nor Yura just yet. It might be a Keikain though.

As for Saaya… she actually does have their traits: she has Kiyo's smarts and enthusiasm (though not his eccentricity… which is not to say that she ain't eccentric in her own way) while she has her mother's looks, common sense and the feeling of discomfort towards youkai (although in a different way). Being pissy is her own trait though: most would be if they grew up in environment she had XD

Anyway, glad you enjoyed the chapter. Hope you are gonna enjoyed this one as well.


	16. Ryuzan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toono youkai have started attending the Ukiyoe High, but the SIC is too busy with their own chores to give attention to their potential trouble-making excursions. In meantime, Ritsura has to battle an Onmyouji in order to save one of her subjects…

**Chapter 16: Ryuzan**

"Sakura in!" Kibiki Sakura shouted as she stormed into the SIC's clubroom. "And ready for the mission!"

Then, with a smirk on her face, she opened her eyes and saw a black-haired girl with green eyes sit on one of the seats with a laptop on her knees, starring at Sakura with her mouth opened in surprise. "…who are you?" the girl finally spoke.

Sakura knew recognized this very popular girl from the Newspapers Club. "Ah sorry, I came to the wrong clubroom!" Sakura bowed in apology and stormed out.

A few moments later, she returned back. "Wait… this is our clubroom, not that of your club!"

"Consider me a guest." The girl sighed. "I don't remember seeing you here before… did they actually recruit a new member?"

"Yes mam, I became a proud member of the SIC yesterday!" Sakura proclaimed and made a military salute. "Kibiki Sakura, first year!"

"I am Kiyotsugu Saaya, second year." Saaya said and bowed while sitting. "I see you already fit in." she said with a smile.

"Thank you senpai!" Sakura happily bowed, thinking that she meant that she has a potential to become popular like the rest… when in reality Saaya thought she was a weirdo like the rest.

"Ah Sakura, you are here already." Ichinoe Araya walked in. "Ah, you too ex-prez!"

"Ex-prez?" Sakura asked in confusion.

"I present you Kiyotsugu Saaya!" Araya said and pointed at Saaya with both of her arms while one of her knees touched the floor. "You speak with the legend there you know! She is one of the club's founders and was our Fuhrer during Middle School!"

"Aaah, forgive my lack of manners, Kiyotsugu-sama!" Sakura made a big bow. "So you are the  **Nerd Princess**  I heard about!"

"Uuu…" Araya smirked while Saaya's vein popped on her head. "How ruthless…"

"You fit  **perfectly**  in this club…" Saaya commented, another vein popping on her head.

"Thank you very much!" Sakura thanked with a huge smile, which made another vein pop up on Saaya's head.

"No mercy… no mercy at all." Araya was impressed once again.

The three girls continued to stare at one another: Saaya with her angry face, Araya with her intrigued face and Sakura with her naively innocent face.

Then Rihan came. "What happened here? This place reminds me of those occasions when dad calls for a clan meeting…"

"Ah, Nura-kun!" Sakura immediately turned towards him. "Aren't you and Araya-san in the same class? I thought you'd come together."

"I am on cleaning duty today." He answered.

"Today every day." Araya giggled. "He is a good samatarian who's always so nice to clean the board every day instead of those who are on duty."

"Please don't you talk, Araya-chan." Rihan spoke back to her. "If not for your prank that time I would not have to clean-"

"But lets not waste time. Is Ritsura coming?"

"She isn't." Saaya answered. "Anyway, where are Mayuri and Shima?"

"Mayuri didn't come to school today." Araya answered. "I guess she-"

"I am here." Mayuri entered. "I just didn't feel like taking classes."

"Delinquency is strong within this one." Araya proclaimed. "Shima-"

"I am here ladies!" he barged in. "So ladies, did you miss-"

"By the way Mayuri…" Rihan asked, not waiting for Shima to end his own sentence. "…is Mamoru-sensei coming?"

"No, he called and said he has some  _preparations_  to make." Mayuri sighed. "He didn't even come home which is why I came to school in the first place: I hope I will find him here."

"I take it you have something to speak to him then." Saaya commented. "Won't you see him at the bus station later?"

"We need to have a private talk." Mayuri answered. "And I want to be done with it sooner rather than later. Anyway… Saaya-san, why are you here?"

"I came to copy some files from the computer and now I am waiting for your kind and benevolent Prez to enter the password and turn it on."

"I'll be done with it in a minute." Araya immediately turned on the computer. "What, did you become nostalgic about your times here and want once again to-"

"Dad needs the data." Saaya answered. Though she will use it as well, she didn't want to openly admit it.

"Pu pu… but why don't you come with us on the trip?" Araya offered. "We are staying at your family's mansion so it would be proper for you to be there as well."

"No." Saaya rejected. "I don't want to die."

"Ah yes that's right, it lacks  _that_." Araya replied and moved from the now unlocked PC.

"It lacks  _what_?" Sakura was confused. "And what do you mean by dying, Saaya-san?"

"Please forget about it." Saaya replied.

"It was many years ago, on a trip far away…" Araya started to tell the tale…

* * *

 " _GYAAAAAAHHHH!" Kiyotsugu Saaya screamed when the class neared the place they would be staying at. The class took a trip to rural Japan, as part of excursion to learn about the traditional Japanese culture._

" _What is going on, Saaya?" Rihan ran to her._

" _We… are we really staying here?!" Saaya demanded to know._

" _Yes, we are." Ritsura, who managed to force herself into the trip somehow, answered her. "What is the problem? At least this place looks alright and modern."_

" _It lacks… it lacks…" Saaya started shivering, with tears coming out of her eyes. The rest of the class was forced to go in by their teachers, with eception of Nura siblings, Araya and Mayuri who were Saaya's friends._

" _It lacks what?" Ritsura grabbed her shoulders. "Get a hold of yourself Saaya!"_

" _Wawawawawa…" Saaya just started whining, strongly pressing her laptop and cellphone onto her chest. "Uwawawawawa…."_

" _Could it maybe be…" Araya offered. "…the lack of the Internet?"_

" _UWAWAWAWAWAWAWAWA!" Saaya started crying even louder. "THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!"_

" _Calm down Saaya-san!" Mayuri tried to calm her down._

" _I AM GONNA DIIIIEEEE!"_

* * *

" _She still hasn't calmed down?" Rihan asked after successfully sneaking into the room that SIC girls used. "Come on now, it was ten hours since we came here!"_

" _Uuuuuuuu…" Saaya still lay on her futon, pressing her laptop onto her chest with one hand and trying to connect to the Internet via her cellphone with another. "Whyyyyyyyyyy…"_

" _Come on Saaya-san!" the usually calm Mayuri had a few veins pop out on her head by now. "Life is more than just the Internet!"_

" _But Internet is where life is located!"_

" _Riha-chan…" Araya whispered something into Rihan's ear._

" _Oh no, I am not going to do that…" he rejected._

" _Come on, it is for her well-being." Araya insisted._

" _Tz… you will owe me one then, no matter how it ends." Rihan sighed, gently put his hand on Saaya's (the one with cellphone in it), closed his face to hers and said: "Come on, it is really pretty outside and you can even perfectly see stars here…" he said in a seductive tone, winking with one eye. "What do say that us two alone go and-"_

" _Leave my cellphone alone!" she kicked him with her foot and he fell onto the floor, K.O.'d and fighting to not cry in agony. "Don't you dare take my precious cellphone from meeeeee!"_

" _Well, that didn't work at all…" Araya commented and turned towards Ritsura. "Ritsura, I'll give you nine thousand yen if you try it."_

" _Sold!" Ritsura shouted and, not wanting to repeat her brother's mistake, put her hands on Saaya's shoulders. "Come on, it is really pretty outs-GHAAAAKH!"_

" _UWAWAWAWAWA…" Saaya continued to cry while trying to kick Ritsura out of this world via suffocation with a laptop._

" _This will be a long night…" Araya commented._

* * *

 

_Next day it got even worse as it turned from despair into depression…_

" _Come on Saaya, don't fool around!" Rihan begged her. "These youkai shall eat you in we don't move!" The class had bad luck to be attacked by local youkai but Saaya didn't seem to care._

" _Let them…" Saaya just lay down, not caring much that there are sounds of battle outside. "Life without Internet is worthless! If I can serve as a dish, than it means it had at least some, little worth…"_

" _Oh for heaven's sake, you shall get your Internet tomorrow when we return to Tokyo!"_

" _Every second of this worthless existence is an excruciating pain." She replied with an emotionless tone of a woman that has given up on living. "I won't last so long. Just let me vanish now…"_

" _Oh come on now, stop acting like a child!" Rihan got annoyed, grabbed her, put her onto his shoulder and started running._

" _You are torturing me!" she complained. "Youkai-sama, please save me! Save me from this worthless existence!"_

" _FFS Saaya!" Rihan cursed by using an abbreviation._

* * *

 

"After youkai were taken care of, we decided we had it enough so we lied a bit, an ambulance came and they took her back to Tokyo." Araya thus finished her story.

"Oh come on now Araya-san, it is not nice to talk about a friend like that." Sakura replied, not believing her story.

"It is true though." Saaya confirmed it with zero shame as she took out the flash drive on which she saved the data. "And that's why I am not going to another place where youkai are blocking the Internet connection. Now, if you'd excuse me."

"Wait… THAT'S NOT MADE UP?!" Sakura was more shocked then when she found out that youkai exist. "No wonder you are called the Nerd Princess!"

Saaya replied with a thumbs up as she left the room, making Sakura stare in disbelief. Sakura turned towards everyone hoping to see a confirmation it is not true, but everyone just shrugged their shoulders, confirming it is true.

"Anyway, since Mamoru-sensei may and may not come, lets start the briefing!" Araya proclaimed.

Before anyone could say anything, she clapped her hands, lights turned off and the projector started running, with map of Japan on it.

"This here is Mount Nejireme." Araya pointed at the map. "It is a so-so popular tourist location, usually visited by those interested in occult or mythology."

Araya clapped again, and a picture of a bull-like Gyuki appeared on it.

"I am sure you all know the tale of Umewakamaru about which we talked few weeks ago… though most of you didn't listen at all…" Araya said that last part in a low tone. "…well, besides Sakura to whom I shall mail it in case she doesn't know about it… anyway, Gyuki lives there and before him quite a few youkai called that place home and a lot of supernatural events happened there. Thus, we are going to  _research_  it… intimately." stars could be seen in Araya's eyes.

"Um, Araya-san?" Sakura wanted to ask a question.

"Yes, what is it Miss Brutal?"

"Isn't that place kinda dangerous?" Sakura asked. "Wait, why are you calling me Miss Brutal?!"

"Don't worry, Gyuki-dono is a vassal of the Nura Clan." Araya replied. "Isn't that right Riha-chan?"

Araya asked, but nobody replied.

"Hello, Riha-chan?" Araya repeated. "Riha-chan? Hmm…" Araya ran to the other part of the room and manually turned on the lights. "Well, that bastard ran away again! Bah, we don't need him anyway!" she turned off the light and ran back to where she was before. "Anyway, as I said Gyuki-dono is Nura Clan's vassal and he shall happily allow us entry to every corner of Nejireme, no limits at all!"

"Is that really the truth, Araya-san?" Mayuri asked, although she knew it was pointless.

Araya ignored her query. "Anyway, now that this is taken care of, lets discuss the stuff we need for the trip!" Araya clapped her hands and the lights turned on. "I have brought some stuff but I think we will need to go buy some as well."

"Huh?" Shima finally said something as well. "Araya-chan, we go on the trip soon after school ends. We don't have time to go shopping."

"You forget that the Principal is a member of the Nura Clan." Araya answered as she put a few bags on the table. "He told us that we don't need to go to classes for rest of the day."

"Aw yeah!" Sakura shouted in delight.

"This is why I love you Araya-chan!" Shima was delighted as well.

Mayuri just shoke her head. Had she not skipped classes today, she would have complained.

"Food we will have there, but it would be a good idea to bring some snacks for while we travel." Araya went on. "Shima, you go get… now that was a quick escape…" Araya commented after he suddenly stormed out of the classroom. "To keep this clubroom from getting emptier, I'll do all the shopping."

"Well, you and Mayuri-san are rich so it is probably for the best." Sakura commented. "So, what do you have there?"

"Number one, we hav… Shima-kun, why are you back?"

"Umm, I went to toilet?" he made a big smirk while making an obvious lie. "So you promised to spend money and buy everything. What else?"

"Maybe I should really give that task to-"

"Uwww, my stomach hurts again…"

"Alright, alright I'll buy it all…" Araya sighed. "Anyway, lets return to original point." She said and opened her bag. "Number one, we need something to protect us while sleeping…"

"Wait, didn't you say it was safe there?" Shima looked scared.

"The presence of a pervert like you and the super-stealthy Riha-chan alone makes it not safe." Araya replied.

"Wait, is Nura-kun really dangerous in that way?" Sakura had a surprised expression on her face.

"Why are you not defending me Sakura-chan?" Shima asked in depression.

"Because you are the Pervert Prince after all." Sakura said with her usual brutal naivety, almost killing poor Shima with it. She di not even realize that he was not proud of the title.

"I love this girl… he is son of a Nurarihyon and a Yuki Onna, both youkai types that have tendency of collecting harems." Araya explained. "That, and Riha-chan is a bit more daring in his youkai form."

"Youkai form?" Sakura continued to be confused.

"I'll explain another time." Araya said. "Anyway, lets return to point one please!" she said and took out a teddy whose one side was black and another white.

"Isn't that a…" Sakura started talking in low tone, noticing a pop culture reference.

"No teddies, Araya-san!" Mayuri stopped them both by speaking in very, very strict tone

"But…"

"NO TEDDIES ARAYA-SAN!" Mayuri, who got fed up by Araya's teddy love during all these years, spoke out. "Or I swear I will use every connection I have to screw up this entire trip!"

"…meanie…" Araya looked sad and returned the teddy back into her bag. "So lets go to second one… a weapon in case something dangerous really happens… you never know, an enemy clan may attack while we are there. Fools like challenging the stronger clans after all… or we might meet a rabbit. There are many rabbits in forests after all… have to stay safe."

"Is that… another cultural reference?" Sakura inquired.

"This is a  _Holy Hand Grenade_!" Araya proclaimed. "A powerful weapon said to be created by the legendary artifician Tensei after one extraordinary party." She threw it towards Sakura. "Here, you keep it newbie!"

"Kyaaah!" Sakura caught it. "Don't just throw it like that! We don't want it to go  _Hallelujah_  on us!"

"Third…" Araya continued with her presentation for a while longer. It didn't take long for the other three to realize that Araya just felt a need to throw cultural references at them so they just left during the presentation.

* * *

Ritsura entered the abandoned dojo, just as instructed. Not wanting to risk the hostage's safety, Ritsura didn't let anyone know what was going on.

The dojo was only recently abandoned so it was still in good shape, if a bit dusty. What might matter was its size, and it was big enough to have a 10 on 10 battle between youkai.

She waited for some time, but since nothing happened she dialed the Onmyuji's number.

" _Ah, so you have finally arrived… would you mind turning the volume on and putting it in a pocket or something?"_  he suggested.  _"You may need those hands."_

"What, will you let your Shikigami do the fighting?" she asked while doing as he said.

The next moment, she saw a rat bring a talisman and put it on the floor. The talisman then exploded in black fires and an black ox came out of it.

" _As a matter of fact, I shall."_ He said in a cheerful tone.

"Coward."

" _Strong people have no right to use that word."_ He complained.  _"Anyway, you have fifteen minutes to find us else she gets it."_

"Huh? What do you mean she-"

"MUUUUU!" the ox roared and ran at her with amazing speed. Ritsura, feeling in her gut that it would be bad if it hit her, evaded it and created an ice spear. She didn't know if Nenekirimaru, a sword made by an Onmyouji, would work on a Shikigami and she could not afford wasting time to test it.

_Well, it is not that hard to evade it so if I… huh?_  She felt something on her legs.

As she looked down (she was still in her casual clothes), she saw rats climb up her leg. "GYAAAAH!"

" _Nobody said that the Ox would be your only enemy!"_

"Get off me you pervs!" Ritsura screamed and froze them. The ox used the situation and tried to attack, but she managed to barely evade it.

" _I see… so you are a Yuki Onna…"_  it sounded like the assailant didn't know that already.  _"Well, lets see if you can freeze this many!"_  he said and a storm of ugly rats jumped from above towards her.

"Piece of cake!" she said and breathed at them, intending to freeze them. But to her shock, nothing happened to them. "What?!"

" _You have fallen for one lame lie, Nura Ritsura-chan."_  He taunted her.  _"I obviously knew who you were yet you so naively trusted it… but then, most fall for such stuff he he."_

But there was another nasty surprise for Ritsura: when the rats got close, they exploded and water came our of them, falling onto Ritsura. Although the water was cold, Ritsura felt as if it burnt… and to make it worse, some water fell onto her eyes, so she was blinded for a moment.

" _That is western style holy water… very dangerous when it touches a youkai."_

Ritsura didn' even have time to reply when she heard the ox coming at her. When her eyes got better and she saw it, it was already only a meter away from her and she had to use Nurarihyon's Fear to evade it by a hair.

"Any more tricks, you fake Onmyouji?!"

" _As a matter of fact, yes!"_

"Huh?" Ritsura felt that something has changed, but needed a few moments to realize what. She was unable to use her Fear, neither her mother's nor her father's. She grabbed one of the bangs of her hair and saw that it turned brown.

She was in her human form… which made seeing the ox prepare for another attack a bit terrifying.

" _Ten minutes remaining."_ The voice proclaimed.  _"Don't worry, I won't hurt you… I just want to see you when ten minutes pass…"_

* * *

In the end, her brother Mamoru did not come to school, something other teachers didn't complain bout because he had no classes today anyway. Mayuri was not sure if he was just busy or intentionally evaded her, but she was frustrated non the less. She likely won't have time to talk with him until later tonight, once everyone goes to rest… and might be a problem as well in case he really does avoid her.

But there was another thing that bothered her. She had a bad feeling about this trip, as if something was going to happen. After all, the Nura Clan's heirs fought yesterday yet the clan has no qualms of sending them somewhere else… no, they are sending them to the strongest subject of the Nura Clan (Ritsura mentioned this once).

And she feared something bad would happen and it might affect her or Mamoru. It could be Shiori, but it could also be someone else… after all, the Onieda family seems to be hated by many youkai.

So, she decided to use one of her father's few gifts he gave her. She felt as if she was betraying Mamoru, but seeing as he didn't want to talk at all with her, she thought it was fair.

"I see Ojou-sama finally realized I exist." One of her classmates said when she entered the gym where he practiced kendo against an unexisting opponent. The gym was empty, perfect for a private conversation.

"I always knew you existed." She answered in cold tone. He was her father's lapdog which made her feel little care for him.

"Me and my colleagues have been made your bodyguards since the last year of elementary." He said. "Yet, only now, in first year of high school, you decided to talk with one of us."

Mayuri didn't say anything. She just stood there with her arms crossed.

This made him smirk. "Hmph, you are your father's daughter Ojou-sama. So, what do you need of me?"

"What kind of bodyguard are you?" she asked. "A swordsman or something more?"

He looked at her for a few moments and then said. "I myself am an expert in Occult techniques, with some training in Exorcism." He revealed. Had she not known about the existence of the youkai wold, he may have lied.

"Would you be able to fight an youkai in the need arises?"

"We are not there to guard you against humans, Ojou-sama." He smirked again and stopped practicing. "But what do you currently need? A bodyguard… a hitman… or something else?"

"A bodyguard." She didn't like the fact that he said word  _hitman_ so lightly. "I am traveling to Mount Nejireme today and I have a reason to suspect that my life might be endangered."

He opened his mouth to say something, but she continued before he could say anything.

"You will get there yourself and be in the town closest to Mount Nejireme. You will give me your number and if I need you, I shall call for you."

"Seems tough… I will be far away and I would need quite a bit of time to reach Nejireme and find you if I am needed." He complained, but still sent he an SMS so she would have his number.

"It is a risk I am taking." She replied and turned to leave. "See you."

"Thank you for the honorable duty, Ojou-sama." He bowed to her, although she would not be able to see him. "I am your weapon to use as you willst."

* * *

"Just as I thought, you were here Riha-chan." Araya's voice made Rihan open his eyes. He saw her lean against the doors of the dorm room where he decided to rest.

"How did you know I am here?" he asked while resting on the floor. Coming to school proved to be a different kind of torture from staying at home. While at home he would probably not be able to get his mind of from what happened, here he was unable to keep thinking about it. His life simply went on… a fact that made him, the murderer, feel terrified of himself. He wanted to get over it and continue with his life… but at the same time, he was afraid of keep going on as he always did, thinking he deserved to be punished. So when he got a chance, he retreated here where nobody would bother him.

"I made a guess." She answered. "You seemed quite shaken by something when you came from the battle so when you disappeared, I guessed you would go somewhere to find peace and quiet."

"That doesn't answer how you knew where to find me."

"Unused dorm rooms are the only place here on the campus where chance of someone finding you was zero. Then I only had to find a room, which I did by guessing that you might use the same room which you used yesterday."

"Hmm…" he smirked a bit. He remembered the two of them having a conversation here yesterday, also because he was shaken by what happened. "And why did you try to find me when you knew I wanted to be alone?"

"What happened during last night's battle?" she decided to ask her question instead.

"Not nice of you to ignore my question." He replied, trying to force the conversation onto his road.

She just stood there in silence for some time until she walked up to him and sat beside him. "What happened?" she repeated her question.

He starred at her for some time. After a few moments, he moved his eyes away and gave her an answer: "I fought and lost, that's what it was!" he tried to make himself sound angry… which was easy as this thing did bother him as well, even if not to such an extent. "I trained for years, yet how did it end? I get out filled with bullets, surviving only because of the enemy's whim! I may have fought Shiori, but still it-"

"You lie." She cut him off.

"Eh?" he was surprised she gave such a confident answer.

"If it were something that bad to shake you up  _like that_ , you would be far less calm." Her hand's grip on his strengthened… which is what made him realize that she put her hand on his without him noticing. "You are an emotional guy… and I noticed before that you have a tendency to shake when you get distressed about something… latest such event being yesterday. Yet you were perfectly calm now… no, you turned stiff, a reaction sometimes done by those who want to lie without showing signs of it."

"Ha ha… you re quite something, aren't you?" he had to change his tactic. "Tell you what… you tell me what secrets you are keeping and I'll tell you mine. A fair trade, no?"

"Rejected." She said without hesitation.

"Then we have nothing to talk about, do we?" he said and, thinking it was over, he tried to raise up.

But she grabbed him by the shoulder, which made him reflexively stop. "Still, what happened?" she asked again.

The fact that she didn't give up yet made him feel as if he failed, although all rationality told him that he has the right to remain silent now. "Would you… please stop asking that?"

"What happened?" she asked once again.

"Please stop." He felt his will breaking. He tried to explain to himself that he doesn't need to say anything, but it didn't work.

"What happened?"

"Stop asking that!" he shouted. He knew he must not talk to anyone about it. He knew he would not be able to stand the thought that someone he cares about sees him as a murderer. He did not want the truth to destroy his comfortable life.

"Please… just stop…" Yet, he wanted to talk about it with someone. When it hurts, you desire someone's support.

"What happened?" this time, it wa a killing shoot.

"I…" he started shivering, just like Araya mentioned he tends to do. "I…" he tried to stop himself, but to no avail. "I murdered a comrade…" he finally revealed and turned towards her, expecting to see quite a face on her.

"So that's what happened…" however, Araya's face remained cold as before, with no signs of shock… though sadness could be heard in her voice. "So… what happened?"

"Eh?"

"What happened?"

"I already told you… it is the truth…"

"I know… so what happened?" she repeated that question again, even now when it made no sense.

"I told you! I killed a comrade… a comrade who served me… trusted me!"

"So, what happened?"

"How many times will you ask me that… Shiori took a comrade of mine as a hostage and I killed him…" he was annoyed, but confessing his sin took a lot of energy from him and he found himself unable to muster any more energy to complain so he just went on with her stupid game.

"So, what happened?"

"I killed a comrade… I thought they would kill him anyway, and in a more brutal fashion…"

"So, what happened?"

"I thought it would be not worth saving him when I had such a chance of slaying the enemy leader… so I killed him…"

"So, what happened?"

"I…  **why**  did I kill him?" he finally realized there was something weird.

If he was in the same situation now, he would NOT have done the same thing. Yes, he remembered the reasons but, now that he thought about it, he found it hard to believe it. No, he was certain that even yesterday, he would not have done it. So, why did he do it? He was so focused on what he did that he forgot to wonder  _why_.

"That's what I have been wondering all the time." Araya's until now cold face finally put out a small smile "What happened to make you do it?"

"I have no idea… I have really, really no idea…" he turned toward her again, noticing that her smile widened. "Why are you smirking like that?"

"Because you normally wouldn't have done it." she replied. "I have a reason to be happy about it, don't I?"

"But I did do it… I may not be sure why, but I did do it. I was not possessed or anything."

"Of course you did it… that's something you have to accept." She said, her smile wavering a bit though still present. "But you are wrong… possession and suggestion work so that it weakens the good in you and strengthen the evil in you…" her smile than disappeared. "In other words, at least a small part of you wanted to kill him."

"B-"

"However…" she didn't give him a chance to speak. "…everyone has good and evil thoughts, many of which they are unaware you know… which might be for the better. The more powerful the technique, the more probably it is that you would be forced to do something you normally wouldn't… normally."

"In other words… you claim that someone forced me to do it… someone like Shiori did something to me?" now that he thought about it, that Kouri person said he was able to force others to act according to Shiori's will, something which was especially easy when the victim is unaware of it. It would not be surprising if Shiori did something to him.

He found himself an enemy, a fact that made him feel calmer. As long as he has an enemy, he felt his problems could be solved.

"You have an ugly face there…" Araya started saying in a concerned tone. "You are thinking about revenge maybe?"

"Of course I am…" he answered her. "If someone did this to me… if they used me to kill someone… yes, I want to make them pay."

"And that's one of your problems, Riha-chan." She added, her tone growing progressively sadder.

"…what do you mean?"

"You could think of many things… like protecting your comrades… yet you think of revenge. You know Riha-chan, there is this saying…" she continued. " _The one who stares into the abyss eventually falls into it_ … in other words, the more you stare towards the enemy aka abyss, the likelier you will become like them. The more you stare towards those you care, the safer your soul and mind shall be."

"So you are saying-"

"I am saying you should be careful about what you want, Riha-chan." She rose to her feet. "Think a bit less about who your enemy is and more about yourself and what you want. The greatest enemy to every human is the evil in him… or so claim some wise men."

"…you act like someone who almost fell into it." he noticed.

"No, I don't act like someone who almost fell into it, Riha-chan…" she gave him a bitter smile. "I have experience with that problem though and I'd prefer to not see you fall like I saw…" she then turned silent.

"Hm?"

"Anyway, what will you do now?" she turned towards him. "I am thankful that you confessed something like this to me, but what about the rest? Will you keep it a secret or will you reveal it to everyone?"

"I will… keep silent for now. I am not so afraid for what may happen to me but… the truth might hurt those who care so until I make it up at least a bit… I shall risk and stay silent."

"Alright then…" she smirked. "Anyway, you will suffocate in the heavy atmosphere in this depressing, empty room. So lets do our club duty."

"Our… club duty?"

"Yes! We have to go shopping!" of course, only Ichinoe Araya could so casually jump from a serious topic to something like this. "It was too late yesterday so I'd like to go now and, since Shima fled and the rest don't want, I decided to take you with me. You have no choice but to come."

"Shopping eh?"

"You-have-no-choice-but-to-come!" she repeated with a threatening tone. "I am not going alone on a club activity or else you will what happens when I go shopping without supervision!"

"Alright, alright…" he accepted, although he knew he would regret it, like every other man following a woman to a shopping mall would. "I will be very glad to go shopping alone with you." He lied in a suggestive tone.

"Alright then!" she gave a dull answer to which Rihan made a disappointed sigh. "Huh, what is it?"

"Come on, why don't you be at least a bit embarrassed about it." he demanded. "No matter what one tells you, you are always so un-cute about it."

"Oh… you want me to be tsundereish?" she noticed and then smiled. "Okay, I can do that!" she coughed a bit and then pointed a finger at him. "W… whatever! Actually, you don't even need to come… Baka! I shall be fine without you and your indecent behavior! Hmph!" she turned around and started walking away at a fast pace.

"Well, at least she tries." He smiled and followed the wanna-be tsundere.

"W-why are you smirking like that?!"

"Alright, you can stop now."

"Oh, and I just started to get into it…"

Once again she made him feel better about his predicament, and more hopeful that it would get better… something she always had a tendency to do to him since the first time they met. "Thanks." He simply said, with her giving no reply back.

* * *

While the ox circled around, the brown-haired Ritsura just stood in the same place, with her arms on her hips. The look on her face was expresionless rather than angry or afraid.

" _Only five minutes remaining…"_  the voice said.

Ritsura already concluded the ox would not attack her, so she spent these five minutes simply thinking the situation through. Her intuition told her the Onmyouji isn't far away so she should just focus on defeating the ox. She could not use any of her Fear, but she remained confident that there is a way out of this situation.

She took the icy spear she created some time ago and acted as if she intended to use it. The spear broke when it fell on the floor and her hands didn't catch it.

" _You sure got clumsy, Ritsura-chan."_

"Shut up!" she acted as if she lost her patience. This was a game of deceit, and the more deceptive one shall win. And this form was the deceptive one. "Hyaaaah!" she screamed and ran towards the bull with Nenekirimaru.

Lacking strength and speed of a youkai, the ox had no problem hitting her, making her fall on the floor under him.

" _Well, I guess this is my…"_

"…defeat." Ritsura said and hit the ox's throat with the ice shard she caught and his when the spear broke. The ox moaned and disappeared in flash of light, just like the boar before.

"… _what?"_

"Youkai can survive most wounds that could kill a human." Ritsura said. "However, beheading or stabbing a heart would kill the most…" she continued, knowing full well that her great grandfather survived losing his heart but he was far above this Shikigami in power. "…as would stabbing something up one's throat." She said as she took the tip of her ice spear that fell on the floor when the ox vanished. "The spear didn't accidentally fall from my hands you see… and when it broke, I caught a shard and hid it in my sleeve."

" _Ha ha ha… guess that training affects even your human skills."_

Ritsura put he hand onto her back and ripped of a talisman that a rat put there.

" _So… you even knew I put that there."_

"Don't bother deceiving a Nurarihyon. Most of those won't work on us." She said and ripped it apart.

" _So, why didn't you remove it sooner?_ "

"It would not be sporty from me to cheat in your game. So.. where are you two" 

" _Just go to the kitchen beside the dojo. See you there!"_  the voice said and ended the call.

Ritsura used the small amount of her mother's Fear to cool herself and thus turn back into her Yuki Onna form again as she left the dojo. She was less cunning in this form, but stronger and thus safer.

"And done! You are right on time, Ojou-sama!" the Bake-Neko girl proclaimed as she put the cooking pot on the table. Seems like this was what the Onmyouji meant when he said that Ritsura had fifteen minutes to find them.

There, a boy with black hair and a smirk sat. He waved his hand when she entered. "Hi there Ritsura-chan, I hope you enjoyed this little game of ours." 

"As I thought… it is the wicked Onmyouji Ryuzan, son of the almighty Keikain Ryuuji." She said with a smile.

"Oh you guessed even that much." He sighed. "And there I thought to surprise you."

"There are only two Onmyouji so keen on using deception: a cranky and a lively one. Since it was not the former, must have been his son." She explained. "Anyway, I see you grew quite a bit as an Onmyouji since the last time I saw you."

"And you also grew in all the right places." He smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"…but I guess some things never change…" she said with a sweatdrop.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And another SoL chapter is done! Yay me!

\- as we see, Saaya may not be eccentric like her father, but she is still eccentric in her own way ;P

\- you didn't really think that Masato had no bodyguard assigned to protect his kids, did you?

\- and Rihan Junior finally got better… now to deal with those damn inner demons

\- and Ryuji's son finally got his own introduction. Look forward to what this guy is made up of

\- and we get our first glance at Ritsura's other form

And way, thanks for reading and Lelouch would like to command you all to review the damn thing *_°

 


	17. The Everyday Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a small talk with Araya, Rihan realized that there is more to his sin than it originally seemed, thus allowing him to calm down a bit. Ritsura managed to track down the Onmyouji who caused trouble, and then finding out it was an old friend of hers, Keikain Ryuzan. In meantime, their father Rikuo is still in the States, trying to figure out what Shin Sekai is up to.

**Chapter 17: The Everyday Life**

Michael Dower McRein sat on a bench. Beside him sat one of Rikuo Nura's demons, wearing glasses, a hat and a long coat and pretending to be reading newspapers, all with intention to hide his appearance and protect McRein while his comrades keep an eye on his family. However, McRein was not sure if all that was necessary seeing as he himself had trouble remembering he was there, not to mention that he lost sight of the other demons keeping guard. None of the humans noticed the demon and his inhuman appearance, although countless passed by them.

It was scary how good these demons were at hiding. McRein was certain that, had he not already known that demons would be guarding him, he would not even notice this guy even if he were following him around for days.

Even scarier was the thought of evil demons hiding like that. Something about Rikuo Nura made McRein trust him with his own life and he trusted the beings serving Rikuo, but what about the evil ones? Just how many are hiding amongst the humans, causing harm whenever they get a chance?

And what does that make the Shin Sekai, an organization that made the supposedly strongest Japanese demon see them as a serious threat? Just how much harm and suffering can they cause to the innocent? They can claim to be fighting for humanity's sake, but just like how Rikuo Nura felt trustable, the Shin Sekai felt wicked which was enough for McRein to make his judgment.

Yet, so many of his acquittances fight for the Shin Sekai, blinded by promises of wealth and power. Those disgusting rich people see nothing but their own profit, no matter the costs.

Yet, even McRein was on Shin Sekai's side until recently, giving them any kind of aid they wanted. Yes, he rejected many of their offers and had no respect for them, but what does it matter when he gave them the only thing that they need? In the end, even if he didn't want power or wealth, he was exactly like those disgusting rich assholes. Ironically, he was a man who stomped over many on his rise to this position so he wasn't much different from them to begin with.

But he has to protect his family… or that was the excuse he always used. A noble motivation, yet he knew it was wrong. Even though he now supported Rikuo Nura, he knew he was still only an opportunist, doing everything to protect what was his.

It is that kind of emotions that made McRein come to sit at this place, in front of a playground filled with pre-school children and a few kids from early elementary. It was a happy, heartwarming place, something only an adult would understand while a teenager would find it to be a hell on Earth.

McRein remembered when his mother and father brought him to this place to play with him, and he even remembered some of his childish daydreamings like when he imitated Indiana Jones trying to save the girl who would later become his wife.

He remembered when he brought his own children here. Even when he was busy, he fought to at least find time to spend time with them at this place.

And few days ago, when he looked at it for a moment while driving his car beside this place, he remembered smiling and imagining playing with his grandkids as well.

But this playground wasn't owned by him. No, as one could see now there were dozens of families here at the moment, all enjoying their happy lives… and all of their lives were, McRein felt, endangered by this Shin Sekai.

Seeking more moral support, McRein took the pendant around his neck and opened it revealing a picture of his deceased parents on one half and a cross on another. When McRein started making his fortune, his father warned him to never forget how it is to be a proper human being and to always help others when he is able and to never look aside when wrong deeds are committed.

And just how many times did he pray to this cross, both to keep his family safe and to succeed in business? Today, his family was safe and his business still flourishes… and now he had a chance to use that wealth to keep other families safe.

McRein made his choice. He shall not sit around and cheer. No, by using his wealth and his connections, he shall fight this battle, thus proving that he deserves what his parents and God have granted him.

* * *

"You say your name is Rikuo Nura, right?" the female dean said to Rikuo. He visited the Faculty that is supposed to be one of Shin Sekai's research institutes, though at its start the task proved to be a bit harder than expected.

"Indeed I am." Rikuo bowed and sat on a seat in front of her.

"You said at the entrance that you are an entrepreneur from the H&H Robotics, coming to check on projects and potential employees here, right?" she asked to which Rikuo nodded. "Hm, we checked with your company and indeed they confirmed that you work for them."

It was a lie made possible thanks to McRein's sudden help. Normally, only students, educators, entrepreneurs and those who work for the Obsidian Enterprises (a company that founded and sponsors this faculty) can enter the campus. This amount of secrecy was suspicious and Rikuo had no doubts that Obsidian Enterprises was related to Shin Sekai. Even if he fails to find out anything here, Rikuo was certain that checking on this company could give some useful information.

"I don't want to sound bothersome, but the usual procedure requires you to announce your arrival."

"Ha ha, I am sorry about that… only an hour ago I got a notice to come here as soon as possible and in few hours I have to fly to Chicago."

"Still, I can't allow…"

Seeing as she didn't want to back down easily, Rikuo put on his yakuza face and said: "Listen lady, if you value your job we shall go right onto business, is that clear?"

For a moment, fear could be seen on the woman's face. But she quickly composed herself and put on her poker face back. "On other hand, it won't hurt to skip the procedure this time. But next time, PLEASE announce your arrival. Sometimes it can take days to prepare what a client wants to see… which I hope means that you won't expect us to show you something we can't because you appeared so suddenly."

Rikuo almost said it was alright but quickly concluded that saying so could be used against him later on so instead he said the opposite: "If I need to see something, I shall see it. I am sure your high level faculty can improvise something if needed. My company wouldn't be checking it if it was sub-par."

"…we will see what we can do if needed. Now, lets discuss what your company needs from us…"

Now came the hard part. Rikuo will need to find out as much as he can about the Shin Sekai, without blowing his cover or what he is really interested in.

Then a phone rang. "Please excuse me…" the Dean said and answered it. "Oh, Mr. McRein… what do you need? Ah… I see… thank you for telling us."

Rikuo found it surprising to hear McRein's name here… and he found the Dean's unpleasant, villanous smile on her face even more surprising.

"Mr. Nura, you should have said that your company wasn't interested into our public works... but about seeing what they can get by supporting the Shin Sekai…"

Rikuo had to give his best to not to grin. After so much time, he shall finally learn the truth behind this organization.

* * *

Three figures walked through one of Ukiyoe Town's Street. Although they looked human, a careful observer would notice that there was something weird with each one of them, both in appearance and in the fact that they seemed to be following someone that walked on the other side of the road.

"That is the girl Yashagoro-kun started fancying, Kibiki Sakura." Said the one called Yanagida as they watched. "I already told you where she lives. Once you have taken care of her family… well, I told you already." He said with a wicked smile.

As if it was meant as a sign, the other two nodded and disappeared.

"It is dangerous to get close to others you know… Yashagoro-kun." Yanagida said to nobody in particular. "But also very, very useful… he he he…"

* * *

"This is such a heavy burden…" Rihan commented.

"Come on now, Riha-chan!" Araya complained. "Didn't we discuss it already enough at the dorm?"

"I am not talking about that, Araya-chan… but about these heavy bags!" Rihan said to the girl in front of him while they were in an underground mall. "Whats with some of these things anyway? Makeup? Fishing poles? A golf player set? Cake-making recipes? This is not even needed for where we are going!" Rihan complained, although he kind of expected this for going shopping with a girl.

"Tz, tz, tz Riha-chan…" she moved her pointing finger left and right. "It says in the rule-book: if the boy thinks that going shopping with a girl is a chore, make it one helluva chore for him!"

"What?! So this really is useless?!"

" _Useless_  is a relative term, Riha-chan. It may not be useful now but…" She stopped when she opened her eyes. "Riha-chan, is that really steam coming out of your ears?"

"Enough with the jokes!" he replied and stretched out his hands. "Here, take all the crap we don't need for the trip!"

"You are going to make a girl carry all that heavy load?" Araya feigned shock. "How indecent from you, Riha-chan! I didn't know you had it in you!"

"Well then don't waste our time buying crap!"

"Rejected, I am too delicate to carry all this crap!"

"…did you really just admit that it is crap?"

"Well, it is." She shrugged. "I'd call for someone to carry them home in my stead, but I see one of your  _friends_  is close by." She said and pointed at someone behind him.

Rihan turned around and saw someone close to them hide his face behind a newspaper. Rihan, annoyed that someone from the clan is spying on him again, walked to him and said.

"Muramoto-san, good to find you here!" Rihan greeted a red-faced youkai with pointy ears.

"H-Hello waka!" the youkai seemed a bit regretful for being discovered.

"Sorry to bother you, but my arms hurt due to yesterday's battle and…"

"Will take care of it immediately, waka!" the youkai grabbed his bags and then shouted to the other bodyguard-spies. "Come here guys, lets carry this to… where do we take this?"

"Ukiyoe High, west wing second floor, clubroom with SIC written on its doors." Rihan said and put down few bags classified as  _crap_. "This one please take home." He put down another bag classified as  _crap_. "This one take to my good friend, Shima." He said and put down two more bags classified as crap. "And these ones take to the front of the school and please and wait for me or nee-san." He said and put down the rest.

"Yes Waka!" the youkai said and split in all directions.

"Well, that is one way to get rid of people following us." Araya walked to him and commented.

"Anyway, is there anything else we need? Let me repeat one of the words: NEED."

"Yep, everything on this list that isn't crossed!" Araya said and took out a piece of paper.

"Let me check it out first." Rihan took the paper from her hand and read it. "Yep.. alright… good, all seems legit." He said, put it into his pocket and started walking.

"I'd like for that memo to be returned back to me."

"No, you'll probably just add something onto it… or bring out another memo, with a larger list."

"Do you really think that I am capable of writing onto a paper while it is inside my pocket?" Araya continued complaining. "Or that I would be able to make you forget about what you just read?"

"Years of exposure to Ichinoe Araya's radiation thought me to not take any risks." He answered with a smile. Then he suddenly noticed something not far from him and stopped. "Lets go buy the first item on the list somewhere else… I just remembered that many complained about-"

"There is only one place here where we can buy  _that_ , Riha… eh?"

Seeing as Plan A failed, Rihan jumped onto Plan B: he stole her glasses. "Wow, I just now noticed what a nice border color these glasses have…"

Araya just looked towards him for a few moments and then turned her head around. " _Week of Classical Asian_   _Folktales! Buy them here!_ " Araya read a sign that was so far that Rihan was sure she would be unable to do without her glasses. "If that's what you wanted to hide from me, don't worry: I was there yesterday." Araya said with a re-assuring smile. "Now please give them back."

Rihan just starred at her for a few moments and then put them on. "This is… normal glass? Do you even have problems with your eyes?"

"Gakh!" Araya feigned despair. "You discovered my dark secret! Yes, I admit! I only wear them as a decoration…"

"A decoration?"

"Yep, they make me look smarter." She turned from false depression back to her usual behavior. "Now, please give them back." She tried to grab them but Rihan walked backwards. Araya tried to grab them again, but he dodged that attack of hers as well. "…please?"

"Nope." He said and put them into a pocket from the inner side of his uniform. "Now, lets continue…"

"Hey, I am serious here. Give them back."

"…where we were headed." Rihan ignored her and continued walking.

"Hey!" Araya ran to him and continued walking besides him. "At least say why you took them from me!"

"But seriously, I did hear people complain about that store."

"Quite brave of you to ignore me, Riha-chan…"

"Ha ha… I surrender." He quickly gave in after that warning. "It is simply because… hmm…" he stopped walking and looked at her.

"Because of what?" Araya asked. "Why are you just… eh?" just then she noticed that he was holding her hair band and that her pony-tail was released. "Hey, stop stealing my fashion accessories!" she complained while he was putting the hair band he stole into his pocket.

"You look better without them." He said.

"I am flattered but…"

"I feel like more could be done… but what?" he mumbled as he continued looking at her.

"You are acting all weird today…"

"Ah, if that ain't my grandson and Ichinoe-san!" a female voice said from behind them.

"Ah, hello Wakana-san." Araya was first to answer to the lady in yellow kimono that was carrying a bag of vegetables. As usual, Araya acted as a vampire that just saw the sun rising.

"Yes, that's it!" the younger Rihan finally realized and turned around. "Ah grandma, we were just talking about you!"

"You did?" Wakana replied.

"We did?" Araya replied.

"They did?" one of the remaining spies commented.

"Yes, Araya-chan was talking about how she would like for us, since we are staying at an traditional Japanese house at Nejireme, to wear traditional Japanese clothes but that she was bad at picking kimonos and yukatas…"

"Huh?" Araya muttered, realizing what Rihan tried to do.

"Oh, is that so?!" Wakana seemed like she had stars in her eyes., to which even Araya could not answer any other way but by nodding. "I am so glad to see youngsters still being interested in traditional clothes!" Wakana grabbed Araya's arm and started pulling her away. "Lets go, I have seen a few that would perfectly fit both you and Mayuri-san! You will LOVE them!"

"Ha ha, thank you very much Wakana-san…" Araya said with a smile and then turned towards her classmate and moved a finger under her throat to show him how pissed off she is and what awaits him.

"Just you two go and have fun, I'll go buy what remains on the list!" he waved to them. "Looking forward to seeing you in a kimono, Araya-chan!" he said and left her to mercy of his human grandmother.

* * *

"Thanks for the meal!" Ritsura said to the cat girl, to which she reacted with a humble bow.

"Indeed, it was delicious." Ryuzan said to the cat girl, to which she reacted with a humble blush.

"Now if you excuse me, I need to go back to the bar else the others will get worried." The cat girl said and left.

"Now, back onto the topic." Ritsura said as she cleaned her mouth with a napkin. "What is a Kyoto Onmyouji doing here in Tokyo?"

"Well, I am no longer in charge of mentoring that idiot cousin of mine so dad gave me a better job." He said, cleaning his own mouth with back of his finger. "Formally, my new job is to clean Tokyo of the youkai, including the wicked and evil Nurarihyon. Translated from the tsundere language that means: help the Nura Clan keep Tokyo safe from Hyaku Monogatari."

"So you were sent due to what happened last night?"

"No, I just found out about that when I was already on my way here." Ryuzan shrugged. "It is just that dad took an interest into those guys after the Tokyo Tag incident and wants me to look into them. You see, he concluded that the only ones eviler than youkai are those that create them."

Had Ritsura not already known that Keikain Ryuji was a tsundere, she would have no doubt been insulted by him calling youkai evil. "Well, you sure will have work to do then. Shiori has managed to built quite a Hyaki Yakou, both by creating them and recruiting youkai native to Tokyo."

"Great, I am sure you and me will have a lot of fun by hunting them down, won't we?" he said and took her hand.

Annoyed, Ritsura tried to do what she does with all flirts: freeze him. However, he didn't seem to react to her Fear. "I see that Shikigami summoning ain't the only Onmyoujutsu art that you got better at."

"Well, of course. Shikigami are auntie's specialty." He let her hand go. "Like dad, I am expert at words and barriers. Shikigami summoning is only there so I could have more use of them."

"I take it that is was a barrier that made it impossible for me to freeze those rats?"

"Yes, those rats and me right now." He winked at her. "I am able to put a barrier on my Shikigami at any time, thus protecting them from many kinds of attacks."

"Aha… so I take it that you father thought you how to use the barriers and your aunt how to summon the Shikigami?"

"Don't be kidding me, my aunt is both high above my level in summoning arts and on the same level as my idiotic cousin in… well, everything else." Ryuzan said and Ritsura made a small laugh. She already knew that Ryuji and Yura were at one another' throat, and that trait seems to have been inherited by their offspring. "Geniuses can be bad mentors to normal people like me. So, I got a better tutor, which is what allowed me to so early develop so many techniques that nobody in my family uses."

"Ah yes…" Ritsura remembered that Ryuzan was friends with another Onmyouji. "It is that guy who liked playing Casanova just like you… Kashaimaru wasn't it?"

Ritsura noticed that Ryuzan's smile disappeared when she said his name. "Yes… we helped one another and to me that meant that I got good help in developing my own techniques."

"And what did you give him?" Ritsura asked this, but not who was the original Casanova… or if they befriended one another due to both being flirts.

Ryuzan smiled again and winked. "Lessons in deceit of course." Then the smile disappeared again. "Well, lets hope it doesn't bite us in the ass later…"

"…what happened between you two?"

"Nothing, just another example of two guys getting to a crossroad and each taking a different route after some bickering."

Ritsura remembered those two being best friends while she was in Kyoto years ago. She could not even imagine what could split those two apart… but then, she didn't know anything about Kashaimaru, not even his surname. However, she saw with her own eyes that he was a powerful Onmyouji for his age which for some reason made her a bit weary of him.

Instead, she decided to change the topic back to his techniques. "Anyway, I saw that you have three youkai that you are able to summon. That's quite a bit for an Onmyouji I heard."

"Actually, it is nine more than that." He winked again.

"…you are kidding? How is that not on your aunt's level?!"

"For starters, my aunt can summon all of hers at once and not get exhausted." He started explaining. "As for me… well, the Shikigami I can summon are from the Chinese Zodiac and because of that there are quite a few annoying restrictions."

"Such as?"

"Now now, I can't tell everything to a youkai, can I now?"

"What if I give you a Yuki Onna style sexy wink?" she smiled and winked.

"Sold!" he said and the two laughed a bit. "First restriction is that I can summon them in order. For example, after the Boar I summon the Rats and after the Rats I summon the Ox. Second restriction is based upon the elements: as an Water Onmyouji, the Shikigami whose fixed element in Zodiac is water are stronger."

"If I remember right, the Boar, the Rats and the Ox are signs with fixed water element, right?"

"Correct, I wanted to summon the best during this game of ours. The Third Restriction is the Yin and Yang fixed alignment of the signs. I can only have one Yin Shikigami summoned at a time and one Yang Shikigami."

"Since the order of summoning is fixed, uneven signs are Yang and even are Yin, why is that a problem?"

"Think a little more about it… lets say I summoned a Boar, which is Yin, and Rats, which are Yang. After the Rats comes the Ox which is Yin. Now, if the Boar is unsumooned or defeated, there is no problem. However, if the Rats are defeated I can't summon the Ox because he is the same alignment as the Boar so I'd either have to fight with only one Shikigami or unsummon the Boar in order to summon two more. And summoning is exhausting to me, especially for those whose element is fire."

"Ugh… you sure made it complicated, didn't you?" Ritsura sighed. However, she was glad to see that he got stronger. Although he wasn't as impressive years ago, he was still dangerous if only for his deceit. She saw him deceive an enemy youkai into trusting him and then, when that youkai lowered her guard around him, he striked at her without any hesitation or regret, making Ritsura aware that he was just as his father and that behind those smiles a ruthless Onmyouji was hiding… he was at the end of the day his father's son. "Anyway, how long will you be in Tokyo?"

"For quite a while. I still have to find a home to stay at, but next week I am moving to your school."

"Ah, really? I am glad to hear that!" as a friend, Ritsura was happy to hear it… not to mention that this can be used to reduce the number of the bodyguards that spy on her. "Well, if you are staying here, you can stay at the mansion!"

"No, I don't think an Onmyouji should-"

"A yakuza's offer is not to be refused." Although Ritsura smiled, she had a dangerous, threatening aura around her… as one would expect of the future leader of a yakuza.

"A… alright. I am thankful for your hospitality."

"You will also… wait a second! What is the time?!" Ritsura took out her cellphone and looked at it. "Oh shit, we shall be late!"

"Late for what?" Ryuzan was confused.

"The trip!" they had to be at school, but the two of them were quite far away from it right now.

"What trip?"

"To Nejireme!" she stood up and pulled him by his arm. "Congratulations, you have been induced into the mighty SIC."

"…huh?"

"I'll explain later! We gotta hurry!"

"Never a moment of break with you is it?" Ryuzan commented and laughed.

* * *

"Oh, Sakura-chan!" Shima greeted Kibiki Sakura who was sitting at a table and drinking a glass of juice.

"Oh, Shima-kun!" she smiled when she saw him. Unlike the other three girls, Sakura seemed like both the only normal and the only girl to greet him with honest delight. She didn't even object when he sat at her table. "You have quite a few bags there." She commented.

"Of course, I have quite a lot of clothes and food."

"Aaand…" she asked with her usual honest smile.

"Please don't say that evil nickname again…" he already concluded that Sakura didn't call on his perversion due to malice but simply because she didn't see anything wrong with it. "Anyway, why haven't you changed yet? Or will you be going in your uniform."

"I am waiting for an acquittance of my parents." She explained. "He will give me something that I have to take home and then I will change and go to the bus."

"Will you have time to prepare?"

"All done yesterday." She gave a thumbs up. She then turned her head aside and looked into the caffe. "Oh, what is that?"

"What?" he turned his head there as well, but saw nothing. "Sakura-san, what did you… eh, where did that come from?"

Suddenly, a box sat on their table.

"Ah, I guess this is what I was waiting for." Sakura said.

"When… who…"

"I guess he was just in hurry." She answered, though the usual feeling of honesty was gone. Sakura opened the box and took out a statue of a sitting woman with a child in her arms.

"Is that… Kannon?" Shima didn't need long to recognize this bodhisattva, partially because he was in a Buddhist shrine not long ago. "Are your families Buddhist monks or something?" Interestingly, the statue looked quite expensive.

"Well… you could say they are monks, yes." She confirmed, looking around the statue.

"I see it has a few scratches as well…" Shima commented when he noticed two crossed scratches on the child's chest.

Sakura quickly turned it around and looked at it. "Oh no… hope dad won't be angry about it… well, I guess it is time to go home." She said, quickly returning the statue back into the box. "See you later Shima-kun! And don't worry, I payed the bill already!" she said and ran away.

"Is it just me or is she acting weird today?" Shima scratched his cheek.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And 17th chapter is done! Woohoo!

\- I wonder if anyone expected McRein to appear again after the first chapter but hey, he did! From his perspective we also see the threat of both fighting against a great evil and by staying safe. McRein had to make a choice between trying to stay aside and hope the SS gets beaten or trying to fight them. In the end, he took the second option

\- and he started acting immediately, taking care to get Rikuo both inside the Faculty and to make the Dean talk about what interests Rikuo the most. Just how much will Rikuo learn before Masato shows up? (also, wonder if anyone caught the reference ;) )

\- one of Araya's dark secrets was discovered and she was punished by Rihan changing her usual appearance. Time for revenge has come!

\- Ryuzan and Ritsura have a small chat, mainly focused on Ryuzan's techniques… though we also found out that he and Kashaimaru used to be friends until something happened between them. Can you smell the drama unfolding?

\- Yanagida: the man who tries his best to make one's life as miserable as possible

Anyway, thanks for reading and now go and review. Seriously, I need  **reviews**  else a youkai will eat me. Think of the Nayrael!


	18. The Forgotten Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nura Rikuo is still overseas trying to gather information on the Shin Sekai and, thanks to McRein, it seems like he is close to a true goldmine… in meantime, Ritsura is bringing in a new club member while Rihan is contemplating about his relationships

**Chapter 18: The Forgotten Love**

_This world sure is small…_

"It is unfortunate that we don't have a youkai at hand to show you, but this is truly a work of genius." One of the younger researchers explained to Rikuo. "There are a few ways to reveal that a youkai is close by, but this uses none of techniques known to us!"

In front of Rikuo, on a table, sat a cellphone… which used to belong to Kiyotsugu. Many years ago, while they were still in middle School he developed an app that makes the cellphone release a creepy laugh when a youkai is close.

"Truly ser, this was no doubt made by a genius who is born only once in a thousand years."

Hearing someone call Kiyotsugu a genius born once in a thousand years made Rikuo think that the end of the world was close. He was sure nobody ever said something so complimenting about him before.

"So… where did you find this interesting contraception?" Rikuo asked, hoping to get an answer to it.

"In some Hong Kong antiquary. Was supposedly sold to them by some Japanese student who wanted to trade it for something, in my opinion, much less valuable."

"Aha…" Rikuo remembered that trip. What Kiyotsugu traded it for was Tsukumogami which they later ended up chasing throughout the entire city.

"Sorry for making you wait, Mr. Nura." The Dean returned and the young researchers went back to what they were doing.

"No problem, the students kept me company." Rikuo turned towards her.

"That antic cellphone again, eh?" she sighed. "Sometimes I fear we will never break through that mystery."

"That would be bad… only your organization seems to be able to crack something like that."

"And find out whoever made that." she shrugged. "Anyway, please follow me Mr. Nura."

To Rikuo's frustration, the thing with Kiyotsugu's cellphone was the most interesting thing he saw at the Faculty until now. The Dean told him about a lot: how they made alliance with various Onmyouji and other Exorcists as well as with one of youkai clans (no doubt the Hyaku Monogatari) which allowed them to learn a lot about what youkai are and their nature (which Rikuo already knew), how their organization is stationed in Japan but has sponsors overseas (which Rikuo already knew) and how they had various minor research institutes in USA and a few major ones in Japan (again something he already knew).

But then, that is something he should have expected else McRein would have had more to tell him and he wouldn't have needed to go this far himself. Rikuo thought about a few possible ways to make her say something, but he noticed that the Dean gets suspicious whenever he tries to ask something she considers irrelevant. Going with the flow seems to be his only option.

However, seeing as her presentation is still not over, Rikuo still had hope he would find out something interesting.

"So, have you gotten permission to show me which of your inventions could be useful for my company?" Rikuo asked the Dean who had, a while ago, gone to call her superiors for some kind of permission.

"Unfortunately, I will say immediately that we don't have much research that could be of use to your company."

"Say again?" Rikuo did not like the sound of this.

"But although we do not have anything unnatural to give you, we have funds and technology that would be of use to you."

"Funds? Isn't that what we are supposed to be giving you?"

"We have checked how your company is doing and have seen that you have some financial troubles." She continued. "So you would be one of those companies that receives funds and tech, and in return you will offer us your researchers and your tech."

"Listen-"

The Dean stopped him with her hand. "Do not worry Mr. Nura, we shall show you what you want to see. And once you see it, you will realize that cooperation with us can only result in profit. Please, follow me."

Rikuo sighed and went after her, hoping his luck would turn to better before this is all over. The two of them soon entered another room which had a big table and some things on it, all covered with white sheet. On one of the walls, there wa a big plasma monitor which was currently turned off.

"What is this place?" Rikuo asked, though he had a hunch.

"This is a presentation room." The Dean answered and walked up to one of the covered objects. "Please, come here." Rikuo obliged and walked up to her. "I like starting with a flashy example of what we can achieve. Tell, me what do you see here?" she said and removed the sheet, revealing a toy helicopter and some kind of remote controller beside it.

"I see a toy."

"We prefer calling it a model." She said and took the remote controller into her hands. "Watch and listen." She said and started using the controller. The next moment, the helicopter started flying, causing loud noise.

"An impressive toy… but not even close to what I hoped to see."

The Dean just smiled and pushed another button. What followed was the helicopter disappearing, and the sound with him. It was so sudden one would start wondering if he was only imagining the helicopter.

Before Rikuo could say anything, the Dean asked him to stretch his hand with his palm upwards. Rikuo obliged and she pushed a few more buttons.

"Feel anything?" she then asked, still smiling.

"No, I feel nothing."

After he said that, she pushed another button and suddenly Rikuo saw that the helicopter was on his arm and he could feel the weight.

"What… what is this?!" Rikuo was shocked, causing the Dean to smile even more due to thinking he was unused to seeing something so otherworldly.

However, what surprised Rikuo was not the disappearance of the model per se. Actually, he lied when he said he didn't feel it. What surprised him was the fact that this toy did something similar to what he does… that is, it used Fear itself to try to confuse his senses.

"How did you do this?" Rikuo muttered.

"Now now Mr. Nura, if we told that to just anyone then we would soon get unwanted competition. You yourself should understand that." The Dean said and took the helicopter back to where it was and covered it with the sheet. "Now, lets see something even flashier." She said and walked to another part of the table.

The Dean removed the sheet, revealing a plate with papers that looked like Onmyouji talismans. Rikuo saw Yura used similar ones and believed that these were Shikigami. The Dean took one of them and ripped it apart, which caused the talisman to fly out of her hand and take form of an Onii.

Rikuo was speechless, another of his reactions that made the Dean smile. "This is what some call  _Shikigami_ , though we personally prefer the term  _Familiar_. They serve as bodyguards you can summon anywhere and who would do anything you ordered them.  _Leave_!" as she said the order, the Familiar turned back into a talisman, though the paper was whole again. "This is a product we are already selling actually and our clients can ask for any form and ability."

"Remarkable…" Rikuo pretended to be impressed. In truth however, he fought to not look at her with an enraged face as what he just saw was disrespectful in countless ways. Rikuo had a great deal of respect for both Youkai and Shikigami and seeing them used by these guys as manufacturable goods and slaves pissed him off. What is more, he knew the sensation that this Fear caused: it was similar to abilities used by the Hyaku Monogatari and the Gokadoin. Rikuo was not surprised to feel Hyaku Monogatari's hand in this as many of them treate youkai as manufacturable goods already, but he hoped that Gokadoin would not have a hand in this… and he really hoped it was just another Onmyouji using similar techniques. He didn't want the peace he and Yoshihira created to be destroyed by this.

"Next we have…" she started walking again when her cellphone rang. She gestured to excuse her and he nodded after which she walked away a bit and answered the call.

Although he was in his human form, Rikuo still had above human sense of hearing. While she was still turned with her back towards him, Rikuo closed his eyes and concentrated, forcing his Fear to come out. When he was young, time of the day dictated when he could transform, but he managed to train himself so he could force his Fear to come out even during the day, although he had to use the same Fear to keep his form up so he was still weaker than when it was night. Still, it was better than being defenseless during two thirds of a day.

The moment the Dean ended her call, Rikuo quickly hit the cellphone out from her hand, pushed her onto the wall and soon after put his sword beneath her neck.

"This was a VERY remarkable presentation good miss." Rikuo started. "I heard the person over the cellphone reveal that I am not from the H&H so I guess we can go onto more important matters."

"Attacking me here you youkai… do you wish to die or are you just plain stupid?"

"Confusing people's senses is my ability you know. You see, even if someone entered the room looking for us, they wouldn't notice anyone here. Now… where do you make all these cool thingies?"

"Kuh… there are various institutes around USA and Japan… we just do the research."

"So, which one is the closest one?"

"A factory just a few miles east of the city… it is owned by one of our sponsors, the  _Helium Aviations and Seamenships_ , and is formally a factory that produces parts for helicopters and boats which are then sold to various clients. In truth, it produces helicopters with invisibility cloak like the one I showed you there."

"Thank you, I shall check up on it." Rikuo answered but was not finished just yet. "So, who is your boss?"

"You think they are so stupid they would reveal it to pawns like me?"

"Then give me your theories or rumors. Even the  _Shin Sekai_  can't possibly keep every piece of info hidden from their employees."

"Please have mercy! If not for me, then for those who have nothing to do with this yet might be punished alongside me."

After a moment of thinking, Rikuo let her go. "Alright, I will ask one of those in the Helium's factory then. You however…" Rikuo punched the wall slightly beside her left ear, so she could hear it crack. "Remember, I can hide from  _anything_. Play with fire and you will see that even a dozen of bodyguards standing beside you won't save you… I can kill you without any of them noticing it."

Of course, this was a bluff: even if she crossed him, he wouldn't go after her both because it is not worth it and because he doesn't think she would deserve it. However, making someone scared is a good way to keep them silent.

Rikuo pulled his hand back and started leaving. "Stay silent and you should be safe. The  _Shin Sekai_  doesn't seem to be that unreasonable that they would kill you for something like this… though I take it you will need to find a new job."

* * *

 

"Damn it, I thought Japs were supposed to be better mannered than most people." The Dean muttered to herself after Rikuo left. She took out her cell and sent Onieda Masato a message saying  _"The eel is swimming into the trap."_

* * *

 

_Rihan and Araya were in the clubroom, where she read some kind of book while he was just sitting with his hands and head on the table. However, they looked different than usual: Rihan was much shorter, with short hair and with less masculine features._

_Araya was also shorter, although not that much shorter than Rihan, and her feminine features were also less prominent, with the big sweater of Ukiyoe Middle School hiding what little she had._

_Indeed, it was a memory from around two years ago while the two were still in Middle School… and a memory Rihan did not like remembering. Yet, he let his mind go on this time…_

_It was rare for Araya to be silent, and when it did happen it was exclusively when she was reading a book or something on the Internet. Rihan was also silent, but was not in midst of doing anything. Usually, he would try to make Araya talk with him but lately he was less assertive in such matters. Instead he pretended to be tired due to classes and every few moments he would throw a glance towards the girl at the opposite side of the table. In contrast to his occasional complaints about her, he actually enjoyed the company of this misbehaved girl. Sometimes, when she seemed to not be in mood and thus was calmer, he would try poking her in order to bring the 'Bad Girl' out again._

_However, somehow he ended up liking this serene side of her as much as the energetic one. Although by every logic he should be bored due to having nothing to do, just watching at the girl was interesting in its own way. At the time he wondered why._

_Now, he knows it was because he entered the age where girls started to interest him. Although he knew Saaya and Mayuri longer, he felt more accepting to the idea of liking the girl he recently met than the ones with whom he grew up with. Now, he fears the idea of relationship with his old friends even more as a failure of such relationship means losing a friend you knew for ages, a fact he remembers whenever he enters the clubroom and sees that one person is missing._

_After some time, the girl noticed his behavior. "I see that Riha-chan is bored…" Araya said and closed the book. "If you wanted to talk, say something. Your staring at me is kind of creepy."_

" _Eh, you noticed I was-"_

" _Thought so…" Araya sighed. "Well, when confessed half is forgiven."_

" _Ah…" he fell into that cliché trap. The girl continued staring at him, as if she expected him to start a topic. "So… how was your day yesterday?"_

" _Quite exquisite!" she answered. "I went to classes, then we fooled at the club and then I went home, studied and went to bed. One of my most exciting days, really."_

" _Do you need to be sarcastic about everything?"_

" _Sorry, but your question was boring." She shrugged. "And if I had to make my answer equally boring, both you and me would fall asleep."_

" _Aha…" Rihan started thinking about something else they could talk about but which would not repeat this kind of reaction. "So, how is the book? What is it about?"_

" _Riha-chan, how many books have you read? Not counting the ones you have to read for school."_

"… _none?"_

" _Talking about a book tends to be boring to bookreaders, yet alone to those who don't read."_

" _Alright… so, why are you in such foul mood today?" Rihan, already tired by all this, asked her._

_Araya smiled. "Oh, is it that obvious?" after Rihan nodded, she continued: "Sorry, but it is not something I would want to talk about. Anyway, why don't you ask whatever you_ _**want** _ _to ask?"_

" _Huh? What do you mean?" he rolled his eyes._

" _You act like you want to say something, but can't make yourself say it. Even now, you rolled your eyes as if pretending there is nothing going on."_

_As so very often, Araya saw through him, something he usually expects adults to do. Now that he thinks about it, Araya had a tendency to sometimes act as if she were above her age. That is, she acted less like other students and more like the young youkai who were heirs of some youkai clans. He still finds it scary how some kids had to grow up fast._

" _Um… well… do you have a boyfriend?"_

_When you ask someone such a question, you expect them to blush at best. Araya, however, turned pale, as if he said something horrifying to her. She probably didn't even realize how she looked as she smiled and gave a casual answer: "No, I don't. The fact there is no boy hanging around me should have made it obvious."_

" _Ah, so you are free?"_

_The look in Araya's eyes became even darker and it was the first time she gave him one of those unpleasant smiles of hers, though even to this day he could not comprehend why. However, he had no doubts that at this moment Araya made a decision that changed their relationship for the worse._

_Rihan did not want to remember the part that followed… where she started making fun of him and the verbal humiliation from her side. It was the first of her verbal abuses which would push him away from her every now and then, and a thing that made him develop a kind of contempt for her. Even though he continued giving his best to preserve their friendship, their relationship was never the same again._

_Back then he was sure that he simply found out the ugly side of hers… yet yesterday he found out that it was all just a facade whose intention was to keep him from becoming too friendly with her._

_But why would someone act like that? Why go that far? No matter how much he tried, he could not come up with an answer that would make sense._

_And another thing he wondered was: what will he do now that his reason for contempt is practically no longer there?_

* * *

 

Rihan, now fully awake, decided it was time to rise up and prepare for the school. But when he opened his eyes, he noticed that he was in the SIC's clubroom.  _Ah yes, I took a nap here… wait where did the comfy pillow come from?_

"Oh, the sleeping beauty finally woke up?" a female voice said.

Rihan turned his head up and realized that he had been sleeping on Araya's lap. "Eh? Araya-chan… what is going on?" he felt a bit awkward seeing as he spent his time thinking about the girl on whose lap he rested. But at the same time, he found resting on her and looking up at her face comfortable. He almost repeated what he said earlier today, that she is prettier without the glasses and with released hair.  _No… I should stop thinking about her like that… probably…_

"Nothing, just saw the poor soul sleep and thought I'd give you some pillows." The girl said, not aware of what went on through his head. "Unfortunately, my goal of turning you into a tsun-tsun tomato seems like a dream now that I got this boring reaction."

"Says a girl with equally boring reactions." Rihan commented, not moving from the lap offered to him. For a girl who supposedly wants to keep a distance no matter the costs, Araya has started to prove very uncooperative. For the whole day now, she was unusually friendly… not that he minded the change.

He wasn't sure what to do next. Since finding out more about her the day before, his interest in her has started to return, thus why he remembered that day. On other hand, he feared that his interest may just result in her bringing an end to their friendship. He didn't know why she was that keen on keeping him away, but he was certain that next time she would be more radical in distancing herself from him, maybe even to the point of leaving the club itself. And there is also the fact that he hadn't fully forgiven her…

Her current attitude was also confusing. On one hand she is far more welcoming than before, but on other hand she still has that aura of distance around her. He wondered what caused that change in the first place.

_Of all girls out there, the one to catch my attention just had to be the weirdest one._

He finally decided to rise up. He was surprised himself that he was allowed to stay in that position so long, but decided to forget about this whole thing for now and change the topic.

"Hm, are those new clothes? I thought I have taken care that you end up buying a kimono…" he asked. He saw that she was wearing a red, long-sleeved shirt with random black text and black jeans. Although disappointed for a moment, he thought the color fit this red-haired girl well.  _Damn it head, think about something else already!_

"Now now Riha-chan, if you want to see me and Mayuri in kimono or yukata you would have to wait until we arrive at Nejireme. Better to have them up in a fitting location… and the longer the wait, the sweeter the reward." She said with a wink. "And since I was in the shopping center, I decided to buy several new casual clothes as well. Like them?"

"Well… they ain't bad." He answered, feigning disinterest. "Oh, and you mentioned Mayuri?"

"I called her over so I would not be carried around by your grandmother all alone."

"Oh… so where is Mayuri now?"

"You know how she is today." Araya sighed. "She is desperate to find her  _Onii-chan_."

"After what happened last night, is it surprising?" he commented.

"Who knows… Mamoru does act weird though. Why isn't he with his little sister?"

"Again, probably busy due to what happened last night. Both of them must be under stress." Although he said that, he did find his behavior a tad bit weird. He always saw him as a compassionate older brother.

"Umm… guys?" someone else could be heard.

"Oh, Shima?" Rihan noticed the blond boy hiding behind the door. "Is something the matter?"

"Are you two done making out?" Shima acted like a shy five years old.

It didn't take long for Rihan to realize how he came to this misunderstanding. "No, we were just getting started." Rihan put an arm over Araya's shoulder and pulled her closer. She helped him by smiling. "Want to have a threesome?"

"No… I think I will just wait outside…" he said and went away. "Me out there, all alone in a lonely world…"

After a few moments, Araya broke the silence. "That was mean of you." She commented as she moved away from him.

"Must be a disease I caught from you." He said with a smirk. "And you smiling while I said that makes you an accomplice so don't complain."

"Heh." She smiled back.

* * *

 

A few minutes later, Mayuri joined the duo in the clubroom.

"What is with Shima-kun?" she asked. "I have seen him aimlessly walk the school a few times. He has the face of someone who lost every reason for living. Ichinoe-san, what did you do to him?"

"No, this time it is Mr. Nice Guy's fault." She pointed towards Rihan.

"It is not my fault he took it that way." Rihan shrugged. "Have you found your brother, Mayuri?"

"Yes, but he is too busy." She sighed and sat on one of the chairs and put a bag onto floor. Rihan noticed that she and Araya had similar bags and guessed they had their clothes and other personal items in them. "Whenever he takes care of something, something else magically pops up."

"You think he evades you?" Rihan wondered. "Why would he even do that?"

Mayuri thought for a few moments and then answered: "No idea." Her tone didn't even try to hide the fact that she might know the reason but instead made it clear that she doesn't want to answer it. Since Rihan knew her family was a bit special, he didn't see anything suspicious in it.

"I am going out for a bit." Araya said and then whispered to Rihan. "Come on, improve her mood, Casanova-chan." She winked and left.

 _That girl sure has a various number of methods to try to keep me away, does she?_. He thought and then turned to Mayuri "So Mayuri… umm…" he wasn't sure what exactly to ask her about. "So… you mentioned once you were angry at your father… did the yesterday's event change your opinion about him?" the question sounded a bit ridiculous, but he was really interested in her answer.

Mayuri looked at him for a bit and then said. "I don't want him to die, but I never really wanted that in the first place I think. Other than that…" her eyes narrowed a bit. "I still dislike the person he is. Did you hear how he insulted your sister although she risked her life to save him?"

"…what? That is… a bit…"

"Unusual? Strange? Ha…" Mayuri looked entertained. "No need to throw sugar on it: it was immature and despicable."

"Maybe, but isn't it strange that someone would be so ungrateful to someone who-"

"I am not sure how exactly, but I have no doubts that he could have taken care of the problem himself." She then looked at him with a sad smile. "Maybe by using grampa's exorcist friends?"

"I see you heard about that." Rihan sighed. "I hope you don't feel guilt for that. You had nothing to do with it."

"I don't feel any guilt, just concern. My father and grandfather are biggotish men with money, power and, above all else, ambition." Mayuri turned her head away again. "I fear where that will lead us…"

Not knowing what to say and not wanting to give any empty promises, Rihan stayed silent and so did Mayuri. Soon enough Araya returned back, not seeming pleased with the atmosphere but not doing anything to change it either.

* * *

 

"Whats with Shima?" Ritsura walked into the clubroom. "He looks like is preparing for Seppuku."

"Don't blow it out of proportions, sis."

"No seriously, he is even writing one of  _those_  poems."

Rihan facepalmed to that while Araya commented: "Love troubles do that to a man." Then some boy in black clothes entered. "Oi Ritsura, who is that hunk?"

"See Araya, this is what we call a  _Boy_." Ritsura started her introduction. "They are usually tall, have an interesting lack of breasts, which makes them desire them to no end, and they tend to act all macho. THIS! This is what I meant when I told you to recruit a boy!"

"Huh?" the boy was already lost. Rihan bet he didn't know what he got himself into.

"Oh, and what is this interesting specimen's name?" Araya inquired. "Since he is here, I take it that you managed to forc… I mean persuade him to join the club?"

"It's name is Keikain Ryuzan and he is moving to this school starting next week." Ritsura continued introducing him. "And yes, this poor sod is joining our harem… I mean club."

"Hm hm… I grade him with a B." Araya said after looking over him. "Mayuri?"

"Eh?" Ryuzan, still a virgin as far as hanging with this club is confirmed, contineud to be taken aback. He did not even have time to say anything and was already a subject of the club's quirks.

"Hmm… I give him a B+." the supposedly normal girl joined in.

Ryuzan walked up to Rihan "…what is this club about?"

"I am starting to question its purpose myself…" Rihan gave a half-hearted answer.

"Oh, and he is an Onmyouji!" Ritsura added.

"A." Mayuri increased her grade. Rihan felt a bit let down.

"C." Araya lowered her grade. Rihan felt a bit relieved.

"…just what did I get myself into?" Ryuzan was overwhelmed.

"Sorry for being late guys…" Sakura came in. "…I had something to take care at home and then I had to persuade  _Pervert Prince_  (Shima) that life is beautiful."

"Sakura, quick!" Ritsura shouted towards her. "Grade the new club member's sex appeal!"

_Of course, there was no chance someone as innocent and nice and new as Sakura would-_

"B-." she answered.

… _everything I know is a liiiiie!_

"He is an Onmyouji." Ritsura added.

"Oh really?!" Sakura seemed impressed to the point there were stars in her eyes. "A+ then." Rihan felt crushed.

"Good to know that being an Onmyouji makes you popular with ladies…" Rihan commented to his new friend.

"Must be the uniform." he shrugged.

"It is enough!" Shima suddenly burst in. For some unfathomable reason, he made a turban from his shirt and thus was shirtless under the jacket. The scene made Sakura and Mayuri blush while Ritsura and Araya looked at him as if he were a weirdo. "I swear, I SHALL prevaaaail! I will fight until you women ralize that…"

"Interesting fellow. Is he with us?" Ryuzan asked Rihan while Shima spoke behind.

"That's Shima Ryu, our ally in our brave fight against the brutal girls of this club. Dire state, but with you joining us it should be easier." Rihan turned to him and offered a hand. None of the two payed attention to fall in temperature. "I am Nura Rihan, though I guess you already know my sister."

"Keikain Ryuzan." He accepted his hand while Shima was hit with a block of ice behind him. "Your sister mentioned you a few times."

"Gods help me…" Rihan said and laughed.

"Well, if everything else fails, we can use Onmyudo." He laughed back. "Well, I am going to speak with others a bit as well. Cya later."

"Cya."

"You two sure became friendly in a moment." Araya appeared behind Rihan, making him jump up a bit.

"Well, he seems like a cool guy." He turned to her. "Anyway, why did you lower your grade? You have something against Onmyouji?"

"dunno, hearing that he is someone who hunts youkai kinda irked me." The youkai fan Araya answered. "Anyway, Ritsura mentioned she met him while she was with her father in Kyoto. How come you didn't meet him… now that I think about it, Ritsura mentioned once she didn't know your friends from Nakano."

"It is a long story… lets just say one trip to a clan meeting was enough to make me stop asking dad to bring me with him… and when I had to be present, I tried to stay away from other youkai clans, unlike sis who tended to hang around them."

"One trip you say… did something happen?"

Rihan sighed. "When they see sis, other youkai yakuza see her as Nura clan's boss's daughter at worst and a potential ally at best. That is, the older youkai tend to care less about her while younger youkai tend to see her as a potential ally… well, some of the young are even fancying themselves as suitors. In the end, they all get along with her."

"But Onmyouji are not youkai yakuza."

"They probably went to them along the way. Father has a few friends in Kyoto, one of whom is some Onmyouji woman who went to school with him." He answered. "Anyway, what do you think those youkai see in me?"

"Another child of Nura Rikuo?"

"The  **second**  child to be more precise… the one who is in line of inheritance immediately after sis. Enemies and opportunists see me as either a potential ally or a tool, thinking I'd wish to rob sis from her inheritance. As a consequence, friends of the Nura Clan see me as a potential threat. I can't decide which of the two I fear more."

"So, you try to evade them?"

"Evading them is impossible… if they want to talk to me, they will find a way." Rihan shaked his head. "No, it is just the looks I get when I sit at such meetings. It is tough… to feel so much malice around you."

"Glad to hear that." Araya made a weird comment.

"Why would be glad about that?"

"How many never notice that malice and end up becoming victims just because they are unaware of what goes on around them." Araya smiled. "Both you and your sister are safer this way."

"Ha…" Rihan let out a small smile. "Guess there is something good about all this."

"I see everyone is here, including the new member I heard about." Onieda Mamoru entered, followed by Hitotsume Nyudo. Rihan noticed that the moment Mamoru's and Mayuri's eyes met, his smile disappeared for a brief moment and then he moved his eyes away. "So, lets go to Nejireme!"

* * *

A two meters white cloth was fluttering in the air near the small bus that the members of the SIC club entered. The moment the bus turned on and started driving, the cloth plunged down and wrapped itself onto a haft of doors to the place where passengers usually leave their luggage.

* * *

 

"Yashagoro-dono, the other part of my body reports that the Nuras are on their way." said the four meters long white cloth with yellow eyes.

"Thank you, Ittan." Yashagoro replied to youkai Ittan-momen.

"Ha, they sure took their sweet time." Crocer commented.

"Well, my claws are always ready to kill those bastards." one of Kyushu Clan's Bake-Neko's added.

"Why stop with killing?" a woman with golden hair and tattered kimono commented. "Lets eat their flesh and bones! Hyahahaha!"

"Calm down Yama-uba." An old man of size of a baby, clad in short gray kimono, admonished her. "Don't you remember how your hideous laughing got us in trouble during that mission in Shikoku?"

"Konaki-jiji, always such a baby." She replied back at him.

Few more of their comrades joined the excitement, until Yashagoro decided to put an end to it. "Enough! Lets go, if possible I'd like to get rid of them before they reach the Gyuki Group." Yashagoro took out a syringe and stabbed it under his neck. After letting out a painful moan, his skin turned pale. "This should be enough… Akashita!"

A dark cloud dropped down, with a monstrous head and arms in middle of it. Without saying a word, the youkai started to expand its body so that a cloud was all around them.

Then, Yashagoro took out some Shikigami talismans and threw them around. " _Desires of the six gunas of which there are many. All of you depart!"_ it wasn't a full invocation, but it did its trick: the paper talismans started melting and turned into green, icky liquid which then suddenly expanded and turned into oversized snakes, all of which were able to carry a few humans on their backs.

Yashagoro jumped at the largest and everyone else, who could not fly, jumped at the rest. "Lets depart…" Yashagoro recited another invocation and the snakes flew up. Hidden under Akashita, the Kyushu assassins went to fulfill their mission.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And thus we reach the end of the 18th chapter. It took quite a bit of time for it to be written, mainly because I was unsure how to compose it.

\- Rikuo's investigation into the Shin Sekai continues. However, is he aware of the possibility of a trap? Tune in next time for more!

\- for those interested, Kiyotsugu's impressive cellphone appeared in omake 210.5

\- we also find out more about what Rihan thinks of Araya, well as how their arguments started in the first place and that he is conscious of her

\- poor Ryuzan didn't even know what he was getting himself into

\- and Kyushu fellows start moving as well. The action part of arc gets ever nearer…

\- as a side note, all the mentioned Kyushu youkai are from folklore. I wonder if Hiroshi intended to use Kyushu in some way seeing as much of it is the region whose folklore was the least used by canon

\- additionally, Yashagoro's invocation is similar to Abe no Orochi's


	19. Gokadoin Kashaimaru

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The times are hard for youkai who, for last few centuries, have been losing their homes to growing human presence. The times are also hard for House Gokadoin which, after the Battle of the Spiral Castle, lost most of its members and made many enemies. And yet, both the homeless youkai and the Gokadoin House have to oppose one another…

**Chapter 19: Gokadoin Kashaimaru**

Two hours before the clock reached noon, a motorbike rode on an old road in a rural part of Kansai. The scene was weird and the person on it didn't help: young man clothed in black, old fashioned Onmyouji robes and he was not wearing a helmet made the sight all the weirder. Luckily, the few who saw him were spared of seeing him burn branches that he saw on the road, be they large or small.

The man was Gokadoin Kashaimaru, one of the strongest surviving members of House Gokadoin. He was nearing the village he was supposed to check on and burning of the branches was just another training exercise for him. From time to time, he would burn a falling leaf as well. Burning such small things while driving at this speed and not letting his flames touch anything else was hard, but a challenging training is the best training.

Naturally, he took a break once he got close to places filled with humans, like the village in front of him. This village was not his destination, but since it was close to the one he was going to he decided to stop. If those youkai were on a rampage, this place would surely be hit the next. So he stopped his bike once he was deep enough in it.

At first, one would think something was going on here: the place seemed abandoned and he saw a few people bringing bags with food and other necessities into their cars. He is also saw that a few houses were empty and they didn't seem to have been abandoned that long ago.

Kashaimaru also saw an middle-aged man walk around and decided to talk to him. "Sorry mister, is something going on here?"

The man seemed shocked to see someone from outside so it took him a few seconds to answer. "Nothing special boy. The village is just… umm…"

Kashaimaru didn't feel like wasting time so he decided to put an quick end to the man's excuses. "I am an Onmyouji and I am aware that a nearby village was attacked by a league of youkai."

"Ah… you are quite young for an Onmyouji… are you in training?"

"Past training mister." Kashaimaru answered.

"Aha… sorry, but we can't afford to hire an Onmyouji. You will have to-"

"I am not some sellout or an overconfident kid." Kashaimaru started to feel frustrated that he always had to convince people to make them get to the point. "Please answer me. Truth may save my life, lies may end it."

The man seemed to have been taken aback by his answer. "I… am sorry… the nearby villagers passed through recently and the people here are starting to feel afraid so most have decided to take a few days long trip to the city…"

"Hm… so you haven't seen a youkai or anything else nearby?" Kashaimaru asked and took out his cellphone. He ran an app he made himself to check up on something. "You were moving away due to plain superstition?"

"Well… at first, we just laughed how our neighbors started running away and tried to guess what kind of incident made them afraid… always have been a superstitious lot, those neighbors of ours." The man started explaining. "But more and more people have been passing through, both the old and the young… all of them scared to death. And as time passed and they didn't start returning so we… well, most will not admit it but staying here is getting harder with the minute."

"I see…" Kashaimaru sighed. "I suggest staying here for a while longer just in case I manage to take care of the youkai." Kashaimaru jumped down from the bike and took out a necklace from his pocket. "I heard you have a shrine of Inari here? Do you people pay respect to her?" the app he has on his cellphone shows him if there are Shrines of Inari nearby. Since his Onmyoujutsu is related to her, this is always useful information to have.

"Well…"

"No need to answer, I see from your face that we have another case of forgotten shrine. A stupid thing, to disrespect the  _Kami_." Kashaimaru commented and the man, as well as some other people who closed in to see what was an outsider doing here, turned red from embarrassment. "I will now send a prayer to Inari to give me strength to protect both their and your lives. Should I succeed, you will pay by giving her shrine a proper respect. Maybe taking care of it and showing virtue by respecting her you will, alongside protecting you from youkai, make you stop being such an unsightly, cowardly and shameful crowd."

Someone wanted to complain to him, but Kashaimaru started praying in a loud and commanding voice. Although his eyes were closed, he could feel the aura around him strengthening, showing that one by one the villagers answered to Inari and in return he gained strength to make fulfilling his mission easier. True, it was an unorthodox prayer, but Kashaimaru could not afford to lose too much time on ceremonies.

Once he was done praying, he added: "You have prayed to Inari for protection, now show you trust in her by staying here in the village that fed and raised you. Leave if you want, but know that you will be betraying both the  _Kami_ , your ancestors who built the village and yourselves if you leave."

The faces on the people around showed they were in thought, not sure what to do. Both believing in Inari and fearing youkai was equally superstitious and superstition in today's society is looked down on.

Kashaimaru then turned towards a man who was throwing his stuff into his car a few minutes ago "Please, take care of my bike while I am away."

"Huh? The village is-"

"Don't worry, I am close enough." Kashaimaru started walking. "Besides, noise would just alarm the youkai of my arrival."

And so he left the village by walking. He walked until he was far away and then he started running with superhuman speed and with a fox's grace. He was certain that the humans there would be amazed by something so  _magical_ , but they had to learn that one does not worship for the sake of magical tricks but for discipline and his own soul.

* * *

Inari, one of the major Shinto gods, or so called  _Kami_ … Due to Hagoromo Gitsune who was Abe no Seimei's mother, the Gokadoin are practically descendants of Inari. Yet, just like these people the Gokadoin have abandoned her alongside their youkai blood. Even Yoshihira, who was most gifted by his Kitsune blood, viewed his own existence as sinful and painful.

Kashaimaru used to be the same, worshiping Abe no Seimei and his twisted vision of the world… until Seimei fell that is, alongside the greatest members of House Gokadoin. Kashaimaru was both afraid and confused by that event, as well as by the fact that Yoshihira himself changed.

All those drove him to question himself, his ideals and the value of his lineage. He didn't know when exactly and why, but he found himself visiting one of Inari's shrines and deciding to stay there and pray. He didn't even finish his prayer when he decided it was useless and left… only to find himself returning there again from time to time, each time staying a few minutes longer.

And one day he realized that he stayed there for a few days, only leaving to find something to eat. He found the atmosphere in that Shinto shrine relaxing which allowed him to think clearly. Soon, he started praying properly, paying attention to words he spoke and trying to put all his heart into his prayers. Just like how staying in that comforting atmosphere allowed him to think clearly, the prayer taught him to discipline himself. He also ended up cleaning and fixing the shrine, thus resulting in him respecting hard work more.

When he left the shrine, he was no longer the same man that entered the shrine. His ideals changed, his behavior changed and his outlook on life changed. His old Onmyoudo became weak, no longer compatible with this new person… so he developed a new Onmyoudo, using techniques related to Inari which most Gokadoin came to view as shameful.

He abandoned Seimei as his father and accepted Inari as his mother. And once again, due to still having to perfect this new Onmyoudo of his, he felt as young as he looked. And nothing feels as comfortable and promising as youth.

He decided to not let this vigor go to waste this time.

* * *

Kashaimaru sat on top of a tree, looking down onto the village. Even for a  _Hanyou_ , the distance was too great to see anything properly.

However, he wasn't using his eyes alone. Focusing his sight on a focal point, he used the most basic of Onmyoudo to feel Youki from the village and guess what the youkai are up to.

The youkai did neither retreat nor move to another target. Instead, they remained in the village, causing ruckus as if they were having a festival. Now, it is nothing new for a band of youkai to get too full of themselves and fool around too much until Onmyouji came and took care of them.

However, there were too many youkai down there, both strong and weak. Youkai could follow their leaders to death, but even so they tended to have more common sense than do something like this which can only result in their deaths. It would be one thing if they had been lead by some powerful youkai, but their leader was no way a shining star of the youkai world.

Before cleansing the village, Kashaimaru would have to check what is going on. However, he didn't intend to do it all by himself.

He walked up to a shrine of Inari, one that was used by youkai rather than humans. Unlike the human ones it did not have elements that required humans to show respect to spirits, but in return was surrounded by a dangerous aura that could harm any human that came too close… and which would strengthen any youkai that shows respect.

Kashaimaru was a  _Hanyou_  so the two guardian Kitsunes that saw him walk up to them were unsure what to do with the intruder.

"Hmph… a human… yet a youkai." A fat, old Kitsune commented.

"He smells like you, uncle." A tiny little Kitsune commented. "He is a Kitsune!"

"He is not a Kitsune you fool! Look at him, he looks like a monkey!" the fat fox was angry. "He smells as one though… guess a sister or brother of mine got a bit drunk and mated with a wrong species."

"Hm, interesting theory." Kashaimaru smiled and then bowed. "Sorry for disturbing. My name is Gokadoin Kashaimaru."

"Gokadoin… ah, you are one of Kuzunoha's kids!" the fat fox replied. "That sure is surprising… her kids tend to be a bunch of ungrateful brats."

"And who might you two be?"

"Hey, you are not finished with introductions yourselves! Who is that kid hiding in the bushes?" the younger fox shouted. "Oh, I am Keito by the way!"

"Oh, that one? That is Firefox. He isn't a spirit but a normal fox." Kashaimaru replied. Firefox was still a bit dizzy due to being in his backpack while Kashaimaru drove the bike.

"We all used to be like that, normal foxes I mean." the fat fox commented and stood onto its two legs. "I am Kuroto. Sorry that I am a bit unable to give you a hand… would have to posses a human to do something like that."

"No worries." Kashaimaru waved his hand and Kuroto returned to standing on all four. "Anyway, can you maybe tell me what is going on down there?"

"Of course, what else would an Onmyouji need here… You know, had we chosen to help humans, we would not be guarding a shrine where ayakashi worship."

"That is why I am talking with you. I could go down there and slaughter those youkai but I chose to check if there is something else I could do."

"You think an Onmyouji brat like you would be able to survive fighting such a number of ayakashi?" The kid fox smirked. "Don't make me laugh." Kuruto nodded to his words.

"Trust me… I am quite good at killing… and I am not as young as I look." Kashaimaru smiled, but his tone and the bit of Fear he released were supposed to terrify.

The two foxes jumped aback, their fur showing they acknowledged him as a threat.

"I see…" the old fox started. "I still don't know if I should help you, but I see Inari loves you so I will let it pass. What do you want to know, Onmyouji?"

Before answering, Kashaimaru lowered onto his knee and put his hand on the floor. "Thank you. I would appreciate whatever you can tell me."

"You are one strange Onmyouji… but I appreciate the gesture." Kuruto commented and lowered his guard again. "Well, I am not sure why they are there, but their attack was… weird."

"Weird? What do you mean?" Kashaimaru asked as he raised his hand and sat onto his knees.

"They weren't there to eat the humans nor to terrorize them… hell, I am not sure if they even killed anyone. They just let them go, as if they were just pretending to be interested." Kuruto continued explaining. "Actually, many of them visited this shrine to pray and they are not a kind to attack humans."

"Also, they are sad." Keito joined in. "Sad, but trying to be happy that is."

Kashaimaru said nothing and just turned his head in direction of the village.

"Yes, they were sad… maybe that's why I woke up in tears for no apparent reason." Kuruto shaked his head a bit. "Sad, but aggressive. I don't think you can reason with them, Onmyouji. But as a friend of many of them, I ask you to at least give them a clean death. This one attack… does not deserve pain."

Kashaimaru remained silent, contemplating about what he would do next.

* * *

Sneaking through a youkai filled village proved easy… too easy in fact and it was one of things that were on his mind as he sat on top of a roof of one of the houses.

The youkai in the village were partying to their fullest, not even paying attention to absolutely anything, a weird thing to do for youkai that assaulted a human community. Even the most confident Hyaki Yakous leave at least a few youkai to keep an watchful eye for possible threats, but here everyone was literally in midst of partying, including the one Kashaimaru identified as their leader.

Their leader was an old Oni, possibly even from times when Shuten Douji still ruled over youkai of Kansai. Kashaimaru was certain that both he and his lieutenants were strong, but their Fear was… well, it would not instill fear into anyone.

Kashaimaru now understood what those Kitsune's meant by  _sad_. The youkai were celebrating as loud as they could, but the whole thing seemed off… it was like when you see a man getting drunk and trying to enjoy himself, but somewhere inside he knows that this whole drinking and partying is just an attempt to make oneself think he was not troubled.

Kashaimaru decided that there was no point in observing anymore. "Firefox, stay here." He put his fox down and jumped down.

When the youkai saw that an Onmyouji appeared amongst them, they went silent… but only for a moment. After a mere few seconds, the youkai became loud again and Kashaimaru finally saw happiness on their faces.

"Hyaaahaha! An Onmyouji came!"

"Come on boy, attack! Don't be shy!"

"You sure took your sweet time dearie. Come, show us what you are made of."

Kashaimaru replied to none and instead kept walking towards the Onii who lead this bunch. A few youkai stood in his way to challenge him, but he ignored them and simply walked past them. Interestingly, none of them put a finger on him no matter what threats they threw at him.

The leader was the only one who didn't seem overjoyed to see him… though a kind of sad relief could be seen on his face. "So, an Onmyouji came here huh…" the Onii stood up onto his feet and took a club offered to him by one of his Lieutenants. "I am surprised you didn't just storm in here or attack while we weren't paying attention."

"I am Kashaimaru of House Gokadoin. Who are you?"

"I have no intentions to give my name to nay more humans. That part of me is free to die."

"Alright… why don't you just go back from where you came?"

"An Onmyouji asking us to go home… hahahaha!" the Oni laughed. "That is a first time."

"I don't see a problem. No humans seemed to have been harmed."

"Bah, I told them to kill a few but I guess this Hyaki is too unused to killing humans. Well I can't blame them as even I didn't take any of my own chances to kill a human from here."

"Ah, so you are Furuka Shouen." Kashaimaru commented. "One of the Oni who served under Shuten Douji, known not for his strength as much as his occasional mercy towards humans."

"I was a stupid man back then… well, I still am I guess."

"What is your Hyaki doing…"

"Enough talk." He said in a low tone. "Guys, lets end this."

Shouen attacked him, but the swing with his mace was so slow it was painfully obvious he did not put any strength into his attack. Kashaimaru hit it with his right hand and blew up the wooden club into pieces.

He then turned around, throwing flames onto youkai that tried to attack him from behind. He didn't try to harm them, just burn them a bit so they would move away from him. Just like Shouen, there was no killing intent in their attacks.

Shouen however decided to get serious, a thing Kashaimaru felt himself when the Oni's fist hit him into his backs and threw right into a stone a few dozens meters away. A mantis-like youkai followed, trying to stab him while he was down, but Kashaimaru hit the ground with his fist, causing an explosion that blew the mantis youkai away and allowed Kashaimaru to jump back onto his feet.

_The attacks have become more serious, though still not that dangerous… they are trying to anger me it seems._

A kappa threw a water bomb at him, something he was able to block without using any special techniques. The following two were more dangerous and Kashaimaru simply avoided them.

"What is it kid? Too afraid of us now that your momma is not with you?" some youkai taunted him.

"No, I am just feeling pity for you." He replied back, and those words froze them for a moment.

Then they exploded and a two dozen youkai started running at him.

Kashaimaru continued avoiding each attack that came at him, something that was easier than it looked. It was impossible to feel anything but pity for these guys.

"Stop delaying the inevitable, boy." Shouen said when he appeared in Kashaimaru's line of sight. He found himself a new weapon, this time a wooden club with sharp spikes. "Lets just end this, okay?"

"Alright." Kashaimaru nodded and sat down onto his knees. At the moment, se saw this method as the best one.

"…what? What are you doing, Onmyouji?"

"I am accepting your request." Kashaimaru answered.

"…don't… give me… THAT SHIT!" Shouen hit the ground beside him with his club, the attack that was so strong Kashaimaru's body jumped up and so close Kashaimaru could feel blood flowing from his cheek, likely due to a spike scratching him. "Have you no honor?!"

"There is no honor in killing guys like you."

Shouen raised his club again, preparing for another strike. "Onmyouji, once I kill you I shall attack that village south of here… and this time I shall-"

"If you want me to fight, then tell me what is going on and I will consider it."

"Why… why don't you just FIGHT?!" Shouen hit the ground again, but this time it was further away from Kashaimaru. He himself fell onto his knees, seemingly no longer in mood for fighting. Seeing that their leader gave up, the other youkai also stopped pretending to be what they are not.

"What is going on?" Kashaimaru once again repeated his question.

"Nothing much to say… human answer to leaving them alone was building an industrial zone over the place where we used to live. And after living there for over a thousand years, moving away feels like a fate worse than death. There, can you now just end it?"

"I see…" Kashaimaru said and rose up.

* * *

" _Now that was quite kind of you…" Kashaimaru said to the young boy. "Too kind for an Onmyouji in fact."_

" _Huh?" the boy turned around and looked at Kashaimaru. "Ughh… are you an Onmyouji as well?"_

" _Who else but those like us two wear these fancy clothes?" Kashaimaru laughed._

" _Ahh… well, I am just an Onmyouji in early training so I am not so strong. By bluffing I managed to convince youkai I am able to kill it so I fooled it into retreating." The boy explained. "After all, I am the son of Keikain Ryuji. Words are my weapon."_

" _Very good words… had I not been watching you two since the beginning and had I been just a bit less attentive or experienced, I may have believed you. But you had the ability to kill that youkai, especially once it turned its back on you."_

" _Well, I… ah! So why didn't you attack it? Since it was that weak of a youkai, you should have been able to finish it yourself right?"_

" _Why, other than a few pranks that youkai caused no harm to anyone." Kashaimaru winked. "This might just be a guess, we spared it for the same reason, right son of Keikain Ryuji?"  
_

* * *

" _No Ryuzan… don't listen to her words!" Kashaimaru dramatically demanded from Ryuzan. Although Kashaimaru looked more or less the same thanks to Gokadoin Onmyoudo, Ryuzan was now older and the two looked as if they were at the same age._

" _Don't listen to him dearie…" a beautiful youkai woman whispered into Ryuzan's ear. "…he is just angry I chose you and not him."_

" _Chose… me?" Ryuzan asked, his face looking like he was in a trance. "Chose me… for what?"_

" _I said don't listen to her Ryu! We were friends for years, you should trust me, not her!" Kashaimaru yelled, again in a very dramatic tone._

" _See how he is becoming desperate?" the youkai gave Ryuzan a kiss on his cheek. "For decades, evil men have been hunting me for my beauty… please, won't you save me? I will be all yours if you save me and show you would punish evil men like him."_

" _Yes… that sounds… nice."_

" _Thank you my love…" she kissed him on his mouth. "Let us end him together…" the youkai turned around, showing Kashaimaru a sadistic face, just like he would expect from an urban legend that loved making men kill one another over her, usually in a brutal fashion._

_Her sadism was, however, replaced with pain and surprise the moment Ryuzan stabbed her through her chest with his hand._

" _Ah? What…"_

" _I am disappointed… I expected someone with whom I could have had a challenging battle of words, but ends up you are just an amateur." Ryuzan said from behind. "Anyway, your terror ends here, youkai."_

" _NOOOO-" she screamed but soon enough disentrigated into pure Fear and disappeared._

" _I heard many bad things about your father, but I feel like you are even worse, Ryu." Kashaimaru sighed._

" _I am thankful for the compliment." Ryuzan smiled. Kashaimaru always found it scary how he had the same face in front of both friends and those he was intending to backstab. "Anyway, what is with all that drama? Did you even try to look realistic?"_

" _Tried at first, then I realized she believed me so I just continued without trying."_

" _Had she started suspecting anything, I would have been in danger. You saw what she can do just by touching you, right?"_

" _Ah don't worry, I would have jumped in and saved you."_

" _Yeah, I am sure you would." Ryuzan sighed. "Anyway, lets continue with that conversation from before… you were in Tokyo?"_

" _Yes, went there to check up on something." Kashaimaru smiled. "And while I was there, I also checked up on that girl who was with you a few years ago."_

" _Eh? You mean Ritsura?"_

" _Yep!" Kashaimaru confirmed and put his hand under his chin. "Just as I predicted, she grew up into quite a 'coldy'."_

" _Coldy?" Ryuzan was already getting weary of what he is about to say._

" _Hottie feels kinda wrong seeing as she is a Yuki Onna…" Kashaimaru shrugged. "Unnatural hair color, nice skin with a natural silky color, very pretty face and very nice breasts… no doubt likes being seme but that also has its charms… and you might die from frostbite due to her enormous fear, but I am sure any man would call it 'TOTALLY WORTH IT!'… well, danger just makes it better." Kashaimaru nodded and then opened his eyes. "Huh, what is with that look?"_

" _You lolicon… I thought you were just fooling around when you were so courteous to her years ago but I see you are just a…"_

" _Wrong! Lolicons like little girls… I like grown up ones and I have seen so many grow up that I just understand which will look hot when they grow up."_

" _IT IS STILL SCREWED UP!"_

" _Now now bro, I know you were imagining her as I described and probably added some sparkles in the background."_

_Ryuzan put his hand on his forehead due to being unable to say he did not._

" _Anyway, we did our job! Lets go to some bar and hunt some gurls!" Kashaimaru decided._

"… _hah, alright." Ryuzan sighed. "Lets go hunt some gurls."_

" _Lets go hunt some gurls!"_

" _Lets go hunt some gurls!"_

" _LETS GO HUNT SOME GURLS!"_

" _LETS GO HUNT SOME GURLS!"_

" _And I swear it Ryuzan, if you again tell the girls I am an old man who took plastic surgeon I will murder you."_

" _I promise I won't, bro!"_

_And he kept his promise… with his verbal skills, he persuaded the young women that Kashaimaru was actually an rich, old geezer who liked kidnapping young males and switch brain by using high tech surgery. The same night the bar was closed for renovation and only a middle aged businessman with no more hopes of relationship, hinted by Ryuzan to be the youngster trapped in older body, was thankful due to one woman feeling pity and going out with him. Well, she found out the truth later and after a few months they invited Ryuzan to their marriage.  
_

* * *

" _So you are the one who did it… Kashaimaru-senpai." Keikain Ryuzan said when he saw Gokadoin Kashaimaru standing over a dead body._

" _It was ages since you called me senpai, Ryuzan-kun." Kashaimaru, who didn't use the –kun sufix for a long time either, answered and sat down on a stool. "Guess you are quite serious."_

" _I had no idea you would… go this far." Ryuzan condemned him. Unlike Kashaimaru who seemed at peace, Ryuzan's face showed contained anger._

" _I already told you… I didn't choose to side with Yang, but with both Yin (darkness) and Yang (light)."_

" _Yang huh… what is yang about murder?"_

_For last few months, some young humans from Kyoto discovered the existence of youkai and how important it was for youkai to follow their own rules. Unfortunately, the bored and sadistic youngsters started to bully the youkai… youkai that protected something had seen their treasure destroyed, youkai that lived a certain kind of lifestyle saw it end and when a youkai was not so easy to harm, the humans would intentionally do harm somewhere else that would result in those youkai being blamed and Onmyouji getting asked to destroy them._

_What is worse, that kind of behavior started spreading around and even some from outside Kyoto have started to do the same. Even things that seemed to be unable to spread seemed to have had a way to spread around… and Kashaimaru felt he had to put a quick end to it._

" _Nothing I guess… but the path of_ _ **both**_ _Yin and Yang is bound to be filled with it." Kashaimaru rose up and started walking around. "Just how many youkai lost their lives to their sadism, huh Ryuzan? Tell me, had the youkai done a similar thing, wouldn't you have destroyed them?"_

" _You know me well enough, Kashaimaru!" Ryuzan shouted at him. "I would not-"_

" _Yes, I know you yourself seek to protect both youkai and humans equally. Yes, I know that you seek it even thought you knew it would end in branch families cutting your chances of inheriting the Keikain House. But by you I meant your entire House and all those other Onmyouji, not you yourself! When a human does something bad, he goes into jail. When a youkai does something bad, he goes to Hell! And even you Ryuzan…" Kashaimaru walked up to him so that their noses almost touched. "Look me into the eyes and tell me that you would be as angry if these people were youkai!"_

" _I would not discriminate… and it is not only me. The tolerance for youkai inside House Keikain has grown since war against Hagoromo Gitsune and the Nue. Besides, I am not unique in my House for my beliefs, just for being open about it."_

" _No, the tolerance didn't grow. They just respect the Nuras… they only respect the Nuras." Kashaimaru moved away. "They don't show any respect for youkai from regions other than Kantou. Nothing has changed…"_

" _Nothing will change in a matter of a few years, Kashaimaru… nothing will change with this either…"_

" _And what will change it? Alliance with Nuras? Heh…" Kashaimaru snorted. "Those youkai have given up four hundred years ago and became best pals with Tokugawas and humanity in general. Nurarihyon, Nura Rihan, Nura Rikuo… they accepted that the old youkai world is dying and should try to survive by mixing amongst the humans… They believe in Compromise, the idea that youkai should accept that the world has changed and should change with it."_

" _And what is wrong with that?" Ryuzan asked Kashaimaru whose back was turned towards him._

" _What about youkai who don't want to get kicked out of their homes by human roads, industry and other kinds of human expansions? What about youkai who are born malicious? Their idea of coexistence is only fitting for some."_

" _Times are changing. Everyone has to change, even youkai. Hell, the only reason the humans got so strong was because they accepted to change!"_

" _Even if it means that some youkai and traditions will go extinct?"_

"… _yes."_

" _I see… just as I expected… although you and I both seek peace between Yin and Yang, this is where you and I differ." Kashaimaru turned towards Ryuzan. "I reject your idea of peace, Ryuzan. Even if I have to get my hands dirty and even if there is no hope, I will fight to keep humans and youkai worlds separate and pure."_

" _So this day has really come…" Ryuzan also seemed to understand that their alliance was unlikely to be anything but short-lived. "The world has to change, Kashaimaru-senpai… and those who reject that will have to disappear." He said that and turned around to leave. "I am too weak to beat you… but when we meet next time, we shall see whose resolution is stronger… though I pray you come to your senses by then."_

" _Farewell, my one and only friend…" Kashaimaru whispered._

_These two Onmyouji, unique in their belief that they should protect both humans and youkai, thus went their different paths. Just like thousand years ago, the Keikain and Gokadoin seem to not be able to get along._

* * *

Kashaimaru understood he was a sinner. As he walked around the construction site and made his Kitsune Shikigami destroy machines and buildings and harass humans, he understood that he was no saint.

Yet, he could not but feel that this is the right thing to do. His human senses told him it was wrong, but the youkai blood in his veins boiled with anger as he saw the  _Yang_  harass the  _Yin_.

He did not agree with Seimei's later teachings, but he was now a staunch believer in his original teachings that said that the role of the Abe (and thus Gokadoin) family is to protect the balance between  _Yin_  and  _Yang_ , youkai and humans.

Should youkai threaten the human world, it is their duty to stop the youkai. And should humans threaten the youkai world, isn't it their duty to stop the humans? Thousand years ago, the youkai may have been the dominant one… but today it is the humans who are dominant and what is terrifying is that those humans are not even aware of what they are doing… though should  _Shin Sekai_  win, humans will be aware of it… and there will be no stopping them anymore.

"So… is it over now?" Kashaimaru wondered and looked around. The night has fallen a while ago, but he could no longer feel any human presence. Everyone has ran away and much of value has been destroyed.

"Yes, it is over Kashaimaru-dono." A deep, male voice said from behind.

Kashaimaru recognized it so he was not surprised. "So, you are the one Netto sent this time… Plaguedoctor?" he turned his head around to see a youkai dressed as a plaguedoctor from times of medieval Europe, dressed in black robe, wearing a hat and having a mask that made him look like a crow with a very long beak.

"I was on my way to western Japan and passing through Kyoto Prefecture so Netto asked me to take a quick detour and help you." The youkai from Shiori's Hyaki Yakou commented.

"So, what kind of tale will you guys make for this place?" in order to take care humanity doesn't reclaim it, Kashaimaru tended to use Shiori's services to curse a certain location and nothing keeps humans away like curses do.

"I poisoned the workers who ran away as well as the air here. Any human who tries working here will fall sick with a disease I invented… nothing life-threatening of course, can't have Onmyouji start sniffing around too much. Soon enough, humans will conveniently decide to leave this place alone."

"Creating plagues eh? As always, the irony of a Plaguedoctor creating plagues is not lost on me."

"Don't blame Shiori-sama. She was but a little child when she accidentally created me." The youkai, whose current title was  _Shiori's Right Hand_  and who was one of her most powerful youkai, commented.

"A scary, little child." Kashaimaru sighed. "How does one accidentally create a monster like you?"

Plaguedoctor ignored him. "Anyway, why did you bother doing all this yourself? You are just making it harder… it will be a pain to frame this as something other than bioterrorism."

"I trust Shi-chan will come up with something." Kashaimaru answered. "It is just that… I did not want to leave my hands clean of this."

"I will never understand the way you idealists think. Well, time for me to go."

"Yeah, well goodb-" Kashaimaru started but was cut off by a loud sound of an ambulance car. A moment later, an ambulance jumped from the forest and fell in front of them.

"Sensei, tiime to goo!" a youkai nurse, with grayscale as her skin, shouted from the driver's seat. Kashaimaru guessed this was one of the youkai nurses the Plaguedoctor collected while he traveled the world.

"Yes yes dear, lets go." Plaguedoctor sat in the passenger seat. "Well, see you later Kashaimaru-dono."

And thus the ambulance drove away while causing a loud noise, leaving Kashaimaru speechless due to the crazy sight.

Kashaimaru sighed and walked away from the construction site. Soon, he saw Shouen walk around with some of his youkai as well as Firefox who immediately ran to Kashaimaru.

"I thought I told you to wait at the village." He said and took Firefox into his arms.

"We… wanted to see…" Shounen started. "Is it… safe to return?"

"Yes, though I advise hiding for a while. With time, this will be treated as a cursed site and no humans will return back."

"Ah… ah… THANK YOU KASHAIMARU-SAMA!" Shounen, as well as all the youkai that followed him, procrastinated before him. "We will immediately leave the village! We are forever in your debt and we can never repay you! If you ever need anything, say the word and Furuka Shounen will do it even if it costs me my life!"

For a moment, Kashaimaru was surprised at the sight but soon enough smiled. He was glad to directly see his actions helping to save someone.

His eyes then moved towards a hill where a shrine was located and he stopped smiling… it was a shrine that used to be part of Tenkai's old seal.  _But we had done nothing really worth yet… Shi-chan, just how long do you intend to wait for 'that'?  
_

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And thus another chapter is done. I hope it was good enough for you to forgive me for making it Kashaimaru-centric. It is first chapter that is focused on one character only, though I expect to have more in future (next one will likely be Rikuo's).

Anyway, the chapter represents one of the main themes of the story: youkai resisting human expansion. This was a theme in the Canon as well, but never became too relevant. Here however, both Kashaimaru and the Kyushu Clan represent the opposition to human expansion.

And there we come to another theme: two ways of co-existence. One is Kashaimaru's and Kyushu's where the goal is to keep human and youkai world separate from one another. The other one is the Nura's way where co-existence is to be achieved by the opposite: the humans and youkai world getting closer together (Nurarihyon married a human, Nura Rihan turned it into a clan of heroes and Nura Rikuo included even humans into his Hyaki Yakou (as shown in the second OVA)). Both ways have their advantages and disadvantages: Kyushu's takes care both worlds remain pure but humans and youkai remain opposed. Nura's way is more peaceful, but requires both humans and youkai to compromise and for youkai to evolve just like how the humans have. Thus, this conflict is more complicated than a simple Good Vs. Evil which, I think, makes both the characters and the plot more interesting.

And for those wondering, the reason Kashaimaru looks young are gokadoin techniques which tended to be focused on obtaining immortality. And while Kashaimaru didn't start his aging, he slowed it down.

All in all, hope you enjoyed the chapter and next time lets gio back to Kantou ;) Thanks for reading and please  **Review**!


	20. Mount Nejireme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We have FINALLY reached the damn Nejireme…

**Chapter 20: Mount Nejireme**

"Uhm…. Guys?" Onieda Mamoru raised his hand and spoke. "I understand wanting some fun but we should really get moving."

The members of the SIC club have already reached the town where they were  _supposed_  to leave the bus and start walking towards the mansion on Nejireme. However, as usual for those two, Ritsura and Araya ended up quarreling, this time due to Araya winning at some kind of Indian Poker and Ritsura claiming she was cheating. So once they were off the bus, they searched for the nearest arcade and started to beat one another at games. They were now at their fifth game, table soccer. Since Ritsura had inhuman reflexes, Ritsura asked Rihan to create some fire so she would change into her human form and thus the girls would be able to have a fair fight.

"Once we finish with this game, sensei." Ritsura answered. "I will win in a minute."

"We shall see who will win in a minute…" Araya complained with a confident smug.

"But… we have to…" Mamoru tried to reason with them. He thought of calling Principal Hitotsume, who already left for Nejireme, but remembered that he is too lenient with his  _Ojou-sama_.

Seeing as the girls were not paying any attention to him anymore, he gave up and walked away. After a few more adrenaline-pumping rounds, the battle was over. Much to Araya's frustration, Ritsura won.

"Month of free ice cream, here I come!" Ritsura said as she turned back to her Yuki Onna form and turned around. "Well then, guess it is time to leave."

"Wait a bit, I am in middle of some important business." Onieda Mamoru commented. He was sitting on a table and typed something on his laptop. Ritsura's and Araya's eyes quickly fell on the full coffee cup beside him.

"Oh… a filled coffee pot." Araya said with a smirk. "You know what that means."

"This shall take quite a while." Ritsura sighed. "Luckily, Mamoru-sensei is a mature man and once he realizes that we all want to go he will… oh."

Against Ritsura's expectations, the rest of the group was not watching their match praying for a quick end. Shima was hanging with some local gals, Mayuri was playing poker with some sweating men who were losing both the game and money (due to being an Onieda and having yakuza as friends, she tends to get away with such illegal activities), Ryuzan was performing magical tricks for kids on some improvised street stage and her brother was taking nap on bench outside the arcade, not aware of Araya who was dangerously closing to him.

It took her a few moments to notice the danger.  _Shit, I have to save my little brother!_  She started quickly walking towards them in order to stop this evil woman from doing something to her little brother's wounded body. Araya reached him and started jumping from one foot to another as if preparing to wake him up with a rough jump.

Ritsura extended her arm and opened her mouth in order to stop her. But next moment she saw Kibiki Sakura, whom she only now noticed, walking away from the arcade. And while she was wondering where Sakura was going, her brother's scream made her realize that she was too late and thus failed in her sisterly duties. So, instead of taking responsibility and having another tiring argument with Araya, Ritsura heroically ran away in order to join Sakura.

"Where are you going, Sakura-chan?" Ritsura asked the moment she reached her.

"Just taking a small walk around the town." Sakura answered. "It seemed like it would take a while before we would leave so why not check out the town a bit?"

"What if we left while you were not there?"

"Ritsura-senpai, we are in 21st century." Sakura replied with her usual innocent smile. "One call and I would know I have to come to you. It is not like i intend to go far away."

"Good point… let me join you then."

"You are welcome. By the way, is your  _battle_  over?"

"Yep, I won." Ritsura puffed with pride.

"Ha ha… you two sure got very excited there."

"Of course, she is one of my three legendary rivals."

"Who are the other two?"

"You met one today: Saaya." Ritsura revealed. "Well, we are not rivals actually, just rough friends who always argue with one another. Unfortunately, it is an unrequited rivalry." Ritsura said in a sad tone as she put her arm above her heart. "I still dream of the day she accepts me as an equal and thus a rival."

"Oh, I am sorry to hear that." Sakura replied, obviously finding it all entertaining. "So, who is the third one?"

"No, first one. Up till recently, Araya was my top rival but now that title belongs to someone else."

"What?! That breaks my heart, Ritsu-chan!" Araya joined them, walking beside Sakura. "With whom are you cheating on me?"

Rihan also joined the group, walking behind the girls.

"Hmph, this one is actually serious." Ritsura went on with the topic. "And one it is my duty to crush."

"Who, Shiori?" her brother guessed.

"Damn it  _baka-ototo_  (stupid little brother), don't steal my declaration of war!"

"Sorry sis…" Rihan sighed, though he seemed more annoyed than sorry.

"Grrrr…"

"Who is Shiori?" Sakura asked.

"An enemy Ritsura met yesterday." Araya answered.

"An enemy?" Sakura looked worried. "What do you mean an enemy?!"

"Ah, you are still new at this." Araya commented. "You see, there are various youkai clans around. And when two clans that don't like one another meet, they go and try to kill one another."

"What?! You were killing someone yesterday?" Sakura seemed shocked.

"Yep, me and my clan were fighting to death yesterday." Ritsura answered without any sugarcoating.

"But… killing is…"

"There are many youkai in this world Sakura-chan, and many of them are evil." Ritsura continued. "These guys fooled around my clan's turf, tend to kill innocent humans and, above all, were trying to kill Mayuri's father. So we were keeping peace… and just so there is no misunderstanding, many youkai are born evil so killing is, unfortunately, the only way to stop them."

"Still…"

"Ah, no  _stills_! Rihan, use your charm later and convince her to understand!"

"Huh?" Sakura seemed confused.

"Sis, don't make me look like something I am not…"

"And while we are at it, I heard you…" Ritsura wanted to talk with him about Shiori but decided it was not the time nor place for that. "… actually, forget it. We will talk later."

"Aha…" Rihan's face darkened a bit, obviously not looking forward to talking about it.

"ANYWAY, I have to stop her and that little band of hers! Tokyo ain't big enough for two Demonic Overladies and I swear the day will come when I send that youkai to Hell where it belongs!"

"Actually, Shiori is a human." Rihan revealed a plot twist.

"…huh?"

"She is a human… she has no youki, Nenekirimaru can't hurt her and she confirmed it herself."

For a few moments, Ritsura just starred at him with an annoyed look. Then, her mouth moved to make an evil grin. "…is that so? Fufufufu." Ritsura's evil grin widened. "What, she thinks that this fact makes her cool or something?  _'Hey look, I did not need any of that fancy Youki to build a Hyaki Yakou, you underwhelming youkai-boss wanna-be who can't even get her own father's approval! Go to school and play with your classmates!'_  That woman sure loves suicidal challenges…" Ritsura added her everyday frustration atop Shiori. "She will fall, even if I have to usher a new ice age in Tokyo."

"Fufufu, looking forward to how that epic battle." Araya giggled.

"I just hope Tokyo survives these two crazy women…" Rihan complained. "Anyway, where exactly are we going?"

"Well… I honestly have no idea. I just followed Sakura." Ritsura didn't know herself. "Sakura-chan, where are we going?"

"Just walking around, remember Ritsura-senpai?" Sakura answered. "We have already taken two turns. Two more and we should reach the arcades from the other direction."

"We have started by walking east, turned south then west and soon we will be just south from the Arcade and soon we will be south of it." Araya commented as she checked on her cell where they currently are. "You sure have good orientation, Sakura."

"Mom said that to me as well once." Sakura seemed pleased with the flattery. She then noticed something across the street. "Oh, what is that?"

The other three turned towards something that looked like a shrine. However, it was not a Shinto shrine: there was no greenery nor wood. Instead, it was a small shrine made of metal, with steel columns surrounding whatever was in middle of it. As if it was supposed to make it more impressive, one had to climb up five steel steps to reach the altar.

Ritsura felt a strange sensation as she gazed at it. She felt as if the shrine looked back at her… and that the shrine hated her. That feeling of hate grew, to the point most people would run away due to its enormous Fear. Ritsura, however, did not even flinch.

"Hmph, looks like one of those modern religions." Her brother commented, either not not feeling the same sensation or, more likely, wanting to ignore it. "No reason to stay here."

Ritsura was torn between checking it out and leaving. Even if the shrine was dangerous, it was practically in Gyuki's backyard and the Gyuki Group would take care of it in case it turned out to be a threat. Yet, the other part of her wanted to check it up, if only to show it that it's Fear doesn't affect her. But is it worth checking it out while two of their friends are here?

However, it was Kibiki Sakura who decided on what they would do. "Lets check it out!" she said in her usual tone and ran across the road. Ritsura wondered if Sakura simply wasn't aware of the Fear that came out of it or if the Shrine ignored her. Either way, the rest of the group had to follow her.

Ritsura didn't immediately look at the object on the altar, and instead checked the surrounding. To her frustration, the shrine showed the signs of use and even while not looking at the object on the altar and even though it was daytime, she could feel the Fear all around her.

Finally, she moved her eyes to the altar. There, a marble skull sat. Ritsura could feel the hate streaming from it, obviously trying to terrify her. Ritsura, however, was not impressed and the only thing she felt was the wish to crush this wicked thing in order to show it who was the boss. However, doing that now would attract unwanted attention from the townfolk.

"What kind of Kami is that?" Sakura asked, no longer as excited.

"Someone even Shinto would find despicable." Araya answered. "But then, this is a demon that wanted to be a Buddha, not a Kami. Though I think Buddhists would be even more insulted…"

Ritsura moved her eyes towards Araya. Unlike Sakura, she had experience with youkai so one would expect her to be better at sensing Fear around her so she was surprised to see that Araya did not even blink at this evil god throwing all it's hate at her. Actually, she gazed at it as if she were challenging it. Ritsura had a bad feeling Araya expected her and Rihan to save her if something happens.

"Yes… so  _who_  is this?" Sakura repeated her question.

"Sanmoto Gorozaemon. He used to be one of the most wicked human beings, to the point he was able to force even youkai to serve under him. After he died, he turned into a Maou. Died again soon after but continued harassing the world from Hell." Araya moved her eyes onto Ritsura. "Both times, his death was caused by Riha-chan's and Ritsu-chan's grandfather. Their father killed him again twenty years ago but, as you can see, he just refuses to stay dead."

"It is just a matter of time though." Ritsura said while looking at the skull. She then smiled. "They say he split into hundred parts after his second death. In case he revives again, I shall freeze and break him into so many, microscopic parts that he would never recollect himself."

The skull proved to be easy to insult, but it proved to be all bark, no bite.

"You said he was one of the most wicked humans while he was still alive." Sakura continued to inquire, oblivious with just how dire the situation was for her. "What exactly did he do?"

"Murder, Extortion, Rape, Corruption…" Rihan shrugged. "It would be harder to find something he did not do."

"Just to give an example, let me tell you the story of his love." Araya of course did not want to pass the chance to talk about youkai.

"His love life? That is rare to hear with the villains." Sakura commented.

"Indeed it is. But Sanmoto Gorozaemon tried…" Araya shrugged. "Sanmoto Gorozaemon was a man so wealthy he could hire dozens of Oiran each day for his parties… a privilege he used of course. Even the Tayuu, the highest ranking courtesan, would not reject his calls."

"I remember gramp-gramps once mentioning that many Courtesans that visited him and his friends never came back alive… then some were traumatized for life and the most unfortunate ones became monsters." Ritsura added. "Yet, if Oiran ever started to fear him, they would forget about it once he offered more money. Fools."

Araya nodded and continued to talk with a smile on her face. Ritsura never understood how she was able to narrate such dark tales with such an excited, happy look on her face. "And then he met a woman he fell in love with… and I don't mean the usual and dull _'She is so pretty so I must add her to my collection!'_ kind of love here mind you, but true, sincere love."

"That is kinda sweet." Sakura commented. "But I have a bad feeling about where this is going."

"So, he slaughtered her family and friends, destroyed everything she had in her life and then, pretending to feel pity for her, he offered her to live with him." Araya brought her story to an end. "I won't bother to tell the tales of what he supposedly did to his young wife. Supposedly, making the life of someone he loved dearly was something he found exciting."

"Ugh, not sweet after all… So, what happened to her? Did she run away? Did some hero save her? Or will this be one of those tragic stories where she took her own life in order to flee away."

"Neither I am afraid. He took care that all tales of her running away result in traumatic experiences that lead only back to him." Araya shrugged. "They say she killed herself in the middle of one of his parties, only to wake up next morning. Death might save you from a perverted sicko, but not from a  _Mahou Seinen Hentai Sicko_ (Magical Man Perverted Sicko)." Araya added in an unfitting joke. "In the end, she ended up becoming a wicked person herself and her joy due to his death was less due to her torturer dying and more because she was able to carve her own bloody tales."

"Well, our clan took care she doesn't carve too many." Ritsura added another bit.

"Oh, so it really was you guys who did it? My suspicions have been confirmed." Araya commented and turned back to Sakura. "Their off-spring as well: many tried to lead normal lives, but seems his wickedness was inherent so everyone ended up becoming a wicked person, no matter how much they tried. Speaking about it, the one whom Ritsu-chan and Riha-chan fought yesterday was one of those descendants,"

"Ughh…" Sakura seemed to have lost all of her enthusiasm. "So, why are people building shrines to someone like him?"

Ritsura decided to answer this one. "First, most people don't know that it even is Sanmoto Gorozaemon. They believe it is some unnamed Messiah, trying to save humanity from our ' _wicked'_  father. Luckily, most people in Ukiyoe don't believe that shit."

"So they worship something he isn't?"

"That is the old belief." Araya continued instead of Ritsura. "The cult has since then evolved into something more honest: worship of a person who would come and make the world more fun… fun in his way that is."

"Ah, I heard about that cult. So he was their idol, eh?" Sakura said.

"Enough about this fat fool." Rihan finally spoke out. "Lets go, our friends might be waiting for us."

"Not  _might_ , but  _are_." A male voice said from behind. They turned around and saw it was Ryuzan. "It was an interesting story, but sensei is getting impatient."

"Well, lets hurry least he buys another cup of coffee." Araya shrugged and was the first to move. Ritsura stayed a few moments more. Just like she expected, Ryuzan waited for her. Without saying anything, Ritsura turned back towards the skull which seems to have calmed down by now.

"Just for the record, I heard the entire story meaning I was here quite a while." Ryuzan tried to make her move. "So Mamoru should be VERY impatient now."

"Ryu, should we  _exorcise_  this thing?" Ritsura asked him the question which was in her mind for quite a while. Due to Araya's story, her wish to crush this thing only grew.

"Don't bother." Ryuzan said as he walked up to her. "Most people in this town worship him so you doing anything to it will just cause a lot of trouble, but no gain. Not to mention that this is just a minor shrine so they will replace it in a day or two."

"Most people in  _this_  town worship him? This is Gyuki Group's turf!" Ritsura turned towards him.

"I see your clan really doesn't tell you anything." Ryuzan made a sad smile. "So let me tell you what I heard from my own father: the Gyuki Group failed to suppress Sanmoto Gorozaemon's Fear in the area. All towns surrounding Mount Nejireme are, as if Sanmoto wanted to make a point, under Sanmoto's influence."

"Huh?! That is far too much!" Ritsura shouted. She noticed Sakura and Rihan waving at her to which she replied by shooing them off with her hand. Seems they got the message so they went on without the two of them. "Entire towns? How could that even be accomplished?"

"Supposedly he gained some influential allies. Father suspects they are that group called  _Shin Sekai_." Ryuzan explained, mentioning the group whose name comes up far too often these days. "Also, there are exactly a hundred  _Golden Shrines_  spread around Japan, which fuel the minor ones like this and… do you know about the  _Tea of the Conqueror_?"

"Kurotabou mentioned it. Sanmoto used it to submit humans and youkai under his control but the teapot was destroyed during the  _Tokyo Tag_  twenty years ago."

"Not destroyed… it is still being used, but this time directly by Sanmoto. These golden shrines spread its corruption on humans and youkai alike and only those with strongest willpower can resist it. In other words, living near such shrines for a few years equals getting addicted to that tea." However, the story didn't end just yet. "What is more, those golden shrines are protected by some powerful Fear, to the point only your father's Fear and auntie's Hagun were able to destroy them."

"Are you kidding me… and you say there are hundred of such shrines?!"

"Less then hundred.. as I said, auntie and your father destroyed a few… and what is more, we found a few more that were destroyed though we could not learn by whom."

"Shiori." Ritsura made an instant guess. "She is the only person who is feuding with him but is not in alliance with us and I heard she already caused a lot of harm to him. So, I noticed some kind of worry when you mentioned that someone else destroyed those shrines. What is it?"

"When we destroy a shrine, some Fear remains in their fragments. Nothing unusual, it tends to take time for Fear to disappear from objects. But with those others ones… it was like someone sucked out all that Fear. I am not sure if we should be glad someone is helping us destroy these shrines or be worried about them stealing their Fear."

"Worried… we are fortunate that Gorozaemon is an idiot so his plans are highly flawed. Shiori has a brain however and that can only cause big trouble."

Sanmoto must have been insulted as his hate could be felt again. Ritsura was pleased by that reaction.

"How do you know she is smarter than he is?"

"My guts tell me she is." Ritsura replied and started walking. "Lets go."

"Alright." Ryuzan nodded. "Yes, it is really about time we go."

"Also, you think he has a shrine somewhere in Nejireme?"

"Doubt it. That is the very home of the Gyuki Group. Even he would not be so stupid as to battle their Fear." As he said that, the shrine's rage erupted even more. "It is probably somewhere close, either in one of the towns or somewhere in rural areas."

"Well, at least we will have something to do." Ritsura smiled. "You will help me, won't you Ryu?"

"A Yuki Onna and an Onmyouji desecrating shrines of evil gods… Sounds like quite a romantic date. Couldn't say no even if I tried." Ryuzan winked. "But you sure you can destroy it? As I said, they are tough."

"If I can't, I don't deserve to be Nura clan's heiress." Ritsura said. "Now, lets go to Nejireme and find Gyuki. We have a lot to talk about with him…"

* * *

"I swear it guys…" Mamoru-sensei complained as the group climbed Mount Nejireme. "The town is not far from where we are staying. If you wanted to check it out, you could have done it tomorrow."

"Sorry Mamoru-sensei." Ritsura and Sakura said at the same time. This was the fifth time they asked for his forgivingness.

Ryuzan walked behind most of the group. Due to joining the group only a few hours ago, he still didn't feel comfortable enough about the idea of approaching someone and starting a conversation. Ritsura was the only person he knew here, but she was currently hanging with Araya and he wasn't sure he could stand the two of them at the same time. The Onieda siblings walked one beside another and while he could start a topic with one of them, he wasn't as comforting with both of them. Rihan and Shima were walking with one another, with Shima starting a conversation about some stories about sexy women hiding in this forest.

Ryuzan decided to join the two guys but stopped when he noticed Sakura, who walked behind everyone as she talked with her mother on the cellphone until a while ago, approach him. From what Ritsura told him, she was new to the club just like him, having joined the club only yesterday… or forced to join.

"So, what do you think about  _that_?" Sakura asked.

"What do you mean, Kibiki-san?"

"You know, that shrine to Sanmoto." Sakura pointed backwards with her thumb. "I saw you come just before Araya started talking about that  _Akuma_."

" _Akuma_? I don't often hear that term. Most use the term  _Youkai_ , while many in Kyoto still use the old term  _Ayakashi_."

"Is there a difference between those words?"

"Well,  _Ayakashi_  and  _Youkai_  both have different meaning depending on prefecture, but in most cases  _Ayakashi_  is the old name for Japanese spirits while  _Youkai_  is a more modern term.  _Akuma_  however… I am not sure but I think most use it for Western demons."

"Oh…" Sakura made that face that shows she learned something new. "Well, I tended to use term  _Akuma_  for demons that posses one's soul."

"Hm? I think Ritsura mentioned that you only recently found out about existence of youkai…" Ryuzan felt that something was off with this girl. Or to be more exact, everyone but Ritsura and Shima seemed like they were hiding something. Mamoru was an awkward, bad actor, Mayuri was kind of cold, Araya was way too knowledgeable and Rihan… there was something in his eyes that made Ryuzan uncomfortable. Sakura, however, feels too innocent to be true.

Ryuzan did not believe they were dangerous, but cracking dark secrets was a hobby of his.

"Well, I didn't believe there were spirits walking around us… however I am not an Atheist and I always believed that evil spirits reside in Hell and try to harm us from there."

"…you seem to look at spirits from Western perspective… Kibiki-san, are you maybe a Christian?"

"Oh no no, I am not." Sakura seemed honest in her response. "Maybe it is just that I found western movies and books interesting since I was a kid so… ahh, lets just return to the topic! What does an professional Onmyouji think of that creepy shrine?"

"Ah yes, there is something I found weird…" Ryuzan started and Sakura's attention seems to have grown even more. And he kind of wanted to disappoint that excitement of hers. "…I heard from Ritsura that you were the only human in Ukiyoe High yesterday who noticed that your new principal wasn't a human… or the only human who noticed and tried to make a fuss about it. most people keep silent about it."

"Why are you constantly going at me?" Sakura was not pleased to see that he still didn't answer her question. "Have you fallen in love with me or something?"

"Who knows… I just know what score you gave me." Ryuzan shrugged to which she puffed in frustration. He understood what Ritsura meant when she said the girl was cute all around. "So, what do YOU think about the shrine?"

"Hrrrr…"

"I promise I will answer your question after you answer this one…"

"Hrrr… alright, but I will be angry if you break that promise! You better not make me angry or I will… be angry!" She threatened him. "I found it kinda creepy, especially after Araya-san told me that story."

"Interesting… well, to answer your question, something was very amiss with that shrine to the point even a normal human would feel the evil aura… yet a girl with strong sense for youkai says it was just creepy. I mean, even an skilled Onmyouji like me and heirs of the most powerful Youkai in Japan felt a shiver or two from it but the mighty Sakura found it just creepy. You are really a strong woman, Kibiki-san. I adore you…"

Ryuzan explained that with a smile on his face, certain that she would now reveal whatever her secret was.

"Aaaahhh…" however, rather than acting like someone who got her disguise cracked she acted as if she realized something. "Oh good, I was already starting to fear that I am a coward!"

"Huh?"

"Yes, I did feel it but… well, I once felt something similar and I made such a fuss that even an Exorcist came to check up on it. Yet, not even the Exorcist felt anything so I got kind of… you know, not very open about it." She gave him an answer that made perfect sense. She was either honest or Ryuzan's father can feel free retire. "I am so glad to know I am not weird… such a relief."

"Well, it was probably one of those fake Exorcists." Ryuzan sighed. "They not only steal our jobs, but are also incompetent of doing anything with our jobs."

"Ughhh… stupid fake Onmyouji!" Sakura was frustrated. "So, that shrine IS dangerous after all?"

"Yeah, very much!" Ryuzan admitted that he failed, but still didn't want to give up. "And if someone doesn't destroy that Shrine then… I fear for what might happen." It was a half-lie since this shrine was not the one that was dangerous. But if something happens about it this weekend, he was certain he would have a culprit… though he doubted that Sakura's secret was that grand.

"So why don't you destroy it?" Sakura asked, turning his words against him. "You are a strong Onmyouji, are you not?"

"Yeah… well, you see I have to spend a few days to make talismans for it so…"

"Hmmm…" Sakura's eyes narrowed. "So why are you relaxed and acting was if time is not of essence? And why were you muttering like that?"

"I…"

"It was some kind of trap, was it not?" Sakura looked angry, and this time not in a cute way. "And there I thought we would be friends…" Sakura said and walked away from him. Ryuzan was sure he lowered at least a dozen of her flags, including the score she gave him earlier today.

As Sakura passed her, Ritsura slowed down and replaced Sakura as his companion.

"Very smooth,  _Casanova-kun_." She said with an entertained smirk.

"What, you overheard that?"

"Who do you think I am? Another girl's flag lowered!" Ritsura puffed. "I have a decency not to eavesdrop… but it is hard to not notice that you pissed off Sakura. Good job, it takes quite something to piss off that one. "

"Agh…" he wanted to say something back but he felt a youkai above them. "Huh, what is that?"

"Ah, so he is here!" Ritsura said as she looked towards a flying snake. "That is Hebinyoro, a member of our clan!" Ritsura explained and waved at it. the next moment… something started to fall down, but since the sun was setting it was too dark to see what.

"GYAAAAHH!" the fact that it screamed hinted that it was a person. "WHYYYYYYYYYYY?!" a female voice screamed and now everyone was looking up.

Whoever it was, she fell into bushes beside Ritsura, making everyone but Ritsura stare in awe.

"You sure took your sweet time, Heiko!" Ritsura shouted at her.

"Gah!" a girl of their age, dressed in a colorful kimono with a hand-mirror attached to it, came out of the bushes. She was pretty, her messy hair made her cute and she was a youkai. "Why did you need to-"

"WATCH YOUR MANNERS!" Ritsura shouted at Heiko to which the other one stiffened. If Ryuzan had to explain Ritsura's behavior, he would say it reminded him of his own relationship with his cousin as well as his father's relationship with Ryuzan's aunt.

"Your loyal servant Heiko here, reporting for duty!" she then bowed. "I am very sorry for being late!"

"Sis, who is this girl?" Rihan walked up to his sister. "I saw her this morning in our mansion… in our school's uniform."

"The first member of my Hyaki Yakou." Ritsura puffed with pride. "Beat her into it myself."

"…you did what, sis?" Rihan didn't seem to approve of her actions.

"Anyway, she is also another member of our club. She may not be a boy, but she will do… though I am sure you boys will be pleased." Ritsura revealed.

"Bully…" Heiko said as she fought not to cry.

"Sis, are you bullying her?"

"She is still owing me for trouble she caused yesterday… I will tell you guys about her later, for now lets go on and listen to Heiko's story."

"As you command!" Heiko shouted and started walking like a marching soldier.

Ryuzan and Rihan looked at one another, not sure what to think about this new addition to their club. The two boys are getting ever closer…

"I went to the school, hoping to meet the boy of my dreams." Heiko started her story. "Unfortunately, I had no idea where the school was and I think I may have gotten last a bit…"

"Describe how much you have gotten last." Ritsura, who seems to have heard the story already, demanded.

"I found myself in middle of a feud between two human yakuza clans and a bunch of police officers who, instead of arresting them, fought against them for some kind of vendetta."

"I heard about that fight from my sources." Araya jumped in. "But… isn't that far away from Ukiyoe? I mean, very far away."

Heiko started sweating but ignored her anyway. "So while I fighting them, I kind of… was responsible for the fight spreading across the entire town, until even civilians fought one another."

"And I thought a youkai was responsible for that…" Ryuzan commented.

Heiko once again ignored a comment, although her sweating increased. "And I got arrested, thrown into a cell… then some men broke in and broke in to break out some friend of theirs, which exploded into a full blown prison break…. I am proud to say that I am the only person who ran away."

"She was on news though…" Ritsura said in an annoyed tone. "Took a few minutes to get the footage out before it ended up on TV. Also sent Hebinyoro to find her and bring her to me."

Heiko's sweating increased further and Ryuzan was certain she even started to shiver. "Then I saw a white van and his in it… ends up it was transporting some kind of government sponsored diver team which was supposed to research the depths of Pacific east of Japan. They thought I was one of them so there was no trouble on that end… and their excitement about research and adventures that were to come got me a bit excited myself so I forgot my own situation…"

"So, who stopped you from going into the ocean?" Ryuzan asked.

Heiko started shivering as if she got an attack so Ritsura answered instead of her. "Nobody. Hebinyoro had to find the ship that was on its way to Pacific… before they put her into a submarine and send into the depths!"

"But at least I saved the crew…" Heiko went on, the bizarre story obviously still not being over. "A powerful youkai attacked us, but me and my nakama defeated it. We… we…" Heiko started puling due to fond memories. "We started forming the New Strawhat Pirates when… that evil snake abducted me!"

Nobody said anything to that… it would be rude to ask her if she had some screws lose after all.

Well, almost everyone stayed silent. "I am so writing a short story about this and publishing this as a Doujinshi for next Comiket!" Ichinoe Araya said in an excited tone and a new battlefield between her and Ritsura, who didn't want that story to get out, erupted. But that is story for another time…

* * *

"So, this is where we are staying, huh?" Kubinashi commented as he entered an abandoned, though well maintained, house. He rest of the group, consisting of Aotabou, Sasami, Tosakamaru and, of course, Kejorou entered after him. Ironically, the group was the same as the one Ritsura suggested to her mother.

Though there was some unwanted company as well…

"Ahhh, this is small!" Awashima complained and Dohiko nodded. "We shall get cramped like this."

"You guys aren't even supposed to be here." Kubinashi complained, trying to not explode. The Nuras and Toono youkai did not get along, especially if a Nurarihyon wasn't there thus the subordinates did not need to act courteous. "You can sleep in the woods if you want."

"Rude." Awashima put his hands on his hips. "You would ask us, the VIP's, to sleep in the bushes?"

"What VIPs?!"

"We are both Rikuo's and Ritsura's close friends and mentors." Awashima explained while Dohiko nodded. "Thus, we are Very Important People and lowly servants should treat us with respect we deserve." Awashima said with a mean smile, no doubt hoping to provoke them into a fun fight.

For a moment, the Nuras felt like jumping at these allies of theirs and beating them up. But they controlled themselves this time. They will show these Toono savages the extraordinary mannerism of the proud Nura Clan.

That, and they didn't want to waste their energy by fighting with them, especially not in middle a Gorozaemon-worshiping town.

"And just for the record, I will not sleep in the same room as you two!" Awashima proclaimed. "I want three walls so I don't need to listen to noises that might make me feel uncomfortable."

"With who two?!" Kubinashi turned red. He already knew whom Awashima meant.

"You and Kejorou of course!"

"What, I would never sleep with Kejo…" Kubinashi stopped, but it was already too late.

"Now that I think about it, we do have a lack of beds anyway." Kejorou said with a dark face. "Why doesn't our thief go out and break into someone's house to sleep, eh?"

"Kejorou, I…" Kubinashi tried to apologize, but Kejorou's unforgiving eyes showed it would be fruitless. "Oooh…"

Dohiko opened his mouth. "You should be a man and just confe-OUCH!" But before he could finish his sentence, Kubinashi's head fled into him and made him turn silent.

Still, everyone in the room nodded to what he was about to say, though Kubinashi didn't get to see it.

"Anyway, why are you Toono guys here anyway?!" fearing they would cause even more damage, Kubinashi immediately changed the topic. "Shouldn't you guys be it Tokyo doing whatever you were supposed to be doing?"

To be honest, the Nura Clan did not like the fact that Toono was allowed to do as they wish on their turf, but Rikuo made his decision and they had to follow it. However, that didn't mean they had to like it.

"We are doing our job, don't you worry." Awashima winked. "Anyway, lets go check out the town Dohiko. We can return once the Nuras make the house comfier."

"Buh, shy little boy." Dohiko complained as he rubbed his nose. Again, everyone nodded to that.

"Anyway, is this alright? Shouldn't we be keeping a close guard on Waka and Ojou? Achoo!" Aotabou asked.

He was, however, still shivering due to performing Matoi with Ritsura. Nurarihyons might be powerful, but their Fear is not naturally of aggressive nature so exhaustion is the only harm that can be done. However, Yuki Onna were originally murderous youkai and although Ritsura is not even close to her furthest ancestors, her Fear still retains that nature and tries to kill the youkai she performs Matoi with so only the youkai with strongest Fear can survive the Matoi with her for a decent amount of time. Aotabou was one of the head members of the Nura Clan, yet it will take a few days for him to completely regain his vitality.

"You know what Rikuo-sama thinks about that. Even in this situation, he does not want us too close." Kubinashi explained. Rikuo still remembered the days when the Nura Clan followed his every step and he was staunch on making his clan keep a distance from Ritsura and Rihan, even while guarding them. "Besides, that is Gyuki Group's territory. If anything happens, they will keep them safe until we come."

"Indeed." Sasami nodded. "It does allow us to keep a wider guard however."

"Not to mention that we can investigate Gorozaemon's influence here." Kejorou added. "After yesterday's battle, I have a bad feeling Sanmoto may make his own move."

"Well, we don't really have much else to do, don't we?" Tosakamaru noted. "Well then, lets give our best for both the commander and the heirs!" he gave a thumbs up an everyone cheered.

Nobody noticed a piece of white cloth fluttering outside the window, allowing Yashagoro to prepare a better plan to take care of the Nuras.

* * *

"Sensei, I have a question…" Shima asked as he approached Mamoru.

"Yes, what is it Shima-kun?"

"What exactly are we going to do on Nejireme?" Shima asked. "Yes, we got Ichinoe's presentation but… what  _exactly_  are we going to do while here? That is, what is our schedule?"

"For today, I will talk with Hitotsume-dono and Gyuki-dono but you guys are free to explore the Kiyotsugu mansion. There is everything inside… hot springs, cinema, tea ceremony room, youkai museum… Kiyotsugu-san has quite an establishment here."

"As for the cinema…" Shima lowered his tone. "I am sure there are movies, but are there ' _movies'_?"

"Ohhh…" Mamoru nodded. "Probably not, but you can connect the cinema to computer devices so if you have something…" Mamoru then lowered his tone. "… _yes_."

"Good…" Shima answered.

"Good…" Ritsura agreed.

"I think some prankster youkai will have to destroy a few wires…" Rihan whispered to Mayuri whose face turned red due to what her brother spoke about.

"Hm?" Ritsura turned aside as she noticed something in the distance. "There is some kind of shrine with a  _Jizou_."

"There is Umewakamaru written on it." Rihan commented.

"Ah, so here you are." A woman's walked from behind it. She was a thin woman in her thirties, dressed and standing like a stereotyped secretary.

"Oh, Adashibara-san!" Mamoru seems to have known her. "Araya-san, I am sure you have heard of Adashibara-san, right?"

"I know that famous folklorist… she is related to him I guess?"

Mamoru nodded and turned back to the woman who walked up to them. "Adashibara-san, I thought we were supposed to meet tomorrow?"

"Sorry, I have some business tomorrow so I'd like to take care of this today." She put a finger on her glasses. "I did not expect you guys to be  _that_  late though…"

"Ah sorry, our bus had some malfunctions…" Mamoru apologized with a lie and quickly threw an angry glance towards Ritsura and Araya. Both girls stiffened for a moment. Then he turned towards the entire group. "This Professor Adashibara Keiko. She is an expert in Japanese folklore and will show us around and talk about various Gyuki myths."

* * *

To everyone's fortune, Adashibara was not even close to Araya or Kiyotsugu (who sometimes took them around). She only told a few of most interesting Gyuki myths and in a mature tone which was a refreshing change from Araya's eccentric one.

"Gyuki myths have changed through time you see…" Adashibara was explaining while the group was walking. "In the oldest folklores, they were shown as youkai with head of an ox and body of a spider. They had the ability to disguise themselves as humans, usually into beautiful women. They would then mislead humans into their lairs where they would transform into horrifying monsters and eat them."

"I really hate it when they use term  _monster_ …" Ritsura whispered to Sakura.

"In more later folklore however, Gyuki's are represented exclusively as humans. Mezumaru, for example, doesn't transform but uses the mentioned human disguise to attract humans and then sends monstrous youkai at them. Those youkai are often shown as traditional Gyuki. There is also a Gyuki who is told to look like a human samurai and uses illusions and swords to bring death upon humans. There is also Gozumaru who is shown to have monstrous features in some paintings, but is still exclusively shown to have a human form."

Ritsura started whispering to Sakura again. "That's because the old Gyuki Clan was conquered by a human who got eaten by a Gyuki and became a youkai in his belly thus getting some of his abilities. He killed that Gyuki and made his name and clan his own. Gozumaru and Mezumaru are his heirs, more similar to him then the older Gyuki's."

"Well, that was a short story as I didn't want to bore you much…" Adashibara turned her head around and smiled. "And now, lets get to the more fun part."

They understood what she meant by smart part when they saw where she brought them. They were at a very unnatural location: they were in part of the forest where giant claws have been stabbed into the trees. It was hard to believe that anything but youkai created all this mess.

"You are telling me that beings with claws this big are walking around without humans even noticing them?" Sakura was the most impressed person in the group. "That's scary…"

"These ones aren't the scary ones." Ritsura commented. "They rarely attack humans these days and even when they do, they more often just scare them instead of kill them. Killing would attract too many humans into their territory and that's something they don't want. In return however, they feel more happy about the idea of attacking other youkai."

"The way you said it makes me think there are more dangerous ones."

"Urban legends are the dangerous ones today." Rihan answered this question of hers. "Unlike the old youkai which live in rural areas away from humans, Urban legends live amongst the humans in the cities and either fit into human society better or have abilities or territories that make it easier for them to survive against the humans."

"Even Onmyoujutsu is weaker against them." Ryuzan commented. "Old youkai respect the Kami and Buddhas, but Urban Legends? They are like humans today: not much respect. And lack of respect for religions means lack of Fear for Onmyojutsu aligned with those religions. And if they don't fear us, out techniques are less effective against them."

"My wish to move into a nice, cozy village just grew…" Sakura sighed. "By the way, where are Shima-kun, Adashibara-san and the Oniedas?"

"Eh?" the rest looked around and also noticed those four were missing.

"That's weird…" Ritsura commented. "Sakura-chan, stay close to… Sakura-chan?"

"When did she disappear?!" Rihan asked. "She was here a moment ago… as was Araya…"

"Must be a prank from one of Gyukis… damn, illusionists can go on my nerves." Ritsura complained. "Heiko, can you do something against… Heiko? Not you too!" another person disappeared.

Only then Ritsura noticed that everyone was gone. "…you have to be kidding me…"

* * *

"Guys? Guys!" Mayuri shouted at the rest of the group. For some reason, everyone besides Mamoru started walking around, searching for everyone else and not realizing that they were close to one another.

Mayuri moved her foot towards them, planning to stop them physically before everyone ended up moving in their own direction, thinking that it would allow them to find out what is going on.

However, her brother put his hand on her shoulder and stopped her.

"Brother, what is going on?"

Mamoru didn't immediately answer and instead just gave her a mysterious smile.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

I can't believe I am already at chapter 20. I am so proud of my baby…

\- again, a lot of infodump. Sorry for that…

\- I for one look forward to battles between those two Demonic Overladies :P

\- yes,  _Mahou Seinen Hentai Sicko_  is a parody of  _Mahou Shoujo_  titles

\- Sakura got a lot of screentime this chapter. But then, she does make the best object of infodumping. And boo Ryuzan for mistrusting her - _-

\- Sanmoto's love story is not fully made by me. It appeared in one of Tankobon Omakes so most of it is canon. Everything after Sanmoto made her move with him is my original contribution mind you, as is the part of "sincere" love

\- yes, the trip draws a several parallels to the canon arc where Kiyo Cross Squad went on their trip to Nejireme. The Adashibara here is supposed to be related to Adashibara who appeared there (I originally planned it to be some fat Otaku, but for some reason ended up just reverting original Adashibara to something physically opposite to him)

\- not sure if the story about Gyuki is that valid, but I had to give Adashibara something to talk about and thought I might mention the fact that neither of the three main Gyuki's have a… well, a Gyuki Form…

\- the kids were originally supposed to be split after going to sleep at the mansion, but seeing that some of you are hungry for some action, I moved the event backwards and next few chapters are supposed to be more action/thriller oriented

* * *

 **Dennou Writer:**   _"-Kashaimaru was kind of a cutie in this chapter... X3"_

"Heh." Kashaimaru made a proud grin as he looked in Ryuzan's direction.

"Grrr…" due to what happened with Sakura and one of Ritsura's flags, he was already annoyed with the chapter. He did not need this, and neither the fact that ch19 fully belonged to his rival.

 **FeuWitch** :  _"I swear reading your story in a whole day would probably burn my eyes. Good thing I'm already half blind to begin with. So, yeah, one thing I could sum up for your story is: WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU! I want to write like you so bad... Your story is awesome, epic, monstrous, humorous, what else? Crap full of hints of OTPs that made me confused altogether! I ship some characters here and damn I'm not seeing it going anywhere except for the Rikuo and Tsurara thing. I cherished every bit of those moments you wrote about them. Not that I'm saying I don't cherish the others, but my Rikuo and Tsurara are canon, so, I thirst for their relationship! The extra story that Shibashii left us was not enough to quench my thirst for this couple! Okay, before I stray away, you are by far, the longest story that I have read in a day and I LOVED IT, so congratulations! I hope you update soon and I totally understand if you were to update slow if you could produce this great of a story! Till then!"_

You read that in a whole day? O_O I am flattered ^_^

I am just a humble servant of the Hyaku Monogatari, spreading my tales around (and trying to achieve world domination but please don't tell that to Sanmoto-sama :P ).

Good news is that there will be more RikuTsura scenes one Rikuo returns from the States (him being there was a necessary evil). Still, it is a fic focused on the kids so don't expect too much there (though I have a plan to write a separate RikuTsura shortie).

All in all, thanks for R&R and hope you keep reading ^_^ There is a long road ahead of us and we have just started...


	21. (Trials at Nejireme) - Sakura's Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The members of SIC have finally reached Nejireme (though it did take some time to enter the mountain). However, they didn't even reach the Kiyotsugu family's mansion when everyone, but the Onieda siblings, got caught by an alien Fear and split. Alone and not knowing what is going on, they now have to find one another, find out what is going on and get back to safety.

 

**Arc IV: Trials at Nejireme**

**Chapter 21: Sakura's Trial**

"Heh, this is a bad situation…" Shima Ryu smiled to himself. "This better be someone's joke or else… I will get scared."

Although he said that and he was in a bad situation, Shima Ryu didn't honestly feel scared. After years of ending in trouble with Youkai (thanks to the fact that his father is on good terms with the Nuras), Shima Ryu has gotten used to this kind of situations. The fact that he was in area that was supposedly controlled by Youkai loyal to the Nura Clan just made the situation less terrifying.

Yes, it  _seemed_  dire. After everyone else suddenly disappeared, Shima was left all alone. Furthermore, some unnatural power made him walk away and it took around ten minutes of fast-paced walking to regain control of himself… not that it was of much use because he could not remember which way he took to get here.

Still, it was most likely a prank of some Nura Clan Youkai. Scaring people is what most have to do in order to stay alive and with Nura Clan that never ends up being anything but a harmless prank… still, like most pranks it can be annoying.

"Um, sorry ser…" someone tapped him on his shoulder.

Instead of turning around, he asked: "Should I scream?"

"Not needed… I'd still like it though."

"Alright." Shima shrugged. "UWAAAAAAHHHHH!" he screamed and jumped away. The person who stood behind him looked like a girl in late teens, with messy hair that looked like it was never combed and wearing an old, light gray kimono which was torn apart on many places, not to mention there was a lot of dirt on it.

"Thank you, that felt nice." She wsa grateful.

"Glad to be of help… umm, what is your name?"

"…I don't remember."

"You don't remember?" Shima sighed. "So, what kind of Youkai are you?"

"Youkai?" she looked confused. "I am no Youkai… though I am no human… I think?"

"…this is getting us nowhere." Shima sighed.

"Do you know where my soul is?"

"Please tell me that's not a philosophical question… I suck at philosophy."

"No… I think…" she shoke her head. "My soul just likes walking away sometimes…"

"…where are my crazy friends when you need them?" Shima put his hand on his face. "I am way too sane for this…"

* * *

Two evil Youkai were standing close to what is supposed to be Kibiki family's house. The house was nothing special, which is exactly what they expected: it was an old-fashioned Japanese house and seemingly the family's matron seems to have taken a liking to gardening.

By sniffing around a bit, the two Youkai found out that the family was nothing special either: father was some kind of historian and collector of ancient texts while the mother was a traditional dancer. They also had two daughters, one whom left home for who knows where and another one, Kibiki Sakura, who was the reason these two Youkai were here.

It was entertaining to these evil Youkai… the girl did nothing but hang around with a Youkai, without ending in trouble to boot, yet even that was enough to make Yanagida decide to use her in order to punish Yashagoro for his insolence. They had to create a horror story that would break the girl and then Yashagoro.

After brainstorming about various horrific ways to fulfill their task, the two Youkai went into action and knocked on the door.

"Yes?" the mother of the family, Kibiki Marie, opened the door. She was dressed in a blue kimono and was holding a ceremonial fan in her free hand. Her face was pale due to make up, just like one can see on actors in theaters.

"Sorry for disturbing you." One of the two bowed. "Is this Kibiki-san's house? I am professor Hitachi Natsume and this is my colleague, Fukusubara Taichi. We were looking for some texts from Sengoku era and heard your husband might have some."

"Is that so?" the woman nodded with a cold voice and opened the doors. "Please, come in and make yourselves at home. I will call for my husband."

"Thank you very, much Kibiki-san." The two bowed. When she turned her back to them, their smiles widened. When their daughter returns here, she will only find despair.

* * *

Kibiki Sakura sat at the place where the rest of the group gradually disappeared before her eyes. She also felt some kind of force trying to tempt her to walk away, but she was able to resist it.

Now, Sakura was not sure if she should continue sitting here so she could be easily found by someone who knows what is going on, or to start moving and try to find out what was going on. Both options were dangerous in their own way. They were also safe in their own ways.

In the end, she decided to move. But before she would move, she decided to leave a trace behind. After looking around a bit, she found some kind of wooden board on the ground. It used to be a warning to tourists to not touch those huge claws, but seems to have been knocked down by something, most likely a storm, and forgotten.

Sakura took the board and returned to where the group was standing before they disappeared. She put the board under a tree, took out a pocket knife and inscribed the following text:

_KS, from the Pillar to Bedrooms_

If anyone could know what this meant, it would be a student of Ukiyoe High.  _KS_  meant Kibiki Sakura, the word  _Pillar_  signified  _Koko no Kira's Pillar_  and the  _Bedrooms_  signified the dorms, located northwest of Koko no Kira's Pillar. So, if a member of their club finds this, she was certain they would understand that this meant that Kibiki Sakura went to Northwest. On other hand, if an  _Akuma_  found it, it may not know what this meant.

And in order to increase the chances of the board being noticed, she took out a candle and put it down. The flame would attract attention, though she would need to find an explanation of why she even had a candle in her backpack. It is not something she liked doing, but this was not a situation where she could safely keep her entire facade up.

With this problem taken care of, she took up her backpack and started running northwest, avoiding leafs whenever possible as less noise meant that it would be easier to keep a check on the surrounding and thus reduce the chance of someone closign to her without her noticing.

It didn't take long for her to feel the similar temptation that tried to make her walk away earlier. It tried to make her change her direction as well as cloud her mind. But just like before, she was able to force it to go away with just a little bit of willpower.

Failing that, the power also tried to cloud her vision and tried to put a strain on her eyes whenever she would look up for orientation. With all those temptations clouding her mind, willpower was not enough anymore.

Sakura put her hands together and…

* * *

"Gah!" Gozumaru shouted, almost falling from the branch he was standing on.

"What is it Gozu?" Mezumaru asked, worried about his partner's condition.

"I don't know…" Gozumaru took a stable pose again, though he still held his hand on his forehead. "I don't know which one, but one of those bastards striked directly at my Fear."

"Can you still do it?" Mezumaru asked. "The illusion I mean?"

"Yes, but it won't be necessary. They are split enough and we can now turn to offensive." Gozumaru explained. The illusions became unnecessary some time ago, but he still kept it in effect in order to test it. Causing such a large-scale illusion was new to him so, admittedly, he got carried away a bit. He should have expected that whoever was able to resist his technique might do something to dispel it completely. "Mezu, go and tell the others they can start moving."

"Haaai." Mezumaru replied. "What about you? You are not intending to go after  _that person_ , right? Gyuki-sama ordered her to be left for the last."

Gozumaru smiled and jumped onto a branch in front of him. "I already asked Gyuki-sama and he said it is alright if I take care of  _Yukinko_  earlier than planned."

* * *

"Ah, you must be Hitachi-san and Fukusubara-san, right?" Kibiki Daisuke greeted his two visitors, his wife following close behind.

It was a bit weird seeing those two together: Marie seemed like your usual stuck up, conservative woman while he left an impression of an easy-going man. Unlike her dignified appearance, his appearance was messier: his clothes were wrinkled, he was unshaved and had blonde hair with a small ponytail, hinting he had foreign ancestry. But then, they say that the opposites attract one another.

"Yes, we indeed are. You must be Daisuke-dono."  _Hitachi_  bowed. "I have been looking for a few books for ages and I heard you have quite a collection."

"Oh, is that so?" Daisuke responded with a smile. "Are you interested in my collection as well, Fukusubara-dono?"

"Oh no, I just ended up meeting Hitachi-dono on his way here and followed him here."  _Fukusubara_  replied. "But if you have anything to drink, I would gladly accept your hospitality."

"Ha, you must be quite thirsty to demand it just like that!" Daisuke said with a wide smile. "Marie, give the man something to drink. Oh yes, you were practicing right? Why not show him a bit of your dance? I assure you Fukusubara-san, she is aaaamazing! I myself loved it so much I married her… just please don't steal her."

"Yes yes darling, please don't waste the good men's time." Marie commented and walked towards what was likely the kitchen. "If you want to watch, Fukusubara-dono, please sit in that room there. I will be there in a moment."

"I am honored, but it is not really need-"

"Alright Hitachi-san, lets go!"

The plan was going perfectly and the victims practically swam into their own trap.

* * *

" _Hey guys, you can start playing now!_ " Mezumaru's voice said through the cellphone. " _Um, that's all. Bye!_ "

"Was about damn time." The Youkai said. She had been tailing one of those kids for some time now, but Gyuki's orders were clear: nobody does anything until they were ordered to. But now that the order has been given, the Youkai could freely attack the girl whom it was tailing. However, the Gyuki Clan does not focus solely on brute force, but use of illusions and the whole mission will be sweeter if she finished the job by leading her victim into a trap.

So she made her presence known. "Hey, you there!" she shouted once she closed to the girl that was running. "Can you see me?!"

The black-haired girl stopped and turned around. "Adashibara-sensei?"

"Yes, that's me…" the Youkai that was possessing Adashibara's body said while pretending to fight for her breath. "Who… are you again?"

"Ah sorry, we haven't introduced ourselves have we?" the girl commented, put her hands together and bowed. "I am Kibiki Sakura, please take good care of me."

"Sakura-san, glad to meet you." Adashibara smiled.

"Do you know what is going on here, Adashibara-sensei?" Sakura's face turned to that of a worried girl. "For a moment I lost my consciousness and suddenly I was alone…"

Adashibara sighed. "Must be a Gyuki. Illusions are their forte after all."

"A Gyuki?" the human now seemed terrified, a sight that pleased the possessed Adashibara. "Do you mean the humanoid ones… or the monstrous ones?"

"Beats me." Adashibara shrugged. "Could be either."

"Do you… have anything that might protect us?" Sakura started shivering. "Like a pendant or something?"

Adashibara put a hand on he forehead. "Had one, but left it in my car… really, why does trouble happen only when I forget my talismans?"

This was the thought of the real Adashibara, not the one from the Youkai possessing it. It made the Youkai wonder if someone else in the group might have something against Gyukis as well.

"Aaah! You must be kidding me!" Sakura seemed to be losing her cool. But then she calmed down as suddenly as she exploded. "Wait, there are three Youkai and an Onmyouji amongst us! How come I didn't think about calling them sooner."

"Good idea, try to call them." Adashibara agreed with her proposal. However, the only cellphones that worked here were the ones connected to a local network established by the Gyuki Group. Cutting Nejireme from the global networks made Nejireme safer while having a local network made it possible for Gyuki Group to keep in touch even with the blockade.

However, finding out that there was a Onmyouji amongst the kids made Adashibara a bit worried. The Gyuki Group was prepared for the Nura siblings and the third Youkai was already considered a potentially problematic gear, yet alone an Onmyouji. However, Gyuki claimed this won't endanger the mission and his subordinates trusted his judgment.

"Oh." Sakura, who just put her hand in the pocket, seemed to have noticed someone beside them.

Worried that a Nurarihyon or the Onmyouji arrived, Adashibara quickly turned in the direction Sakura looked at. However, she saw nothing.

Even before she turned her head back, cold sweat started going down her spine. Sakura's face was no longer terrified, but determined and Adashibara immediately knew this was her real face.

However, what worried Adashibara was not Sakura's face, but the wooden pendant in her right hand… a pendant that was closing to her. A Buddha was carved on it, but the Youkai inside Adashibara was certain that this was not a Buddhist artifact. She already felt how Buddhist protections worked, but this aura felt different… it was not simply forcing her to go away, but was rejecting her entire existence.

She was certain that, should this wicked thing touch her, she would die… or get seriously harmed at best. So she released her Fear in hopes to save herself, though she was certain that she would not be able to make even a single strike before that thing touched her. Still, she had to try…

Her salvation came from the most unexpected source: a boy from the group they were hunting appeared beside her and striked her. She immediately knew it was the Onmyouji but, luckily, his strike just tossed her away. Fortunately, there were not many trees and his strike was strong so she flew far away… far enough from that dangerous girl to feel safe.

* * *

_Everything is going so smoothly, fufufu…_  the Youkai using the name Fukusubara leisurely sat as he watched his soon-to-be victim dance in front of him.  _And I even get to have an appetizer hehe._

Kibiki Marie's dancing skills were high, that's for sure. Not only where her body's graceful moves impressive, but so were her kimono's movements which felt like a dancing partner rather than piece of cloth.

She even knew how to make the environment and lighting fit her. The blue lanterns made the whole scene look even more mythical. The images on the walls and the Shinto inspired ornaments added to it, as was Marie's tendency to quickly put her fans into a wooden water container and squirting the drops around herself.

 _Wonder how she looks under those clothes… and how she screams… I am sure Yanagida-san won't mind if I have some extra fun… no, he will be pleased._   _It is the way of Sanmoto-sama after all._

Then, something caught his eye. On a wall right of him, there hanged an ukiyoe with thirteen men in kimono sitting and eating, with some Youkai with hats sneaking towards them. He was not sure what made it weird for him, but his senses as a member of Hyaku Monogatari told him something was off.

Then he saw two crossed lines in background and starting from that place and outwards, he saw that it was a religious image… but not a Shintoist, Buddhist, Taoist or even Confucian.

For the Youkai who introduced himself as Fukusubara the atmosphere made an 180 turn. The Youkai who wanted to bring horror and despair now felt those two emotions himself. He was in a viper's nest, only now aware of danger that he walked into.

He quickly turned his head towards Marie and only realized that those two fans had blades on them once they cut through his throat and heart. Already painful wounds were made even worse due to water the fans were in which it burned him like fires. Additionally, the same poison paralyzed him so he was unable to move.

Kibiki Marie closed her fans, both of which had a cross drawn on them, and simply turned her back to him and started to walk away. The Youkai died in silent agony before she even left the room.

* * *

The other Youkai, who went with Daisuke, was even more misfortunate than his partner as this one did not have the good fortune to die quickly.

The Youkai's thought that he was luring Daisuke into his library ended up turning around. Not long after they were inside and just before the Youkai attacked Sakura's father, the man opened some kind of tube and incense started coming out of it, engulfing the Youkai like a whirlwind.

Breathing the incense felt like breathing fire itself, his skin dryed and he felt like nails were constantly being stabbed into him. And no matter how much he tried, he could not move from his spot. He was paralyzed, cursed to die a slow death.

"Aaaaarh…" he tried screaming, but even that right was stolen from him.

"Sorry about that, I am usually not this merciless." Daisuke leaned on a wall and looked at him with crossed arms, one of which was holding a cigar. "But the moment you looked at my little daughter's photo… well, I guess even the Lord's teachings can't stop my inner parent. "

"Arrkhhhh…"

"I have seen many demons in my life… including the brutal and lustful ones." Daisuke continued, his tone as playful as when they just met. The Youkai wondered how much of his behavior was real and how much was the deceit. "And I have seen both in those eyes of yours… how can I possibly be merciful, please tell me."

"Urhhhhk…"

"Hm, an interesting hypothesis." The man didn't even try to not enjoy it. "You know, I already lost one daughter… admittedly, not to Youkai but to herself. Sakura is… my precious girl I can't possibly…"

"Darling…" Kibiki Marie's voice echoed in the room, killing any of Youkai's hope that his partner would save him. She did not seem to like the sight in the room. "Ah come on, this is below you." The woman opened one of her fans and threw it towards the Youkai, as if she were throwing a knife.

The Youkai was thankful that the agony was finally over.

* * *

"Phew, that almost ended badly." Ryuzan was relieved. "You see, that person was possessed. Good thing I noticed you two just before she attacked you, right?" Ryuzan added and winked at Sakura.

Kibiki Sakura, still holding a wooden Buddhist pendant, just starred in a shock.

"Still shocked eh? Well, I can imagine how it is like to almost be attacked by an Youkai in middle of a dark forest." Ryuzan shaked his head. "And good thing you left that message behind. Very smart of you, I am impressed."

Ryuzan was certain that he raised back the flags he lowered earlier today. Nothing raises a girl's flag as saving her and adding a compliment on top of it.

But to his surprise, Sakura left out an frustrated sigh and threw her head down.

"What is it… Kibiki-san?"

"I was just about to exorcise that Akuma." She revealed and raised her head back up. "Well, my fault for not telling you earlier that I am also an Exorcist."

"…eh?" Ryuzan was not sure what shocked him more: the fact that she was a secret exorcist, the fact that he did something extraordinarily stupid that has lowered a few more flags or the fact that he maybe cared far too much about her flags.

He looked at the pendant she held in her hand. At first glance, it looked like a Buddhist talisman but looking at it a bit more shows that the ' _Buddha'_  on it had beard and a small cross on his chest.

"You are-" he started but Sakura out her ginger on his mouth.

"Please, we are  _Hidden_  for a reason." She whispered. "Glad to see you, but you don't need to worry about me. Go see if others need help while I go after that Akuma."

She said and started running. But she stopped soon after, turned around and said: "By the way, thank you for the thought. I appreciate you trying to save me." She said with a smile and continued running.

She stopped again however, but this time due to Ryuzan: "Sakura-chan, wait a moment!" when she turned to him, he threw two cellphones towards her, one of which she caught while the other she missed. "As you may have noticed, our cells don't work here! These ones do, although only between one another!"

"Why do you have them?!"

"I beat up a few Youkai and  _borrowed_  them! I am sure that…  _Akuma_  has one as well so take it and give it to one of our friends if you find them. Oh, and there is a convenient GPS tracking app which you can use to find other such cells and thus other Youkai… at least until they realize we stole them."

"Okay, thank you again!" she nodded and disappeared from his field of vision.

Ryuzan did not go after her. Instead, he turned in the opposite direction in order to look for the rest of the group, just like she asked him to.

_Humans, Youkai, Hanyous, an Onmyouji and this girl… we sure are a colorful group._

* * *

Kibiki Sakura was not sure if she should feel relieved or worried that the Akuma did not run away. On plus side, she didn't need to hunt after it. On other hand however, the Akuma was likely waiting somewhere for her.

Additionally, she wasn't sure if she could handle fighting a monstrous demon. Yes, she was an Exorcist but she was an expert at exorcising those demons that possess one's soul, not monsters that could tear you apart. As a matter of fact, she wasn't even aware of their existence until yesterday. She started regretting not asking Ryuzan to come along as he seemed to have had experience with this kind of demons.

 _No Sakura, get a hold of yourself… remember what dad said: demons feed on one's fear, no matter what kind they are._  Sakura tried to compose herself. After all, this was neither the first time she was in danger nor the first time she faced an Akuma in a dark forest.

Still though, she preferred closing to an Akuma and exorcising it before it even gets aware of what she is… or even without the Akuma ever noticing her. Same could have been with Adashibara whom Sakura identified as Akuma both due to inborn intuition and the fact that Adashibara didn't know what exactly happened to the members of the group. Had Ryuzan not meddled, she could have been done with it by now. But she wasn't angry at him, only at herself. Had he known that she could take care of herself, he likely would not have meddled.

Alongside not being certain of her chances, Sakura's abilities were weakened. Due to all that happened yesterday, she forgot to pray and for Exorcists like her, regular praying was a necessity. On top of that, Sakura spent more energy on exorcising that illusion than she should have thus exhausting herself.

_I have to be careful not to overexert myself… and who knows how many more demons are in this forest. Really, I should have asked Ryuzan-san to come with me._

_Eh, what is this?_ Sakura felt something like a string pulling her shoulder. Looking around herself, she noticed that multiple spider strings were attached to her body.

However, it wasn't the strings that felt weird… instead, it was the fact that up till now unnoticeable strings have started widening with a high speed and it became increasingly hard for Sakura to move.

 _If it continues like this, I will be trapped!_  While she still could, she put her hands together and recited a verse: " _Qui autem sperant in Domino, mutabunt fortitudinem. Adsument pinnas sicut aquilae current et non laborabunt, ambulabunt et non deficient._ "

Recital of the verse gave her enough strength to free herself from these strings. It also healed her from her exhaustion, though only temporarily.

Immediately after Sakura took care of the strings, the Akuma attempted an physicial attack from above which Sakura dodged. Not wanting to waste time, Sakura put her fake Buddha talisman in front but the Akuma immediately jumped up onto a high branch.

"Just as I thought." The Akuma possessing Adashibara commented from above. Its influence caused minor changes to Adashibara's body like longer nails and spider webs growing out of her body and Sakura did not like seeing such unholy sights. It would be better to take care of the Akuma sooner rather than later else Adashibara's body might get too polluted. "You are an Exorcist, are you not?"

Sakura did not reply, and instead just looked at her with the rosary in her hand.

"But this is not Onmyoujutsu, is it now?" the Akuma noticed. "And those words were definitely foreign."

Sakura continued to stay silent, thinking about how she could reach Adashibara. Time is of essence, both due to her earlier recital being only a temporary boost and due to the fact that the Akuma might have friends in this place.

"Luckily for me, my dear host, Adashibara-san, knows those words." The Akuma made a wicked, happy smile. "You are from Kakure Kirishitan, are you not?"

Seeing as the Akuma knew who she was, there was no longer a reason for Sakura to hide what she was. Clicking on a certain place on the fake Buddhist talisman made the round carving fall. Sakura caught the falling piece and put it back into her pocket and now she was holding a small, wooden cross. Hiding it made her safer, but it also made her Exorcism less efficient.

"You are! You really are!" The Akuma's smile widened even more when she saw the cross. "Lucky! Gyuki-sama will be pleased to hear I beat one of such rare and wicked exorcists!"

Sakura moved her leg and felt a déjà vu: those strings got attached to her again. She tried to break away, but realized that whenever she breaks a string, more smaller ones come out of it and catch her.

"What, is that all you are able to do? Disappointing…" The Akuma tried to look annoyed, but Sakura was sure she just felt better. "Well, you are a kid. Guess I should not be surprised that you are weak."

Sakura tried to do another recital, but the Akuma noticed her and the strings pulled her hands away from one another.

"No, you won't." Adashibara put out her tongue.

Sakura tried to put her hands together again, but this time the strings threw them in different directions. She tried again, but the Akuma seems to have become bored with her game and one of the strings almost broke her finger. "GYAAH!"

"I admit that is fun to play with your hands little Exorcist, but I am not so stupid to take risks." The Akuma commented. "Just stand still and wait till you are properly bound, okay? I promise I won't do  _much_  to you…"

Again, Sakura did not reply. Instead, she just sighed.

"What, you are really giving up?"

" _Ne dicas: 'Reddam malum' exspecta Dominum, et liberabit te_."

"What?!" the Akuma was shocked to hear her recite. However, the shock disappeared after a few moments. "Oh, I was already afraid the hands were not needed."

"They just make the recitals more effective." Sakura smiled. "And I wouldn't be relieved just yet."

"Huh? What are you-" suddenly the branch on which Adasibara stood broke apart. "You little… this won't stop me!" Adashibara caught another branch, but that one also broke into pieces.

"Downside of this recital is that I never know what will happen after and even when. Once, it even took a few days for it to take effect." Sakura explained, though the Akuma did not seem to listen.

The Akuma tried to catch herself by the tree directly, but her fingers just kept slipping, as if suddenly she became clumsy. Then she tried to save herself by using the strings, but they broke. She didn't give up though and forced them to grow so they would have more strength, but it ended up having an even worse effect: trees to which they were connected started falling in her direction.

Luckily for Adashibara, they missed her when they fell onto the ground. However, the event scared her and for a Youkai that meant lowered defense. Thus the fall onto the ground ended up being more painful then it could have been.

But it was not over yet: Sakura reached her and put her hands onto Adashibara's shoulders. One of hands was closed into a fist and Adashibara had a bad feeling that the dangerous artifact from before was in there.

"I should send you to Hell, demon." Sakura threatened. "But I hear demons from here are on good terms with the Rihan-san and Ritsura-senpai. So tell me honestly: was this just a prank?"

"…nothing bad was supposed to happen to you guys." The Akuma spoke. "Gyuki-sama sent us to test the sibling's skills and while the warriors fought them, we were supposed to get our hands on their human friends, bluff a bit and see how they would act under stress."

"So this is all just an act?"

"Yes… yes, this is an act!" Adashibara's fear grew due to the girl's cold, merciless tone. "Please…"

"What about this person that you are possessing?"

"It is only temporarily! I did not intend to harm her, I promise! Nura Rikuo-sama does not allow us to harm the humans!" the Akuma replied. "I also did it with her consent. This weird person wanted to feel what it was like to be possessed by a Youkai!"

"She allowed it?"

"Yes… you can ask that pervert yourself after I leave her body!"

"Then please leave." Sakura accepted. "But don't try to run. I have felt myself what it means to show mercy to Akumas and did I not trust the Ritsura-senpai I would not have given you this chance."

"It is a promise!" the Akuma accepted and immediately started coughing. After a few coughs, a tiny spider with head of an ox fell down. Sakura grabbed it before it could get itself on its feet.

The Akuma looked at her cold face scared, but then Sakura smiled and her face became warm again. "The other downside to that technique is that I can't use Exorcism for some time so thank you for getting out."

"Eh?"

"Don't worry, I believe you." Sakura said and took a cellphone from unconscious Adashibara. There were two of them, but one of them looked like the ones Ryuzan gave her so she guessed that's the one she was supposed to look for. "Better to let her rest until effects of possession completely go away." Sakura pulled Adashibara into a more comfortable position. She then turned towards the Youkai that she held in her hand. "Anyway, what should I do with you now?"

"Well… umm, what about…"

"Soul! My soul, where are you?!" a female voice shouted from afar. "Come here soul!"

"Yeah, are you there… soul?" a male voice joined in. "Hope you exist, soul!"

"Hey, that is Shima-kun!" Sakura recognized that voice. "Shimaaaa-kuuuunn!" she shouted.

"Kibiki-san?!" he seems to have recognized her voice.

"Is my soul with you, miss female voice?!" the woman shouted again.

"Yes, I am here Hatsue!" the Youkai in Sakura's arm replied. "Could you let me go now?"

Sakura just looked at him.

"I swear on Gyuki-sama's very honor I won't do anything bad!"

"You better don't. The Lord punishes those who break promises." Sakura let the Youkai go.

"Come here Hatsue! Your soul is here!" the Youkai shouted.

Soon after, a messy woman appeared. She seemed happy to see the chibi Gyuki. "There you are, soul of mine!"

"Here I am, Body of mine!"

"Soul!"

"Body!"

They continued running after one another, with both Sakura and Shima having awkward faces,

"Soul!"

"Body!" the Youkai jumped at her.

"Soul!" the woman grabbed the Youkai… and ate him.

""Eh?"" both of the humans were confused.

"Om nom nom." The woman ate the Youkai and then turned around. "Ah, thank you very much for bringing us together again!" she bowed first to Shima and then to Sakura. Looking at how the weird, messy girl became a dignified woman hinted that the Akuma really might have been an essential part of her.

Shima sighed. "Alright, this just became the number one on my List of Crazy Youkai Encounters…"

* * *

Kibiki Marie was kneeling in front of a shrine. As everything in this house, various religious items that looked Shinto or Buddhist were actually Christian.

Kibiki Daisuke was creating another lie: he threw what looked like Onmyouji paper talismans around his house and activated them so it would seem like the Onmyoujutsu was used to kill these youkai. Daisuke doubted anyone will look into this, but the Kakure Kirishitan knew that you could never be too careful.

Good thing that the Kibikis knew how to use Onmyoujutsu. For Exorcism to work, one must know it, understand it and believe in it. As long as you just knew the theory and understood it a little, you could do small exorcisms. Of course, without the belief it was too small to be of use but maximizing your skills when you are in danger is an excuse that tends to use and is leagues better than telling someone that powerless humans killed two Youkai.

"Yesterday,  _our_  teacher from Ukiyoe High called." Marie started talking, thugh she still knelled and prayed. By  _our teacher_  she meant a member of their order who was employed there and who kept a check on Sakura for them. "Sakura is now able to see Youkai with her own eyes."

"Ha, thought she would be able to do it soon." Daisuke made a sad smile. This made him proud as a father and anxious as a father.

"…you won't ask why I didn't tell you earlier?"

"No… I know you have a reason to want to hide it. You are my wife, I trust your judgment as much as I trust mine." Daisuke commented.

Marie had a good reason to be worried: she blamed herself for what happened to Azuru. Azuru may not have been Marie's biological daughter, but she still loved her like her own. The order's rejection to accept Azuru due to being  _too sinful_ , Azuru leaving the family and Azuru becoming a demon was heavy on both of them ,especially on Marie who, in contrast to her cold exterior, was a loving mother.

Daisuke himself wasn't sure who was to blame. Azuru's personality worsened with each year ever since her mother died. After Daisuke married Marie, she looked a bit better… but only for a bit. She quickly became a dark child again and her bullying of Sakura, Marie's biological daughter, was far too common.

Was it her mother's death? Was it bad upbringing? Was it envy or pride? Or maybe the problem was in Azuru herself. Daisuke was not sure what was it, but he did not like any of the ideas… and he feared the truth. The same goes for Marie, thus why she may have wanted to keep the information for herself.

"Should we tell the order about it?" Marie asked.

"Let Sakura do that." Daisuke proposed. "But knowing her, she will probably decide to say yes. She was always fond of her abilities, that one." Daisuke smiled. Although her ability to see Youkai through their disguises developed late, she was able to feel them since she was a child and her skills in exorcism were above anyone else in her age.

She was a talented girl, but maybe a bit too kind for the role…

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- and the first of (planned) five  _Nejireme Tests_  chapters is done. This one was focused on Kibiki Sakura, a character who seemed to be nothing more than a normal girl but ended up being a bigger deceiver than even the great Keikain Ryuji himself. Some of the readers guessed that she was a Kirishitan after chapter 17 where she received a statue that looked like Kanon but was actually a disguised Virgin Mary (practiced by historical Kakure Kirishitan).

\- Christian Exorcists are not the only Exorcist order I am introducing. There will be another one based in Shikoku (Citsimsan, you might remember them ;) )

\- Gozumaru and Mezumaru appear for the first time in this fic (they will be more regular characters from now on… nice from Rikuo to leave Nura Clan Youkai without a pledge ;) ), as well as one original Gyuki. Luckily for me, creating memebrs of Gyuki Clan ain't that hard. As for what Gyuki Clan plans… well,you know Gyuki

\- for those who want to know, this is translation of Sakura's verse from English (what, I don't know Latin XD) to Latin to English: " _Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint_."

\- the second verse was: " _Do not say, 'I will recompense evil,' wait for the Lord, and He will save you._ "

All in all, thank you for still putting up with me and hope you review… please review, I have a wife and kids that I need to feed. Please think of my imaginary wife and kids T_T

* * *

**Anime Chick344034** :  _"As for Araya ...SHES SO MYSTERIOUS. Shes knows way too much about the Youkai world...it makes you want to corner her and ask questions."_

"You sure want to corner me, don't you?" Araya said with a smirk. "Well, I am the main character of the next chapter so maybe you get some answers… or more questions fufufu…"

" _Sakura...She's a lost case."_

"Now that's just mean of you!" Sakura whined.

" _It seems everybody in this story is keeping their own dark little secret besides Ristura and Shima"_

"See? We are perfect for one another Nura-chan." Shima flirted.

Ritsura turned her head towards him and looked at him for a few moments. She then started giggling which progressively turned into a loud laughter. "HAHAHA that is a good one Shima that is a good one!"

"…Nura-chan, that is just cruel."

" _Ryujji,,,,You gotta love him. He's like a miniature version of YU BUT WITH A LITTLE PLAYBOY PERSONEL. (cute!)"_

Ryuji, who was eating noodles at his home, turned towards you. "Ha, I will tell that stupid son of mine that young readers fall for me instead of him. That will kill his ego he he he…" Ryuji said, revealing that his sadism doesn't stop with his little sister.

 **Citsimsan** :  _"By the way, now that I think about it, where did Gozu and Mezu come from? That's a good question."_

"Found them… in the forest while they were infants… definitely has nothing to do with that affair." Gyuki or someone pretending to be him revealed.


	22. Araya's Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keikain Ryuzan, Shima Ryu and Kibiki Sakura have dealt with their adversaries on Mount Nejireme and found one another, but the rest of the group (save the Onieda siblings) is still being tested. And while they play in the forest, the more malevolent enemies are preparing for their own little 'game'

**Chapter 22: Araya's Trial**

" _Nejireme? Why do you want to go to Nejireme?" an middle-aged warrior asked his son while they drank tea. "I understand that you want to travel, but why not go to Kyoto or somewhere instead of some… mountain?"_

" _I plan to go to Kyoto after visiting Nejireme, father." His son laughed. He was always too laid back at situations that asked for dignity, like drinking tea, but his father loved that part about his son for some reason, just like he loved everything about his one and only child and the fruit of his and his late wife's love. "It is just that I find the idea of visiting a wild area that was supposed to be filled with spirits attractive… and Nejireme was, as I heard, perfect for that."_

" _Take care you don't forget to keep your guards with you all the time." His father said as he sighed. "I don't believe in Ayakashi, but I take it that the place is filled with wild animals or some bandits seeing as people tend to disappear."_

" _Of course dad, I will take utmost care." His son said as light shone in his eyes. "I can't die yet after all, not before I see the entire world with my eyes!"_

* * *

_His son has returned not even a month since he left… in form of bloody remains in arms of a vassal warrior, the only survivor of his son's expedition. The father did not pay attention at the horrified guard who, after bringing his young master's body back home and telling everyone that there really are monsters on Nejireme, committed seppuku both due to failure to protect his master and due to the experience breaking his warrior spirit into shambles._

_No, the father could only watch at his son's bloody remains that lay on a tatami. His son's once warm, happy eyes were now filled with horror and the blood splatters on his face made it look like he cried blood before he died. His body had multiple blade cuts, and iniards hanged from the large cut on the stomach, hinting that the guard honestly tried to bring as much of his master back home as he could._

_The father managed to move his eyes up but one painful sight was just replaced with another as he saw an painting, made by his son, hanging on the wall and showing a warm, bright world his son wanted to see… world that his son believed he lived in. And beside it hang a ribbon the father ripped from part of his wife's kimono and put up there. He felt as if his late wife blamed him for failing as a father._

_The father did not cry… his heart was too filled with anger to cry. Instead, he took a katana and left the mansion without taking sandals or being noticed by his men who believed that he intended to mourn for hours._

_He went to Nejireme to extract revenge on this warrior called Gyuki. But just like most of Nejireme's visitors, he only ended up dying in a hopeless battle, his blood offered to a woman long dead._

* * *

"Pleasure to see you, Yashagoro-dono." An old man greeted Yashagoro and his group.

"Pleasure to meet you too." Yashagoro greeted back but didn't bother to smile.

They were in one of the  _Messiah's_  Hidden Temples. As much as Yashagoro hated having to deal with Yanagida's little cult, his mission was his top priority and the safety of the temple allowed his group to safely stay hidden until they decided to strike. It may be easy to find a safehouse in the enormous Tokyo, but this is a rural area and the Nura Clan would notice them quickly if they were not careful.

Still, he had his doubts. "How safe is this place really?"

"The Nura Clan tried to find this temple on multiple occasions. They failed every time." The old man said with pride. Due to his position as the head priest, he was one of the few humans who were allowed to know the details about the Youkai world.

"So they do know it is here somewhere?"

"Of course they do! We have a minor shrine in every town surrounding Mount Nejireme."

"Not very stealthy of you."

"Still a stealthier method of collecting Fear from humans in the area compared to going around and attacking them." The man seemed annoyed with Yashagoro's skepticism. "Your lack of faith is disturbing, Yashagoro-dono."

"I am not a member of your little cult so I don't really care." Yashagoro replied back and then turned towards the Youkai that followed him. "Alright, we are staying here. Go, rest and prepare yourself for the attack, both physically and mentally." The rest of the group saluted and left him alone with the priest. "Anyway, if this temple has been here for so long, I take it that you have managed to learn a lot about the Gyuki Group and the area. Can you give us some help?"

"Can we give you some help? Hahahaha…" the priest smiled again. "What do you think, why did we surround Nejireme with the Messiah's shrines?"

"Do enlighten me."

"Come with me, Yashagoro-dono. I have something fun to show you…"

* * *

"Oh, it ended already? Heh, didn't even notice it." [Ichinoe Araya](http://i.imgur.com/ftjAFwC.png) muttered to herself.

Araya was caught in some kind of Fear, resulting in the rest of group seemingly disappearing, followed by the hard to resist temptation to leave in an unknown direction. She guessed the others were caught in it as well.

Maybe Araya could have resisted the temptation, but she decided not to, for the simple reason that it seemed more fun to let the Youkai have it their way and see what happens. So when she felt the temptation, she simply took her cell out and started going through some texts on Youkai myths from Nejireme region so she could prepare herself for whatever comes at her.

However, she lost herself in reading to the point that she didn't even notice when the Fear stopped controlling her. Since there was a chance she may have to run through the forest and she had no pockets with a zipper, she put her cell in the backpack where she would not have to worry that she would lose it.

It took a few minutes, but she finally felt that a Youkai targeted her. Feeling Fear is not technique or anything however: whenever a Youkai decides to attack somebody, their Fear affects the air around the potential victim and no matter if it was a human or a Youkai, they would feel that something was amiss and the would get afraid… and Youkai's abilities are most efficient on targets that are afraid.

Araya, however, did not want to let the Youkai make the first move. "Oh, there you are Youkai!" She smiled and shouted into the air. "Come on, don't be shy."

Naturally, the Youkai did not reply… and neither did Araya expect it to. It was better to let the human wonder if there really was a Youkai or not as it causes anxiety and anxiety causes fear. A Youkai would try to strike at one of the moments when that anxiety was high enough. And if a human wanted to score a victory here, he would need to remain composed… a thing easier said than done.

In other words, it was a battle of willpower and patience. Luckily for Araya, she was used to that.

"Well, I can wait until you muster courage." Araya challenged him, took off her backpack and sat on a fallen tree.

And that's when the hard part came. Even though Araya understood full well how Fear worked, waiting for something to happen takes its toll. Patience was not only a battle against the Youkai, but also against herself.

' _What if I just imagined this?'_  her inner voice suggested.

" _No, I know this sensation. Someone is most certainly there."_

' _Ha, maybe I am going paranoid?'_

" _Cautious, not paranoid."_

' _Am I now?'_

" _Yes, I am."_

' _Maybe… but what if this ain't as harmless as I think?'_  another kind of doubt attacked her.  _'This safety is just an assumption of mine, not a fact.'_

" _That's right, but it is still the most likely assumption."_

' _What if someone else is in the forest with us, not only Gyukis?'_

" _This is too similar to a Gyuki to be true. Also, the Gyukis would have attacked the invader before it reached me."_

' _What if a Coup'de'tat happened? What if Gyuki was killed and a new leader emerged?'_

" _Possible."_  Her anxiety grew.  _"But doubt it. The Nuras not learning about it in time… would be just too convenient."_

And so her battle against herself continued. Her fight was far from flawless and it was a fact that her anxiety grew and she would eventually succumb to it. However, she had to endure long enough.

And the Youkai itself continued with its indirect attacks by causing natural sounds all around her. Although Araya's face remained composed, inside her anxiety grew with each sound she heard and each minute that passed. There is a limit to how brave a human can be, and she was reaching it.

Then something jumped at her from numerous directions, followed by loud noise, sound of leaves being rustled and dirt jumping from the ground. Giant ox-headed spiders were now surrounding Araya, looking at her as if she were a delicious meal.

The Youkai seemed to have lost its patience and made its attack.

' _What can I possibly do against these monsters?'_  the battle inside of her did not stop just yet.

" _Tales of lowly humans defeating mighty beasts are not uncommon."_

Araya slowly raised to her feet.

' _Yes, but against this many?'_

" _There is only one."_

' _Yet, there are so many around me.'_

" _If there were so many, the Fear I felt a while ago would have made it sure the situation was hopeless instead of bad. So… either there is one or this half a dozen of Youkai are pathetically weak."_

And thus, the second round of hers and the Youkai's battle started.

"What is it, Youkai?" Araya spoke outwards again. "Still afraid of a little girl?"

After a few moments of silence, someone jumped on one of the Gyukis. He had yellow and orange clothes, dark hair and an animal skull on his head. "How did you know I was alone, human?" He asked with a smile. Araya had yet to decide if it was due to confidence or a bluff.

Araya smiled herself, which caused the Youkai's smile to disappear. The smile Araya used was one of those that caused discomfort in others. "Ah, so it was Mezumaru."

Worry became more obvious on what could be seen from Mezumaru's face. "How do you know my name?!"

"Who knows." Araya taunted him.

"Answer me." Mezumaru demanded.

"You should have asked me nicely." Araya shrugged, annoying Mezumaru even more. "This way however… I have no intention to give answers to such a pathetic Youkai."

The moment he heard word  _pathetic_ , Mezumaru clenched his teeth and quickly moved his hands which was immediately followed by one of Gyukis attacking her with its claw. Araya already expected that so she didn't move… though she almost succumbed to fear and jumped away.

The claw scratched her cheek, causing some blood to start coming out. Mezumaru moved his arms away, which was followed by the other Gyuki pulling his claw back.

"Hmmm?" Araya put a finger on her wound, took some blood and licked it. "Was that doll supposed to scare me, Mezu-chan?" Be it due to fear or annoyance, Mezumaru's mouth started shivering. "I must say that I am not impressed." She said, putting her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

"You… just who do you think you are, human?!" Mezumaru exploded and waved his hands again. However, this time the ones who moved were not the dolls but Araya herself whose body flew up into the air until she hang in front of him. Staying composed was already hard, but this almost made her succumb … Yet somehow, she managed to stay calm. "What do you think now, eh?" Mezumaru asked with a confident smirk.

"Hmph." Araya smirked herself.

"Eh?" Mezumaru didn't expect this reply… and neither did he expect to see a small pistol, which she took out from her pocket just as she flew up, which was now pointed at him.

Surprise causes fear and the only way to harm a Youkai with a human weapon was to use it while they were afraid so Araya did not let his surprise subdue: she immediately started pulling the trigger. While she did practice with pistols regularly and this one was much smaller than the ones she usually fired from, she was forced to use only one hand and had no protective gloves. And using a pistol with under those conditions was far from easy or painless.

Her first bullet missed him, but a few managed to hit its target. Due to him being afraid, the bullets must have felt like an attack from another Youkai. Mezumaru screamed and fell from the doll he stood on and Araya fell down as well. Luckily, she was not high up so she easily stood back on her feet, took out a small knife from her other pocket and started running towards Mezumaru.

Mezumaru didn't waste time either: while he was still down, he waved his hand around and Araya noticed the dolls moving. Had Mezumaru not been surprised for a moment due to seeing her run at him with a knife, those dolls would have stopped her.

She crashed into Mezumaru and quickly put a knife under his neck. She also spiced the scene up with another uncomfortable smile. This close, she could see in his eyes that he was terrified. "That's right, that's right Mezu-chan… I  _love_  that face."

She then moved away from him. "Come on, I was just getting warmed." She challenged him.

As expected, he just got more terrified. "Who… are you?"

"Ichinoe Araya." She introduced herself. "What, giving up already?"

"Yes, I surrender!" he finally proclaimed, bringing an end to this fight.

* * *

_Rise dead man, for I allow it._

_Rise warrior, put your sword to use._

_Rise human, taste the blood of Ayakashi._

_Rise child, for I return you your life._

_Your time has come!_

_Get your revenge!_

* * *

_Where am I?_  a person woke up, but the only thing he saw was  _darkness_.  _Who am I?_

He tried to remember who he was, but he only remembered certain memories… the important memories. He remembered meeting the woman of his dreams, the birth of their beloved son, her death, their son growing up and…

… _his son's butchered corpse._

" _OHWAAAAAA!"_  he roared and tried to move. But nothing moved, as if he had no limbs.

He remembered  _the young black-haired warrior… the demon that butchered his son as well as him._

" _KHRAAAAAKHH!"_  he tried to move again. Yet those were not human attempts to move… but then, he was not a human anymore.

_The regret of not getting his revenge… it was still there._

His bones broke out of the unmarked grave where his remains have been buried. The black mist engulfed him and he felt his missing limbs returning to him.

He felt gratitude towards his savior, who asked only for one thing in return:  _that he fulfills his own revenge._

"Sanmoto-shhhaaamaaa! I hshall fulfill ourh wissh!" shouted the new-born tale.

* * *

"I was really scared there you know!" Mezumaru said in cheerful tone while he and Araya ate snacks she brought with her. Araya found it a bit weird that he so quickly got over it, but she also thought it was kind of cute. "I realize now that it was a mistake, but still… I can't wait to tell Gozu about this!"

"That's a strange thing to boast about." Araya commented. "He would probably just pity you for losing to a mere human."

"Hey, that's true!" Mezumaru nodded. "Better keep this a secret…"

"Yeah, just tell him that you did something clumsy and ended up spilling the beans." Araya suggested to which Mezumaru nodded. "By the way, mind spilling the beans?"

"Oh, nothing special. Just Gyuki-sama testing Ritsura and Rihan."

"Heh, thought it might be something like that."

"Speaking about it… would you mind pretending that I caught you?" Mezumaru clapped his hands. "I don't want to embarrass myself."

"Sorry Mezu-chan, but a beaten warrior can only get stronger if he accepts defeat."

"Oh, that's kind of deep!" again, Mezumaru didn't seem to mind Araya's behavior. "Now I really want to say this to Gozu… even though I will embarrass myself!"

"Why don't you use this to practice your willpower?" Araya made another suggestion. "Willpower is important in battles of Fear and resisting your wishes might take care you don't end up like this again!"

"Ooh, another deep advice! Thank you!" Yes-man Mezumaru replied. "By the way, how do you know so much about Youkai?"

"I have many knowledgeable friends." Araya winked. "Including Fuguruma Youbi."

"Oooh, I remember her visiting this place a few times. She was so cute! But still, how could you stay so calm out there? Even Youkai tend to get worried by my tricks."

"Experience." Araya commented and moved her eyes aside. "I'd prefer not to talk about it if you don't mind."

"Owwww…" Mezumaru looked saddened by that. "And that gun? Isn't it illegal for humans to have guns in-"

Suddenly, both of them felt an explosion of Fear and jumped onto their feet. The malice was enormous, though Araya felt something was off. "It is one strong Fear… but something is not right." It was kind of Fear that made it known that something bad is happen in a certain location, but did not make the human feel as if he were its pray (though it would still be enough to scare the living daylight out of him).

Araya moved her eyes towards Mezumaru who shivered a bit. "Mezu-chan, how do you feel?"

"Eh?" he turned his head towards her, as if he forgot she was even there.

"How do you feel, Mezu-chan? Do you feel threatened?" looking at him, she concluded the Fear might target Gyukis.

Mezumaru nodded and turned his head back in direction from which felt that Fear come. He then took a deep breath and proclaimed: "Sorry, but I must go!"

Then another explosion of Fear came, this time from Mezumaru. Soon enough, his dolls surrounded him. Unlike during his battle with Araya, he felt far more threatening.

Araya smirked to that. "I see that you are getting serious there. Well, good luck and show them why the Gyuki Group is feared throughout Kantou."

"Well, you take care of yourself too." Mezumaru said with a smile and jumped away, his dolls following after him.

"Well, seems this place became a lot more dangerous. Guess I should stay away." Araya said to herself. Then, she smiled. "But going there seems so much more fun."

Araya thus started running towards the place she felt the Fear come from, seemingly not caring much about the fact that her life would be in danger.

* * *

"Well, this is not the scene I expected to find." Araya muttered. "But then, this ain't the place that Fear came from anyway."

Araya was running past a small cave when she noticed something in it. Entering it, she saw four female Youkai sleeping on the ground: a busty blonde in yellow t-shirt and jeans, a long-haired brunette in black yukata, a white-haired hime-sama in an expensive white kimono and a short haired brunette in black-red kimono.

On the wall beside them, a peculiar message was written:

_Keikain Ryuzan, son of the greatest Onmyouji of all times Keikain Ryuji, was here!_

_Went west at 19:47 PM, after defeating these four Youkai ladies with his charms_

"Well, that was more than half an hour ago." Araya sighed. She then looked back down and saw something she REALLY wanted to have. "Judging by color of this item, this belongs to…"

She walked up to the short-haired brunette and tapped her cheek in order to wake her up.

"Oh Ryuzan-sama, that tickles!" she said with a smile, though seemingly still sleeping.

Araya poked her harder.

"Oh Ryuzan-sama, I want to have your babies." She muttered something more suggesting this time.

Araya sighed, raised her arm and slapped the Youkai.

"KYAAAH!" the girl shouted and raised to her knees. "Eh, who are you?"

"Can I buy that umbrella?" with one had Araya pointed towards a red umbrella that lay on the floor and with other she offered her a bunch of yen bills.

"Sold!" the girl immediately took the money and started counting. With each moment, her smile and eyes widened. After all, even the rural Youkai liked many of the luxuries of the human world.

With the umbrella bought, Araya left the girls alone and went out to continue looking for Mezumaru.

Soon after, she saw another interesting thing: a few abandoned tourist trailers. Araya guessed some tourists thought Nejireme would be a nice spot for camping but they caused a commotion and that made the Gyukis scare them away. The fact that there was no road nearby and how the trailers were too close to one another, Araya guessed that the Gyukis hid them here.

At first Araya thought of continuing on, but the weight of the heavy backpack and the umbrella in her hand changed her mind.  _It might be dangerous out there… better to leave my stuff somewhere where I can find them._

So she entered the largest trailer. Looking around she saw that it was in a good shape should one ignore the messy piles of items and plastic furniture on the floor. She also saw some gasoline and gas bottles in there.

Her curiosity made her want to check on if there was some interesting stuff in the trailers, but she decided she could do it some other time. She threw her backpack and the red umbrella on a bed and then opened the backpack, taking out a small bag.

Araya was no exorcist so she had no powerful Onmyouji talismans nor direct aid of divine spirits. So she had to fight like a normal human, using tricks and wit if she wanted to survive in encounters against hostile Youkai. This bag contained items which could be of use.

She opened the bag to see what she had with her. The items included a few minor protective talismans she bought from Onmyouji, a flare gun, some firecrackers and bullets for her pistol. She took out the bullets and reloaded her illegally acquired weapon. There was also a small book containing various stories about humans beating Youkai which she collected. When you are threatened by Youkai, it is needed to remember that the situation is not hopeless and this little book makes that easier for her.

"Hmm… might as well go in style." Araya, acting as if she didn't understand how dangerous the situation was, went to change her clothes before leaving the trailers.

* * *

"Is everyone here?!" Mezumaru asked the ox-headed demons around him. Back there while he was trying to capture that human girl, he used dolls. However, mindless dolls were not nearly as efficient as the real ones so he waited for reinforcements.

"Not really, Mezumaru-dono." One of them answered. "Others have either not felt this Fear or are busy somewhere."

"Yeah, and some were beaten up by some Onmyouji so they could not help us deal with this threat." Another one commented and somewhere on Nejireme Keikain Ryuzan felt a strange wish to slap himself.

"Yes, that is a bother." Mezumaru was annoyed. "And due to those kids getting their hands on our cellphones, Gyuki-sama had the network shut down."

Somewhere on Nejireme, Keikain Ryuzan felt a strange wish to kick his own behind.

"Well, we have waited long enough! Lets go!" Mezumaru decided. "I'll go forward with the dolls to test the enemy. You stay close behind, but don't make a move unless ordered or needed, got it?"

"Yes, Mezumaru-dono!" they replied and Mezumaru jumped forward, along with his dolls. He continued on jumping from branch to branch, looking down in order to tail the enemy.

" _WHERE ARE YOU, COWARDS?!"_  a creepy voice echoed through Mezumaru's head. But Mezumaru was experienced enough to oppose the on-going Fear. He may have gone easy on that human girl due to underestimating her, but he won't take risks here.

Suddenly, the hostile Fear became bigger and a person appeared above Mezumaru. The Youkai above looked like a half-rotten corpse in a tattered yukata and he held a katana above his head, obviously intending to slash Mezumaru with it.

Mezumaru was quicker and put a doll between himself and the enemy. However, the undead warrior cut right through the doll and only barely missed Mezumaru. Mezumaru turned his sight downwards. He started moving his hands in order to send the next doll at the intruder when a sudden explosion of heat touched his back, soon after blowing him and the trees around. Mezumaru saved himself from falling onto hard ground by making one of the puppets serve him as a cushion.

Instinctively, he jumped backwards and turned in the direction of the doll. The undead warrior cut right through this doll and jumped away. Soon after, the doll exploded and destroyed the nearby surrounding. However, the fires did not stay burning but instead extinguished themselves.

 _This is bad… if it touches me, I will go KABOOM!_  Mezumaru moved all of his three surviving dolls, hoping to overnumber the enemy. However, the warrior managed to scratch all of them with one swing of his katana before rolling away, thus avoiding all of the claws that came after him. As expected, the three dolls burst into flames and soon after only dust remained.

Mezumaru thought of calling his comrades in, but considered that it would do nothing but save himself at cost of their lives. The real Gyukis were stronger than those dolls, but Mezumaru wasn't sure they'd be able to face this enemy one head on.

On other hand, Mezumaru did not have any techniques that made him good in a proper fight. He usually left fighting to Gozumaru, but he was somewhere else at the moment.

He could only watch as the undead warrior prepared to run at him, probably intending to blow him up as he did those dolls.

"Oh, you sure did a good work on my friends here, Warrior-san." A female voice from behind Mezumaru complimented.

Mezumaru still remembered that voice. "Ichinoe!?" Mezumaru turned around and saw that girl again. She was still smiling with confidence, though her clothes have changed: she was wearing a crimson yukata, with a rose motif. She also had a small bag around her and an red umbrella in one of her hands.

She winked at Mezumaru. "Hm, do you like it? This is first time I wear these clothes?"

Mezumaru stayed silent for a few moments and only then spoke in a loud voice: "Don't speak so casually in a situation like this!"

"Hmph." She smirked at him and then turned her attention towards the warrior.

" _Are you a Gyuki?"_  the undead warrior asked in the voice had that strength that carved into Mezumaru's head. Mezumaru was, however, surprised by the answer as it was pretty clear that Araya was definitely not a Youkai.

"Who knows? I don't like giving spoilers, no matter how small they might seem." She replied. "You have something against the Gyukis?"

" _I sure do."_  the warrior answered and prepared for another attack.  _"No need for words… in name of Sanmoto Gorozaemon-sama, I shall make you scream!"_

"Huh?" Mezumaru was surprised to hear the name of the Nura Clan's archnemesis here. Then he remembered the fact that Sanmoto Gorozaemon's shrines were surrounding Mount Nejireme, a fact that did not make him feel any better.

"What, already scared?" Araya grinned. "As a member of Hyaku Monogatari, should you not tell your tale? I mean, how can a Tale spread if the main character does not care about it himself?"

Her words made the enemy hesitate.

"Come on, release your feelings." Araya winked at him. "And if we kill you, know that you won't be just some nameless horror I once met."

The undead warrior cut air with his katana, but that was only for the show as he took a more relaxed position soon after.  _"Fine, I shall not disgrace my savior with cowardly thoughts."_

"Very kind of you, Warrior-san." Araya thanked him. "So, what is your name?"

" _I don't remember my name, as I don't need it anymore. Neither do I care for your names."_  He proclaimed.  _"I am nothing more than a small part of something greater."_

"A… small part? Small part?!" Mezumaru was creeped out by the idea that something worse than him might be coming.

" _Yes, only a small part."_  He stretched his hands.  _"I used to be a warrior and a proud father to a beautiful son. But then my son died, butchered by the hands of a warrior who lived on Nejireme… by hands of Gyuki."_

The undead warrior said word  _Gyuki_  with such malice that it made Mezumaru shiver. He was sure the reason that Araya could be so confident and calm was because she was not a Gyuki and thus was not a target of this Youkai's malice.

" _I went to Nejireme, to find the one who butchered my precious son. If he were one man, I would kill him. If it were an army of renegades, I would have killed them…"_  the Fear around the warrior grew all the more malicious.  _"But it was an Ayakashi, using cheap tricks to bring me down… and as if robbing me of revenge was not enough, he brought to some gravestone and put me on fire in order to sacrifice me to the diabolical beast that gave birth to him. I managed to free myself as I burned, but he then teared me into pieces, bringing me further and further away from my vengeance up until I was dead and, thus, powerless."_

Although he was his enemy, Mezumaru felt for him. Mezumaru was too young to remember it, but Gyuki, who was like a father to him, once used to be a ruthless Ayakashi who murdered countless humans and offered them as a sacrifice to his dead mother.

Ironically, this warrior and Gyuki were similar. Gyuki was once a human called Umewakamaru whose mother was killed by the Youkai who held the name Gyuki before him and who killed Umewakamaru when he tried to avenge her. Umewakamaru died, but returned back as a demon and killed the old Gyuki… only to become exactly like the one whom he hated, attacking all humans indiscriminately, forgetting who he once was and even forgetting his beloved mother.

This one lost his son to Gyuki and lost his life to Gyuki in order to avenge him, only return back as a demon. The fact that he could not recognize what Araya was revealed that, should he kill the one he hates, he would follow the rest of Gyuki's tale as well, possibly even taking his name as per tradition. He has already forgotten his own name, and possibly the name of his son.

And that thought gave Mazumaru confidence. Gyuki was saved by Nurarihyon, becoming a kind if rough warrior. Mezumaru can't and won't allow this monster to restore the circle of hatred and insanity.

" _But I am only one of the victims of that monstrosity."_  The undead warrior continued.  _"There are many humans, commoners and warriors alike, that suffered at his hands. But thanks to Sanmoto Gorozaemon-sama, everyone shall rise and serve him just desserts. I am here to spill blood until I die or get called back by my master… in other words, I am just the prologue."_

"Heeh, daddy sure made many enemies." Araya said something outrageous.

"Huh?" Mezumaru turned his eyes towards her, noticing that she held a hand behind her backs, making the  _'I lie'_  gesture with it.

" _You are… Gyuki's daughter?"_  the warrior's eyes widened.

"Yes, which is why I know that my dear daddy would never do something like that." she spoke in such a sweet tone that even Mezumaru felt awkward. "Daddy's heart is filled with love, not darkness. You definitely got it wrong!" she proclaimed, closing the umbrella and pointing it at him.

The warrior's malicious Fear grew to fearsome proportions. The eyes and smile on the undead warrior widened to the point that it was obvious that his head currently filled exclusively with sadistic thoughts. Mezumaru expected that Araya would have been scared. Yet, he was not sure if the Undead Warrior was the terrifying one or the human girl who, behind a sleeve, smiled as if this was just some kind of a fun game.

" _You are wrong… but I hope you are not."_  The Undead Warrior spoke again.  _"Because if not, I will be able to pay Gyuki back by burning his little daughter alive and then tearing her to pieces!"_

The enemy moved his katana back up and prepared to move towards them. Araya did not waste time and turned around to run… or so it seemed at first.

As she turned around, she lowered the hand holding the umbrella down and a grenade came out. She removed the pin, turned back and threw the grenade at the undead warrior. Mezumaru looked at what the enemy would do with the grenade, but Araya caught his collar and turned his head away. "Don't watch, this is the time to run." She said, smiling as usual.

Mezumaru wanted to say something, but a large flash of light stopped him.

" _MY EYES!"_  the warrior screamed and Mezumaru realized that this was one of those flash grenades he saw on TV while he was a hostage in Nura Clan's mansion. Mezumaru did not waste the time he got with useless questions or thoughts and instead used his strings to summon the closest Gyuki. Since the enemy slashed his sword in all directions, attacking him while he was blinded would not be of much use so he just threw Araya onto the Youkai's back and jumped onto it himself.

"Know where those trailers are?" Araya immediately asked to which Mezumaru nodded. "Good, go in that direction."

"Alright, lets go." Mezumaru ordered and just then asked: "Why?"

"You will see." She said and winked. For some reason, Mezumaru decided to trust her for now. After all, she both beat him and handled that guy better then he did… though he was sure that Gozumaru would have just ignored the human.

"Why did you tell him that you were Gyuki-sama's daughter?"

"So he would follow us… speaking of which." she took out some kind of gun with a big pipe and pulled the trigger in enemy's direction, firing a red flare.

"You want him to go after us?!"

"Of course! The flare will take care he knows where we are headed and the fact that he cares only about me will make him ignore the other Gyukis on his way… would you mind using that?"

"Nope! Guys, slow him down a little!" Mezumaru ordered and Gyukis from all around moved. "Would you now please explain what you are planning to do?"

"Nothing special, just repeat the story he told us." She winked. "Now that he told us his story, you should understand why there is a delay in his enemies bursting into flames and why the fires don't last long. So this is what we shall do…"

* * *

The flash of light and those meddlesome creatures that tried to slow him down… the warrior would normally be outraged by these petty tricks, but his excitement at being able to torture Gyuki this way was simply too high to make him mind it.

He avoided all the trees, rocks and other obstacles that the monsters threw at him. Even if it did slow him down, he would reach that girl soon enough. He will make her bleed, make her scream, make her cry… and most of all, he will make Gyuki suffer. Even if it kills him, as long as that girl dies the same way he did he will be able to die in peace.

Tracking that girl was easy as the girl helped him. She may have shoot those flares to call for help, but must have not thought about the fact that it made her location known to him. He will thank her before he burns her, so that she understands what a fool she was.

He saw some strange white huts on wheels, made of something that did not seem to be wood. He wondered what it was when he noticed something red in one of them. He immediately stopped and started running towards the huts.

"I am here you bastard! Come at me!" the kid with the skull on his head shouted from afar. However, he had no intentions of going after that small fry while the main course was elsewhere.

Ignoring the strange, suffocating air near the huts, he entered one and saw the girl kneel in the corner, shivering and still holding that stupid umbrella of hers. When she noticed him, she ran towards a window and jumped out.

He walked out and… was taken aback by her smile. He did not know why, but the strange air, the strange weapon in her hand and some strange iron vases around them made him feel this situation was more dangerous then he dared to hope.

She pointed the weapon at him and made an unnaturally huge leap backwards, as if that umbrella made her float. He made a few steps towards her when a flare came out of the weapon. The flare then turned into fire, as if eating the strange, suffocating air.

He screamed before the fire even reached him. He could stand fire from afar as long as it did not burn for long, but the very idea of once again going through the horrifying pain of being burned alive made his traumas come all out. And when the fire engulfed him, he screamed even more.

The traumatic memories started returning and he tried to flee before they broke him. Yet all the paths around him were blocked by those ox-headed monsters… just like back then, which made his pain just worse.

But just like back then, he saw one path to be free and went to use it. Too late did he remember what came after he took the only free path…

* * *

Araya has reached the ground. Just like how he used his strings to make her leap like that, Mezumaru took her umbrella with his strings and gave her a sword. The moist-less warrior, burning like dry wood, stopped moving no doubt shocked due to understanding what was about to happen.

"Alright Mezu-chan…" Mezumaru complained that it was not needed that she does this and he was right. But there was no chance in hell she would let this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity go to waste so she persuaded him that she did need to do this herself. "…make me into a woman… a badass sword-wielding maiden type woman that is." She said as she dramatically pullet out the sword from its scabbard.

Mezumaru used his strings to move her body and sword at the enemy, cutting him at high speed first through his shoulder then through his left knee and so on, until he was so torn up that his Fear reached a lowpoint he could not recover from.

"And so your tale ends." She said to him with a smile, putting the sword back into its scabbard. Mezumaru soon appeared beside her, also looking down at the fallen enemy.

" _You… now that my head… is clear… I see that you are… human."_  He muttered.  _"You are not… his daughter, are you?"_

"Nope, that was just to lure you out here." She answered.

" _I… I was so blinded that I… that I almost killed a human…"_  his eyes shivered.  _"I almost… became like that… Gyuki."_

"Closer than you think, Oji-san." Mezumaru added. "That's what happens when you listen to Sanmoto."

" _I… see."_  His body started dissentrigating into black mist, but he continued speaking.  _"Beware Sanmoto Goroazemon… Nejireme is not the only thing he wants to destroy… and even more, beware… Shoumen Kongo…"_

And with those words, the Youkai disappeared.

"Phew, can't believe this ended well." Mezumaru exclaimed with a wide smile. "I owe you one, Ichinoe. Good thing you found out and remembered those gas canisters here!"

"Nah, you payed me by letting me do the cool stuff." She answered and went to take her stuff which she moved from the trailer into one of the bushes. "You should probably go tell your boss about this."

"No need to tell me that! I swear, you re like Gozu!" Mezumaru complained. "Will you go with me? There might be more enemies here."

"No, there is someone I have to find first. Don't worry about me, I can handle myself." Araya doubted that there was any other intruder here, but one never knows what might happen.  _I better go find my poor Sweetheart before he gets hurt._

* * *

"So, what you are telling me is that… image thing shows people killed by Gyuki throughout last thousand years?" Yashagoro asked as he starred at a giant Ukiyoe in middle of the Hidden Temple. "And that they will all rise from the dead as demons?"

The priest continued his preaching: "Yes, the saved ones will bring Divine retribution onto Gyuki, making him pay for his vile sins." The priests eyes then narrowed. "And if the Kyushu play their cards right, the Nura clan will lose its western stronghold as well as its strongest vassal." And then he stretched his hands. "We call this Prophecy…  **Gyuki's Nightmare**!"

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And so another chapter comes to an end. While the last one was focused on Sakura, this one was focused on Araya who used her extensive knowledge of Youkai to get out victorious. Now, only Rihan, Heiko and Ritsura remain…

\- if someone forgot how cruel Gyuki was before Nurarihyon subdued, him, I am sure this chapter has made him remember ;)

\- imaginative cookie to whoever got the reference with those four females Araya found ;) For those who didn't get it, go and google "RWBY"

\- Ryuzan may not appear, but his actions were still important. A shame i was mainly in bad way…

\- yeah, seems that a few assassins ain't the only threat to Nejireme. Just what is that fatty planning now?


	23. Rihan's Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gyuki seems to have underestimated the members of the Supernatural Investigation Club from Ukiyoe high. Shima Ryu had managed to stay safe, the seemingly harmless Kibiki Sakura has defeated the youkai sent after her, Ichinoe Araya defeated both his and enemy youkai and Keikain Ryuzan travels Nejireme as if it were his personal playground. Will the remaining three club members, the Nura siblings and Heiko, also come out victorious or will they be less fortunate. And while Gyuki wonders how Nejireme will test the young ones, little is he aware that a nightmarish test is coming for him as well…

**Chapter 23: Rihan's Trial**

"Are we there yet?" [Rihan](http://i.imgur.com/P0IQhfA.jpg) asked, trying to sound childish in hopes of annoying his companions.

"We will be in due time." A man wearing a large straw hat answered while his female companion, also wearing a hat, walked silently.

Some time ago, a Gyuki type youkai seems to have used its Fear to split their club apart. Rihan had no trouble resisting the Fear that tried to force him to walk away and was about to use  _Hatsu_  to destroy the Fear before the group got split. However, just when he raised his katana these two Gyukis in human form jumped in and asked him to let it go. They explained to him that the youkai ruling this mountain, Gyuki, wanted to do some kind of harmless test… and Rihan was to get a different treatment than the rest.

Although Rihan was annoyed by Gyuki's behavior, he agreed and went with them. Gyuki was one of the older members of the Nura Clan and the leader of its strongest subordinate group. Had Rihan rejected to go with the flow, he would insult one of the key members of the Clan.

First, they took him to some mansion which seemed abandoned from outside but was well furnitured from inside. They explained to him that some members of the Gyuki Group live here and Rihan was supposed to eat and wait for the test preparations to be done. After some time, they told him to follow them and now they were here.

Of course, Rihan tried to find out what the test was supposed to be about, but the two were not very talkative. Rihan only hoped it won't be too bothersome and that the others won't get hurt in his whole farce. Although Gyukis were not intending to harm anyone, who knows what kind of accident might happen.

"We are here." The woman finally said.

At first Rihan did not immediately see anything of note: in front of him was another part of the forest, no different than what he walked through up till now.

Only after a few moments did he notice some kind of spiritual fence made of rope and wooden talismans and an torii so old it could barely be recognized from the trees… this part of forest was sealed.

"You will go on alone." The woman told him. "There are two more exits and you have to reach either one of them."

"What can I await there?"

"You will see." The man replied. Then, he seemed to have noticed something strange and turned towards one of the trees. "Show yourself!"

"No need to get all jumpy." A figure appeared from behind a tree. "I am just an Onmyouji of House Keikain." [Ryuzan](http://i.imgur.com/yqV7Dr4.png) introduced himself.

"How did you get here?" the female youkai demanded. "This place was supposed to be tightly guarded."

"Yes, it WAS guarded." Ryuzan winked and a golden tiger materialized beside him. "But me and my Shikigami took care of them. Don't worry, they will be alright." Ryuzan assured them and walked up to three of them while the Tiger Shikigami just sat down.

"Good to hear you are alright." Rihan commented.

"The same… and so were Kibiki, Shima and the Kage Onna when I met them."

"If you met them, why are you guys not together?"

"Kage Onna was searching for your sister, Shima was dating some youkai and Kibiki is safe."

"Shima was dating a youkai?" Rihan was glad to hear that both Shima and Sakura were safe, though he was still worried about Araya.

"Anyway, these two are not taking you in there, are they?" Ryuzan asked and looked in direction of the barrier.

"Yes, Gyuki-sama ordered him to go there…  _alone_." The male youkai confirmed. "So please come with-"

"Thirty Eight." Ryuzan cut in with a number.

"Eh?"

"Nothing special, just an exercise." Ryuzan smiled. "I am trying to beat up as many Gyukis as possible before this whole thing is over. Speaking of which…" he pointed two fingers at them. "Thirty nine and forty."

Realizing what he meant, the two youkai went for their weapons but were too slow: Ryuzan grabbed the male Gyuki by his wrist and with one move pulled him into the air and forced him to land onto his head with force, making him lose consciousness.

"Damn you!" the female youkai managed to get her sword out but Ryuzan grabbed her, spinned her around and knocked her unconscious with one hit at back of her head. However, he was kind enough to catch her before she fell onto the ground.

"Impressive." Rihan commented while Ryuzan put the woman down. Since this was supposed part of Gyuki's exercise, he saw Ryuzan's actions as fair. "You seem to be enjoying it."

"Hunting youkai through a dark forest and beating them up… every Onmyouji's dream. And best of all, they challenged us so I don't have to feel regretful."

"Do you know what that place is?" Rihan asked, pointing to the sealed part of the.

"Other than that the spiritual fence there stops any human or youkai from entering by anything but those rotten torii's? Yes, I visited that place a few minutes ago."

"Hope you didn't beat up anyone there… that's supposed to be my job. Well, not that I would personally mind it."

"There were no youkai there and I don't think anyone would want to spend more time than necessary there."

"What do you mean?"

"That place causes illusions. But not just some random illusions…" Ryuzan started explaining. "When I was there, it replicated scenes from my past… the ones I least like to remember. Luckily, I had no traumatic memories or such so it was more or less a walk in the park for me."

"I see…" Rihan now understood what were Gyuki's intentions. Gyuki was one of the youkai who were with him during both of the Nakano Incidents and he is fully aware of how those experiences affected his young master. So while Ritsura would most likely have her strength tested, Rihan would have his psyche tested.

And that explained why those two were so keen on not telling him what this was supposed to be about: Gyuki understood that Rihan would not want to go through those times again so he ordered his subordinates to stay silent.

"You don't have to go if you don't want to, you know." Ryuzan suggested, probably being told by Ritsura that her brother had some ugly memories. "After all, this is just Gyuki's stupid game. Nobody will care or mind if you just let it go."

"You talk as if I even considered going there after you told me what it is about."

* * *

" _Hello, is that you Keikain-san?" a feminine voice asked through a cellphone._

" _Yes, it is." Ryuzan confirmed as a giant ox-headed spider jumped towards him. "Glad to hear you are alright, Sakura-chan."_

" _The same here! Whats with these cellphones?" Sakura complained. "They look like they are from the 10's."_

" _Oh, were you lusting to see my face again, Sakura-chan?" Ryuzan teased her. In meantime, the Gyuki fell into one of Ryuzan's traps which caused him to get enwalled within a barrier._

_Sakura sighed. "Thank you for reminding me what I hate about you…" as she spoke, the space within the barrier exploded, knocking the youkai high into the air. "Eh, what was that?" and the youkai then fell onto the ground, causing a loud noise before losing his consciousness. "HAH?! ARE YOU ALRIGHT THERE, KEIKAIN-SAN?!"_

" _Thirty eight." Ryuzan commented. "Nothing, just beating up some youkai who came after me. Hope you are having as much fun on your end!"_

" _Oh? How many have you… AH, THIS IS NOT WHAT I HAVE CALLED YOU FOR! Listen Keikain-san…"_

" _Come on, we are colleagues. Just call me Ryuzan."_

" _Have you met Nura-kun yet?" She ignored his demand._

" _Which Nura? There are two." Ryuzan continued teasing her._

" _Stop joking around! Nobody uses –kun for girls!" she shouted at him. It looked like she was a tad bit more assertive when she gets to be honest with someone. "I have to hurry so I will keep this brief: have you noticed that Nura-kun is possessed?"_

_Ryuzan was surprised to hear this. "Huh? He is possessed? Just like Adashibara?"_

" _No, she was directly possessed." Sakura explained. "Nura-kun is more of manipulated by an akuma from Hell, but that is no less dangerous for him. And it seems to be some powerful akuma to boot."_

" _So, what exactly do you want from me?" Ryuzan jumped to the point. He was not sure how good Sakura was at recognizing this kind of danger, but details can be left for later. The very fact that Sakura called him suggested something may happen soon._

" _The youkai I defeated told me that their boss wants Nura-kun to go through some kind of mental test. I am sure they mean well, but…"_

" _Where is it supposed to take place do you know?"_

" _Let me check the GPS to see where you are… a sealed part of the forest, just east of you." She explained. "Maybe I am just being paranoid. Maybe it would be better for him to go there. But first I'd like to check him up and that place can wait for later if needed. We are not going home until Monday anyway."_

" _Alright… I am already here." Ryuzan turned east to look at the sealed part of the forest which he visited a few minutes ago. "Did you tell anyone else about this?"_

" _You know I can't… Anyway, I have to go now. Good luck!" Sakura said and ended the call._

* * *

And now he was here, on a mission to reduce the risk of Ritsura's little brother ending in trouble. Now that he looked at it, he felt something  _might_  be wrong with him, but could not be certain about it. Sakura was a Christian Exorcist and their order's area of expertize is fighting that kind of spirits so he thought he could trust her judgment for now. And if she was right, Rihan was under influence of some tremendously powerful youkai else Ryuzan would have noticed it by himself.

"Oh? I thought you Nuras loved challenge." Ryuzan smirked. He was glad to know that this may not require any persuading.

"If I weren't reckless, this would have been a walk in the park for me just like it was for you. But alas…" Rihan sighed. "Maybe one day I will be able to walk through there and come out with a head held high, but this is not such a day I fear."

"Yes, that sounds-" Ryuzan started but, suddenly, the two of them were attacked.

An unshaved samurai with long black hair wearing black-green yukata assaulted Rihan, making him jump backwards, thus getting closer to the torii. Before Ryuzan could make a step towards the two of them, three samurai with straw hats jumped in front of him, no doubt to stop him from aiding Rihan.

"What is the meaning of this, Gyuki?!" Rihan demanded to know as he clashed swords with his new opponent.

"Forgive me young master, but you need to go there  _now_." Gyuki calmly answered as he advanced, making Rihan get closer to the torii with each clash of their swords.

 _Damn, I have to help him before it is too late!_  Ryuzan prepared for a fight and his own three opponents prepared for it as well.

Ryuzan's Tiger Shikigami roared, but didn't attack Ryuzan's opponents. There was nothing wrong with that: the Tiger in Chinese zodiac represents leadership and fearlesness. As such, this Shikigami doesn't fight but empowers Ryuzan's overall abilities as well as of other allied exorcists, increases the Fear of allied youkai and decreases the Fear of the enemy youkai. Ryuzan hoped it would turn Rihan's battle to his favor, but even with help of the Tiger, Gyuki kept overpowering him.

Not knowing that the Tiger won't attack, the three youkai had to keep an eye on both of them making this battle all the easier for Ryuzan. He thus ran at one of his enemies who then tried to slash Ryuzan with flat side of his katana, but Ryuzan evaded it and punched the youkai into his guts, making him fall onto his knees. He followed it by getting behind him and hitting the enemy onto his head, making him fall unconscious.

"Forty one." He added another victory to his collection.

"Gyuki, stop this NOW." Rihan ordered him. "Else I will take care you are are held responsible for your actions!"

"Young master, I don't think you realize how far I am ready to go for the good of the Nura Clan." Gyuki did not seem to care much about Rihan's threats.

One of the other two youkai attacked Ryuzan while the other protected his comrade's back from the potentially dangerous Shikigami. Unlike the one before, this one used the sharp part of his blade though he still evaded Ryuzan's vital spots.

And he was very surprised to see Ryuzan catch his sword with his bare hand, a thing made possible due to his Tiger Shikigami's boon. With his free hand, Ryuzan took a talisman from one of his pockets and put it in front of the youkai. " _Begone!_ "

After an explosion of light, the youkai flew backwards and hit the spiritual barrier which seemed to have an electrifying effect. "Forty Two."

On other hand, Rihan's fight against the head of the Gyuki Group did not go as well.

"Usually I would not mind you taking your time young master, but with the war fast approaching, we will need to know if you are fit to participate." Gyuki explained.

 _I must hurry!_  Ryuzan did not wait for the third opponent to attack him nor was he naive enough to believe he could reach Gyuki without taking care of this youkai first so he attacked him.

The third one took Ryuzan seriously and used his Fear. Ryuzan felt a strong temptation to stop fighting, but managed to resist it and the Tiger's roar that came soon after made it all the easier. Still, the attempted pacification was a nuisance that made his fight slightly harder.

The enemy also used a spear instead of a katana, thus it was easier for him to make a serious attack without risking fatal injuries not to mention he was able to keep his distance from Ryuzan. The two of them danced around, exchanging blows with the spear and hands.

" _Begone_!" Ryuzan tried using the talisman on him, but this opponent was tougher than the last one and shielded himself with his Fear, thus he remained standing on his feet.

When Ryuzan's eyes fell onto Rihan and Gyuki, he knew he had only a minute at best so he went to use one of more painful techniques and thus tried hitting his opponent's neck. His hand was blocked by the spear, but the hand was close enough for Ryuzan to create an barrier inside his opponent's throat. The already exhausted youkai started suffocating and was no longer able to fight, allowing Ryuzan to knock him down just like the other two. Of course, he took care to remove the barrier before he turned his attention to Gyuki and Rihan.

 _Damn, I won't make it in time!_  Since he could not save Rihan from going in there, Ryuzan tried to help him by summoning the next Shikigami in line and letting him make the journey safer for Rihan. So he moved his hand towards the sky, whispered an incarnation and a Rabbit was summoned in front of him. The Rabbit may not be useful in combat, but was able to protect one's mind from negative influences so he would be more useful for this task than any other Shikigami.

The Rabbit ran towards Rihan and would have gone through the torii at the same time as him… but Gyuki proved his own skill by slaying it with little effort.

Thus, Rihan fell through the torii alone. A mist appeared inside the spiritual barrier and was gone the next moment, and with it Rihan.

"Dammit!" Ryuzan cursed due to his failure.

Gyuki turned around and smiled after seeing what Ryuzan did to his subordinates. "I see that you are a skilled warrior, Onmyouji. Please, keep lending your skills to young mistress." As he said those words, he himself walked through the torii, disappearing in the same fashion as Rihan did a moment ago.

Ryuzan tried to think of a way to come after Rihan, but had already confirmed that it is impossible to cross roads with someone in that forest of illusions. He felt as if he failed both Sakura and Ritsura and could only hope that Rihan would be able to handle his past.

* * *

"Damn it Gyuki…" Rihan, with his eyes still closed, complained. He was never too fond of that youkai's shenanigans, but this was a drop that spilled the glass for him. He regretted that his speech about making Gyuki take responsibility will, most likely, end up being nothing more than a bluff. His sister might have done something about it, but not him.

Granted, he could ask her to help him. But for Rihan, asking his sister to do something about it was out of question.  _No, forget about her…_

Rihan opened his eyes and was surprised to see that  _he was in one of the halls of the Nura Clan's Mansion._ Looking over his body, he saw that he was a kid though could not guess what exactly would be his age. However, he had no actual control over his body, besides being able to use its senses.

_Something white rushed past him and then jumped, turned around in the air and looked at him. It was his sister Ritsura, having a smug look on her face. Like him, she was also below ten years of age._

" _That's cheating, baka-nee-san!" Rihan was angry and tried to get up, but slipped down onto the floor due to the ice his sister created._

" _Bleeh!" his sister put her tongue out and then ran into a room close by. Rihan remembered that, while they were kids, the two of them often competed with one another through the usual childish games._

_Rihan brought himself back onto his knees and carefully walked over ice until he reached the doors. He wished he was as good as his sister on ice skating._

" _GREAKH!" Ritsura jumped at him the moment he entered a room, scaring him and making both of them both fall onto the floor._

"B _aka-nee-san!" Rihan shouted at his big sister who still lay on top of his backs._

" _Hohohoho!" his sister laughed and rose up._

_Someone else laughed at the two of them. Rihan turned his head aside and noticed that their father was sitting in the room, looking over some weird papers. "Energetic like always, you two."_

" _Stop laughing and tell her to stop acting like that!" Rikuo's little son demanded._

" _No way, you were my gift for Christmas!" his evil, big sister complained. "You are thus my personal, living toy."_

" _I am nobody's toy!"_

" _Daddy, what are you reading there?" Ritsura ignored him and ran to where their father was sitting._

" _Hey, wait for me!" Rihan followed after her._

" _Just some ukiyoes one of allied clans sent us as a gift." Their father explained._

" _Ukiyoes? They sent us entire towns?" Ritsura asked._

" _Baka-nee-san, how could they send us entire towns?!"_

" _I have seen quite a few cartoons where jumping into pictures bring you to other worlds, baka-otouto!"_

" _Baka-nee-san, you might have a point there." Rihan nodded._

_Their father just laughed to that. "No no, ukiyoes are painting styles. Our town got its name for them."_

""… _I don't get it."" the kids said at the same time._

_Rikuo sighed, though he still had a smile on his face. "Look here." Rikuo took one of the ukiyoes and showed it to them._

" _Dad, you look kinda funny there. " his daughter commented. "And whats with that fox around your neck."_

" _Oh look, there is mom!" Rihan noticed the Yuki Onna there._

" _No no, that's not me and mom. That's your great grandfather while he was still young and the Yuki Onna on this is your grandmother." Rikuo corrected them._

" _He doesn't look much like gramp-gramps." Ritsura noted. "He even lacks the gourd."_

" _That's because he is old now." Rikuo explained. "…Ritsura, why are you looking at me with that funny face?"_

" _Baka-nee-san, why are you now looking at me with that funny face?"_

" _Nothing… gourd-heads." She whispered the last part. Both of the male Nurarihyons wanted to say something but she cut them with another question. "Who is that woman he is fighting?"_

" _That is Hagoromo Gitsune of the Kyoto Clan. Well, that's how she used to look four hundred years ago."_

" _Why are they fighting? She always seemed like a nice lady." Ritsura asked._

" _Are you kidding me, baka-nee-san?" Rihan did not have the same opinion about her. "She is creepy and evil."_

" _Take that back, baka-otouto!" Ritsura was offended by this remark. "Hagoromo Gitsune is cool, elegant and a true youkai lady!"_

" _Grrrr…"_

" _Grrrr…"_

" _Ahem." Rikuo tried to get their attention back. "Anyway, the answer to your question, Ritsura, is that she and her Kyoto youkai Clan were at the time considered the rulers of the youkai world. But when she abducted your great grandmother, your… gramp-gramps stormed into her mansion, defeated her and took the title 'Master of all Youkai' from her." Rikuo turned to Ritsura and winked. "Who knows, maybe in distant future she will attack you in order to get the title back."_

_Ritsura shivered at the thought. "That's sounds extremely scary… but if I have to fight her, I shall!"_

" _So you are admitting that she is creepy and evil." Rihan teased her._

" _No I am not!"_

" _Yes, you are!"_

" _And this one…" Rikuo took another painting before the two started physically fighting. "Shows your grandfather, Rihan, fighting Sanmoto Gorozaemon with his Hyaki Yakou."_

" _Ooh…" this was not the first time Rihan saw his namesake's picture, but this was the first time he saw an artistic painting instead of a photo._

" _Oh!" Ritsura noticed someone else there. "He is holding Hagoromo Gitsune in his arms!"_

" _That's not her but a woman that… looks similar to her." not wanting to confuse the kids, Rikuo gave them a simplified explanation. "It was your grandfather's first wife, but they were unable to conceive children."_

" _Why were they-"_

" _And this is your daddy!" not wanting to speak about the curse Hagoromo Gitsune placed on their family, Rikuo rushed to the third ukiyoe. "The painter here took a few liberties so you see me fight four opponents: Tamazuki, Hagoromo Gitsune, Enchou and Abe no Seimei."_

" _Woah, four enemies?!" Rihan was surprised. "That is more than grampa and gramo-gramps!"_

" _Well, I didn't fight them at the same time. As a matter of fact, Tamazuki and Hagoromo Gitsune fought alongside me against Seimei."_

" _You are so awesome dad!"_

" _Ha ha, you think so?" Rikuo blushed._

" _I don't see Tamazuki anywhere." Ritsura said and took the ukiyoe into her hands._

" _He is that guy with a mask." Rikuo pointed at him. "That's how he looks in his youkai form."_

" _Aaaah." She smiled. "He looks so cute with it."_

" _So, what about you two?" Rikuo asked with a wink._

" _Us two?"_

" _Of course! You can't let yourselves lose to us three." He pinched their cheeks. "Take care you get worthy of your own ukiyoes, alright?"_

"" _Yes!""_

* * *

Rihan blinked and found himself back in the forest, in his sixteen years old body.

"Ah, I completely forgot this was all an illusion." Rihan put his hand on his forehead. "This is bad, I can't let this Fear take control over me again." He said and sat down.

After he blinked, he found himself  _sitting in someone else's mansion._

"No… not yet… please, don't jump to  _that_  memory just yet…"

He remembered the mansion:  _it belonged to some allied clan in Nakano City. In front of him, two swords sat, both belonging to his father. From what he heard, they were forged by Keikain Clan. One was the reforged Nenekirimaru, which broke when his father fought Abe no Seimei at the Spiral Castle. The other one was a sister sword, with similar properties. Both were given to Rikuo by auntie Yura while he and his sister were still babes._

_Rihan made his decision and walked up to them._

"No… leave them alone dammit!"Rihan shouted at himself but, due to this being just a memory, he could not change anything. Still, he could not stop himself from trying. "Don't do it!"

_The eight years old Rihan grabbed the shorter sword and left the room. Since most youkai were out fighting, it would not be hard for him to sneak away._

_Or that's what he thought._

" _Where are you going, baka-otouto?" his sister waited for him outside the room. The way she said 'baka-otouto' was not playful, but serious and her eyes widened when she saw the sword in his hands._

" _I am going to help dad, of course!" he told her._

" _Are you dumb? You want to get yourself killed or something?!" Ritsura admonished him. Rihan now understood that, while she usually acted immature, she tended to make 180 turn when things got serious. But at the time, Rihan thought of it as 'bark, but no bite' and looked down upon it._

" _I won't get myself killed, you stupid, cowardly sister! I am a Nura, son of-"_

" _You are a kid!" she shouted at him. "They will kill you the moment you set your foot out there!"_

" _Dad is out there fighting bad guys! I can't be a coward and stay here!" he said and put his tongue out._

" _THIS IS NOT A GAME!" his sister exploded. "If you get out, you won't just get hit a little, but will get killed! They are monsters and you are a kid!"_

"Listen to her, you fool!"Rihan screamed at himself, but as expected it did nothing to change the kid's fate.

" _Coward!" young Rihan repeated._

" _Don't be stupid!" Ritsura went to grab his sword, but the sword and Rihan disappeared in black mist. The real Rihan was now a good distance away from her._

" _Just you stay here, 'Yuki Onna'! I am going to help dad!" he said and started running._

" _STOP!" he heard his sister screaming. "Guys, Rihan is trying to get out! Stop him!"_

" _Tz, what a snitch." Although the whole mansion was on its feet to find him, their lack of number and Rihan's use of his inborn techniques allowed him to get out without a hinch. And once he was outside, there was no chance they would be able to catch him. After all those days playing around Nakano, he knew the area well enough to choose the less obvious paths._

_He was excited back then… excited at the thought of going into his first battle, making his own story just like his father, grandfather and great-grandfather did before him. While his cowardly older sister stayed behind, he would prove that he is by all right Nura Rikuo's son._

" _Rihan!" he heard a girl's voice calling him as he passed near Midori's house._

" _Sorry Midori, I am in a hurry!" he replied back without turning towards her._

" _Rihan please, I need your-"_

" _Sorry, this is more important!" he shouted back and continued going on._

" _RIHAAAAANN! STOOOPP! RIH-" the girl shouted until she suddenly stopped._

 _The boy continued on without paying it much head_ , but the grown up Rihan in him wanted him to turn around, both to see his lost friend's face… and to see what has happened to her. Something in the way she screamed and how she went silent gave him creeps.

Yet even the grown up boy did not think too long about it, full aware of what was about to happen…

 _Rihan didn't need to see anything nor hear anything for him to stop running, afraid to the very core of his body._   _The tremendous Fear that assaulted him was just so strong that he could barely breath. This was the first time Rihan felt Fear from someone who wanted to do nothing but bring him a long, painful death and for an eight years old boy it was a gruesome experience._

_The boy tried to move, but his body rejected to._

_He tried to scream for help, but he could not move his lips or tongue._

_But cry… cry he could._

_And then, a sharp pain stormed through his body as someone's claws stabbed right through the right side the eight years old boy's chest. When the boy looked down, he saw those claws stick out from his body._

" _AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" he screamed, but that right was stolen from him when his assaulter put his hand over his mouth, his fingers stabbing so hard into Rihan's cheek that blood started spilling out._

" _That gourded hair…" the assaulter's fingers squeezed his face so hard that Rihan felt like his skull would break. "You are Rikuo-sama's son, are you not?" the youkai turned the claws which he sticked into Rihan's body around, causing him even more pain. "Glad to make you acquittance, I am Gagoze, the last survivor of once fearsome Gagoze Group."_

_The boy did not know who it was, nor did he think about it. He wanted to scream and run, but could do neither._

" _Boy, why don't we go somewhere more private?" the youkai started pulling him backwards. "Somewhere where we can scream together for the rest of the day, after which you can sleep for an eternity."_

" _You there, what are you…" he heard Kurotabou's voice, but the boy was too terrified to be aware of anything but a need to scream and run. "RIHAN-SAMA?!"_

" _PUT HIM DOWN GAGOZE!" Gyuki's voice could also be heard._

" _Tz." Gagoze pulled his claws out, only to stab him again._

" _STOOOOP!" Kurotabou screamed._

_Once again, Gagoze pulled his claws out and this time also took his hand from Rihan's mouth._

" _AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Rihan was finally able to scream._

_Gagoze than pulled him backwards and threw him far into the air. Before he started falling, Rihan saw Kurotabou and Gyuki run after him… and behind them, the youkai called Gagoze: a man wearing tattered, bloodstained gray clothes with a monstrous mask on his face. The evil youkai turned around and fled while the other two were both worried about saving their young master._

_Rihan lost consciousness before he even reached the ground._

* * *

"Aa…" Rihan was back at Nejireme. "Aaaaaahhh…" he fell onto his knees, unable to control his tears. Although it was only an illusion, the memory made him once again feel those claws being stabbed through his body as well as the child's horror.

It took an entire year for Rihan to forget about Gagoze, a youkai whose father was killed by young Rikuo and who seeked revenge. To Rihan's despair, Gagoze was still out there, torturing and murdering children… and Rihan shivered at the thought that he might meet him again.

Maybe that's why he was so obsessed about fighting the Urban Legends… although Gagoze was not one, he was still a youkai who would fit their company and maybe subconsciously Rihan hoped this way he could muster the courage to stand against Gagoze if he met him again.

But he knew now… that should he meet him again, he would just turn to being a hopeless kid again. There was no way for him to escape that one trauma. That realization made him put his hands onto his face in order to stop any more of his tears from coming out.

When he removed them,  _he was in a peaceful village._

" _Dad said that you are coming with us this time." His sister, who sat beside him, said._

" _Yeah…" he replied in a meek tone. The shock from Gagoze's torture was so strong that his parents sent him to the Hanyou Village, a place where humans, youkai and part-youkai lived together in peace… and where his grandfather's grave was located. It was a place with a warm, kind aura, a perfect place for a youkai to heal, especially if it was their soul that was wounded._

" _It will be good to have you back at home, baka-otouto." Ritsura said after a long silence._

" _Hope so, nee-san." He replied in a dull voice._

"… _are you really alright?" she asked with a sad expression._

" _They say I am."_

"… _yes, they do." Ritsura turned her head away from him. "Doesn't look like a place where one could train… hope your skills did not get rusty."_

" _How about you?"_

" _I… have been training a lot and my Fear is much stronger now. Was about time I took it seriously, you know." She answered._

_Rihan could only think about how mature she sounded, as if more than a year has passed since that day. Though he was not surprise as she probably blamed herself for failing to stop him. During her earlier visits, Rihan tested his ability to fool her perception and his conclusion was that he would be unable to run away from her by using his abilities again, showing that he really was one of her main motivators._

" _I am not going to lose to you." He commented, not sure himself why._

" _Hmph, I hope you do, little brother." She said with a smile on her face, though melancholy was still there. And from then on, the term 'baka-otouto' was replaced by 'little brother' while he replaced his 'baka-nee-san' with 'nee-san'. They were not sure why they did that, but it was a sad change for them._

" _This village…" Ritsura changed the topic. "It might be a bit boring… but it sure feels like a loving place." She said with with closed eyes. "I like it here."_

_Rihan didn't say anything back but instead looked around. The humans and youkai were working hard on the fields and in the house and having friendly chat every now and then. It was a serene place and Rihan could see why people would love it._

" _Yes, it does."_

_He could see why people would like it… Yet he himself found this serenity to be annoying._

* * *

 

After blinking, he didn't return to Nejireme and instead  _he was in his room, looking over chat history on his PC._ This was a recent memory so he knew what time it was: just before he returned to Nakano.

Minato: _BTW Rihan, do you know anything about some guy called Osogi Shigeru?_

Rihan: _never heard that name_

Minato: _damn_

Rihan:  _why, who is he?_

Minato: _someone worrisome_

Minato:  _I think_

Minato: _anyway gotta go bye!_

_-Minato has logged off-_

_Annoyed, Rihan turned on the music and jumped onto his tatami. He asked the members of the clan if they knew Osogi Shigeru, but nobody knew anything. Well, Kurotabou recognized surname Osogi but didn't remember from where._

_Then his cellphone rang so he casually took it into his hand. He froze after seeing the name of the caller: Kuruguya Midori. She was someone he hasn't spoken in ages._

" _Hello?" he answered the call._

"… _is it you, Rihan-kun?" the female voice asked._

" _Yes, it is." Rihan went into a sitting position. "Didn't hear about you for ages! How are you?"_

" _Heh… we sure didn't talk much did we?"_

" _Yeah… why didn't you call?" he inquired._

" _I did, but after months of you not answering my calls…"_

" _Ah… I am such an idiot…" Rihan started hitting his forehead. "I am such an idiot!"_

" _Riha-kun?" she sounded surprised._

" _I am sorry, some things happened and I was an entire year in… a hospital."_

" _What happened?! Minato-san never told me about it!"_

" _I never told him. We didn't hear one another for an year either." he sighed. "I don't want to speak about it, but I was… unable to communicate with anyone for a long time."_

" _Ah… I thought… I am sorry…" her voice started shivering._

" _Midori, are you crying? And what are you sorry for?"_

" _Nothing… so, how are you doing now?" she asked, now sounding relieved._

" _I am alright now… how are you doing?"_

" _It is a bit tough, but I am doing well enough!"_

" _Glad to hear that. So, what did you call me for?"_

" _Nothing!" she replied in a cheerful tone. "Just wanted to chat!"_

" _The moody girl sounds quite… cheerful."_

" _People change."_

" _Giving my best trying to imagine you as anything but a moody girl wearing gothic lolita clothes with a powdered face and listening to death metal."_

" _Just where did you get that image from, hmmm?" she tried to sound pissy._

" _Prediction of a natural evolution."_

" _Haaah? Well, maybe I should give it a try! I do like gothic art, after all! May as well make a straw doll of you and do the Ushi no Koku Mairi ritual at the Hour of the Ox."_

" _Why do you want to curse me?!"_

" _Because I am evil, Riha-kun." She said in a serious tone. "Anyway, gotta go. Was glad to speak with you and… actually, the reason that I wanted to call you was…" she started but then went silent._

" _Midori?"_

"… _thank you, a lot. Bye!"_

" _Eh, Midori?" he tried to stop her but she already hanged up. He tried to call her back but he only got static in return._

" _First apologizing and then thanking me… something is going on in Nakano again!" Rihan jumped onto his feet. Minato going silent and Midori acting weird were enough to force himself to face his demons again. So he took his coat and left the room…_

* * *

…and found himself at Nejireme.

After that ugly memory from before, it was refreshing to remember his conversation with Midori in such detail. He hoped she was still alive somewhere and that he would find her. He hoped that at least one of his old friends from Nakano was still alright… and that her cheerful attitude was honest.

He stopped and closed his eyes, challenging Nejireme to come with the next memory. When he opened the eyes,  _he was in_   _Nakano Middle School_.

_He just entered, and it already looked like something from one of those horror flicks, focusing more on gore than thrill: splatters of blood could be seen on both the walls and the ground and he even saw a bloody hand behind a corner._

" _What… what has happened here!?" Kejorou asked, hiding her terrified expression with the sleeve of her kimono._

" _Young master, maybe it will better if you leave." Kubinashi suggested and Gyuki nodded._

_Rihan didn't say anything and instead just walked into the school of horror. As he turned around the corner… the scene looked even more terrifying through the eyes of a High School student. He had only started living, yet alone these young Middle Schoolers who got slashed, stabbed and dismembered._

" _Young master, you should let us…" Kubinashi started again, but Rihan did not wait for him to finish. He started running, wanting to see more of this horror. "Wait!" Kubinashi screamed and Rihan realized how much he sounded like his sister many years ago. He probably should have listened to him like how he should have listened to her._

_The farther he got, the more gruesome the scenes looked. Some of the students were still alive, but most seemed so terrified that they could only sit in the corners or under tables and mutter incomprehensible words. Rihan did not stop to check on them, knowing full well that his comrades would do take care of that._

_He stopped when he reached the class 2-C. Inside, he saw corpses used as a decoration surrounding a text on the blackboard. Rihan did not remember what was written there due to it having no meaning for him, but now that he was here again he payed more attention… especially since now the message actually meant something: 'Shiori-chan, I hope you like our little gift?"_

"That's enough…"the real Rihan's consciousness spoke.

_Rihan then noticed Minato's remains and…_

"I said, it is ENOUGH with memories!" Rihan forced himself to end this memory. He didn't wait for himself to check on Minato nor did he wait for himself to find Hinata. And just like he wanted, he found himself back on Nejireme, free to think about what he just saw: Shiori's name.

"Hahahaha…" Rihan started laughing. "Finally… after so much searching, I finally have someone who is directly related to that incident… someone I CAN find."

To be exact, it was someone he was sure would find  _him_. It was only a matter of time until Shiori and the Nura Clan crossed their swords again. And this time he won't be focused on killing them, but getting information out of them… and if he sees Shiori again, he won't let her get away without answers.

"I will get you to tell me the truth Shiori… even if I have to break your every limb, I will make you tell me what has happened there… fufu, I can't wait to see you again."

* * *

Nejireme did not create any more illusions for him. Was it because it did its work or because he broke the last one he did not know. Partially, he regretted doing it because he found one piece of important info… on other hand, he was glad he would not need to go through the whole school again.

He then came upon a weird place: a big stone surrounded by a fence made of giant ribs. There was a dark aura around it, making him feel uncomfortable. Part of him wanted to just leave but the other part of him wanted to search through this evil place.

"Eh? Who are you?" someone from behind him asked.

Rihan turned around and saw an old youkai in human form, wearing Buddhist clothes. "What is this place?" he asked him.

"A place of the dead. This is no place for you so please leave."

Rihan then noticed scissors and other items used for preserving graves. Looking around it a bit more, he noticed that the area around the stone was well kept.

"A grave you mean?" Rihan walked up to him and caught him by his throat. "So care to tell me what is with this dark aura and why do you respect it?"

"Who… who are you?"

"Nura Rihan… the younger of course."

"Ah… please let me down and I will tell you."

Rihan let his hand go and the old youkai fell down. "This is the grave where Gyuki-sama's mother has been buried."

"What, was she such an evil woman to leave such a malevolent trace behind?"

"No… she was supposedly a very kind person… it is just that… that…"

"Keep talking."

"Gyuki-sama… after losing her and becoming a youkai he… tended to sacrifice humans here."

"…sacrifice humans?" Rihan's eyes narrowed. "You mean, he ritually killed them here?"

The man nodded and Rihan turned around to look at the stone again. For a moment, he thought he saw a black monkey jump on the stone but it quickly disappeared, replaced with series of images and screams of Gyuki sacrificing his victims. He saw men and women be ritually killed, from old to young and from individuals to numbers that could fill entire villages. And above them all always stood the young Gyuki, watching in bloodthirsty rage.

Rihan closed his eyes and when he opened them, the images bloodthirsty rage.

He had to resist the urge to slay the caretaker here and now. Even though he was only taking care of a grave, the fact that he was just related to it made Rihan want to punish him.

"Thank you." Rihan simply said and went on his way.

For a moment, he was surprised that such an evil youkai like Gyuki ended up in the Nura Clan. But now that he thought about it, Gagoze Group also used to be an influential part of the Nura Clan.

_Just how many evil youkai is our clan protecting…_

* * *

"Good to see you walking out with such a confident face, young master." Gyuki greeted Rihan after he left the sealed part of the forest.

"Indeed. I thought that… I was skeptical about how you would come out." The person who sat on a stone near Gyuki commented with a grin.

"Araya-chan? What are  _you_  doing here?" Rihan was surprised to see her there. At the same time though, he was glad to see her face again, as well as to know she was alright.

"Walked around and stumbled upon Gyuki-san here." She pointed at Gyuki with her thumb. "Once he told me he was waiting for you, I decided to join him."

"So, how was your journey through your past, young master?" Gyuki returned to the topic.

"Very uncomfortable." Rihan complained. "But I was able to deal with it."

"Glad to know that." Gyuki nodded. "It may have been painful, but a warrior needs to get over his inner demons." He said with a stern yet kind smile.

But to Rihan it was still a smile from a mass murderer.

"So, what now?" he asked Gyuki. "Are there any other tests?"

"I want to have a speech with your and young mistress at my mansion. Still, if you want to train, walk around and fight with my subordinates. Fighting with some of Nura clan's strongest youkai should be a good exercise." Gyuki told him. "To find my mansion, just go northeast until you reach a stairway and then continue walking up. I will be waiting for you there."

Gyuki turned his back to him and started walking away.

Rihan turned into his youkai form and took out Nenekirimaru from its scabbard.

"Riha-chan?" Araya noticed what he was doing. He already used his Fear on the area, thus taking care she is unable to alert Gyuki. His hate for Gyuki fueled his Fear, making his techniques all the stronger. "What are you doing?"

"Stay out of it." he told her as he slowly walked past her.

He felt as if his Nenekirimaru was screaming at him, begging him to not do it.  _Gyuki was a friend of the Nura Clan and someone who helped Rihan get over his traumas. It was his duty as member of the Nura Clan to not act like that towards Gyuki._

But he did not care about those. Even loyalty to the clan was secondary to him in comparison to his vow to uncompromisingly slay anyone who dares commit atrocities upon humans. And if his sword rebells, he will kill Gyuki by crushing his neck.

"Rihan, stop that!" Araya shouted at him but again his Fear clouded Gyuki from hearing her. "Have you gone insane?! Isn't Gyuki a loyal member of your clan?!"

Rihan ignored her again. He stopped walking and prepared to rush at Gyuki.

"Rihaaaaan!" Araya screamed and a weird sound could be heard.

Rihan turned his head aside to see what happened and then his eyes widened.

Araya was on her knees… and has stabbed her left hand's palm with a knife.

"Aaarhh…" she cried and raised her eyes towards him. Although she could not speak due to the pain, in her eyes Rihan saw that she was threatening him. She then turned the knife around and started slowly carving her hand which caused even more pain and made the wound more dangerous.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING YOU FOOL?!" Rihan screamed, threw Nenekirimaru away and ran to her. He immediately grabbed the knife and pulled it out.

"Aaargh!" she screamed and then bit her lip to the point blood stared coming out of it.

"What… were you… doing?" Rihan asked again while putting his hands around her bleeding hand. Soon, his hands emitted some kind of light.

"What… is that?" pain on Araya's face lessened and she was able to ask him a question.

"I am healing you… it is an ability I inherited from grandfather and my great-grandmother." He gave her a short explanation. "But it is not as powerful as it used to be… so please stand still else I won't be able to heal it."

"That's a shame… arhk!" Araya commented while still fighting against pain that his ability could not nullify. "I hoped… for a permanent wound… so you would remember to not be so stupid again…"

"You are the stupid one…" Rihan commented.

Rihan hasn't even noticed that Gyuki, who looked at them for some time, turned around and continued going on his way.

* * *

Gyuki wanted to run to Rihan and the girl in order to check what was going on, but felt like he should let the two be. What was important was that the young master was fine.

For now, he had other things on his mind… mainly, the youkai that Mezumaru and that girl. He knew that Sanmoto Gorozaemon would make his move and Gyuki felt like that day would come soon, possibly while Rikuo's kid are still on Nejireme. Gyuki thought of sending them away, but concluded that Japan in general is becoming a more dangerous place with each passing moment.

No, Gyuki Group and the youkai sent to keep an eye on the siblings will need to deal with the threat should it arise. If needed, they shall return Sanmoto to where he belongs.

* * *

Rihan and Araya sat on a stump, one beside another. Araya's left hand still needed healing, so Rihan he still kept his hands in it.

Araya's action took him aback. He expected a lot, from simply yelling at him to trying to grab him. And he could deal with either of those… but Araya stabbing a sword into her hand? He could not ignore that action.

Neither could he understand why she would do something like that. "Why would you go that far?"

Araya turned her head towards him and winked. "Don't underestimate how far I can go?"

"That's just crazy." He shaked his head. "What is stopping me from trying it again once you are away?"

Araya closed her face to his. "Then you will see that a hand is a very unimportant body part." She gave him a creepy answer and pulled away. "So promise me that you will behave."

"You are crazy... but alright, I promise." As much as he wanted to punish Gyuki, it seemed that his vow had a second place to this girl's well-being to the point he didn't care about him anymore… nor about Nakano or Gagoze… she was all that mattered right now. "But still, why go this far?"

"Because I care." Araya put her right hand's sleeve in front of her lips. "And because I decided I will help you to keep away from becoming something you don't want to be."

"Ha, guess I should have read the fine print before talking to you about yesterday." Rihan sighed.

The girl continued to confuse him, but he was certain he knew one thing now: she cared about him. He thought he fell in a one-sided love with her, but now he felt that she cared about him much more than he cared for her. He still didn't know the exact reason for her rude behavior in past, but he felt that too was related to her being protective of him.

And that realization just made him feel more attracted to her, thus looking at her face and being this close to her felt more comfortable than it used to, something he didn't think would be possible.

And only now he noticed something about her he didn't notice earlier due to being focused on Gyuki and then her wound. "Are these clothes the ones you bought today?"

* * *

He finally noticed… and she finally remembered. "Oh!" Araya said and moved away from him.

"Hey, where are you going?!" he called for her but she ignored him. Her wound has healed enough that she no longer needed his help.

She ran up to her backpack and took the red umbrella, onto which she drew rose motifs with a black marker, and returned back.

"Eh?" Rihan seemed surprised, a scene she has already gotten used to. She opened the umbrella and spinned herself around and them made a pose as if she was taking a photo for a fashion magazine.

"What do you think?" she asked him.

"Well… it looks… pretty." He muttered, the blush on his face telling her more than his words did.

And although she liked what the blush told her, she still desired to hear actual words. "Come on, you can do better!"

The boy looked at her for some time and then closed his eyes, as if thinking something through. After some time, he looked at her again and smiled. "The roses fit you."

"Do they?" she was a little bit disappointed at his dull answer. "I like the flower, though am not sure why."

"Because you are one?"

"Eh?" the question caught her off guard, as did him turning into black mist and then appearing just in front of her, grabbing her right hand.

"A pretty flower, but the thorns can make it painful to hold… thorny, just like you have always been towards me." he said and started pulling her towards him. "Yet, thorns don't make the flower any less beautiful, only harder to reach."

Araya felt his left hand embrace her from behind and push her even closer to him. She knew she had to react and had a plan for what to do if this by some chance happened, but now that it did she found herself unable to say or do anything but let the umbrella fall from her hand.

"But that just makes the flower more attractive." He added and pulled her all the way to him so that their bodies touched and he could hug her, making her heart pound faster.

Once again, what she desired and what she wanted were in conflict.

It was true that, what Rihan would probably like to know, she loved him. She liked it when he looked at her as a girl and she liked spending time with this boy. And no matter how much she tried, she enjoyed being hugged by him like this. And she desired more: to be able to touch him, to be able to hug him back, to be able to kiss him… in short, she desired for them to become a couple.

But the problem, the reason which made her resist those desires, was that she… loved him. She knew with absolute certainty that relationship would bring them pain in future and the deeper that relationship was, the more painful it would be for them. And because she loved him, she didn't want to cause him that pain. That's why she tried to distance herself from him by being rude and uncomfortable. As long as she balanced friendship and rudeness, she could stay with him without allowing him to get too close and thus harm him. She loved him to much to let some small desire hurt him.

And it went fine for three years and knowing that she did it for his own good made it easy. But now that she knew that the day when it will all be over as near, it became harder to keep that farce up. So she became softer and yesterday when he realized that her behavior was just one big lie, she let him have his way, believing that he didn't like her as much anymore and that she would be able to keep a long enough distance between them.

Yet it took less than a day for him to get over everything she said and did since his attempt at confession three years ago… for everything she worked on to crumble into dust. And she was not only unable to keep a distance from him, but made that distance smaller with small flirts she naively persuaded herself would not result in anything.

But she had to end this now. It has already reached a painful point and if she doesn't reject him, it would only get much worse. So she opened her mouth and-

"Araya-chan, I love you." Were the words he said. Those few words and a warm embrace… so little, yet it felt like the most important moment in her life. Again, no matter how much she resisted, she could not stop herself from enjoying it.

She remained standing like that, him hugging her and her just standing there, her face leaned against his chest. Yet as blissful as it was, she could not let it go on for too long so pushed herself out from his embrace. He didn't try to stop her.

She looked him into the eyes with a stern look. "Sorry, but I won't return those words to you."

"Yep, thought as much." He made a smile that warmed her heart and she had to give her best to not let him see it on her face.

"Haaa… I thought you would be disappointed." she said, putting on one of her rude smiles.

"No, I have no reason to be disappointed. I am full aware of what goes on in here." He put his finger on the right side of her chest, pointing at her heart.

Not wanting to let her heart betray her, she stepped away from him. "What a glorious bluff." She continued with her attempts to anger him. "Who thought you how to do it, your-"

Once again he grabbed her, this time rougher and faster, not to mention he closed her lips to his as if intending to kiss her. The idea that he might make that move made her body stiff. The sly expression on his face did not help her.

"What… do you think you are doing?" she asked, her eyes wide open.

"You almost broke our promise with some ugly words, my thorny little rose…" his face got even closer to hers, so much she could feel his breath on her lips. "If you are not careful…" his lips got even closer. "…I may need to jump in and eat those ugly words before they leave your pretty mouth."

"…eh?" she realized her mistake too late… her trying to play dirty meant that he would get the right to play dirty as well.

"But why wait for them to start leaving… close your eyes and I will eat them all here and now." He suggested. She had to spend each ounce of her willpower to not let those sly, hypnotizing eyes manipulate her into closing hers. "Come on, I know you want to…" he tempted her again.

"Why… would you think that?"

He stroked her cheek. "Because you are easy to read… but if I am wrong, why don't you just end it?"

"End it? I already tried."

"No you didn't… look me into the eyes and say that you don't love me and it will be over."

It was an idea she somehow never thought of… and something much simpler than trying to fool him with various little tricks. If she directly told him that she didn't feel the same, it might all be over.

Such a simple thing to do… Yet looking at his eyes, she knew that she could not tell him such a lie. It was simply… impossible, and she hated herself for it.

She put all strength into her hands and once again pushed herself away from him. And still, he smiled.

"How sly of you…" she contineud to fight him. "If I tell you to stay away from me, then stay away."

"Says a girl who was worried enough to wait for me to wake up after a serious fight, even letting me see a pleasant sight of her cosplaying as a sexy nurse." He stepped towards her and she immediately took a step backwards. "The girl who read me like a book and made me reveal my dark secret to her… the girl who put my sleeping head onto her lap and bought herself clothes she thought I would like." He disappeared, only to hug her from behind. "The girl who wanted to make me hate her because she was afraid of me confessing to her… the girl who was ready to stab herself with a knife in order stop me from doing something she thought I would regret… and the girl who can't say that she doesn't love me. Tell me Araya-chan…" his grip go stronger. "...my thorny little rose... what is it then that you feel for me?"

"Please…" him listing all her recent mistakes was the drop that broke the glass. "…just stop." Her failures alongside the desire to return his feelings resulted in her no longer having any energy to argue so she turned to begging.

"…alright." He said and moved his hands away from her. She stood there relieved… and disappointed. And the contrast just made it worse.

"There are two ways to end it…" he started another speech. "Yours and mine… so lets have a game decide which way we take. You do love games after all."

"A… game?" she turned towards him.

"Yes… I will be trying to seduce you and you will have to resist my advances… of course, I won't be as pushy as I was just now." He winked at her. "That is, if you confess to me before Monday, I win. Otherwise, you win."

"And if I win, what happens?" she asked.

"I will never flirt with you again and will treat you like a normal friend."

"And if you win?"

"Why, me getting the reward is the condition for victory." Again, he winked at her.

"Fufu… a game… you sure know how to push my buttons." She felt relieved. The rules were on her side: she only had to last two days, with less pushy advances than the ones she just went through. "Alright… under the condition that you don't force hugs, kisses and such, I accept the terms."

"And under condition that you will be spending all your free time with me, I accept the terms as well." He offered his hand to her. "Oh, and another condition: if you try to put up that rude farce again, I  _will_ eat the words out of your mouth."

She accepted his gesture and they shaked hands. Thus, they both accepted the game.

"Now if you'd excuse me, Gyuki is waiting for me." He said and turned around. "I am looking forward to tomorrow, my dear, thorny rose."

"Be naive if you want." She smirked. "And don't try to kill him again!"

"As my honey orders." He bowed and disappeared.

"Geez…" she sighed. "I forgot to add the inappropriate names as a taboo…" She looked at the scar on her left palm. "I really did screw up, did I?"

Yet, his playful attitude made it all feel worth it... seeing him all playful instead of moody was nostalgic.

* * *

Although Rihan said he would go straight to Gyuki, in truth he was leaning against a tree, far enough from that girl.

"Geez… I only intended to say  _one_ , little compliment…" Yet, seeing that bossy girl turn all vulnerable made him go over the line… one thing led to another, to the point he confessed to her and even played around with her.

But as embarrassed as he was for acting so bold, he was glad that he took that burden from his shoulders. Yet, he feared what she will do to him once she composes herself. He was pretty sure she won't be as vulnerable later on. "But that just makes it more fun… a thorny rose is the best rose after all."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And Rihan Junior's chapter in the subarc is over! Dark one for the most part, as usual for him.

\- Ryuzan did some serious 'behind'-wiping this chapter. Still, luck doesn't seem to be on his side XD

\- and we finally get some Daddy!Rikuo

\- just for the record, the Gagoze here isn't the guy from chapter 1 on the Manga. This one just took the name somewhere after the Gagoze Group was destroyed. Of all possible youkai Rihan Junior could have stumbled upon, it just had to be this one eh?

-  _Ushi no Koku Mairi_  is an ancient and popular Japanese cursing ritual

\- yep, Araya seems to get crazier with each passing chapter

\- and the boy has made his first move and we finally see a bit of what goes thorugh the girl's head (no, you are not supposed to know why she is so relucant about it just yet :P )


	24. Heiko's Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Much against the Gyuki Group's expectations, the members of the SIC proved to be capable of withstanding Nejireme's challenges, even the members without any special powers. Only two members have yet to be testes: Nura Ritsura and her first subordinate, Heiko

**Chapter 24: Heiko's Trial**

"Ha, there she is." Gozumaru whispered to himself. He was standing on top of a tall tree, looking down on a [white and teal haired girl](http://i.imgur.com/PBBXnbO.jpg) in a gray kimono and a muffler.

"Hello?! Is anyone there?!" she shouted around herself, probably trying to find the rest of her group. Judging by how she was walking, her left foot might have been hurt. "Guys, come on! Please don't tell me that the Gyukis have caught you!"

"Tz, she is as stupid as her mother." Gozumaru noted to herself. "And she got her foot hurt? Guess she is as much of a weakling as her."

The girl, still unaware of Gozumaru's presence, seems to have gotten tired and leaned against a tree. Gozumaru noticed that she also crossed her arms, possibly to control her shaking.

"Ha, and she is the great-granddaughter of Nurarihyon? What a joke." Gozumaru complained, but the smirk on his face showed that he was not dissatisfied with that fact. "Ha, it will be fun to see Rikuo's and Tsurara's faces when they see that their yukinko was beaten in a serious fight."

Gozumaru, who still held a grudge against Rikuo and Tsurara, took out his katana and quietly jumped from a tree to tree with an intention to get above her and take her down with one strike. However, just before he jumped onto the branch above her, his feet went numb.  _What?!_

Unable to move his feet, Gozumaru lost his balance, fell from his branch and hit the ground with his face. "Ouch…"

"Heee?" a female voice snarked. "Gyukis are youkai who lure or fool their prey to get close to them and then attack so your performance is quite disappointing, especially since I went Gyuki style on you."

Although he was still hurt all over, his intuition told him that he must move away at all costs. Since his feet were numb, he released one of his claws and used it to throw himself away. Although once again he landed in an embarrassed manner, he was at least able to easily bring himself to his knees.

Around ten meters in front of him, a girl stood with a katana stabbed at the ground where Gozumaru stood. She looked a lot like Tsurara, with exception that her hair was white and teal, not to mention she had a sly expression on her face which made her less cute but more attractive in another way.

"You are Gozumaru, the heir of the Gyuki Group, right?" she continued, pulling her sword out and starting to slowly walk towards him, her body and movements not showing any caution or preparations for a serious battle. The fact that she walked without trouble hinted that she was only pretending to have been hurt. "That just makes this extra disappointing."

"Tz, you sure are confident. A little numbness won't stop me." Not wanting to look weak, Gozumaru stabbed his sword into the ground and used it to raise himself up to at least look like he was standing on his feet. Although he could not walk, he could still use his claws to move and attack. "A spoiled yukinko like you doesn't know what I am capable of."

Ritsura stopped. For a moment, Ritsura's smirk disappeared and was replaced by an insulted expression, but she smiled only a few moments later. "Look who is talking… Gozumaru, for how long was I freezing your feet?"

"Not longer than ten minutes obviously." Gozumaru said. After all, he only found her a while ago.

The girl grinned, further proving just how different she was from her mother. "Gozu, you should have asked Mezu to come with you."

"Eh?"

"I was following you since before you two split." She said, still grinning. "You called me  _yukinko_  there as well, haven't you? Really, when I first heard it I had to give my best not to attack you… but seeing that shocked face of yours now made it worth the wait."

"What… how did you…" the way she described it made it look like she started following him not long after he started using his new technique. "You are bluffing! I took care that my technique moves you guys far away from me! There was no way you could have reached the two of us before we split!"

"Are you kidding me? That pathetic technique would not be able to force even my little finger to move."

"What technique do you call pathetic, you bitch?!" Gozumaru was angered to hear this girl insult his new technique he was so proud of.

"It is pathetic, in every possible way." the girl seemed to enjoy taunting him. "Not only was it not able to move me, but you used a technique that covers a large area without controlling your Fear properly, thus allowing me to feel your location the moment you used it. Had you understood that basic principle, I would not have been able to rush right to your location."

Gozumaru wanted to say something… anything, just to protect his pride.

"But that's only a technique…" only now he noticed that she no longer looked entertained but annoyed. "You yourself did not notice my presence or me following you, even when I was just below you. Now I do have father's blood, but my skill at hiding my presence isn't  _that_  good. I thought it would be only a matter of time until you found me, yet even me slowly freezing your feet from a distance went boringly unnoticed."

Due to his hurt pride, the anger inside Gozumaru grew. Rikuo's and Tsurara's daughter lecturing him like that frustrated him, especially because she was not wrong in her accusations.

"Well, I guess it just shows how pathetic you-"

"SHUT UP YOU DAMN YUKINKO!" Gozumaru exploded, shocking the girl for a moment. "You think a protected brat like you has a right to insult a warrior like me?!" He did not want to be criticized, not by someone like her. "I swear, you will cry when this is all done!" as he said that, the rest of his claws came out of him, and jumped at her.

Using his claws to move and block her escape routes, he attacked her with his sword.

However, he realized that he hit just a mirage and that she was actually standing two meters in front of him. What is more, his sword froze as it passed through the mirage and broke into pieces.

"I may not be as good at confusing one's senses, but I can freeze whatever passes though the mirage… taken that the enemy is afraid enough." She commented, her expression still annoyed.

"You bitch…" although his sword was broke, Gozumaru could still use his claws as his weapons so he wasn't too worried about it.

"I am Nura Ritsura, the daughter of Nura Rikuo and the fourth heiress of the Nura Clan." She introuced herself, albeit a bit late.

"You think that matters to me?"

"It should." Although her expression did not change, something in her eyes made Gozumaru feel uncomfortable. Without saying anything more, the girl raised her katana and…

…something roared and Gozumaru turned around. He saw a large ogre ( _oni_ ) run at him with incredible speed, lowering his club to hit him sideways. Gozumaru blocked the attack and only got pushed backwards a little.

"Who are you?!" he demanded from the youkai. He was pretty sure he did not come with neither the kids nor with the rest of the Nura Clan's entourage.

But to his surprise, the youkai just disappeared into thin air.

"Heiko is my name!" a girl clad in a colorful kimono and holding a mirror and some bag walked into Ritsura's and Gozumaru's field of vision. "I am Heiko the Kage Onna, leader of an illusionary Hyaki Yakou."

"Talk about a fightblock…" Ritsura sighed.

After introducing herself, Heiko payed Gozumaru no attention and instead walked up to Ritsura. "Ojou-sama, here is your lunch!"

"Huh?" Ritsura seemed as confused as Gozumaru to see her giving Ritsura food while they were technically in middle of a fight.

"You said you were hungry a while ago!" Heiko started explaining. "So once I got a hold of myself, I went to the mansion where we were headed, took some of the food I found there and ran all the way here to give it to you."

"Ah, thank you Heiko." Ritsura smiled and took the bag from her.

"Please, do enjoy it. There is rice, a can of ramen…"

"Hey, what do you think you are doing?!" Gozumaru didn't want to watch this charade anymore. "Get away, I have business with her!"

"How insolent…" Heiko turned towards Gozumaru. "I am Kage Onna Heiko, part of Ritsura-sama's Hyaki Yakou! Ojou-sama can't afford to fight every small fry she stumbles upon so if you want to stand in front of her, you will first need to take me down!"

"…do you have any idea who I am?" the heir of the Gyuki Group threatened her.

"You are definitely not the big boss here, that's for sure." Heiko put her hands on her hips. "If you want to prove that you are truly someone worth of standing in front of Ojou-sama, than defeat me with your Fear."

"You…" angry at her behavior, he released his Fear and made his claws longer and more menacing.

However, Heiko did not seem impressed. "Ojou-sama, please enjoy your meal while I handle this." She said to Ritsura while keeping her eyes on Gozumaru.

"Wow, you are unexpectedly serious about this." Ritsura smiled and seemingly disappeared. "I will watch this from afar mind you."

"As you command!" Heiko raised her hand-mirror, as if it were her weapon. "I'll take care to put a proper show for you, Ojou-sama!"

Gozumaru clenched his teeth. "Are you two mocking me? This isn't a game!"

Heiko ignored his words. "You seemed quite taken aback by that Ogre a while ago." she raised her mirror towards the moon. "For start, lets double the fun." She lowered her mirror and shot two rays, one left and the other right of her. The light stayed there for a time but soon transformed into two ogres.

Only now that he looked at these two illusionary ogres did Gozumaru remember how dangerous Kage Onna's were.

* * *

Although she challenged Gozumaru with a confident face, Heiko's situation was far from enviable. As a Kage Onna, her abilities allow her to haunt buildings with illusionary youkai. Kage Onna can technically haunt a forest, but that requires a lot more skill and focus than a simple building. And haunting a place like Nejireme which was already haunted by youkai was something that even the strongest of the Kage Onna would find hard to pull off.

In other words, she was unable to haunt the forest meaning that her illusions were weaker than she would have wanted them to be. And if her opponent realizes just how weak her illusions actually were, her defeat would probably be inevitable.

Her other weakness was the fact that she had to collect light with her hand mirror and hit a shadow with it. If Gozumaru disarmed her, she would become a sitting duck as she wasn't nearly as good when lacking the mirror.

She had a way to win… but to accomplish it, she would need to reach Gozumaru and make a successful attack. However, she already noticed that Gozumaru was, unlike her, someone skilled in close combat so she was certain he would block her attack. To win, she had to make Gozumaru think that her illusions were stronger than they really were and to somehow land an attack on him.

Her chances were slim… but she did not want to disappoint her commander. She was too proud to allow Ritsura to look down on her as a warrior. She could stands all kinds of jokes on her account, but not the one on her warrior's honor. Such was her vow when she left for Tokyo.

She snapped her fingers and the ogres ran at Gozumaru to which he reacted by retreating and had used his claws to climb a tree. Heiko ordered one of the ogres to strike down the tree on which he climbed, even though she was certain that he already had a plan on what to do in case that happens.

And she was right: when one of ogres cut down the tree, Gozumaru simply jumped onto another one and continued jumping from a tree to tree, getting closer to her. Knowing that she had no chance to outrun him, Heiko called back one of the ogres, made the one farther away disappear so she would not waste Fear and hit a nearby shadow with more collected moonlight. She also ran backwards a bit to buy herself a few seconds of time.

The moment Gozumaru appeared above her, he grinned and jumped at her, his claws ready to cut her apart. However, a newly created snake youkai was a little faster and managed to pull her away in time to both evade Gozumaru's attack and have him land just before the ogre reached him.

However, Heiko's hope that Gozumaru would get hit by the ogre before he could react went unfulfilled and Gozumaru evaded the attack. What is more, he jumped at his back and in five seconds the ogre was literally torn apart.

"Well well… he was much weaker than I expected." Gozumaru smirked as he turned towards Heiko. "I guess I overestimated you."

* * *

_Three girls were standing in front of an abandoned house. The oldest one who looked like she was in her twenties, Aiko, held a bag and was turned towards the house and her two sisters: the teenage Shizuko and the younger Heiko. All three of them were Kage Onna's, youkai that can create illusions and make any location haunted._

" _When will Onee-sama come back?" Heiko asked, holding to Shizuko with one of her hands._

" _I will come for you once I create a place to be." Aiko smiled at the younger of her sisters._

" _What do you mean?"_

" _See the colors on my kimono?" Aiko pointed at herself. Unlike Shizuko and Heiko who were wearing black and gray, Aiko was wearing a multi-colored kimono. "Once your Onee-sama builds a Hyaki Yakou as colorful as her kimono, she will come back for you two." The girl in colorful kimono winked to her two sisters._

" _Now, I really have to go." Aiko raised up and turned around. "Wish me luck, you two!"_

" _Bye bye One-esama!" Heiko waved at her._

" _Bye… and good luck sis!" Shizuko also waved at her._

* * *

"No!" was all Heiko was able to say when Gozumaru made a leap towards her. The illusionary Hebinyoro tried to protect her, but Gozumaru destroyed him with just one of his claws.

Heiko was able to take only a step when Gozumaru appeared right in front of her, grinning from ear to ear. He hit her with one of his claws, throwing her twenty meters away until she hit a tree with such force that she coughed blood. Luckily, she managed to keep holding at her mirror and Gozumaru had only hit her with the blunt side of his claw.

"Not so confident anymore, are you?" Gozumaru taunted her while she was trying to keep standing on her legs. "Since you are so weak, I will give you this one chance: apologize and give up."

No matter how much it hurt her, Heiko had no intentions of giving up. She just looked back at him while fighting for her breath.

"Stupid little girl until the end…" Gozumaru's claws grabbed a large stone beside him and raised it up. "In that case, don't blame me if you get hurt too much."

He said and threw the stone at her with such speed that she wasn't able to evade it properly and it hit her left arm. "Gyaa!"

She bit her lip and looked upwards for a second. The clouds seem to have hid the moon so she wouldn't be able to collect any more light with her mirror, meaning that she would be able to create no more than one more youkai illusion.

She didn't think too long about it as she noticed that Gozumaru was walking towards another stone. So she created an ogre behind her and prepared her body for a fight.

Gozumaru turned around as the ogre roared. "What, that trick again?" Gozumaru also prepared himself for a fight, expecting the ogre to jump at him.

The ogre put a hand behind himself and ran forward… but instead of passing Heiko he hit her with his palm, thus throwing her towards Gozumaru.

"What?!" he was taken aback for a moment, but composed himself quickly enough to stab her all over with his claws, stopping her from hitting him. "You are both a weak and a stupid girl, aren't you?"

"Ugh…" Heiko muttered. The numerous claws being stabbing many parts of her body was painful, but she had to endure a bit more. Fortunately, her gamble payed off as her right hand, in which she held her mirror, was not hit and so she could move her. Heiko prayed in herself and as she started raising her mirror.

"What are you doing?" to her horror Gozumaru asked as he noticed that she raised her mirror towards him, but thankfully he did not stop her. "WHA-" he muttered when he looked into the mirror, his eyes widening.

Now that she cursed him, her chances at winning grew.

* * *

_There were times when Kage Onnas were fearsome youkai, some of them leading their own clans. However, these days, that's just a part of history long gone. Heiko's and Shizuko's elder sister, Aiko, dreamed of restoring their family's past glory and so she trained and trained, until she was old and strong enough to go into the world and make a name for herself._

_And she did well: the Kage Onna in the colorful kimono building her own Hykai Yakou became a popular rumor. She traveled around Japan, collecting even more youkai and becoming even more famous, even bringing down some truly fearsome youkai._

_And then… the tales of her exploits just stopped. And with no new rumors coming in, even the past tales died out and everyone eventually forgot about her… besides her two little sisters that is. And their hopes to see their sister return, be it as a winner or as a loser, disappeared when a youkai brought her kimono to them, the red blood on it telling them all they needed to know. The youkai left while the sisters were still in shock so they were not told what exactly happened… but at the time, the details did not matter._

_Young Heiko was devastated by Aiko's death, but she still had Shizuko. As long as they had one another, she was certain that they could have a happy life… and then some Hanyou claiming to be one of the Dark Hunters arrived._

_Heiko didn't know what Dark Hunters were, but she felt the person to be dangerous. Shizuko seemed to have felt the same and asked him to leave, but he stole her attention with one small sentence: "I know who killed her."_

_The wicked Hanyou asked for a certain family heirloom they had, which Heiko never saw as it was locked in a chest. In return, he would give Shizuko information and a hand mirror that once belonged to an ancient and powerful Kage Onna. Heiko's sister accepted his offer._

_Heiko did not know what he told Shizuko, but whatever it was it changed Shizuko for the worse. Shizuko also took on a habit of looking at the mirror every night and Heiko was sure that it just worsened her sister. With time, the kind and loving Shizuko turned into someone… darker. With time, she often even forgot that she still had a little sister._

_And then one morning Shizuko and the mirror disappeared without any farewells. Even the note she left had no words for Heiko besides "I have gone hunting"._

* * *

Gozumaru did not understand why the Kage Onna showed him the mirror, but the reflection in it caused him to release her and turn around, towards the ogre that was going to attack him.

The ogre hit him before he could block it, throwing him in the air.

 _The girl… if I take care of her, these illusions of hers will be over!_  He realized that letting the Kage Onna go was a bad decision from his part. But when he looked around for her, he could not see her anymore.  _No way… she was too wounded to run so how did she…_

Roars came from all sides, though he could not see anything. First he thought it must have been sound illusions, but then he noticed two dozens of different kinds of youkai appearing from the shadows.

 _Impossible… she was not able to create so many illusions before…_  He thought that maybe these were low level illusions, unable to harm him. However, he did not want to test his luck by letting them hit him. He first dodged their attacks, but then had to focus on blocking them. The fact that they were able to touch him proved that these illusions were harmful, just like the ones before. One even managed to hurt his left hand, further proving that the illusions were dangerous.

_So why… THAT MIRROR! She did something to me with that mirror of hers!_

He remembered Gyuki tell him to never let the enemy do something, no matter how harmless it may seem. Gozumaru cursed at himself for once again forgetting that tip.

However, he remembered that illusions are only illusions and even the ones that can cause physical harm can be easy to dispel with willpower alone. As an illusion-using youkai himself, Gozumaru knew he should have easier time dispelling it then most.

"Enough of these games!" Gozumaru started swinging his claws around, as if trying to rip the illusion apart. Using his own Fear to overwhelm hers, the illusions have become murky. "You will have a hell to pay after I get this over with!"

His concentration was, however, broken for a moment as he saw Gyuki appear from the bushes, running towards him with intention to kill him. "How dare you use Gyuki-sama that way, you bitch?!"

His rage strengthened him and he was able to completely dispel the illusion… only to notice two things: one, that the wound on his hand was gone (thus proving that he just thought those illusions were dangerous).

The other thing that he noticed was a giant ogre whose attack Gozumaru could not block or evade.

* * *

_Just like Aiko, Shizuko returned to Heiko only as a possession brought to her home by some youkai, along the news that she was dead._

_Heiko did not cry when she got Shizuko's cursed hand mirror. Somehow, she knew her sister would return like this so she cried herself out when Shizuko left. To her, this was simply a day when the inevitable got confirmed._

_Neither did she ask who killed her or who killed Aiko. Aiko willingly left for a battlefield where the chances of her dying were higher than surviving. Shizuko was even weaker than Aiko and lacked a Hyaki Yakou so her trying to find her sister's killer was doomed to end in her demise._

_Heiko did not want to repeat the mistakes her sisters made so she threw away both pride and revenge and instead decided to lead a simple life with the friends she had left, like little Kazuo and his little brother, leaving Aiko's kimono and Shizuko's mirror on a shrine in her abandoned home. That was what she believed to be the correct way to honor the demise of her two sisters._

_And she lived a happy, trouble-less life. And if dark thoughts ever came, she would just force herself to become livelier and more easy-going._

_Yet, there was an emptiness in her… the emptiness that grew as decades passed. And when humans came to destroy her home, she took Aiko's kimono, Shizuko's mirror and left. She did not know what caused that emptiness in her, but she decided it was time to find a way to fill it, whatever it was that she desired._

_It was time for her to grow up. She could no longer let Kazuo carry that burden in her stead._

_And to her, that meant following the path of a warrior._

* * *

Heiko won her first true battle. She had sustained some wounds, but nothing too serious… and definitely not as bad as Gozumaru who got punched into the ground by her illusionary ogre. She was lucky that the moonlight returned and, while Gozumaru was hitting the air around himself, she used it to strengthen the ogre illusion.

"You sure can be brutal, Heiko." Ritsura appeared beside her. "I think I heard a bone or two of his break."

"Sorry, if I went easy and he prevailed, I might have lost."

"This…" Gozumaru muttered and tried to stand up, surprising both of the girls. "… this is still not over." He had a grin on his face. "I am not alone… GUYS, COME HERE!"

Heiko prepared for another fight, but Ritsura just stood in one place.

Half a minute passed and nothing happened. "Hey… guys? I know you are there!" Gozumaru seemed desperate.

"Oh, they were your friends?" Ryuzan walked from behind Gozumaru. "Sorry, I thought they were free so I rumbled them up a bit." The Onmyouji said and stood behind Ritsura.

"You think I haven't noticed how some youkai followed you from afar?" Ritsura added. "I met Ryu just before showing myself to you and had him take care of them before they could become a problem."

"You… no way."

"It is over." Ritsura decided. "Even if you could win if you go on, the fact that she stood so well against the heir of the Gyuki Group means you have lost."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear that from a coward who hides behind her subordinates!"

"Hooo… you think I was hiding behind her backs?" Ritsura grinned and stepped towards Gozumaru. "Heiko, Ryu… please wait here."

"Ritsura-sama?!"

"What do you think you are doing?" Gozumaru asked.

"Tell you what. I will walk up to you and if you scratch me, we will call it your victory, alright?" Ritsura offered.

"What are you thin-" Gozumaru wanted to complain but turned silent when Ritsura released all of her Fear. He felt like he was cold all around and inside, though it was only a sensation rather than an actual drop in temperature.

Ritsura now stood just in front of him. "What is it? I am not using any techniques… I am just releasing my Fear. If you move the claw, I guarantee you that you shall touch me."

No matter how much sense her words made, Gozumaru could not make himself move against her. He was too terrified due to the Fear that came from her.

"Are you afraid of the  _yukinko_?" Ritsura put her finger under his chin. "Then you have lost,  _boy_."

She withdrew her Fear and Gozumaru fell onto his knees, his claws disappearing.

"It is only natural. Someone who can barely keep a fight against a certain youkai can hardly stand up to that youkai's boss." She continued. "Speaking about it… Gozumaru, I want you to demand from Gyuki to disinherit you."

For a moment, he felt like the world has stopped moving. But quickly enough, he was angry and demanded an explanation: "What… what the hell are you say-"

But his anger was subdued due to stern look in Ritsura's eyes. "I told you this already but let me repeat it: I am Nura Ritsura, daughter of Nura Rikuo and the fourth heiress of the Nura Clan. Unless you are worthy or I allow it, you WILL treat me with respect else you will answer for your behavior. Is that clear…  _boy_?"

Her stern eyes told him that she was serious. He wanted to complain about it, but her Fear was simply too overwhelming. "Y… yes."

She looked at him and then put a hand on the hilt of her katana and started to slowly pull it out. The killing intent in her eyes felt too honest to be a bluff.

"Yes! I am sorry for my insolence, Ritsura-sama!" he put his hands on the ground and bowed. He wanted to cry due to his pride and honor being hurt like that, but could not reply any other way to her. Even remembering that he used to call her  _yukinko_  sent shivers through his body.

"You forgot someone."

"I am sorry for dishonoring you as well Heiko…-dono."

"Good." Ritsura pushed her sword back to its scabbard, but the stern look in her eyes remained. "I heard abut you, Gozumaru… I looked over all important members of our clan. I know that you stayed away from all major battles the Nura Clan fought in during my father's days. My impression about you was already bad, and seeing your skills today ruined my opinion of you even more. And that's without mentioning your indecent behavior."

Gozumaru wanted to say something in his defense, but neither could he muster courage to speak back nor could he come up with a strong enough argument. He did not stay away from those battles due to being afraid but because he felt no need to help Rikuo… but that was something this girl would consider disrespectful.

"Gyuki Group is Nura Clan's strongest subordinate group. It is no overestimation to say that our fighting power and safety of our western territories makes us dependent on it. As such, we need someone loyal and worthy of leading it and while Gyuki fulfills those conditions you, Gozumaru, do not. Seeing as it puts millions of lives at stake, I can not allow that." She then turned her backs to him. "I will give you a chance to save some of your honor by telling Gyuki that you are not worthy of your position so you better hurry up to him otherwise I will demand it from him personally."

And thus, the trio left.

* * *

Gozumaru was still on his knees. He put his hands on his head, fighting to not scream due to dishonor he brought upon himself.

This was humiliating in every possible way and her words brought out the doubts that already took seed in his mind. He actually didn't care much about threat of disinheritance because he considered himself a warrior of the Gyuki Group first and the heir the second. After all, his worth as an heir depends on his worth as a warrior.

He always feared that he may not have been worthy of being Gyuki's trust, though he told himself that everyone has such doubts from time to time. Yet, after years of listening to the other clan members boast about their deeds during the war against Shikoku, the battle against Hagoromo Gitsune, protecting Tokyo from Hyaku Monogatari, fighting Seimei and the Gokadoin House not to mention the conflicts that came after… so many could boast about something, but Gozumaru could not, even though he might have had a reason to boast as well had he been a bit more assertive.

During the Shikoku invasion Rikuo sent him to infiltrate Tamazuki's clan, but he got caught and what information he found he was not able to give others in time. Later, he rejected to follow Rikuo to Kyoto, fought only some small fry during the Tokyo Tag and joined the battle of Spiral Castle only when it was close to its end.

He had not made a name for himself, and he was aware of it. Still, he told himself that he doesn't owe anything to the Nuras as he was a member of the Gyuki Group… but recently even the other gyukis started whispering about his lack of fame and some have started discussing other potential heirs many of which, Gozumaru knew, were both more skilled and more experienced than him.

He had no idea what he had to do. Train? He trained almost every day, trying to get stronger. Yet, no matter how much he trained he was unable to put up a proper fight.

However, he finally managed to develop a new technique and he became optimistic, believing that he made a big step forward… only for the  _yukinko_  to show him the flaws in his technique… someone so much younger than him who has also not seen a serious battle lecturing him was  _the_  worst humiliation. He wanted to ignore her, but her opinions were so close to his inner doubts that he was unable to do so.

" _I want you to demand from Gyuki to disinherit you."_  Ritsura's words echoed in his head.

"Damn it!" Gozumaru hit the ground with his fist, making a small hole, but wounding his hand in the process. "Like hell will I give up just like that…" although he was hurt all over and there was still some numbness in his feet, he forced himself to stand on his legs and started walking.

Walking was painful, but he endured it. May well make the pain part of his training. "Do what you want  _yukinko_ , but I shall show you and everyone else that I AM worthy!" Although he was not the strongest member of the Gyuki Group, he was still the one Gyuki believed in the most. He decided he would live to those expectations, no matter what happened. Even if by some chance Gyuki accepted Ritsura's demands, Gozumaru would prove him that he was not wrong to trust in him.

Having accepted his doubts as legitimate, Gozumaru gained a new motivation. He will find a way to strengthen his own Fear and make both the  _yukinko_  and everyone else show him the respect he deserves.

* * *

"Well, you sure were merciless towards him." Ryuzan commented as he and Ritsura sat and waited for Heiko to take care of her wounds. Due to Ryuzan being there, Heiko wanted to treat her wounds in private.

"We are a youkai yakuza, not a social club." Ritsura sighed. "The Nura Clan is responsible for protecting tens of thousands of youkai, not to mention the humans of Kantou. I can't afford myself to be laid back about my responsibilities."

She was hard on him, she was aware of that. However, she believed it was the right thing to do and hopefully he would take it as a challenge that it was. Ritsura believed in her clan and thus believed in Gozumaru as well. But the soft approach can sometimes cause more harm than good. Hopefully, Gyuki will play along.

However, she was not sorry for putting him in place due to his attitude. He went way above the line.

"Aha… so, should I apologize for all disrespectful thing I said to you?"

"No, of course not. You don't have an attitude problem nor did you test my nerves like he did."

"Don't test Ritsura-Ojou-sama's nerves… note taken!"

"You are close to testing my nerves, Ryu…" she taunted him.

"Oh no… I have read what Yuki Onna do to men that-"

"YOU THERE!" suddenly someone shouted at them. The two of them turned towards the source of the voice and saw man wearing a full-plate samurai armor with a spider engraving on its chest and an ox mask. He also weared what looked like a red wig and a collar made of bones. "Which one of you is the Onmyouji that defeated over fifty of my comrades?"

"Who… is this?" Heiko ran to them, seemingly having taken care of her wounds.

"Doesn't have a name… but I call him  _Kumo no Senshi_." Ritsura said. "One of Gyuki's bodyguards and the one commanding Nejireme's defenses… One of Gyuki's strongest followers hands down."

"Which one of you is the Onmyouji that defeated over fifty of my comrades?"

Instead of answering, Ryuzan pointed at Ritsura.

"What do you think you are doing?" she asked him.

"Don't worry, while eh thinks you are the culprit and faces you, I will sneak behind and…"

Ritsura sighed. "Ryu, you are forgetting something important."

"Are you insulting my intelligence? You think I wouldn't be able to recognize Supreme Commander's daughter and heir?!" the youkai shouted.

"No, but it did not hurt to try." Ryuzan answered back in a composed tone. "I am the Onmyouji you are looking for. What do you need from me?"

"I didn't like the fact that Gyuki-sama wanted to attack some powerless kids, so I stayed away from this dull mission…" the youkai started explaining himself. "But when I heard that some Onmyouji defeated some of our finest youkai… and when some of my friends demanded someone to restore our clan's honor… my blood started boiling." The youkai's eyes shined with red color and something transparent seemed to have appeared around him… too transparent for Ritsura to even guess what it could possibly be. "As a warrior, I challenge you to fight me and my Hyaki Yakou!"

Ryuzan sighed. "Damn, if dad hears about this, he won't stop lecturing me on being too flashy."

"Are you accepting or not?!"

Ryuzan raised his face towards the fearsome youkai. "Seems like rejecting it would be too troublesome… I accept."

"Good!" although his smile could not be seen due to the mask, the trio knew he was smiling.

"However, I do hope I can rest for a bit… I did fight a lot after all."

"Fine, fighting an exhausted warrior is dishonorable." The youkai turned around and started leaving. "When you are ready… well, I am sure such an skilled Onmyouji would be able to track me down ha ha!"

After he left, Ryuzan turned towards Ritsura. "What else can you tell me about this guy?"

"Yeah, and why was Gozumaru the heir and not this guy?" Heiko also had questions. "This guy seems much stronger than him."

"He  _was_  the heir of Gyuki Group… while it was still led by the former Gyuki, who was conveniently his uncle." Ritsura started explaining. "After killing his uncle, the current Gyuki allowed him to serve under him but had no intentions to name him his heir."

"Damn, seems like I ended up in some pretty big mess."

"Ryuzan, I have a request." Ritsura said.

"Yes?"

"Defeat him… and defeat him good." she demanded. "Disinheriting Gozumaru is not much of a problem, but this guy is both worthy and has a very loyal following even outside his Hyaki."

"You don't want him as the heir either?" Heiko asked.

"I just want to be on safe side." Ritsura explained. "That is, I want to have more control of who will be the Gyuki Group's leader in the future."

"As the Ojou-sama demands. In return, I want you to play  _that_  again." Ryuzan winked and turned around, knowing that Ritsura understood what he meant. "Now if you'd excuse me, I have a youkai to honor."

"Didn't you say that you had to rest?" Heiko did not seem to understand how Ryuzan worked.

"That was just a lie." He replied.

"To give them a false feel of security, right?" Ritsura added and he confirmed it with a raised thumb.

"So, how are your wounds?" Ritsura turned towards Heiko.

"I am doing fine… it hurts but I am sure there won't be any problems."

"Why did you go that far anyway?" Ritsura sighed. "Our sake exchange wasn't very… traditional or honest."

"What do you mean 'not honest'? You find me unworthy?" Heiko seemed to be on verge of tearing up.

"Eh? No no, I practically forced you into it to bully you a bit for the trouble you caused me." However it seemed to have just made it worse so Ritsura continued. "I saw back then and now again that you are skilled, but you were still bullied into it."

"Bullied? I would have fled when I got a chance if I felt like I was bullied. I am actually very happy to be a part of something." Heiko confirmed. "Also, you seem like a fun person to hang around with so I don't mind the consequences."

"Weren't you looking for Hikine's group?"

"Well, I do like Hikine but… his friends don't seem to be my kind of fun." She scratched her cheek. "After thinking it through a bit, they are way too scary."

"You are a weird person…"

"Yes, I hear that a lot." Heiko commented, seemingly finding that trait complimentary. "So, the exchange is legitimate or…" Heiko seemed to still be concerned about that issue.

"If you are consensual, than it is. Mind you however, that it means you are from now on sworn to serve under me and the Nura Clan! As per father's decision, you are also swearing to protect both the youkai and humans of Kantou and stand against anyone who tries to bring harm upon them."

"Yes, I swear, Ojou-sama!" Heiko agreed to the terms and saluted as if she were in the army.

"Saluting is not how it is done, but whatever!" Ritsura returned the salute. "The sakazuki exchange is now considered fully legitimate, no matter the weird circumstances it was made under. Welcome to our family!" Ritsura said with a smile and then turned around. "Now, we have stuff to do…"

Ritsura didn't see Heiko's eyes widen after she said that she was now part of a family. The Kage Onna now understood what was the emptiness she felt and what she was searching for: she wanted to have a family again.

"Yes, Aneki!" she replied with a wide smile.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here is the arc's Heiko chapter! Well, you could say Gozumaru's too I guess XP Also, today (13th of December) is the first anniversary of this fanfic and I thank you all for continuing to read it! Hope you stay here for the second anniversary as well ;)

\- also, we see some of Heiko's background, including her actual opinion on becoming a member of Ritsura's Hyaki Yakou, showing she ain't just a comic relief

\- Gozumaru was always a bit unimpressive in the canon: heir of the powerful Gyuki Group, yet played a minor role and practically stayed away from all major battles but the Shikoku one (where he kinda failed). Add to that his lack of politeness (not a good thing in Japan, especially yakuza) and you have a guy who should mind himself more… of course, he will get his chance to make up for what went on here

\- Dark Hunters make a cameo again! Don't know why, but just that one omake was enough to make me like them (Hiroshi's Dark Pawn one-shoot was also quite interesting)

\- each Nurarihyon has his own unique traits and here we saw one of Ritsura's: she is very proactive in the clan's affairs and doesn't mind getting extremely strict if needed

\- and yet another original Gyuki… What? They are a major clan so it is fitting they get more members!


	25. Ryuzan's Trial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keikain Ryuji had taught his son to always keep a low profile and never attract too much attention. However, his son Ryuzan forgot about that advice and ended up defeating too many members of the Gyuki Group. Now, he is forced to have a rematch with many of them as well as to fight against one of their strongest members.

**Chapter 25: Ryuzan's Trial**

Ryuzan ran through the forest, as quietly as possible so he would not let the gyukis notice that he already went into offensive. He could feel his challenger's Fear from afar, but felt noone else's.

 _I feel quite confident about my chances… and that's what worries me._  It was one thing to not be affected by a weak youkai's Fear, but gyukis were more formidable. Although he did beat many of them today, Ryuzan was certain that only few of them used all their Fear while fighting him. He was certain that  _Kumo no Senshi_  and those that were to fight alongside him would not hold back as much. It was to be expected that he would feel worried, even if they haven't targetted him yet. Yet the only worry came from his rationality, not his instincts which were what the Fear affects.

 _No, remember what dad said: always think outside the box._  Ryuzan heard that youkai could learn to control their Fear more delicately. It was possible that he was affected but didn't notice it yet… that his rationality was fooled by their Fear.

"Can you feel anyone around?" Ryuzan asked his Tiger Shikigami.

"Listen Ryuzan, as an Onmyouji it is your duty to-"

"Alright, I get it." Ryuzan cut him off before he could start another lecture. As mentioned already, this was an support type shikigami and he tended to go to extreme about it… though Ryuzan suspected that he may have started lecturing him in order to hide the fact that he doesn't feel anyone either.

Ryuzan would have wanted to summon another Shikigami to aid him alongside the Tiger, but Tiger was Yang and, since the Yin-type Rabbit was dispelled by Gyuki, the next in line of summoning was Dragon who was also a Yang type and Ryuzan couldn't have two shikigami of the same energy type summoned at the same time. Sometimes, Ryuzan really hated all the convulated rules of his Onmyoudo.

So, he had to either unsummon Tiger and summon the Dragon and the Snake but lose Tiger's enchantments or keep Tiger but have one shikigami less to aid him.

He would have decided to keep the Tiger because the Dragon was better used as a surprise. However, others made a decision for him.

A tingling feeling stormed through Ryuzan. Fear suddenly erupted from all sides and two figures ran past him.

He didn't need to turn around. He could feel that Tiger was defeated by these two figures.

But before Tiger's spiritual support vanished, Ryuzan used all of it to run away away at high speed before the attackers could turn at him.

Luck was on his side so he was able to run far enough before the Tiger's spiritual support vanished. He could also feel no more Fear so nobody intended to attack him… but that didn't really make him feel any better seeing as it assured him that he was definitely safe for only the next second or two.

* * *

" _So, you have finally become an Onmyouji, Ryuzan." Keikain Ryuji, Ryuzan's father, started talking to his son once the initiation ceremony for the ten years old Keikain Ryuzan was over. They were both sitting at their home, alongside Ryuzan's mom. "You sure took your time."_

_Before his son could say anything Ryuji's wife, Keikain Asumi, jumped in. "Oh really? You wer' so happy last night when ya got the news about Ryu becoming an Onmyouji at such a young age."_

" _Hey, he still isn't-"_

" _And it really's great Ryu!" Ryuzan's mother now turned towards her son, continuing to speak in the heavy Kansai dialect. "Ya can now go bang bang at youkai and look cool just like your dad does!"_

" _Woman, if you are so happy about it then go cook him something or whatever!"_

" _Hey, don't ya treat me like that!" she complained but rose up anyway. "But ye, that's a good idea. I'm gonna make something you like Ryu!"_

_When she left, Ryuji sighed. "Why again did I marry that woman? Anyway, now is the time for the two of us to have our father and son speech!"_

" _Again?" Ryuzan replied back._

" _Yes, again!" Ryuji answered and pulled his ear. "And this time pay attention to what I say!"_

" _Yes, I will!"_

" _That's a lie!" Ryuji pulled his son's ear further._

" _You were the one who taught me to lie!"_

" _I did not teach you to be so bad at lying!" he pulled his ear even more and then let it go. "Now listen…"_

" _How long is this going to-OUCH" Ryuzan wanted to ask how long it would take but his father cut him off with a chop._

" _It will take as long as it needs to take! Now shut up and listen!"_

" _Yes father…"_

" _Now, although you are formally an Onmyouji don't just-"_

" _Ryuji, did ya drink all the milk again?!" Asumi shouted from another room. "Drinkin' milk ain't gonna make ya any taller ya know!"_

" _Shut up woman, I am trying to have a serious discussion with our son here!"_

" _Well have it while ya go buy more milk!"_

_Both father and son sighed._

" _She just keeps thinking that she can order me around!" Ryuji complained as he and his son left the supermarket, each holding two bags of milk. Ryuzan doubted that mother needed_ that _much but his father insisted. "I am an Onmyouji, I have better things to do then buy milk!"_

" _Dad, can you just get back on the topic?"_

" _Bah!" he grumbled. "Listen, although you are formally an Onmyouji now don't just depend solely on your Onmyoudo. You smarts have to be your strongest asset, not your powers."_

"… _because Onmyoudo may fail but smarts can be used in any situation… yes dad, you told me that already."_

" _But you didn't get it! You see…"_

"… _a proper and well planned use of even a weak technique can be far more useful than using one powerful technique."_

"… _since when have you been listening to me?"_

" _Since the very start. It is your fault you got deceived by a kid."_

" _Ha, I…"_

"… _will now say something tsun-tsun because I like looking tough and tall no matter what." Ryuzan cut him off._

" _You are lucky that I am carrying all this milk…"_

" _Haaa… so nii-san really is being forced to do slave labor for his wife." A woman's voice greeted them. The two Ryu's turned towards its source and saw Keikain Yura, the head of the family. Like everyone else, this young-looking long-haired brunette was taller than Ryuzan's father._

" _Yura-sama." Ryuzan bowed to her._

" _Idiot, what are you doing all the way here?" Ryuji was less humble towards her, probably due to being her older brother._

" _I was looking for him… dwarf." Yura walked up to them._

" _Tz…" Ryuji was annoyed by her insult, even though he deserved it due to using it on her in the past. "Well sorry for not using perverted, forbidden techniques on myself."_

" _WHO IS USING PERVERTED TECHNIQUES YOU STUPID BROTHER!?" no matter how refined Yura tried to seem, her short temper continued being her greatest enemy._

" _So, what does the disguised tomboy want from my son?" Ryuji continued._

" _Grrr…" Yura's face became red but she then turned her head away and crossed her arms "Hmph! Why am I even bothering with you, dwarf?"_

" _So, what do you need from me, Yura-sama?"_

" _Hey, stop being so formal to this idiot." His father suggested._

" _I am here to talk to you about your training. Come, we can talk while walking. And let me carry one of those." Yura said and took one of Ryuzan's bags. "The results from your tests suggest that astronomy based Onmyoudo would be the best fit for you. Are you alright with it or is there another form of Onmyoudo you'd want to train in?"_

" _Wait, I see where this is going!" Ryuji cut in before his son could reply. "If he chooses to pursue that form of Onmyoudo, you are going to be his mentor right?"_

" _If he wants me to be. I have too much free time anyway."_

" _Listen Ryuzan, don't let her looks and position fool you." Ryuji turned towards his son. "If she trains you, your IQ will drop-OUCH!"_

" _Shut up stupid brother!" Yura said and tried to hit him with her bag but Ryuji evaded it._

" _Gah… as I said, brawns but no brains!"_

" _I'd be honored to train under you, Yura-sensei." Ryuzan gave his answer before the situation could escalate any further._

" _Ah… Yura-sensei…" Yura blushed at hearing that term._

" _As I thought it was-" Ryuji started but nobody payed attention at him._

" _So, do you have any idea what kind of Onmyoudo you want to use?" Yura asked her nephew._

" _I… if you don't mind, I'd like to try and develop my own."_

" _Oh, that's ambitious!" unlike his father, Yura seemed more supporting of that idea. "I take it that you already have some ideas about what you want?"_

" _Yes… and I look forward to your help, Yura-sensei." Ryuzan called her sensei again, knowing how much she liked to be called that. Like his father always said, she was easy to manipulate._

_And so his training realy begad. His father taught him all he knew about barriers while his aunt helped him with Shikigami. As time went on, he found more instructors, one of whom was a member of House Gokadoin._

* * *

Ryuzan was on his nerve's end. He fought many youkai in his life, but he was rarely as terrified as he was now. Nuras weren't overestimating the Gyuki Group by saying that they were their finest wariors.

Ryuzan earned a few scratches since the Tiger was defeated, but they were nothing compared to the psychological  _scratches_. Actually, he was certain that gyukis could have finished him by now but they wanted to prolong this, likely to ' _teach him a lesson in humility'_  how some would call it. The scratches also did a fine job of hitting his nerves in the right spots.

Just like when they took down Tiger, the gyukis would suddenly jump in, attack and then disappear, their Fear disappearing with them. And sometimes they would just release their Fear to shaken him up, but they would not attack.

Soon, it became even worse: they used illusions to create fake attackers and make the environment look unnatural, like change the color of the sky in Ryuzan's eyes or make the trees look dead and have face-like forms, like in all these kiddie shows.

 _Tz, the hell should I do?_  Maybe he could stand a chance if he summoned the Dragon, but even if he took down these guys it would not change the fact that he would have to face  _Kumo no Senshi_  and it would probably be a good idea to keep the Dragon for him.

But while he had a strategy on how to deal with him, he still had to deal with his current enemies. He regretted believing that he would be able to catch them off-guard.

Another attack, this time from above. Ryuzan managed to dodge it, but the warrior with a straw hat quickly turned around and swang with his spear's blunt side, hitting Ryuzan into abondmen with such force he was thrown into a nearby tree.

"Should have realized sooner that it was the shikigami that made you so inhumanly strong." The youkai spoke to him.

"Ah, I remember you…" Ryuzan tried to keep up a confident face as he staggered on his feet. "You were that guy who kept me away from aiding Rihan." Ryuzan guesses he was here for vendetta thus why he didn't retreat after making a strike like the ones before him did.

"Quite a few of us have returned for a rematch, Onmyouji." The youkai spinned the spear in his hand, ready to use it again. "Don't think we will go easy on you this time."

"No shit, I wouldn't have guessed it without you." Ryuzan said and fell onto his knees. "Well, guess this is it for me."

"All you humans are just talk… without your shikigami, you are nothing." the youkai said and more of them appeared around. "Stand still, I will knock you out."

"No, just tell him to surrender!" one of the females said. She was the white one of the four sisters whom he lured into a cave where he knocked them one by one. "He is-"

"No, I want to hit him." The youkai rejected her offer and walked up to Ryuzan who was still on his all fours. "My name is Shigemaru." The youkai said and raised his hat, revealing a bearded middle-aged man with a narrow jaw under it.

"My name is Ryuzan and these are my talismans." Ryuzan said and moved his hand up, revealing a paper talisman on the ground beneath it. "Be careful, they will blind you!"

"You cowardly little-" Shigemaru could not even finish his sentence when a dozen talismans Ryuzan hid around flew up and electrified every youkai near them. Since this kind of talismans get stronger the more of them there were, a few of the gyukis fainted while the rest were paralyzed. "What… you said it would blind us…"

"Fool you once, shame on me." Ryuzan rose up, showing that he was still in good condition. "Fool you twice, shame on you. Also, we Onmyouji depend on three things actually: Shikigami, talismans and our superior, human intellect." Without looking at them for long, Ryuzan continued running towards his target. He defeated only a few, but it still gave him confidence he needed to have easier time rejecting their Fear's influence on his mind.

Good thing he never forgot his father's advice: smarts were the Onmyouji's most useful tool.

* * *

" _Ryu, is something bothering ya?" Asumi asked her eleven years old son who sat on his bed and read a magazine._

" _Nope, everything is fine mom."_

" _Yer lies don't work on your mom." She sat next to him and took the magazine from his hands. "What is bothering you?"_

_Ryuzan just turned his head away._

" _When you are bothered, yer parents are bothered even more." She continued in attempts to make him speak. "And it is not nice to bother others." She pinched his cheek. "Come on, tell ya mom."_

" _It is about yesterday's mission." Ryuzan decided to speak. Since she wasn't a Keikain nor an Onmyouji, he hoped he could get an unbiased opinion on the matter. "Me and Reitsugu went on an exorcising mission." Ryuzan never used honorifics when talking with his parents simply because he was using them to feign humility rather than because he himself was polite or humble. "Some youkai were causing trouble in someone's house, but I found out that their pranks were completely harmless. However, Reitsugu insisted that we hunt them down and cleanse them."_

" _And did you?"_

" _Reitsugu caught a few… but I helped the others escape."_

" _Did Reitsugu-san notice it?"_

" _No, I made it look like they escaped." Ryuzan raised his head towards the ceiling. "But it made me think… who exactly are supposed to be my enemies?"_

" _Hmm? What do ya mean?" Asumi asked, smiling for some reason._

" _I can understand hunting youkai that want to harm humans. I have seen the graves of those killed by Hagoromo Gitsune years ago… some youkai deserve to be punished, that is a fact." Ryuzan lowered his head again. "But most don't seem any different from humans… I have sneaked into a bar where youkai hang around and they didn't seem any different than human bars. Furthermore, if youkai are evil like dad says, than what about Nuras? It is a public secret that we are practically allied with them."_

" _Ha ha ha…" his mother laughed._ _"Ye Onmyouji always make it so complicated."_

" _Mom?"_

" _Don't over-think it, just beat up the bad guys whatever they may be. Ye don't need to be a stuck up asshole like Reitsugu-san to beat up bad guys, do ya?"_

" _That makes sense I guess… but the others would-"_

" _Oh come on!" his mother hugged him with one hand. "Both auntie and dad are also like that, they are simply tsun-tsun and you know it. As for the rest…" She pinched his cheek again. "You are your father's son so what they don't know makes them none the wiser, right?"_

" _Ha ha… that's true…" Ryuzan finally smiled. "Thank you mom."_

" _Ye welcome. Now go, auntie is already getting impatient because you are late!"_

" _What?!" Ryuzan looked at his watch and jumped up. "I forgot I had to meet her an hour ago! Why didn't you say it sooner?!"_

" _Because your auntie is cute when she pouts." Asumi shouted when her son rushed outside._

_It was this conversation that made him decide on what route his life would take and after meeting Kashaimaru soon after, Ryuzan decided not only to protect both but help in making them get along._

* * *

The ones who didn't get caught in Ryuzan's trap took care to stay more cautious. Attempts at striking Ryuzan were now rare, though now they actually tried to knock him down ratehr than play around. However, Ryuzan used their caution against them: whenever he was in danger, he would just swing a random talisman and they would retreat.

However, those were far from the only techniques they used. There was an archer amongst them who tried to shoot him down, but since he disliked archers Ryuzan always had a few talismans ready to guard him from any Fear-based arrows. However, each talisman could only resist a number of arrows and once he spent all of them, he would be at the archer's mercy.

And of course, they used illusions. However, not only were illusions easy to resist if one was aware of them, but the more a youkai was afraid its target, the weaker those illusions got.

In other words, for the time-being he was time was against him and sooner rather than later those gyukis will make a more major move.

And then he found himself flying at high speed, hitting every branch on his way but somehow evading large trees. It was obvious someone hit him at high speed and pushed him on as he ran, but it was so sudden that Ryuzan felt like he flew himself.

Then, before he could even think about what was going on, that  _someone_  stopped, grabbed his arm and threw him with a large force, breaking a few smaller trees with Ryuzan's body. Had Ryuzan not used some of talismans that Kashaimaru made for him years ago, he was certain that he would have lost consciousness due to this fall.

But as he opened his eyes, he saw the world changed to a reddish color, with crows flying around and making rhythmical noises as if they were singing a song. Growling could be heard all around him, as if he were surrounded by monsters.

However, it was not only the world around him that changed. His skin looked like it was rotting and by touching his face he noticed that blood was coming out of his mouth… and his eyes. He felt pain even from his insides, as if something was squeezing his innards.

"How do you like my illusions, boy?" a female voice said from the direction he was thrown from.

Ryuzan forced himself to rise up and look in her direction but the one he first saw was not a woman, but the youkai who challenged him:  _Kumo no Senshi_ how Ritsura called him. Something reddish was coming out of him, though Ryuzan could not see what exactly. He was certain it was him who made him  _fly_  through the forest.

He then noticed that many gyukis were around them, some in human forms and others in their real forms which looked like giant ox-headed spiders.

"Hello, boy?" the female seemed annoyed by the fact he didn't answer or look at her yet.

"Sorry, I was marveling at your painting." Ryuzan said with a smile as he finally turned towards her.

The woman stood just beside his challenger. She was tall but slender woman, wearing a dull brown yukata and a small straw hat. She had a blindfold over her eyes, with multiple red eyes drawn all over it. In her hands, she held what looked like connected paper-cut dolls. Judging by her voice and lower part of her face, Ryuzan guessed she looked like a mature woman.

"Ah, a painting… That's the first time I got such a compliment." she seemed pelased by his choice of words. "Though I admit, your composure and lack of screaming annoys me a little."

"Don't worry, my love." Ryuzan's challenger comforted her by putting his arm around her. "A bit of push and then he will see how pretty it is to be scared inside your illusions."

"Ah, thank you darling!" She put her head onto his shoulder. "You are one lucky boy you know! The  _'T Squad'_  is made of three members: me, Kurenai, who uses illusions, my darling here who uses brute force and Atsushi, the assassin. But only the two of us are here now so your chances are a bit higher than they could have been!"

"But a bunch of other youkai are here in his place." Ryuzan commented. "Not exactly sure this is such a fortunate situation."

"Oh, if you want a fair fight we can ask them to leave." His challenger suggested. "I heard you were barely holding against them alone and I assure you, with me and my honey here this battle is going to be much harder."

"No need." Ryuzan smiled. "But may I make the first strike?"

"Bold… I like that ha ha ha!"  _Kumo no Senshi_  nodded. "Alright boy-"

"Don't, he is a lying weasel!" one of gyukis shouted. "Just strike at him and be done with it!"

"Ah Shigemaru, fancy seeing you here!" Ryuzan waved at the gyuki he defeated twice. "Glad you are okay!"

Shigemaru turned red after his eyes met Ryuzan's. "Lying bastard… I swear that I shall kill you…"

"Enough! Shigemaru, your request is denied though I will keep your words in mind if the battle goes on!"  _Kumo no Senshi_  ended their little argument. "Anyway, why are you all here? I only called for my closest comrades!"

Ryuzan did not bother to listen to rest of their argument but concentrated. Due to illusion making him feel pain and discomfort, concentration was hard to achieve but he had to if he wanted to have a chance at winning.

He raised his two hands, both of which had gloves on them. Left glove had gray-colored symbols of Chinese zodiacs of the yin energy and the right hand the white-colored symbols of yang energy. Thanks to Gokadoin Kashaimaru's help, he was able to summon his Shikigami by using gloves instead of paper talismans which was more convenient for a variety of reasons.

Symbol of the Dragon on his right glove started radiating and then the symbol of Snake on his left hand did the same.

"Look, he is already making his move!" Shigemaru was the first to notice that Ryuzan did not wait for them to stop arguing.

"Ha ha, what an opportunist!"  _Kumo no Senshi_  didn't seem to mind Ryuzan's deception.

"Alright, time for the fun part to start." Ryuzan whispered. Now that his target was here, there was no need to hold back.

He summoned his Shikigami…

* * *

_Sounds of running and shouting woke up the now twelve years old Ryuzan from sleep. He could not hear what exactly they were shouting, but two words repeated: 'youkai' and 'attacking'. To an Onmyouji, that was all he needed to know so he jumped up and immediately dressed, taking his talismans with him. Looking at his watch, it was past midnight._

_He was worried about the fact that youkai were attacking the Keikain Family's grounds. These youkai were either stupid or dangerous. Either way, Ryuzan would have to prove his worth in the upcoming onslaught._

_He ran out into the courtyard where many Onmyouji stood prepared for a fight._

" _What happened?" Ryuzan heard one Onmyouji ask._

" _An Hyaki Yakou is breaking through our barriers." Another Onmyouji answered._

" _An entire Hyaki Yakou? And able to penetrate Ryuji-sama's barriers? This can't be…"_

" _Onmyouji, prepare yourself!" the head of the family, Keikain Yura, finally appeared and everyone went silent. "Take your ground!"_

" _Yes!" the Onmyouji stiffened their bodies, their talismans and weapons prepared for a battle. Ryuzan did the same._

" _Hold your heads high and proudly!"_

" _Yes!" no matter what, the Onmyouji would face the invaders with their heads held high._

" _Put down your talismans and weapons and cross your arms!" Yura ordered, crossing her own arms and making a large grin._

" _Yes! Wait, what?!" the Onmyouji were surprised at this order of hers._

_Then, someone broke the gates and everyone turned their heads back._

" _Now now, it sure was a while since the last time we were here…" a man's voice said. When dust cleared, Ryuzan could see that it was a samurai with white hair that opposed gravity. Beside him walked a white and teal haired girl of Ryuzan's age, wearing a gray kimono._

_Ryuzan and other young Onmyouji were terrified to see a large number of all kinds of youkai behind the man and the girl. However, in contrast to them the older Onmyouji just sighed as if there were no danger._

" _It is the Nuras…" Ryuzan heard someone whisper and realized that this was just a false alarm. Everyone in the Keikain House knew that they were on good terms with the Kantou youkai of the Nura Clan. And now he understood what everyone meant when they said that Nuras were quite a troublesome group._

" _Damn it Youkai, could you not come at a more reasonable time like normal people do?" Ryuji was the first to talk to Nura Rikuo, the leader of this Hyaki Yakou. Most of the Onmyouji decided to return to sleep, only the young ones and the biggots staying in the courtyard._

" _That would be no fun." Rikuo winked and then turned his head to Yura. "Long time no see Yura. We are visiting another youkai clan in Kyoto and decided to stay here."_

" _Stay as long sa you like, youkai… I know well enough that I can't stop you. But just so you know, you are paying for the damage you and your youkai have done here." Yura tried to sound stern but was obviously not bothered by Nura Clan's arrival. She then turned towards the girl that came with Rikuo. "However, you are the one I didn't see for a long time."_

" _The same goes for you, auntie Yura." The girl nodded. "Can I leave you guys to my dad?"_

" _Already bored of us?" Yura sighed. "Where is Rihan?"_

" _Rihan wanted to stay home." Rikuo said, his face showing signs of melancholy._

" _Dad…"_

" _Yes my little princess, you can go play around. Don't cause too much trouble."_

" _Yes!" the girl turned around and her golden eyes immediately caught Ryuzan's. "Oh!" the smile on her face suggested that she saw something she liked._

_Ryuzan was a bit creeped that the youkai girl just starred at him and was taken aback when she suddenly appeared beside him, her cold hand hanging around his shoulders. "Gya!"_

" _Hey cutie! I am Ritsura and I want you to show me around."_

" _Of course." Ryuzan smiled and showed with his hand towards the gates. "All friendly youkai are asked to pass through those doors."_

" _Are you all Onmyouji so tsun-tsun?" she forcibly turned him around and made him walk. "Come on, show me some fun stuff… or lets play a game or something."_

" _Now listen here youkai…" he pulled himself away from her grasp. "I am an Onmyouji. You are an youkai. We exist to fight one another." He was past believing that, but had to keep a facade in front of other Keikains._

" _Ooh… now I get it!" Ritsura smiled and raised her hands. Cold air collected between them and soon she held a staff made of ice. "So you are a fan of fighting."_

_Ryuzan was surprised for a moment but then smiled back. "Now that seems like a fun idea." He said and took out his talismans._

_The adults also saw them challenge one another._

" _Don't get hurt!" Yura shouted at them._

" _Ha ha, this looks like it will be a fun show!" Rikuo smiled and sat down to watch them._

" _Ryuzan, don't get too flirty with a youkai or I will disown you!" his father threatened him._

_The rest of Onmyouji and youkai cheered at the upcoming fight._

* * *

The Dragon was Ryuzan's strongest shikigami. However, it would allow only one strike and at only one person. So it was a waste of spiritual energy to use him on anyone but the strongest youkai in the group.

The Snake was an enchantment type youkai, similar to the Tiger. However, while the Tiger made one more confident and physically stronger, the Snake made Ryuzan wiser and his regular Onmyouji techniques were stronger.

Ryuzan didn't waste time and immediately sent the Dragon to attack  _Kumo no Senshi_  and without looking at how the Dragon would fare, he took out three paper talismans and used them. Those were amateurish talismans and would normally be able to hit three youkai at most. However, thanks to the Snake their power increased and he could use one talisman on five distant youkai as long as they were close to one another.

It goes without saying that he took down the few archers he could see in order to save himself from their projectiles.

"Oh no boy, you won't!" Kurenai shouted and mist appeared around Ryuzan, no doubt to hide the other gyukis.

It also told Ryuzan that Kurenai was likely unable to make her comrades invisible even though her illusions changed the appearance of everything around Ryuzan. It was unfortunate that dispelling illusions was not something the Snake made easier, though their effect was lessened.

He was uncertain if the visual element of her illusion affected only Ryuzan or everyone around them, so he could not depend on using the mist to hide himself. He would need to take Kurenai down in order to even the playground.

The Dragon then got unsummoned, either due to being defeated by its enemy or because he did his role. Since Snake was Yin and the next shikigami in line of summoning was Yang, he could now summon the next Shikigami.

But then his mind blurred for a moment. It was not due to Kurenai however, but because he was getting exhausted. He was already a bit exhausted when he was challenged, and after summoning the Dragon, who requires a lot of spiritual energy, he was on verge of collapse.  _I need to finish this soon…_

He managed to regain some of his balance, no small part thanks to the Snake who made it easier to keep a clear head, and raise his right hand.

However, the gyukis attacked immediately and three giant ox-headed spiders appeared in front of him. Probably due to Kurenai's work, they were surrounded by black smoke and they radiated with a darker aura than usual. Even though he understood that this was only an illusion, they looked terrifying and that had a negative influence on Ryuzan.

He turned around and started running but didn't stop from trying to summon his next shikigami. Due to attempting to use another technique, the nausea hit him again and his feet almost went numb after each step. But he managed to keep himself concentrated and summoned his next shikigami.

He jumped and the Horse appeared under him. The Horse enhanced his confidence and, what was more important right now, allowed him to move at quick pace. He circled around where those three gyukis were supposed to be, successfully dodging the attacks by their claws and made the Horse sprint towards where Kurenai used to stand.

He soon saw her her stand where he saw her before, with a noticeable surprise on the lower part of her face. The Horse itself jumped right, successfully evading something that looked like a claw. Also, the air was hot for some reason and Ryuzan was not sure if it was an illusion or something else.

Ryuzan couldn't afford to bother with anything but Kurenai at the moment so he made the Horse attack her with its feet. Kurenai fell down, her hands being unable to hold her papers. Ryuzan then made the Horse run past her while his hand grabbed the floating papers. After a few gallops, he tore it apart and Nejireme returned into its former state.

Then the heatwave came again and some kind of horizontal strike finished Ryuzan's shikigami in one hit, making him fall down. Due to nausea, he almost lost consciousness but the heat behind him reminded him that he was still in danger. At least Kurenai's artificial pain was gone, making it easier for Ryuzan to keep his concentration up.

He was glad he broke the illusion… the sight of his challenger was fearsome enough without Kurenai's help.

 _Kumo no Senshi_  got badly injured by the Dragon, that was for sure: his armor had cracked on many places and left part of his ox mask was destroyed, revealing an empty eye socket.

But it was not his body that was fearsome, but what was around him: eight spiky, giant red claws burning in flames. Ryuzan was sure that, if he wanted, this youkai could both cut down and burn entire Nejireme had he so wanted. Even entire towns could be destroyed by these giant, burning claws.

" _It is not nice to attack a woman._ " His voice sounded more monstrous than before. " _But I am so excited… I am afraid you might have to spend a few weeks in a hospital, boy."_

There was no time for evaluating all of his options. Ryuzan had to gamble with the first plan that came to his mind.

So he ran towards his enemy.

" _Bold eh? I love 'em bold!_ " the youkai said and started moving some of his claws towards Ryuzan.

Hoping they were of illusionary nature, Ryuzan used anti-illusion talismans to shield himself. Although created barriers broke after a while, they managed to slow his claws enough for Ryuzan to evade his attacks.

The youkai in front of him took out his katana, which was also engulfed by the fire. " _This is the end of you, boy._ "

As if it were a gun, fire flew from the sword and engulfed Ryuzan.

Auntie Yura was the one who helped him with his Shikigami… but his father taught him all he knew about barriers, with Ryuzan mastering the elemental ones. Thus, the fire had no effect on him so Ryuzan managed to get to two meters distance to his enemy. He stopped after reaching that point.

" _What?!_ " the youkai was surprised. " _Tz, gotta do this the bloody way then?_ " he prepared to run at him and stab him with his vlade, but Ryuzan was quicker.

He put two fingers in front of himself. His Snake shikigami left his body and moved onto his enemy. Ryuzan was able to lend his Shikigami to anyone, including his enemies.

" _Wha-_ " the youkai didn't manage to stop the Snake from mixing into his Fear. " _What did you do?"_

"Just sentmy Shikigami to you. _"_ Ryuzan forced himself to smile. "Do you feel good?"

" _Why yes… it is a wwird thing to say but I feel much smarter than I usually do!_ "

"Good." Ryuzan then moved his two fingers upwards. "This is a technique I developed to aid Ritsura. Later, I will have you apologize to me for spoiling it on you."

" _How does making me smarter accomplish anything?_ "

"Oh no, the point is that one of my Shikigami, no matter which, is with you." Ryuzan continued smiling. "I am an expert with elemental barriers you see. But I can use them only on myself or on those I touched… but due to my spiritual connection to my shikigami, my shikigami can be used as a substitute for me. In other words, I can now cast a barrier on you."

" _Make me smarter AND protected? Now that just makes no-_ eh?" the fire around his claws disappeared and his skin lost some of its color. "What are you…"

"Surrender or I shall cleanse every part of your body and blood from heat." Ryuzan warned him, still smiling with sole purpose of terrifying his enemy. "I did it now to a small extent, but if I strengthen the barrier inside you… well, I am not sure your body could take it."

"Do you think I am not strong enough to beat an exhausted Onmyouji's barrier?"

"Maybe… but is it worth the risk?" Ryuzan continued to keep a confident face, even though every part of his body and mind begged him to just lay down and rest. "Is it worth risking your life and Nejireme's safety for pride?"

The youkai continued looking at him for a few moments… and then his claws disappeared and he put his hand on his mask, removing it and revealing a human face underneath it. He looked like a man in his forties, partially shaved like the warriors of old tended to do. His left eye was not there and half of his face was filled with scars.

"Tesshin." He whispered in a low tone so only Ryuzan could hear him?

"Huh?"

"That's my name." Tesshin explained and put his mask back on. "Only those I accept as equals or stronger are allowed to see my face and know my name… in other words, that is my method of surrendering!" he shouted the last part so everyone could hear him.

In return, all of the youkai bowed their heads. Ryuzan was now accepted as someone worthy of Gyuki Group's respect.

"Ha… that's good to hear." Ryuzan released his shikigami and sat down under a tree, finally allowed to rest.

* * *

" _Ugh…" Ryuzan woke up in his room. He remembered dreaming about youkai as well as having a fight with a Yuki Onna… which he lost._

_However, he felt pain on parts of the body where the youkai hit him. The loud celebration from outside this deep in the night also hinted that this was not a usual night and that what he remembered wasn't a dream but something that actually happened._

" _Damn, I guess I passed out after she hit me that time…" Ryuzan rose onto his legs and returned outside. It was still early and sun had yet to rise._

_The youkai of the Nura Clan were celebrating and running around. Some Onmyouji kept a stern eye on them while some joined them in celebration._

" _Well look there, the Onmyouji warrior woke up!" a Nattou Kozzou shouted and eyes of many youkai and onmyouji were now on young Ryuzan._

" _Will you demand a rematch, Ryuzan?" one of the Onmyuji that celebrated alongside youkai asked._

" _No thank you, that was enough beating for one night." Ryuzan replied._

" _A shame… you did well enough." Someone said but Ryuzan didn't check who. Instead, he looked around for Ritsura, not sure himself why he was looking for her._

" _Isn't that girl celebrating with you?" he asked them._

" _Oh, you mean Ojou-sama?" the youkai asked. "She was here but said she wanted to rest."_

" _I see." Ryuzan turned around in order to check around and see if he could find her._

" _Why are you looking for her?" someone asked in a sly tone. Ryuzan recognized it as an attempt to make an embarrassing 'love joke'._

_However, Ryuzan was not someone who could easily be embarrassed by such attempts. "Why, I am going to steal her lips and maybe even ask for her hand." He gave them a sly smile and continued walking with his hands in his pockets._

" _WHAAAAT HOW DARE YOU EVEN TALK ABOUT DISGRACING OJOU-SAMA?!" the youkai did not like what he said. "YOU ARE TOO WEAK FOR THAT!"_

" _PROPOSING TO A YOUKAI?! DON'T TALK ABOUT SUCH DISGRACEFUL THINGS, RYUZAN!" the Keikains were equally dissatisfied._

_Pleased that he made them this excited, Ryuzan went on his way. As soon as he got far enough to no longer hear singing and shouting, he noticed there was another sound in the air… sound of music._

_Unfortunately it was not some enchanting music one usually hears in stories, but a clumsy tune as if played by an amateur._

_Interested in what it's source might be, Ryuzan looked around and concluded it was played by someone on the roof of one of the Keikain Clan's buildings. By climbing a tree, he got on top of it and there he found its source… which was conveniently the girl he was looking for._

_Ritsura sat on the roof, her backs turned to the courtyard where humans and youkai were celebrating. She was trying to play a flute, but as already mentioned she did not do a good job with it._

" _So, how long have you been playing with the flute?" Ryuzan asked her._

_Ritsura stopped playing. "Ryuteki." She said. "It is a Ryuteki."_

" _Does it matter what kind of flute it is?" he asked and sat beside her._

" _Grandma said that Ryuteki represents dragons which ascend from the skies." The girl replied. "It would be so cool if I could summon a dragon."_

" _I don't think you can summon a dragon with it…" Ryuzan commented, resulting in Ritsura giving him a mean look. "So, let me ask again: how long have you been playing it? "_

" _Grandma got it for me a few weeks ago. She plays another instrument but thought this one would be more fitting for me."_

" _Well, you sure have a long way to go with it…"_

_Ritsura sticked out her tongue and then said: "A boy should always tell the girl that she produces a nice tune."_

" _Only a boy who wants to charm the girl would say that. A boy who likes a girl would be honest, even if it hurts."_

" _Oh." She smiled. "And why is that so?"_

" _Because then the girl would try to get better and the better she is, the more beautiful she becomes."_

" _Oooh… and who told you that?"_

" _My own conclusion."_

" _Oooh really…" she smirked at him. "So you are just a charmer and not a boy who likes."_

" _Are you suggesting I lie?" Ryuzan pretended to be insulted._

" _Your fighting style was filled with deceptions, not to mention you tried to confuse me with your words while fighting." She winked at him. "But I will give you a second chance. Who told you that?"_

" _My mom of course." He admitted._

_Ritsura starred at him for a few moments and then burst into laughter. "Fuahahaha! This is the first time I see a boy be that honest!"_

_Although she laughed at him, Ryuzan continued smiling. Entertaining her like this was his intention._

" _So, why are you here?" she asked. "Other than indirectly saying you like me?"_

" _Just wanted to congratulate you on the victory."_

" _Thank you. By the way, you were pathetic." She said with a shining smile._

" _That's rude…" he pouted._

" _A girl that just wants to charm lies. A girl that wants to make the boy grow is honest, no matter how much it may hurt him."_

" _Hahaha… stupid from me to not have realized that immediately." He laughed. "Well, I have been having serious training for less then a year and I still have to create my own Onmyoudo. Next time you see me, I will be much tougher."_

" _Heee… looking forward to that." she smiled. "Once you get stronger, come to Tokyo. There is less competition amongst Onmyouji there and that means you can have more fun."_

" _You just want me to beat your rivals for you, don't you?"_

" _Yep!" she admitted._

" _Alright, I promise to see the big city when I get stronger." He promised, to which the girl smiled._

_And thus, the two natural enemies became friends._

* * *

Sound of music woke Ryuzan up. He was still sitting under the tree, but there were no gyukis in front of him anymore.

That didn't surprise him. Once the battle was over, he rejected their offer of help and told them he would find their leader, Gyuki, himself once he rested for a few minutes. He also promised Tesshin that he would come visit him at his home so they could take a drink and talk for a while.

And once everyone left, Ryuzan's pride finally allowed him to fall asleep.

But now he was awake, although he still felt exhausted. The music continued playing and he noticed that the air was cold.

And source of both sat under the same tree, left of him.

Just like in his memories, the white and teal haired beauty played a flute. But unlike four years ago, he could not call it clumsy. It was not a masterpiece, but it became his favorite music piece none the less.

Ritsura saw him and smiled, but went on playing for good fifteen minutes. No matter how exhausted he was, Ryuzan found it easy to force himself to listen to the end.

"Your music has become better." Ryuzan said after a few moments of silence.

"As did your Onmyoudo." Ritsura smiled at him, putting the flute somewhere inside her kimono.

"Well, I did promise you I would come to Tokyo only once I got strong enough." He replied back. "And as promised, Tesshin was defeated."

"I know, that's why I played for you. That was part of the deal after all." She said with a kind smile. "Anyway, I don't think he wants his name to be given left and right."

"I fought in the name of the Hyaki Yakou's leader." Ryuzan smiled. "So all my victories and earnings are yours as well."

"An Onmyouji calling himself a part of a youkai's Hyaki Yakou. That sounds bizarre." Ritsura grinned.

"Yes, my family would skin me alive ha ha."

Ritsura raised her right hand and turned it into a fist. "In that case, this Youkai and Onmyouji are from today on sworn comrades." Ritsura suggested and winked.

"Sounds like a fun start of a story." Ryuzan raised his left arm and bumped his fist with hers. "Now, why are you here and not with Gyuki?"

"I sent Heiko to let Gyuki know I would be taking a detour… well, not that anyone told me to hurry up to begin with."

"Oh my, have you been spying on me?"

"From afar." Ritsura winked. "But don't worry, I have not mixed myself into your fight."

"Oh… I have been spied upon while I fought. Now I know how girls feel when me boys spy on them while they enjoy their time at an onsen."

"What would a pervert like you know about worries we girls go through whenever we take a bath with boys close by?" Ritsura complained but continued smiling. "Be careful, wrong answer and I am freezing you."

"I apologize for my ignorance, Ritsura-sama." Ryuzan stretched his arms and then yawned.

"Well, lets go then so you can take a rest." Ritsura said, rose up and clapped her hands. As if ordered, the flying snake Hebinyoro appeared in front of them. "Alright Ryu, time to fly away."

"Hey, wait a-" he started but Ritsura grabbed his hand and threw him onto the snake. "Oh no, I can't guarantee that I would be able to stay balanced and not fall down."

"Oh don't worry about that, Ryu." Ritsura put a finger on his forehead. "Good night!  _Cursed Blizzard, snow pile kill_."

"Wh-" Ryuzan couldn't even finish a word when Ritsura's technique forced him into slumber. It was a technique that her mother taught her, which made someone fall asleep due to extreme cold.

Ritsura grabbed him and sat on hebinyoro, holding Ryuzan's body with her right hand and letting his head rest on her shoulder. "Alright, lets go!"

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And Ryuzan's chapter of the  _Nejireme Tests arc_  is over! Now only Ritsura remains!

\- this chapter had two stories go in parallel: Ryuzan's fight against the gyukis and the flashbacks from his past, including the one where he met Ritsura for the first time

\- writing the flashbacks was easy, but constructing the battle was a bit tougher thus why this chapter did not come a week after the last one as per late tradition

\- Papa Ryuji is a fun guy to write XD

\- mind you, there is still interesting stuff in Ryu's past ;)

\- just like how her grandma Setsura liked playing an instrument, so does Ritsura… thought it would be a neat touch

\- the technique Ritsura used is the same as the one Tsurara used to make Kana fall asleep during the Yami arc

\- I apologize for the lame attempt at showcasing Asumi's Kansai dialect… for those who don't remember, Asumi is the girl who appeared during the "Cannibal Village" arc

* * *

**Guest** : " _I loveeed it!. Heiko is such a dearie. I was wondering when she was gonna play a role. As for Gozumaru...(SIGH) You still holding a grudge. I mean come on you played a minor role when Rikuo was still around and still is weak. Its about time you stepped up your game._ "

Glad you liked it :D Don't worry abut Gozu, he will have a lot of time to prove himself!


	26. Ritsura's Trial, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nejireme has tested all the fighters of the SIC, save Ritsura. And now is the time for her to face her own challenge…

**Chapter 26: Ritsura's Trial, Part 1**

"This must be it." Ritsura commented as she noticed what looked like her goal. She was sitting on Hebinyoro, with exhausted Ryuzan sleeping on her shoulder, and looked at a mansion from the air.

Besides the Kiyotsugu Mansion, this was the only other mansion on Nejireme and the aura of Fear Ritsura could feel even at this distance made it clear that a powerful spirit lived here. There were other housings, but most looked like abandoned huts which most youkai tended to fing pleasing but were considered unworthy for a clan leader to live in.

She also saw Heiko in front of it, waving to her boss, Ritsura. She was accompanied by two warriors with spears and straw hats, probably Gyuki's guardsmen.

Ritsura tapped on Hebinyoro's backs. "Hebi, take us down there."

Silent as always, Hebinyoro followed her request without question and brought her and Ryuzan in front of the mansion.

"Good to see you, Aneki!" Heiko ran to Hebinyoro before Ritsura even had time to jump from it. The two gyukis followed her, but with a walking pace. "Part of me feared that the Onmyouji failed and you were forced to battle yourself."

"Glad to see everything is alright with you. Ryu won, but is too exhausted so help me take him down." Ritsura asked her with a smile. She considered herself a fairly strong warrior, but carrying a tall boy's body was something above her strength.

"As you say!" Heiko nodded and the two girls carried him down. "Where do we put him?"

"Let me take care of him. There are futons in the guest-room which he can use." One of the gyukis reached them and took Ryuzan from them. Now that Ritsura had a good look at him, she noticed that he had a stronger build than most if the gyukis here. Still, she was a bit frustrated that he was able to easily carry someone Ritsura could not hold for more than half a minute. "Does he need medical treatment?"

"He didn't get any major injuries, but it might be better if someone checked him." Ritsura didn't want to take risks, knowing that it was possible that some of his opponents have gone too far. "So, where is Gyuki?" Ritsura asked Heiko once the guard went to the guest-room with Ryuzan.

"He said-" she started, but the other guard cut in.

"Gyuki-sama is waiting for you inside." He raised his straw hat, revealing face of an old man, reminding Ritsura of her great-grandfather. But unlike Nurarihyon, this man was fairly tall for an old man and didn't leave an impression of someone who could still wield a sword, making her wonder if his title of a bodyguard was only a formality. "I heard that you are already aware that you and your allies are being tested by Gyuki-sama?"

"That's right." Ritsura confirmed with a nod while Heiko made a pouty face due to being pushed aside. "So, do I get to meet him now or do I have to fight someone before I can meet the final boss?"

The old man seemed confused by her modern way of speaking. "The final boss? What is that… ah, nevermind. Today's youth uses too many weird terms for an old man like me to keep up with." He removed his strawhat and bowed while putting it under his chest. "Fourth, I am your loyal servant Kanmaru. Gyuki-sama honored me by telling me to be the one to test you. Do you accept?"

Ritsura's human ethics almost made her reject this old man's offer, but youkai honor demanded she made a different decision. "I look forward to facing you." She accepted and nodded. She hoped that the old man was more capable than he looked like.

The old man smiled, revealing a lack of teeth. "Please follow me inside, Fourth. We will be using meditation and illusions."

"Great!" she said and started following him. As boring as it sounded, Ritsura was glad she did not need to fight an old grampa. "Heiko, I will be safe here. You go find the others and-"

"Find whom?" a voice she knew well asked. "You are the last one!"

Ritsura looked to its source and saw Shima, Sakura and some other girl having picnic under a tree. "Shima and Sakura? You are already here?!"

"Ha, the two of us were the first to come here!" Shima rose up and puffed his chest in pride. Sakura just waved her hand with a small smile. "Watch and eat yourself, Ritsura-hime! The only two normal ones beat their powerful, crazy friends!" he proclaimed and stretched his hands while Sakura looked aside and scratched her cheek. "And before you ask, both of us were supposed to become hostages but ended up outsmarting our opponents. Ha!" as he said that, the girl with black, messy hair sitting beside them sighed.

"Well, it is important you two are alright." Ritsura tried to sound cool, but frustration in her tone could not be more obvious even if she sang about it. Of course, Shima noticed it and as a result his smirk grew. "Has anyone else come?"

"As I said, you and the Onmyouji were the last to come! Araya-chan reached this place and left to find your brother after which he was the one to come here, and is now inside, while Araya-chan went to the mansion we were supposed to come to. Then Heiko-chan came."

"What about Sensei and Mayuri?"

"They were allowed to avoid this… thing, Aneki." Heiko answered that question. "So they should be safe and sound at… well, wherever we all were supposed to come." Heiko scratched her head, not having any idea what this trip was about in the first place.

"Ahem. " the old youkai coughed, indirectly asking Ritsura to hurry up.

"Sorry, seems our hosts are becoming impatient. See you later!" Ritsura nodded and went on her way. "Heiko, you guard these two… and eat something in my place!"

"As you say, Aneki!" Heiko saluted and started moving towards the food with a face of a starved woman. "Foood…"

"Oh no… guys, hurry up and get it before she UWAAAAH!" Shima yelled before the hungry Heiko ravaged their little picnic.

Ritsura would have liked to see what happened next, but they entered the mansion. It was a dimly light place, using candles instead of electricity. It was a humble house with occasional haiku on the wall, proving that some old-fashioned warrior really lived here.

"We will be using this room." the man moved one of the paper gates, revealing a meditation room with some aromical candles and two sitting pillows. "Please, take whichever seat you want."

Ritsura chose the pillow beside the wall and the old man sat in front of her.

"Alright Fourth, lets get this started." The old man decided to not waste time on long explanations. "I will use my Fear on you in a few minutes. Use the time until then to think, meditate or pray. This will be a spiritual exercise."

* * *

Ritsura knew what she, the cool and wise fourth heir of the Nura clan, had to do and the answer was meditate. She crossed her legs, made the necessary finger gestures and closed her eyes. "Oooooooo…"

But she was unable to clear her head and soon concluded that she was unable to clear her head… or knew what she had to do in the first place. She gave up and opened her eyes, noticing that Kanmaru was having a large grin on his face, as if finding her actions amusing.

Ritsura's face turned red from embarrassment and she immediately broke what she believed to be the meditation pose and sat on her legs.

So she tried to try out the other suggestion, which was to think. Indeed, this was a perfect opportunity to make genius plans and decisions and she would use it to its best!  _Alright, let the genius hidden deep inside me come out!_  She shouted in herself and closed her eyes, with a proud smirk on her face.

Yet she found herself thinking about trivial issues like what would be for supper, the last night's amazing episode of One Piece and her heated argument with Saaya from few days ago on which pairings were better in Manga they read which then somehow evolved into which boy band was hotter, the  _!Free Mermen_  or the  _LM.D_ ,resulting in her head now trying to think about the handsome boys from those two bands.

 _GAH! I am such an Otaku!_   _Think about something serious damn it!_

But what should she think about? She thought of asking the grampa in front of her, but decided against it as she thought she should first try to decide herself on what was the important issue here.

_Hmmm… what would Gyuki want me to think about? Not my martial skills, else I would not be sitting here. Leadership? No, this doesn't look like a right atmosphere… I know, it is casting away my material desires for a moment and focus on purifying my soul and mind in order to achieve nirvana and become the greatest youkai that ever lived! Makes perfect sense! But… I HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA HOW TO EVEN START ON DOING THAT!_

So she decided to pray as it looked easy compared to the other two options. She put her hands together and prayed in herself.  _Dear gods, please protect mom and dad, and especially mom's cuteness. More so, protect my little brother from his problems. As for the more selfish requests, I would like my OTP's to come true, have my mom find out about my current grades as later as possible and if possible give me a good escape route and a shelter for a week or so. Oh and Amaterasu-sama… have I ever told you how fabulous you look in that kimono? You too Inari! And if I can handle a few more requests I would like… eh?_

She opened her eyes, realizing something.  _My prayers… have not changed since I was seven years ooold!_   _And it is so embarrassingly ridiculous!_

Depressed by her obvious lack of coolness, genius and spirituality, Ritsura fell from a sitting position onto a lying one.

"Fourth?" Kanmaru was confused by this action of hers. "Is something wrong?"

"Uwawawawa… everything is alright…" she raised herself back into the forme sitting positions.  _Besides that I am as awesome as a hen! I am a hen!_

"Fourth… why are tears flowing out of your eyes?"

"I am going through some very deep realizations here, Kanmaru!" she cleaned her face with her sleeve. "I will return to looking cool in a moment, don't worry!"

"Look… cool…" Kanmaru sighed. "Really, I don't understand today's generations…"

She sighed and looked at a burning candle. The scent they released in this dimply light, silent room did have a dignified, hypnotizing aura to it.  _Mah, I am getting tired… I should probably just relax and stop overthinking things._

She closed her eyes again, her thoughts wondering to all sides once again, with no predefined goal.

* * *

She was thinking about her past, jumping from one memory to another. At the moment, she tried to remember the first time she got smitten with the idea of inheriting the clan.

Probably due to this peaceful surrounding, her memories came to her stronger than usual. She could even feel the comforting breeze on her face and even her dad's hand on her back then tiny shoulder.

She opened her eyes, looking down on Tokyo as she sat on Hebinyoro with her father sitting behind her. She was around seven years of age at the time and this was the first time she got to see Tokyo from such a height. She was a bit sad that Rihan did not come with them because mom didn't want to even hear abour father carrying two small children so high up in the air.

"Wow, I can barely even see anyone!" she shouted and turned her head to her smiling father. "There are humans down there, right?"

"Of course they are, dearie." Rikuo answered and fondled her hair. "And not only humans, but youkai as well!"

"Really?" Ritsura leaned to get a better look, but her hand slipped a bit. She was immediately caught by her father.

"Hey, careful there." Rikuo said and put his hands around his daughter so she wouldn't slip again. "Yes, there are youkai down there. Alright, lower us now!"

"But-" Ritsura wanted to stay up, but Hebinyoro started going down at a high speed. She closed her eyes to keep the air away from them, but opened them once she heard shouts around herself.

They were flying above one of the youkai districts in Ukiyoe where the youkai of the Nura Clan were having having another one of their parties.

"Good to see you here, Supreme Commander!" a youkai with a giant eye and tongue greeted him.

"Hey, it is Rikuo-sama and Ojou-sama!" a female Bakeneko shouted. "And she is so cute!"

"Rikuo-sama Banzai!" drunk Aotabou shouted while Kurotabou just smiled and greeted them with his cup.

Hebinyoro didn't stop floating and instead just flew around with the two Nuras on its backs. Rikuo remained calm, nodding and smiling to those who greeted him. Ritsura was more reactive, with wide open mouth and a tiny hand greeting everyone whom her eyes saw.

Then they rose up a bit more, though still floating low enough for youkai below them to be seen. There were so many different, interesting beings down there, enjoying their life to their fullest. "Wow…" she muttered.

"Do you like looking at a scene like this?" her father asked her.

"Yes, I do!" some flying youkai greeted them and Ritsura waved her little hand at them. "Hiii~!"

"Do you want it to stay that way?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, do you want to protect them from bad guys?" he pinched her cheek.

"Why would anyone want to ruin this?"

"Many reasons… many stupid reasons." He said with a sad smile. "So, do you want to protect them?"

"Yes, of course!" she said and puffed with determination.

"Ha ha, you look just like your mom when you get all determined." Rikuo laughed and fondled her hair again. "Glad to hear it, it will be your duty once you grow up and I am sure they will be happy to hear that such a cute girl wants to protect them!"

"My duty?"

"Yes, your duty. You will be Dad's Little Underboss after all!" he winked. "The Clan's entire trust will be in your hands."

Ritsura didn't know what to say, but just opened her mouth wide in happiness.

Then she blinked and her father disappeared. "Huh… dad?" since she was held just a moment before, she did not have a solid sitting or holding position and thus fell from Hebinyoro before she could grab anything.

 _This is not my memory!_  Ritsura realized that something was wrong, and found herself in her seventeen years old body again, but instead of returning to Gyuki's mansion, she was still here… falling from a high place in a memory that did not exist.

And not only was she falling, but quite a number of warriors with straw hats, looking just like the members of Gyuki Group, were falling towards her with their katana's unsheathed and prepared to strike her.

" _How does it feel, to be powerless and afraid?"_ she could hear his voice from this distance.  _"As you fall_ _ **alone**_ _into your death?"_  he put a lot of strength in word  _alone_.

"I see… so this is your doing, old man. Thank you for telling me the answer." Ritsura smirked. "Guys, help me!" she screamed.

She felt someone catching her in the air. "Good, I made it." Kurotabou's voice said.

Following him, Hebinyoro appeared allowing them to land on him. The other youkai, who were partying below them a moment ago, waited for the enemies to land and once they did, a fight ensued. By the time Ritsura reached the ground, clones of what seemed like younger versions of Kanmaru lay on the ground, unconscious.

"Never forget this, Ojou-sama." Gyuki's voice said. She turned aside and saw Gyuki among all these youkai, calmly standing as if nothing happened. "A member of a Hyaki Yakou is never alone. And its leader must never forget that she is never alone. You are fighting with them, not for them."

"Shouldn't you have said that after I fell on the ground and broke a bone or two?" Ritsura asked with her hands on her hips. "Shouting word  _alone_ … you made it too obvious!"

"Don't worry, Ojou-sama." Gyuki talked while Ritsura's vision started getting cloudy and she had trouble keeping herself on her feet. "We only wanted to give you some help with the first challenge."

She then lost consciousness.

* * *

A stick hitting her head woke Ritsura up from her slumber. "OUCH!"

"Fight tyrant!" her brother shouted, weaving a wooden sword around. "Your end has come!"

"Gaaah, Baka-Otouto!" the now eight years old Ritsura was furious. She fell asleep under the Nura Clan's sakura tree and her brother waking her up like this made her all grumpy. Some of the youkai around them saw it and giggled at the kids fooling around. "You will go into the dungeons for this… under my deepest volcano!" she created a small ice stick, blunt as her parents got angry whenever she made something sharp.

"You would melt before even reaching a volcano, you baka-nee-san!" he sticked out his tongue.

"Alright, now you have done it!" she ran at him. "Defend yourself, you villain!"

"Wrong! I slay villains!" he ran at her and the two of them hit one another, naturally not understanding the art of parrying.

Because of that they got a lot of bruises so later their mother was angrily tending to them. "Seriously, on whom are you two so wild?" their mother sighed as she put some ice on Ritsura's wound on her right arm. "If you two want to fight so much, at least don't hit one another so hard that you get these bruises!"

"We didn't get any last time." Ritsura tried smiling.

"And the time before that either!" Rihan joined in.

"So why did you start doing it again?!" their mother continued being furious. "Do you two need to hit one another so hard!? What if one of you two gets hit into the eye, then what?!"

"Apologize?" Rihan suggested. "And then we'd be alright again!"

"Apologize? If you hit someone into the eye, it will... fall off!" their mother tried to make them understand the severity of such wounds.

"Mom, that hurts!" Ritsura felt pain due to her mother pushing the ice too hard.

"Sorry dear…" she apologized but immediately returned to being angry at her kids. "You will lose an eye! Forever! How many times do I have to repeat that?"

"But if we are too soft, then it doesn't feel like a real fight!" Rihan protected their traditions. "It feels like a child's play!"

"IT IS A CHILD'S PLAY!" their mother yelled at them. She was usually kind and nice, but sometimes she knew to get all angry. Once, they saw their usually composed and unfaltering father turning into a humble yes-man because she got too angry at him.

""Sorry mom!"" not wanting her to go on like that, they both apologized.

"You'd better be!" Their mother put her hands on he hips. "From now on, I don't even want to hear that you-"

"Tsurara-san, we need you for a moment." Kejorou called for her.

"Yes, I am coming now." Tsurara nodded and turned back towards her children. "Alright, you two are grounded and not allowed to leave this room! I want to see you two playing  **nicely**  when I return, is that clear?"

"Yes mom!" Ritsura answered to which Tsurara nodded and left the room.

"Phew, mom sure can get scary sometimes." Rihan commented and then raised his chin. "I hit you more times than you hit me!"

"Shut up, baka-otouto!" she hit him into his shoulder.

"Ouch! I will tell you to mom!"

She hit him again.

"Okay, that's enough oppression!"

And thus they ended up fighting again, this time using their fists instead of sticks or swords. But that game did not last for long.

"ARE YOU TWO FIGHTING AGAIN?!" their mother's voice stormed throughout the mansion.

"Oh no, mom is angry!" Rihan was first to react and started running. "Run baka-nee-san!"

"You don't need to tell me that!" she raised herself up and ran after him.

Their mother didn't shout anything once she reached the room, but the extreme cold that engulfed the mansion told them more than any voice would.

"Run baka-otouto, run!" Ritsura was a bit faster so she reached him and grabbed his hand. "Don't let go of my hand, baka-Otouto!"

"I don't need your help!" he tried to pull his hand away, but Ritsura didn't want to let it happen… not the eight years old Ritsura, but the seventeen years old one.

The memory has been altered.

She turned her hand aside and then the altered memory turned into a nightmare: the hall behind them was covered in pitch darkness… when they slowed down a little, the darkness got closer. Realizing that the darkness itself was hunting them, Ritsura's grasp on her brother's hand tightened. "DON'T LET GO OF MY HAND!"

"No, I don't need your help." Rihan didn't want to listen to her, trying to shake her hand away. They were no longer running through halls that looked like part of their home, but through the halls that looked like that mansion in Nakano where they used stay at. "Coward, we should stop and face it!"

"We can't!" she screamed at him, just like she did in Nakano. "We are kids, we will both die if it catches up to us!"

"We won't! We need to fight it just like dad would!" he managed to get his hand free.

"No you won't!" But she was desperate in her wish to save her little brother. Without stopping for too long, she grabbed his hand again. "Not again! I won't fail again!"

She clenched his hand so hard that her nails got thrusted into into his hand, making him shiver with pain. She did not apologize or soften it up as holding her little brother's hand was all she cared about.

Finally, she saw light at the end of the hall. "Just a little bit more, Rihan!"

"No, we must-"

"JUST A LITTLE BIT MORE!" she said again, but this time to herself.

She had a bad premonition so she jumped with her brother aside a bit, successfully evading giant talons which tried to stab through them.

"JUST A LITTLE BIT MOOOORE!" she cried to motivate herself, a tear coming out of her eye.

And they ran through the gates, finding themselves outside. The sun was shining on the blue sky filled with soft clouds and birds were chirping around them. They were outside, in a comfortable place far away from the wicked darkness.

"I did it… I did it…" Ritsura teared up. "We managed to… you are safe little brother… my little baka-otouto!"

She hugged him, tears flowing out of your eyes.

"Nee-san?" Rihan was confused at her actions.

" _Good work, Fourth."_  Kanmaru's voice echoed around them.  _"Your will to save your little brother is strong."_

Ritsura said nothing as she did not care about it. She only cared about her brother who was finally saved.

" _Yet, you can't change the past can you?"_

There was a sound of meat being stabbed and a warm fluid got splattered on her face.

" _It is a burden you will have to live for the rest of your life."_  The voice went on, in a sad tone.  _"The burden our entire clan will have to carry on our shoulders."_

Ritsura quickly lowered her eyes and saw talons sticking out of her brother's chest. She then raised her eyes, seeing her brother's wide open eyes and blood coming out of his face. His mouth moved, as if he wanted to say something.

She went to grab him with her hand, but the enemy was faster and she watched as her brother got pulled into the deep darkness, feeling that he would never return from it.

" _Regrets like this can never disappear… can never be fixed."_

As if the time itself froze, Ritsura just stood there as a statue, her hand stretched as if still trying to grab someone and not even a muscle on her face could move. Then her eyes shivered and she broke down completely and started crying, screaming as much as she could.

"Why did you do this!?" she demanded to know. "Why did you do this!?"

" _I did not do it, Fourth… I did nothing to this memory. This is your own mind's doing."_  Kanmaru explained, his tone kind and sad. " _Do you believe that you can't save him no matter what? Is your regret for a past failure stronger than any potential happiness of future success? Or do you just think it is too late to save your brother from this darknes… I don't know, Fourth… I can't know that._ "

Ritsura didn't say anything back. Holding her hands on her face, she fell on the ground, crying as much as she could… crying as she did years ago, just like mother and father did.

No matter what goes on in the future, she can't change the past. Her brother changed because of Gagoze and no matter what she does, she can't undo that change. She failed to stop him, she failed to find him, she failed to protect him… and now, only consequences remain.

* * *

Ritsura wasn't sure for how long she cried there. Kanmaru allowed her to take her time, not forcing her to continue on with whatever he was doing.

After some time, she rose onto her feet. She cried enough and knew that she could not allow herself to remain like this for too long. She was Nura Ritsura, the Fourth Heir of the Nura Clan. She had to be strong, no matter how much she was hurt.

She cleaned her tears with her hand and when she opened her eyes again, she was in a dark alleyway in Tokyo. Sometimes, she went out to patrol in hopes she would find  _him_ … and make him pay for what he did.

But this was not a real memory… no, it was a dream. Like so many times in her head, she found Gagoze and was close to catching him.

She heard a sound and turned towards it. Whoever it was he started running away and Ritsura didn't waste time on following him. Since this was her imagination, the streets were dim-lighted, empty and only the two of them existed in this little world.

She never saw Gagoze, but had engraved every description she knew about him into her head: tattered and bloodstained red clothes and a red mask with horns and a large mouth drawn on it. Also claws on one of his hands which he used to kill and torture his victims.

And she finally reached him, successfully pursuing him into an impasse. "There is nowhere to run, Gagoze."

"Indeed, just as with you girlie…" he turned towards her. Although descriptions said that his mask showed rage and that he was of average height, in her mind he was smiling and he was as large as Aotabou. "There is nowhere to run."

"Huh?" she turned her head aside and saw that she was also in an impasse.

"There is nowhere to run, little girl." He started walking towards her. "And nobody to save you~"

"I don't need to be saved, Gagoze." She replied back, shooting an ice spike at him.

It hit him, but somehow it had no effect at all. She used more attacks, from freezing blizzards to penetrating spikes. But to cold he didn't react and the spikes either broke when they hit him or he evaded them by just stepping away. It felt like trying to break a wall with a bucket of water.

His mask still had the smiling expression.

His shadow was now all over her.

Sweat went down her neck and her eyes have widened as much as they could. She was at lose at what to do and only able to move her eyes between his mask and his talons, not sure which frightened her more.

"Now that is a face I want to see." His body grew in size even more and then he raised his talons. "Do you like games?I am sure you do… and this one will not be short …"

Unsure about what she could do, she just stood there paralyzed. She felt she would end like Rihan at best, but likely worse. That very idea made her remember the pain on her mother's and father's faces and just how much time had to pass for them to try smiling again.

No, she could not let them go through it again… she could not allow them to get hurt like that again.

"NO!" she screamed and started running, successfully evading his talons. The impasse behind Gagoze disappeared, giving her a chance to run away from him.

So she ran and Gagoze ran after her. He tried to stab her, but she created an ice wall behind herself. The talons broke it, but the wall slowed their speed enough for her to be able to evade his attack.

They continued like that, him trying to stab her and her evading his attacks and defending herself with ice walls when necessary. She could not fight, it was far too dangerous… She could not let herself lose to him… not to him.

But no matter how much she ran, this was an empty world so it was only a matter of time untilshe was caught. And soon enough, his hand grabbed her neck, turned her around and pushed her onto a wall.

She looked at him in horror. He was even larger now and his mask now looked like a real oni. She wanted to close her eyes, but she was unable to do so. She could only look at him with widely opened horrified eyes and a shivering mouth.

"That's enough of tag, my dear little-akh…" he suddenly stopped moving and the grip on her neck lessened enough for her to jump away from it.

It was Karmaru, again looking like a middle-aged man rather than an old one. He stabbed Gagoze through the heart, ending the imaginative threat. "Ojou-sama, you forgot the very first memory… you are not alone."

"I… I know…. but" she tried to find a reason why she always imagined herself coming after him alone, but could find nothing to justify it. She simply wanted to make him pay, and couldn't imagine sharing the pleasure of killing him with anyone else.

"Is it worth putting your life on the line for something trivial?" Kanmaru admonished her for her actions. "Is it worth endangering the chances of bringing justice to him just so you could have the revenge all for yourself?"

Ritsura was not sure if he guessed her motives or was able to read her mind. "Yes, I know that. I know that bringing everyone after him is the right thing to do… the smart thing to do." she made an awkward smile. "But hate… is such a strong emotion. I wanted to kill him myself."

"So why did you end up failing… why did you end up running, only to get caught? We are in the world you created, meaning that you imagined it ending like this."

"I hate him… I want to find him and kill him." She put her arms around herself, a Yuki Onna trying to warm herself up. But the feel of coldness came from fear, not temperature so this would not help… but it still put her mind a bit at ease. "Yet, at the same time I am afraid… what if I fail, what if he kills me and I just bring another tragedy to mom and dad… a larger tragedy."

"Why do you fear him? This Gagoze is not a strong youkai."

"BECAUSE NOBODY BROUGHT US THIS MUCH PAIN SINCE SANMOTO KILLED GRANDFATHER!" she yelled at him. "AND NOBODY EVER BROUGHT THIS MUCH PAIN TO MY BROTHER AND ME!" she squeezed her fingers, causing pain to her arms. "Rihan… my Baka-Otouto… he changed… he changed forever. He can smile again, he can laugh again… but he is no longer the same person he once was." Tears started flowing from her eyes. "We are brother and sister… we grew together and having one another is something normal to us so I know it best…" she stopped for a moment, unsure if she wanted to continue speaking.

"What do you know best, Fourth?" he asked her.

"…that his heart is no longer in sync with the rest of us… with out clan." She let it all go out. "With every passing day, the distance grows… and I fear that one day my little brother, who was always a part of my life, he will leave us… become part of that darkness from the former memory at worst. Gagoze… he…" she clenched her teeth at remembering that youkai's existence. "He practically destroyed my world. MY WORLD! How could I not hate him so much I want to strangle him… and fear him more so much I'd rather face ten Nues?!"

"Still, it is your duty to-"

"Give me a break. I always give my best, I always try my best and there is nothing I want more than do my best. But I am not perfect… Gagoze is my weakness, and I can't help that. I can only do what I always did: try to give my best."

Karmaru said nothing and just watched at her in silence.

"There is nothing else to talk about… I will continue giving my best to help my little brother no matter what." She hanged her hands and stepped away from the wall. "And pray that he returned to us."

Karmaru nodded. "I see… the connection with siblings sure is strong."

"So, what now?"

"We are far from over Fourth… let us go to another memory." He raised his palm towards her, making her feel nauseus again.

"Good… I want to leave this place as soon as possible-" she muttered before her vision turned to pure blackness.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And first part of Ritsura's chapter is here! It was originally supposed to be larger, but I decided to split it due to its potential size and because I felt it would be better to turn the atmosphere from heavily depressing to a lighter tone by doing it between chapters than between scenes.

\- ha, Shima beat Ritsura in reaching the Gyuki mansion ;P Poor guy doesn't realize that he really was the only normal person participating

\- I sure had a blast writing the "meditation" scenes ;D There will be another blast in next chapter

\- more daddy Rikuo! Though it was nothing deep yet, it was nice seeing them together

\- Ritsura's state of mind due to Rihan's fate has finally been revealed. The poor girl ain't handling it well… but who could? It is ironic that the most terrifying villain for both her and Rihan is a minor one

All in all, thanks for reading and hope you review! Special Thanks to all my friends and regular readers who just reject to give up reading my fic!


	27. Ritsura's Trial, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ritsura's trials have begun and the trial itself is not testing her martial skills but her inner strength. After going through her most painful memories, she now has to go through what she has accomplished in her quest to prove herself worthy of being called the Fourth Heir of the Nura Clan.

**Chapter 27: Ritsura's Trial, Part 2**

"Ritsura-chan, remember what I told you." On one of Toono's training grounds, Reira was teaching the nine years old Ritsura one of her techniques. "Focus and freeze it."

"Mhmmmmmm…" Ritsura grumbled as she held two fingers in front of her, staring at a stump with such a stare one would think she wanted to burn it… while in reality she just wanted to freeze it. "GWAH!" however, she ended up creating one tiny ice spike on the stump and a dozen on the ground around it, not to mention she also froze the ground on many places, including her feet resulting in the little girl slipping and falling onto her head. "Uwawawawa…" little Ritsura held her head, fighting not to cry.

Reira sighed because Ritsura, once again, failed to properly use the technique. "Well, that looked painful so I won't be punishing you for this fiasco." While most members of the Nura Clan would immediately run to their little Ojou-sama after she got hurt like that, the Toono were a bit more apathetic. When Ritsura came to Toono two months ago, it made the spoiled girl depressed. "Come on, get back on your feet and try again."

"Yes Reira." Ritsura nodded and raised herself on her feet.

"Try to ignore everything but the stump." Reira repeated a lecture from before. The technique she was teaching her was creating ice without using her own breath or body, which was different from the techniques her mother taught her which depended on using breath alone. But creating ice like that was much harder than using breath or one's body. "Don't look at the trees, don't look at the ground… just look at the stump. You and that stump are the only ones existing in this world."

"But we are not!"

Reira sighed, created a wide ice stick and hit Ritsura's head.

"Sorry!" Ritsura immediately apologized and returned to focusing. When she came to Toono she thought that Reira was the nicest of the Toono youkai, but since she started training her herself, she became harsher than anyone else in the clan.

Ritsura tried to do what Reira told her to, but it was impossible. But not daring to tell that to Reira, she returned to just trying to freeze it the same way she did up till now.

But before she could put her technique to use, something hit her head from behind and she fell down, slipped on ice and somehow made a flip in the air and fell onto her back. "OUCH!"

"Ritsura, how many times do I have to tell you to never let your guard down." She could hear Itaku's voice while she raised herself onto her knees. Itaku often made such random attacks at her, claiming that he wanted to teach her to keep her guard up all the time. Still, adding this to the fact that her training with Reira was getting nowhere and her sensitive state due to what recently happened to her brother, Ritsura almost broke down crying.

"Itaku, how many times do I have to tell you not to do that while I am training with her!" Reira complained to Itaku. Before Itaku could say anything back, she stopped him with her hand and continued. "She has enough trouble concentrating on my lectures without your pranks. I can't have you ruin what little concentration she has!"

First, Ritsura started shivering. Nobody wanted to help her get back onto her knees. Nobody consoled or encouraged her. Everyone was mean and bullied her.

Her eyes started burning. She was afraid. She dreamed she was back home but instead every morning she woke up in this mean place. She hadn't seen mom and dad for months. Her little brother too, who himself was suffering.

Why was she even sent to this accursed place?

"A… a… BWAAAAAAAAAA!" the nine years old girl, accustomed to warmth and kindness, collapsed under the pressure. "BWAAAAAAAA!"

As usual, the Toono youkai did not console her or show any signs of care. After coldly starring at the crying girl for a few moments, Reira spoke. "We will continue with this tomorrow morning, an hour before noon." After saying that, she turned around and started walking away.

"You are being easy on her, Reira." Itaku said something which, to Ritsura, sounded outrageous. "You should have forced her to compose herself and train until she lost all her energy."

"Too early for such harsh treatment. But shouldn't you for one be happy? After all you came here to visit me, haven't you?"

"No I have not!" Itaku shouted and Ritsura heard him jump onto a branch.

"Ha, is this tag?" Reira sounded cheerful as she and her footsteps disappeared.

In meantime, Ritsura was still crying on her knees, praying someone comes and consoles her… tells her that everything would be alright.

And consolation came in form of a large arm landing on her head. "Were they mean again?" someone asked her.

Ritsura cleaned her eyes and then saw a one-eyed youkai, with a beard, a smoking pipe and a wide smile. "U… UNCLE NYUDO!" the girl jumped onto him.

"Hey hey calm down there or you will freeze me!" Hitotsume cried while Ritsura's emotional outburst caused her Fear to go on a rampage and freeze everything around her. "Please calm down!"

Then another member of the Nura Clan walked up to them. "Ojou-sama, please do calm down." It was Gyuki, a youkai who always gave his best to sound cool and refined. "It is hard, but hardship-"

"Shut up Gyuki!" Hitotsume yelled at him after noticing Ritsura's fingers squeeze onto his arm, realizing that the girl was not in mood for any more lecturing. "If you came to encourage her, do it properly! Don't you see the kid is tired of all that crap?!"

"Hitotsume, you are being too soft on her. Don't you think she is being spoiled too much? That's why she has trouble fitting in."

"Gyuki, this eye…" Hitotsume pointed his finger at his one and only eye. "Saw you peeking through the bushes the moment I came here."

"Ah…" Gyuki turned speechless because his secret was revealed.

"Meaning, you came here long before me!" Hitotsume's finger was now pointed towards Gyuki who was in a sublime state of shock. "You are an even bigger worryrat than I am!"

"No… you are bluffing." Gyuki started tsun-tsuning and turned his back to them. "My camouflage was perfect."

"You just admitted it, Uncle Gyuki!" Ritsura shouted. Though there were still tears on her face, the two  _uncles_ , who were sent to Toono with her (one to help training her and another who annoyed the depressed Rikuo) managed to improve her mood.

"A warrior would not admit defeat as long as there was a chance of winning."

"And you just killed it, Gyuki." Hitotsume raised himself up, putting Ritsura onto his shoulder. "Ojou-sama, I overheard those evil teachers of yours whisper how they were going to take a nice. Comfy bath at hot springs." Hitotsume then made a naughty smile. "Why don't we let them pay for humiliating our Ojou-sama and play a prank on them?"

"Yes, lets steal their evil clothes!" Ritsura shouted with a raised hand.

"Hm, behavior unfitting of highly ranked members of the Nura Clan." Gyuki said, but he too had the same naughty smile.

And thus the three of them went to play a prank on the Toono youkai, with Hitotsume trying to peek at the naked women with his one eye.

" _Gyuki and Hitotsume_ …" another, older, Ritsura sat on a tree and looked down at her memory. " _I always found Gyuki a scary man and Hitotsume a big meanie… yet they were my only supporting stones during these hard days. Without them, my days here would have been more painful._ "

" _Hmmp, Hitotsume always had a soft spot for young girls… he is a still Papa Bear for Kokehime._ " Kanmaru, who stood next to her, commented. " _When was it that you were sent here?_ " Kanmaru didn't spend much time outside Nejireme so he didn't remember hearing anything about Ritsura visiting Toono.

" _It was a week or two after Rihan got… harmed._ " Ritsura's eyes narrowed as she remembered that time. " _Our lively mansion had become a depressing place due to what happened to my little brother. Mom and dad tried but were unable to keep smiling, making the whole atmosphere all the worse for a kid. So they sent me here for eight months, both to get me away from home until it returned to normal and to have me train with the very best._ "

" _Seems like it was a harsh place for a little girl._ "

" _It was overwhelming and I prayed for this to end… of course, mom and dad came from time to time but it would just get worse once they left._ " Ritsura herself rose to her feet. " _But with time, I got used to living here. Toono was a rough and merciless place, but it made me grow up and toughen up… and I needed that for after eight months spent in Toono, I went to an even more painful place._ "

" _And whats that place?_ "

" _Home._ "

* * *

Her time in Toono started bitterly, but with time she got used to Toono and would lie if she said that she thought of her days there as a waste of time… or if she said that she didn't feel sorry to leave Reira and the others. They were rough mentors, but once she got used to it she saw that Toono had its own charms.

Still, coming back home had been her dearest wish for the entirety of those eight months. Home was a place where she fooled with Rihan, where the entirety of the clan treated her with utmost respect and where she was Nura Rikuo's daughter and thus the person who was to become the clan's Underboss.

But when she returned, she realized that place changed: the clan became depressingly overprotective, her brother's personality changed and her title went from  _Future Underboss_  to  _Supreme Commander's Daughter_ , with everyone more keen on keeping her away from clan's affairs and motivating her to focus on her human life at expense of her youkai part of life.

To Ritsura, who dreamed of becoming the clan's Underboss and who valued her old life, these were depressing changes.

"Have you found her, Kubinashi?" Kurotabou asked his comrade as they met one another on the streets.

"No… I saw some icicles here and there, but I didn't catch even a glimpse of Ojou-sama."

"Don't follow the icicles Kubinashi. I managed to get a glimpse of Ojou-sama giving them, along with some pocket money, to kids and telling them to throw them around."

"Really?!" Kubinashi hit his forehead. "A few weeks ago she notices that we can track her down due to cold air she leaves behind so she uses Reira's techniques to create icicles, which radiated with her Fear, from afar thus misdirecting us. And now she makes others take them even farther away so that we can't even know if she is somewhere in vicinity?"

Aotabou joined them. "Ha, I for one look forward to what she will come up with next."

"Please don't say that…" Kubinashi sighed at his words. "With each passing week, I get more and more pessimistic at our chances to keep an eye on-"

"What are you guys doing chit-chatting down there?!" Karasu Tengu flew above them without stopping. "Night shall fall in less than an hour! Go, find her and bring her back home!"

Realizing they really wasted too much time, the three of them scattered to look for their Ojou-sama.

"Fu fu fu…" an ten years old girl, sitting on a balcony near where these three met one another, giggled.  _For a moment I though I was a goner, but luckily you guys had not noticed me… and conveniently stole Karasu's attention so he didn't notice me either._

Ritsura took out the cellphone from her school uniform's pocket and checked the time on it, only to notice it was turned off.  _Ups, wrong one!_

She put the cellphone her family knew about back into her pocket and took out another one which Hitotsume Nyudo bought her. It allowed her to use a cell without fearing someone would notice a ringtone or vibration and at the same time, through Nyudo, she would know if something dangerous was happening on their turf.

 _School is over! Guess it is time to sneak back home._  The girl jumped from the balcony and continued with her  _game_  of  _Hide and Seek_.

" _What is this all about?"_  Kanmaru asked the present Ritsura.

" _Me being a little brat."_  Present Ritsura said with a sigh as the two of them watched the memory.  _"As I mentioned, a lot changed due to what Gagoze did to Rihan and I did not take well to it. So I often skipped school, which resulted in the clan members trying to find me and getting me either back to school or to my angry mom."_

" _I presume they were worried something would happen to you like it did to Rihan?"_

" _Yes… and I knew it at the time as well, but the brat I was I just had to vent my frustration somehow and doing this was one of the few ways."_  Ritsura confirmed Kanmaru's doubts.  _"When it all began, they would catch me not long after I disappeared, but with time I got better at deceiving them about my whereabouts and their success at catching me became rarer with each passing week so with time it actually became rare for them to catch me."_

" _Nurarihyon-sama and Rihan-sama would have been proud_."

" _And gramps-gramps was proud! He and Nyudo were some of the few who never changed and even found my actions entertaining_."

" _And how did the others change exactly?_ "

" _They became over-protective and I could not go anywhere, be it day or night, without a dozen youkai following me and keeping an eye on me. But it did not stop there… Father would have most rather cut me and brother out of the entire youkai world. Forget visiting youkai districts, forget going with dad to visit other clans, forget… forget anything dealing with youkai outside our mansion. I was to be a good_ _ **human**_ _girl, nothing more and nothing less._ "Ritsura sighed. _"Thankfully, father did everything he could to make entire Ukiyoe Town the safest place for us so they did not complain too much about these pranks of mine."_

" _I see… still, this sure must have put them on their wit's end._ "

" _Yes, it did. I now feel sorry for doing it to them, but back then I was a wild, little girl. It was easier to think about myself than the others._ "

" _So… how come you were able to get yourself into that battle last night?_ " Kanmaru asked. " _And how come that even after it your bodyguards are at such a large distance from you?_ "

" _No spoilers, Kanmaru-san~! Everything in its due time… and if you don't mind, lets skip mom's angry lecturing."_

* * *

Later that night, Rihan and Ritsura were fighting with wooden swords. They were old enough to understand the more refined ways of fighting so they were not simply hitting one another randomly.

Well, Ritsura who got harsh training in Toono understood them, but Rihan's attacks were much duller than hers. He fought cautiously, trying to distance himself away from his opponent whenever he felt too exhausted and his attacks fere focused on trying to hit her, but Ritsura would parry them. There were a few occasions when she could evade his attack and hit him but she tended to let such chances pass. Her little brother had trouble just landing a hit on her.

They were fighting in Nura Clan's dojo, with their father (currently in his youkai form) leaning against the wall and being their only supervisor. He watched his children sometimes with a smile and other times with a stern look.

"Rihan, don't just run away from her attacks!" Their father spoke with a stern face. "Don't attack without thinking either! Guess where her attack will come from and either block it or evade it and land a hit on Ritsura."

Ritsura was certain she saw her brother's eyes narrow for a moment, likely annoyed by their father's demands. Of the few things that never changed in her brother, one was his annoyance at losing to his older sister. Although their father just wanted to make him stronger, Rihan was losing focus each time he reprimanded him for something, especially if Ritsura fought satisfactorily.

Ritsura would have most rather gone easy, but she knew father would notice it if she went too far. She wasn't worried about her father reprimanding her, but if Rihan heard she went too easy on him, he would have completely lost his will to fight.

So she had to fight, maybe not with all her strength but still with more than she would have wanted do. It was impossible for Rihan to win at this time, both due to her being a year older and because she was trained in Toono. Yes, her brother was getting better but so was she… and she was better at understanding what she could learn as well as notice her own mistakes. It would take a while until he became able to keep up with his sister's growth.

Rihan tried to block a few of her sword swings, but although he sometimes could guess where Ritsura would strike most of the times, he was not fast enough to block it in time. In the end, he reverted back to his old tactics.

"Alright, now use your Fear." Their father ordered.

This was convenient for Ritsura as she didn't let father and brother know just how good she was with her ice techniques. Thus, she could go easy on him. Additionally, although her brother was unable to use mother's techniques, he had a high tolerance for cold so many of Ritsura's moves wouldn't be as effective on him.

They both started releasing their Fears and Ritsura felt her senses getting clouded by something. Most youkai and humans would be unaware that something was happening to their senses, but as a part-Nurarihyon herself she was more aware when such kind of Fear tried to affect her.

But while he was more often able to land hits on his sister, their father was dissatisfied by the fact that Rihan still fought using the most basic moves.

Then Karasu Tengu came to tell something to their father. Both Ritsura and Rihan were still fighting, their attention on one another. However, when Ritsura went to make her own attack, she noticed that Rihan pushed his hand in such a way that they would be hit by Ritsura's attack, as well as that he attempted to hide that fact from her with his Fear.

But although he failed to fool his sister, it was too late to stop her attack so his plan worked and Ritsura ended up hitting his fingers with too much strength. "Ouch!"

"What is it Rihan?" this took back Rikuo's attention and he quickly walked up to the kids.

"I think I have hurt my fingers, dad." Rihan said and Ritsura didn't say anything about the fact that he himself was responsible for it, probably because he wasn't in the mood for any more training.

Rikuo sighed and put his hand on Rihan's shoulder. "Well, you trained enough with me and Ritsura today. Go put some ice on it and get some rest." Father told him with a soft smile.

"Thank you dad." Rihan nodded and gave his wooden sword to his father before leaving the dojo.

"Well, are you for some sparring with your dad?" Rikuo asked his daughter.

Ritsura didn't say anything, but just smiled and took a fighting position. In return, her father did the same.

After a few moments, Ritsura felt something behind her and immediately used both her sword and ice to strike at her surrounding, causing her father to jump back and the mirage which now stood in front of her disappeared.

"And there I thought I would catch you unaware." He said to his daughter.

"Sorry dad, but you are nothing compared to Itaku." Ritsura said while sticking her tongue out.

"Haha, you know he still does that to me whenever we meet…" Rikuo said while scratching his cheek. "Well don't think that… eh?" feeling his hand freezing, Rikuo moved his eyes towards his hand and noticed it was inside an ice formation which looked as if it grew from the ground.

Ritsura ran towards her father, preparing to strike him.

However, he didn't look concerned. "I see that Reira taught you well." This was the first time he saw his daughter use one of Reira's specific techniques. "But you need more than that to get your daddy into a pinch." Rikuo easily broke the ice that caught his hand and by the time Ritsura hit him with the sword, he already replaced himself with a mirage.

Rikuo softly hit her on her back from behind. "And the girl is down."

Ritsura turned around, pouting due to the fact that he already landed a hit on her. Even though she understood that her chances of beating her father were near to impossible, she still disliked the fact that he had such an easy time with her.

She prepared herself for another attack. She put her index and middle finger on her left hand together and stretched her left arm left of herself. After the necessary chants, she released a blizzard and used the fingers to help herself in guiding snow in such a way it would hit her father's eyes.

However, she was too slow so Rikuo noticed what she was doing. But rather than evade her attack or protect his eyes, he just smiled and let her attack hit him.

Although she was aware that her attack didn't surprise him, Ritsura still gambled and ran to attack him. However, rather than run in straight line she circled around him and went to attack his backside.

Her father started speaking when she went to attack him. "My eyes are a bit out, but…" he quickly turned around and slashed at his daughter from above, softly hitting her left shoulder.

However, he missed as she used her Nurarihyon's blood to slightly fool his senses so he would think she was a few centimeters in the wrong place.

"Haaaa!" Ritsura screamed and went to hit him with his wooden sword.

But her father gracefully evaded her strike by spinning himself around and hitting his daughter on the head.

"OUCH!" his daughter screamed and accidentally let some of her ice out of her mouth, freezing the ground under her, resulting in her losing her balance. "Awawawa… OUCH!" she ended up falling on her bottom.

"Ha ha ha…" her father laughed at her clumsiness.

"Just so you know, only sword hits count!" Ritsura said as she rose up.

"As you wish, hime-sama." Her father teased her, resulting in more pouting from his daughter. "You did a smart thing there. Just freezing someone can be scary, but by hiding your presence the technique gets stronger."

"Hmh!" Not wanting him to see how happy she was to be praised, she turned around and went into  _tsundere_  mode. "Telling me nice things won't make me go easy on you!"

"And that's the last thing I'd want."

"Hyah!" Ritsura felt the wooden sword tap her head a little. "That's cheating! Low! Underhanded!"

"It is not cheating, it is our fighting style." He said with a smile. "Well, I don't really need to tell you that seeing as you always use such an approach on me."

"Mrrr…" Again, Ritsura was pouting.

"Come on, we won't be using Fear anymore. Just try to land a hit on me while I block your attacks." Rikuo said and took a fighting stance.

"Aaaaarh!" she ran at him and tried to land a hit on her father. At first she fought in a way she considered graceful, but soon enough got annoyed and impatient so she started fighting worse than Rihan fought against her, that is she tried to throw one strike after another without any thinking.

"You Fear is sipping out Ritsura." Her father warned the girl whose temper started spreading cold air all around them.

"Who cares?! It won't harm you anyway!" she yelled and became even wilder in her attacks while her father just laughed.

After a few minutes of hopeless fighting, she fell onto her knees. "I give up."

"Hit again." Rikuo taped the side of her neck. "You may understand the basics of swordsmanship, but you still must work on your patience… and to control your Fear. Otherwise, you will just get unnecessarily exhausted."

"You are too strong!" Ritsura turned hysteric to the point a tear came out from one of her eyes. "And too serious! How can I beat you if you are so serious?!" Ironically, even the Toono youkai often fought without giving their best.

Rikuo continued having a kind, soft expression on his face and kneeled down to his daughter. "Now now, this is not a game Ritsura. Daddy wants his little girl to be strong after all."

"But I had enough of that in Toono."

"But you still need more." Rikuo put a hand on her head. "Do you know why dad does all this?"

"…why?"

"Because he knows his little girl can become a strong youkai one day." He said and pated her head. "Do you want to be a strong youkai, Ritsura?"

"Yes I do!" she gave him a small nod, but still had a sad expression on her face.

"What is it Ritsura? Is there something else troubling you?"

"You are going to Kyoto soon, are you not?" Ritsura has heard that father and many other members of the clan were going to visit Kyoto to discuss something with the Kyoto Youkai Clan.

Her father sighed, knowing full well where this was going. "Look Ritsura… dad is worried about you and-"

"You weren't worried before!" she shouted. "You used to take me everywhere…"

For a few moments, Rikuo just looked at her with a sad face. "I know… and that's why Rihan got…" Ritsura saw her father's eyes tremble for a moment but then he moved his head downwards to hide them from his daughter. "I am sorry, I love you both way too much… I can't allow something like that to happen again." He gave her one more pat on the head then rose and quickly walked out of the dojo.

Ritsura stayed there for a few moments, but then removed the tears with her sleeve and, with a determined face, went after him. She had decided to get him to take her to Kyoto… she had no idea how, but that wouldn't stop her from trying.

* * *

If she could not persuade her father, maybe she could persuade someone else… like her mother.

"Mom, I want to go Kyoto with dad!" Ritsura ran into her parent's room where her mother, Tsurara, was watching something on TV with a determined face.

"Ah!" when she saw her daughter enter, she turned red and quickly turned off the TV. "Ritsu, don't just barge in like that!"

"What were you watching?" Ritsura asked.

"Nothing… just studied how to be… a better wife." Her mother's face got even redder. "It was… loud so I turned it off else I would not be able to hear my dear little daughter."

"Oh…" the innocent ten years old Ritsura just nodded, confused at her mother's weird behavior.

" _Oh… OH… NOW I GET IT!_ " however, the adoloscent seventeen years Ritsura was another story. " _AYAYAYAYAYAYA MY MOM IS… MY MOM IS A… GAAAAAKH!_ " but no matter how loudly she shouted, only Kanmaru could hear her.

" _I presume you don't watch such stuff?_ " Kanmaru asked.

" _Ehhh…_ "

" _You do, don't you?_ "

" _Doesn't matter, I am a growing teen and I have important things to learn~_ "

" _Well, to the old me you both seem almost as-_ "

" _That my mom is slow in growing up doesn't matter!"_  he brought up the topic that always annoyed her. _"Now shut up, we have a show to watch!_ "

"… _where did you get that?_ " Kanmaru noticed that present Ritsura was eating some white, fluffy stuff (popcorn).

" _You did say that my thoughts rule this world so I made myself some popcorn. Now lets stop wasting time!_ " Ritsura repeated but continued muttering under her breath. " _While I am not watching, my mom is… even at this moment she could… uuuuww…_ "

Back in the land of memories, Tsurara was rejecting Ritsura's request. "Again Ritsura, dad has good reasons for not letting you and Rihan come with him."

"But… but…" unfortunately, her mother proved more resistant to Ritsura's demands than the girl expected… not surprising as she was burdened the same way Rikuo was. "But I haven't seen Kyokotsu and Hagoromo for years!"

"How are you not terrified by those two? You are always first to hide when Zen-sama comes…" Tsurara muttered under breath. "I am sure they will come here someday so don't worry about it."

"But… I don't want to just sit at home and be useless while dad is on an important trip!"

"You are not being useless dearie." Tsurara tried to cheer up her daughter. "You, me and Rihan have a very important duty of keeping our home safe! After all, our clan has many enemies and-"

While her mom was still giving a speech with closed eyes and a raised index finger, Ritsura sighed and raised herself up in order to leave the room.

"Hey, come back… don't leave…" Tsurara begged her daughter. "I just came up with this cool speech so you can't just…"

" _She tried to give me that speech three more times you know_."

Next, she decided to try her luck with the other person who could force his own will onto her father: Zen. Luckily, he was currently in the Nura clan's mansion.

"Uncle Zen~" Ritsura walked into his room.

"WHERE ARE YOUR MANNERS?! THAT'S NOT HOW YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO ENTER A ROOM WHERE SOMEONE WITH A RANK IS STAYING!" Zen screamed at her, reminding her just how scary he was. "YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO OPEN THOSE DOORS WHILE SITTING!"

"Y-yes!" Ritsura immediately closed the paper door, sat on her knees and opened the door again.

"ANNOUNCE YOURSELF  **BEFORE**  YOU ENTER!"

"Yes!" she closed the doors, took a deep breath and said: "Zen-sama, I am coming in." and she opened the paper door again.

"-SAMA?! ARE YOU A SERVANT OR SOMETHING?! YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO SAY -DONO!"

"Yes!" she closed the paper door again, waited a few moments for her body to stop trembling and then said: "Zen-dono, I am coming in!"

"Good, that's better." He finally lowered his tone.

" _That bastard… it took me years to realize that I didn't need to be THAT formal with him_."

Ritsura was now able to get a better look at him and he looked just like he always did. She was unable to believe that Zen and her father were sworn brothers as Zen looked… much older. His hair was white, as was his skin. He coughed all the time, sometimes had trouble speaking and rarely left his bed. In a way, he looked older than even her great-grandfather did. Still, he commanded respect and was the highest ranked member of her father's Hyaki Yakou.

"So, what did you need?"

"Nothing Zen-dono, just thought I would pay respects."

"Good." He nodded.

"Good." She nodded back. "See ya." She closed the paper door and wondered why she even thought that speaking with Zen could result in anything but this.

Her third target was gramp-gramps, aka the very first Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan and its founder: Nurarihyon himself.

"Gramp-gramps, I have something I want to-" she entered his room, but the only thing she saw was a note which said:  _'Went to visit some friends in Chubu ;-o'_. "…why can I never find you when I need you?"

In the end, Ritsura's plan seemed to be doomed for failure. Her father and part of his Hyaki Yakou would leave in ten minutes, leaving Ritsura at home. She tried to think of someone who could make her father change his mind, but she could not think of anybody. Her mother, Zen and gramp-gramps were the only ones for whom she knew could make a difference.

So she decided to give up and just see father off. She walked towards the courtyard, with some heavy footsteps walking just behind her at a fast pace. But since all kinds of youkai walked and ran through the mansion, she did not pay it much attention.

Then the owner of those footsteps grabbed her by the collar and raised her up with one hand. "Eh?"

"Hey, Commander!" Hitotsume Nyudo shouted as he entered the courtyard while holding the little Yuki Onna with his hand. When she felt his hand move, Ritsura felt something bad was about to happen.

Rikuo, who was already on a Takarabune, sighed as he heard  _that_  youkai making a fuss… again. "Hitotsume, what do you want now- EH?!" the moment Rikuo turned around, Hitotsume threw the little Ritsura all the way to him.

"KYAAAAHHH!" Ritsura screamed as she flew and spinned through the air.

"Ritsura!" her father jumped towards her and caught her. "Are you alright?"

"Uwa uwa uwa…" Ritsura's head and vision were still spinning around. "I am wooby wooby…"

Rikuo was relieved to see his daughter was alright and then gave Hitotsume a cold glare. "What do you think you are doing, Hitotsume?!"

"Where the hell do you think  **you**  are going without the brat, commander?" Hitotsume shouted at him with his usual angry look, something he did since before Rikuo even accepted to inherit the clan. "Are you even aware of how important these negotiations are?"

"What the hell does taking her with me have to do with them?" Rikuo yelled back at him.

"Everything!" Hitotsume continued, still pointing towards Rikuo with his finger. "You are going to meet Hagoromo Gitsune. Ha-go-ro-mo Gi-tsu-ne, the woman who still thinks of herself as the Lord of Pandemonium and who demands to be shown respect by everyone. Bringing that brat with you proves that you trust her enough to bring your own child into her home! The opposite shows that you don't trust her enough to put your kid in her care!"

"She will not take it that way if I…"

"Yes she will! Even the less proud clans already are!" Hitotsume didn't give up. "That's the reason why all the other clans have become grumpy lately! For years you brought her with you wherever you went and suddenly you start keeping her away from everyone!"

"Hitotsume is COGH right, Rikuo." Zen also came out, his servants running around yelling that he should return to bed. "I understand your reasons, but this is a clan matter. As the Supreme Commander, you must prove our allies that you trust them by bringing your daughter and heir with you."

"Not you too, Zen…"

"Hmph, imagine what would have happened if I kept you locked in a room." Nurarihyon also appeared, sitting on top of the Takarabune seemingly not yet gone to Chubu. "We would all be kneeling in front of the Nue or, worse, Sanmoto. Not to mention that the girl would die of boredom if she doesn't get to see some action."

"Also, the girl is getting a bit too grumpy Rikuo-sama…" Tsurara also joined the resistance movement. "But as long as you keep an eye on her, she would be alright so why not take her with you?"

"Even my own wife…" Rikuo sighed after seeing many youkai around them nod to their arguments. "Everyone is against me, huh? But…" Rikuo still didn't want to give up, his eyes moving towards the ground beneath the Takarabune where he wanted to put Ritsura.

However, he ended up putting her onto Takarabune "There, you got what you wanted." Rikuo said with a bitter smile, making Ritsura's eyes shine while the rest of the clan smiled. "Rihan, are you coming too?"

"No, I am staying here to protect mom." Rihan rejected his offer. Unlike Ritsura, he never liked all these excursions.

Rikuo nodded and then shouted. "Alright guys, we wasted enough time already. Lets hurry up else we will get to see what else she has in that bag of hers!"

"Fly high!" Ritsura shouted with a wide smile.

" _And so, thanks to Hitotsume and the others, I managed to reclaim some of my past rights._ " Present Ritsura commented to Kanmaru. " _However, this is the first and only time I could rely solely on others. The rest I would need to reclaim myself…_ "

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Originally each character was supposed to get one chapter in the arc… but our Ritsura-hime-sama would not settle with it so here we are: she gets three chapters (and no doubt will try to get a fourth that greedy little…). So here, have the second one which is focused on her adapting to life after Rihan Junior got harmed -_-

* * *

**Anime Chick344034** :  _"…I feel a foreshadowing in this chapter. I have a feeling Rihan and Ristura will meet Gagoze REAL soon…"_

Gagoze was bored.

Even bringing a child at the top of a skyscraper did not satisfy him. He thought it would be fun to have the kid scream with all his might, trying to make the clueless human on the streets below hear him. And he did scream a lot, but it could no longer satisfy Gagoze.

He looked eastwards, to where Tokyo was. "It was a long time since that day, wasn't it?" he grumbled to himself. "They could not be looking for me forever right? Maybe I could return soon… Rikuo's family are the only ones whose scream could satisfy my desires…"

As he thought about what to do next, he tossed the kid's body over the skyscraper. The terrified humans would make a satisfying scene in their own right.

* * *

**Guest** : " _I love this fanfic. read twice over already. plz dont stop. also how did you get that awesome pic of Ritsura done. that is amazing creativity. keep writing. this is one of my favs._ "

I am very flattered to hear that you like this fic of mine enough to read it twice :) Don't worry, I shall not stop: this is too much for me after all ;)

As for the artwork, I simply found a good DA artist who offers commissions at a great price and whose art style I liked so… I commissioned it ;)


	28. Ritsura's Trial, Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Due to Ritsura being a greedy hime-sama, her one flashback chapter grew into three flashback chapters. So have ANOTHER flashback chapter!

**Chapter 28: Ritsura's Trial, Part 3**

"There, this is the city of Shimonoseki." Nura Rikuo said to his Twelve-year-old daughter as the flying ship Takarabune carried them across Japan's star-filled skies. "This is the most populated city of Yamaguchi Prefecture."

"I wanted to ask this before but… why are we going here and not to Yamaguchi City?" Ritsura wondered. "Yamaguchi is the capital of Yamaguchi Prefecture after all so why isn't Dassai there?"

"Dassai seems to like it here." Rikuo said after a moment of silence. But that was most likely a lie or a half-truth at best. Something bothered her father as well as the Nura Clan's executive members and this journey was obviously both political and of great importance.

Ritsura was certain that it was somehow related to the Hashima Kyushu Clan and if she had to guess, Shimonoseki would be Kyushu's first target if they attacked. But why exactly would Kyushu attack was something she didn't know for sure at the time.

"It is about Kyushu, isn't it?" Ritsura tried to get her father to talk. "Dassai expects them to attack there, am I right?"

Again, her father stayed silent for a few moments but then smiled and said: "Well you sure have a rich imagination." He continued with his attempts to keep her out of their clan's affairs. "No need for you to worry about it… just go and tell Karasu and the others we have arrived."

"Hrm!" Ritsura pouted but went to do what her father asked her to.

Although he often brought her with him, bringing his daughter was nothing more than a show of respect. For important meeting, her father spent his time with other clan leaders while she had to spend time with their retainers where her only role was to look pretty and act like a nice girl.

"Karasu, we will soon be landing!" Ritsura said after she entered the Takarabune's interior.

"Thank you Ojou-sama, but I have already told everyone to prepare themselves." Karasu Tengu, a youkai who looked like a tiny bird with clothes, replied while he read a book that was larger than him.

"Father also told me to ask you to explain what is going on with Kyushu and Yamaguchi."

"Sorry Ojou-sama, but your father told us not to answer such questions unless he  _himself_  tells us otherwise." Her father seems to have expected her to try this one so Karasu didn't fall for it.

"Grrr… how can it hurt to just talk about it?"

"I don't think it would hurt, but Rikuo-sama…"

"Yes yes, I get it… dad's orders are absolute." Ritsura turned around to leave.

"Please Ojou-sama, don't be angry… he just wants you to…"

"…have a nice and happy life as it befits a twelve years old girl… twelve years old normal human girl." Ritsura pouted.

"Rikuo-sama-"

"Hey, I can understand acting like that while I was younger. I will even agree with it: a small girl  _should_  stay away from such stuff!" Ritsura cut him off. "But I am twelve years old now! Father was twelve years old when he became the Underboss and lead the entire clan in feuds against other, powerful clans!"

"Yes, but-"

"And I am not even asking for something like that!" she went on. "I just want to be accepted for what I am supposed to be! I am not asking to be allowed to lead the entire clan against someone like Hagoromo Gitsune, I would happily leave that to dad!"

"Umm…" Karasu Tengu remembered how much of a chore kids become at this age.

"But I am not even allowed to know what the hell is going on! This is plain ridiculous!"

"I agree that it sounds as if it is a bit overboard but you must take care of your human life… in your case, going to school and studying. That by itself is exhausting, yet alone with having to worry about the clan's politics… and believe me, I know very well how hard that can be. I mean, I get to see my wife once or twice a year."

"But father…"

"With all respect to Rikuo-sama, the clan had to pull connections to make up for his lack of studying. He was an excellent student, but even he was not able to give school enough time and energy to use his own potential." Karasu Tengu explained. "You will be a youkai for centuries, but a student for only a few more years. If you don't live it to your fullest, you may regret it later."

Ritsura felt herself losing her energy due to Karasu's words, even if she still didn't want to accept her current condition. "But I am not asking for much…"

"Ojou-sama, even if we give you a little, your responsibilities would start growing…" Karasu Tengu started.

"…not to mention you are like your mother in these things." Her father entered the cabin. "You would just go on putting more and more burden on your back."

"Mhmmm…" Ritsura made a pouty face again.

"All in its time, Pouty-hime-sama." Rikuo patted her head and smiled. "Let's go everyone, the ship is low enough for us to disembark."

"Ha, there you are Rikuo!" someone shouted as soon as Rikuo and Ritsura jumped form Takarabune. They both turned around and saw a youkai who looked like a middle-aged man… a drunk middle-aged man carrying a big bottle of sake that is. He was followed by three of his retainers, though only a tengu looked sober.

"Good to see you, Dassai." Rikuo greeted him with a smile.

"Oh, good afternoon Uncle Dassai." Ritsura smiled at him, giving her best to not squeeze her nose with her fingers as he reeked of alcohol.

But Dassai failed to understand a girl's delicacy. "Oh the little Ojou-sama is here too! Come to Uncle Dassai!" he grabbed her and raised her up, as if she were still a kid. "Ha ha, you sure grew up."

"Dassai, please put me down!" she cried. "This is too embarrassing!"

"But you once enjoyed this."

"No I didn't! Not from you!" Ritsura continued crying while he continued smiling.

Still, he put her down just like she asked him to and turned back to her father while Ritsura felt she was getting drunk due to his reek. "Rikuo, Tamazuki is getting impatient."

"Sure he is." Rikuo smirked.

"Tamazuki is here as well?" Ritsura asked. "What is he doing here?"

"Yes, he is." Rikuo answered her first question but ignored the second one. "Well, let's go get this over with so that he can return to Shikoku and us two can get some booze."

"Heh, now that's what I am asking! Hell, I may as well take some now!" Dassai said and took a few big sips from his bottle. "Hyaaahahah! Well,let's go then! The bar is just across the road." Dassai pointed towards a dignified bar, contrasting Dassai in every possible way. It said on the doors that it was closed due to inventure, but in reality it was to let the three youkai yakuza have the place for themselves. "It is a stuck up and dull place, but Tamazuki promised he would kill me if I brought him to any other place." He took another gulp of his sake. "That Tanuki and his stupid, refined tastes… pih. One would think that someone living in the middle of a forest would have less refined standards."

Rikuo nodded and then turned towards his followers and Ritsura. "This is a private meeting between me, Dassai and Tamazuki. You guys just stay guard in case… something happens."

 _In case Kyushu attempts to remove three of its rivals at once…_ Her father may try his best to keep her oblivious, but she was old enough to know the basics of what was going on.

"As for you Ritsura, there seems to be many shops and sweet-stores around here so you will have something to do while daddy is away." He said to her. And before she could say anything back, he continued: "And stay out of trouble, please." He patted her on her head and started leaving.

"Don't worry Rikuo-sama, we will take good care of Ojou-sama!" Karasu Tengu promised to his Supreme Commander. When Rikuo entered the bar with Dassai, Karasu Tengu turned around. "So Ojou-sama, what do you say that we… dammit guys, how many times do I have to tell you to never take your eyes away from Ojou-sama?!"

* * *

Every boy and girl likes to be left alone when they get frustrated, and conveniently for Ritsura her Nurarihyon blood allowed her to acquire such a luxury even while a dozen youkai try to watch over her.

For a while, she contemplated sneaking into the bar to eavesdrop on what her father discussed with Dassai and Tamazuki but she knew better than to fool around while something important was going on. Her mother made sure she understood that there were times when she had to behave properly.

So she did exactly what her father told her to do: walk around this part of Shimonoseki and visit various shops. First she visited a few shopping centres, not with intentions to buy anything but just wanting to browse around. Browsing like this may be useless, but it was a less annoying way to waste one's time than doing absolutely nothing.

But walking around for a long time was tiring so later she decided to sit on a caffe's terrace and order an ice cream. The ice cream was average, destroying her fantasies of discovering delicious ice cream in a far away city she wouldn't be able to taste ever again.

 _Well, my fantasies never come true anyway, so why would this one?_  Ritsura sighed as she was still unable to get her thoughts away from her troubles of getting accepted by the clan. Other than Hitotsume, everyone was against her: everyone was far too loyal to her father to help her in any way.

Besides the first generation, that is, who were not that fond of her father. But with her being his daughter, they were not too fond of her either. They were loyal, of course, but not friendly, and what Ritsura desperately needed were friends, since without them she can do nothing.

"Wauf!" something barked at her.

Ritsura turned her head to its source. "Oh, a doggie." Ritsura smiled at a dark brown, hairy dog who stood just beside her. "Sorry, I don't have any food for you…"

Ritsura went to put her hand on it's head, but then the dog jumped at the table and immediately started running away.

"Eh?" For a moment Ritsura was confused, but then noticed that the dog ate her ice cream. "HEY, COME BACK HERE!" It may not have been a delicious ice cream, but stealing from Nura Ritsura was a grave crime. And no, it didn't matter that the culprit was a dog. She decided she would catch it even if she needed an entire year to do it.

But after just twenty minutes she found herself in a park, sitting under a tree and too exhausted to even walk yet alone run. "You are… one worthy… adversary, dog." Ritsura said to the dog who just jumped left and right in front of her, as if taunting her to go after him.

"Wauf! Wauf!"

"No, I have already given up. I accept you as the stronger warrior."

"Wauf!" the dog barked again and then ran to her, throwing itself onto her legs as if asking her to pet him on its belly.

"Yes, yes… due to being defeated, Nura Ritsura shall accept your unreasonable demand." Ritsura smiled and did as the dog wanted. "You also made me feel better even if for only a little bit so I shouldn't complain." After all, it was hard to think about anything while chasing a dog.

 _Maybe Karasu and dad are right… maybe I should just leave it be until they decide I am ready._  As much as she hated it, she felt that maybe she should admit defeat. She understood her father's decision and Karasu Tengu had a point: there will be plenty of time later. Rationally, enjoying her youth like a normal girl would and only joining the clan affairs later was the best course of actions.  _After all, I could spend my time preparing myself… practicing my skills…_

Still, deep down she didn't like that idea.

"So there you are." A male voice she did not immediately recognize said from behind her. "Stupid dog, I told you to wait outside, not wander around the city."

"Wauf!" the dog raised itself up and ran to its master.

"Oh, are you his-" Ritsura raised herself up to meet the dog's master, but turned silent after seeing who it was.

She had seen that person a few times before, but had rarely spoken to him in the last few years. He was her father's rival and leader of another powerful youkai clan and someone who once almost forced Nura Clan out of Kantou.

It was Tamazuki, leader of the Shikoku Clan… a wicked youkai who killed both his brothers and his comrades to gain power. To Ritsura, who could not imagine herself harming either her brother or her comrades, he was a terrifying person.

"Oh, it is Rikuo's brat." Tamazuki commented when he noticed her. He wore a red yukata with black stripes and had orderly, short black hair. It was a dull appearance, but there was a flame in his eyes that made it clear that he was one of Japan's strongest youkai. "What, you used to be louder in the past. Did my dog eat your tongue?" he smirked after making that suggestion.

When she was a kid, she did not know what kind of person he was so she didn't fear anything about him. She even ended up playing a prank on his account.

"N… no I…" she could not understand why her father spared someone like him… and especially why he would socialize with such a wicked youkai… Nor did she understand how that nice dog could so happily jump around him. "Has your meeting with father ended?"

"Obviously." He said in a tone that made it clear that he considered this a stupid question. "Is there a reason you were not with him?"

"Eh?" Ritsura was taken aback by that question.

"You are his heiress, are you not?" he asked a question to which she answered with a small nod. "In that case you should have been sitting beside him, not beside my dog."

"I… dad told me that…" she started but couldn't make herself finish once she realized that he just insulted her. She also didn't want to talk about such things to someone like him.

Tamazuki made a smile, as if he were pleased by something. "I see."

"What are you smiling at?"

"You know, even with Kyushu trying to conquer my island, I still consider the Nura Clan my greatest rival. Be it as an enemy or ally, I will without doubt compete with them again." He talked, with the same smile on his face. "So, how could I not smile after realizing that the fourth heir is one pathetic little daddy's girl."

"What?!" all fear she felt was replaced by fury for being insulted like that. "I am not-"

"Than why were you not there?"

"I am not ready!" she shouted back at him. "Until dad tells me that I am ready, the clan will not…"

"I see… the brat from four years ago at least had some potential, but this one…" Tamazuki said with a smug expression.

"Why… why do you say that I don't have… potential?" he practically said she was unworthy of her title, something nobody ever said to her… but it was a thought that lately flied around her head.

"Hm, isn't it obvious? Anyone who needs to be given authority is not worthy of it." Tamazuki answered, his face as proud as before. "People worthy of leadership don't beg for right to lead… other people beg them to accept them as followers."

"Ah…" she saw that he had a point, which made her feel depressed. "So since everybody is denying me that… it means that I am not worthy, am I?"

"Haah? That's not my point."

"Eh?"

"When a worthy person wants to lead, they find a way to make it possible, even if they have to make risks or 's take me for example …" Tamazuki continued while still having a smile on his face. "When I came to age, the Shikoku Clan was not even worthy of being called a shadow of its former glory. It was a pathetic group of pessimistic youkai who ridiculed any idea of restoring the clan."

Ritsura heard some of the story about Shikoku Clan from various sources, but this was a rare opportunity to hear it from someone who led that clan.

"Due to being the 88th son of his 88th wife, I strongly inherited my father's Fear." 88 was an important number to Shikoku youkai, just like how hundred is important to Nuras and most of other youkai clans. Even their Night Parade is called Night Parade of eighty eight youkai rather than of a hundred youkai. "But everyone stood in my way, ridiculing my attempts to accomplish something… yet I still managed to make the clan stronger and even the Nuras feared when they heard I had come to Tokyo."

"And then father defeated you."

"Yes… but even so I haven't given up." He went on. "I lost the trust of my clan and we became weaker than ever before… but I managed to regain my clan's trust, strengthened the clan once again and lead them to fight the Nue himself. And today… we are once again a clan that commands respect. If I ever gave up or held back, this would not have been possible."

"Oooh…" for a moment Ritsura was impressed, but then remembered what else this person has done. "Proved yourself and gotten stronger you say… by murdering most of your family and comrades?"

Her words made the smile disappear from his lips. "No… I naively thought it would make me stronger. I should have known that a strong person would never need to do something like that… in that regard…" he took a a deep breath in. "I was weak and unworthy… but those were not the only things I did back then and today I would not repeat it. I learned from my mistakes, but am not letting them burden me."

"Oh…" Ritsura was not sure why, but she could swear there was honesty on his face. Maybe he really was no longer a person who would repeat such a grave sin.

Then the pleased expression returned to his face. "But let's return to the topic… what I want to say is that you are unworthy because you lack the attitude and the ambition necessary to lead and protect your clan. Thus, I advise you to put your trust in me and-"

"I see!" Ritsura felt energetic all of sudden, raising her hands as if she were cheering on a football match. "I thought you were an evil douche, but now I see that you are actually a very cool guy, Tamazuki!"

"Eh?" he was taken aback by her sudden outburst. "Yes, I guess so… thats why you should put-"

"I was bothered by this for months, yet you make it all clear in a matter of a few minutes! Aghh, I can't believe I was so stupid!" Ritsura continued, once again unintentionally stopping Tamazuki from making his offer. "You are right, I must prove myself and never give up no matter what stands in my way or how many times I fail! After all, I am the daughter of the Lord of Pandemonium himself! I can't possibly lose to someone like you!"

"What? Eh?" Tamazuki was completely taken aback. "No, what I meant to say was that you should tru-"

"Thank you for the valuable lesson, Tamazuki!" Ritsura bowed to him and then raised her hands again. "I promise you, next time we meet you will proudly accept me as the future Mistress of all youkai!"

"What?! This was no lesson! Besides, I would never accept anyone but me as-" Once again Tamazuki tried to tell something back to her, but the girl was too excited to listen.

"Aaah, I need to go! Dad is probably waiting for me and I must make plans for what I will do!" she grabbed Tamazuki's hand and shaked it. "I can't thank you enough, Tamazuki! You are the best! Cya!" she then gave dog another pat and then ran away.

"Yeah… cya…"

Ritsura finally understood that her clan was not in wrong here, but her.  _Expecting everything on a silver plater… what was I thinking?! I should not expect to become the Fourth Heir just because I am father's older child! I should become the Fourth Heir because I deserve it! Because I earned it! Rather than be depressed that there is an obstacle, I should be excited that there is a challenge!_

And she loved challenges.

* * *

"So, nee-san…" Ritsura's eleven years old brother started. "Why did you tell me to come to the meeting room?"

"Because we have something important to do, my little brother." Ritsura sat on the podium, where the Supreme Commander, or the Underboss in his absence, was supposed to sit. Her brother sat in front of her, the position usually used by those meeting the Commander or being judged by him. "You see, in Shimonoseki I made a decision… a decision that I would put in motion on the day I reach the age of thirteen."

"Nee-san, your birthday was five days ago…"

"Well I wanted to celebrate a little bit… for a small amount of five days… can't immediately jump into action you know…"

"That's called procrastinating."

"Eh… well I guess that's true…" Ritsura looked aside and scratched her cheek. "But that doesn't matter! It may be five days later than planned but we are doing it!"

"I still have no idea what is going on here…" Rihan sighed.

"Simply said, I am declaring myself the rightful Underboss!"

"And I declare myself the Lord of Australian Pandemonium." Rihan looked aside as he made his sarcastic remark. "Go me!"

"Don't you be a smartass towards me!" Ritsura pointed her finger at him. "The point is that, from now on, I am worthy of being called Underboss and I will prove it!"

"Alright… by the way, isn't  _Call of Honor: Samurai Blades 3_  coming out in two weeks?"

"Damn, so the deadline for reaching my first milestone is two weeks? Tz…" Ritsura clicked her tongue. "I didn't forget about the release date, but I forgot to think about it while making my plans… well, I guess after two weeks I will need to spend a month in solitude of my room, meditating and planning my next move."

"The Clan's future sure is bright…"

"Don't you get sassy with me now! A great person needs to be able to balance their personal and professional life."

"And just what is-"

"No-more-smartass-comments."

"Hai hai…" Rihan sighed. "So, what is your first step in your plan to achieve world domination,  _Onee-sama_?"

"Fufu… world domination and Onee-sama… I like your way of thinking." Ritsura grinned. "My first step is creating allies within the Nura Clan!"

"Allies?"

"Yes, the ones who will try to support me whenever dad tries to stand in my way!"

"Ha… and just who would do that?"

"Not the youkai who joined the clan since grampa became the commander." Ritsura started explaining. "Ao, Kuro, Kubi… they are all fanatically loyal to dad, not to mention they agree with his treatment towards me."

"So who do you…" her brother then realized what his sister meant. "You don't mean…"

"Yep, the First Generation!" Ritsura proclaimed. "They are not fanatically loyal to anyone and they believe in old traditions, including the one where we become adults after reaching age of thirteen."

For some reason, her brother started shivering. "Thus why you waited until you reached your thirteenth Birthday, right?"

"Yep!"

"And you will ask them to stand on your side, right?" he asked, still shivering.

"Yep! By the way, why are you-"

"BWUAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" her father suddenly started laughing. "The First Generation becoming your friends… that's a good one!"

"Is there a problem, little brother?" Ritsura asked with an annoyed expression.

"Problem? I don't care about clan's politics, but even I know those guys have their noses too high to see any kind of reason… there is no way they would side with anyone, even those who might fit their standards."

Ritsura sighed. "Well, they will be a tough nut to crack but…"

"Wait, you are serious?"

"Yes, I am  _baka-otouto_." Ritsura used her brother's old nickname and then raised herself up. "Anyway,let's go! We will show 'em the fourth generation's worth!"

"…oh no, you  _are_  serious…"

* * *

"So you really  _are_  serious about this…"

"Stop repeating that line already!" Ritsura shouted at her younger brother as the two scarf-wearing siblings walked through Ukiyoe's streets. "I have important things to think about!"

"Your character build for upcoming  _Call of Honor_?"

"Yes. No, I mean…" Ritsura blushed due to the blunder. "Look, I have an important business meeting and I have to compose myself. So stop trying to confuse me!"

"As you say, nee-san." Rihan shrugged his shoulders. "Anyway, isn't this Houkou's turf?"

The two siblings were now in a small part of Ukiyoe which was different than the rest. First what one would notice would be clothes that some of the women wore: simple yet elegant dresses with a zip on the right shoulder and revealing a thigh. Those were cheongsams, traditional Chinese dresses.

After that one would notice a few Chinese restaurants and houses with some minor Chinese influences. Some of the signs also had texts written in Chinese rather than Japanese, making it even more clear that this was the Chinese district.

And of course, the villa built in Chinese style which belonged to the Dandy Houkou Clan, a subject group of the Nura Clan which is made of many Chinese youkai.

"Yes, this is Houkou's turf." Ritsura answered as the two of them stopped in front of Houkou's mansion. "You have something to ask about it?"

"I thought we were going to meet someone from the First Generation… but Houkou's age is closer to ours than he is to theirs."

Houkou's father was one of the executives of the Nura Clan as well as a member of the faction that disputed their father's right of succession. He was retired after their father became the Supreme Commander but his retirement was quickly ended by the Hyaku Monogatari who assassinated him as well as a number of other members of his clan, including both of his older sons. Thus, the one who inherited the clan was his youngest son, still a young boy at the time.

"Houkou may not be an old youkai, but his mindset is still closer to those grampas than the ones who joined the clan later on… and his youth just makes it convenient for me."

"It does? Why?" Rihan's right eye widened. "You don't intend to charm him I hope."

"Who do you think I am?! Ahem." Ritsura lowered her voice and pulled Rihan away from the gates. "No, I mean it in a way that it would be easier to converse with someone of my age than it would be with some old grunt."

"You are on good terms with Hitotsume, the former leader of those who opposed father. Actually, why not go to him instead? He seems more influential than Houkou and he is already taking your side whenever he can."

"And he is more influential, but I need more than one ally thus I intend to make Houkou my next, but not the last, ally."

"And how would you do that?"

"I have no idea." She said and walked back to the gates. "I will make a plan once I see my options."

Rihan looked as if he wanted to say something back to her, but Ritsura knocked on the gates so he gave up on that idea. They didn't need to wait long for someone to open the gates.

"Yes, who is… oh, Ritsura-sama and Rihan-sama." a female who looked like a black wolf but with human build, a houkou, opened the gates. To Ritsura's surprise, she wore a kimono rather than a cheongsam or some other Chinese clothing.

"Hello~" Ritsura greeted her in a cheerful tone. "Is Houkou-dono here?"

"Ah, yes he is here. We weren't notified you were coming…" She replied and looked around. "…is this even a formal visit?" the yakuza usually brought at least some of their retainers with them, especially for important visits. The houkou was probably surprised to see such high-standing visitors come without any kind of entourage or invitation.

"Not formal, but still kinda important~" Ritsura walked through the gates and her brother, reluctantly, followed her.

"I… I see…" the inexperienced girl said. "Then please follow me, I will take you to Houkou-sama."

"Please do~" Ritsura said and the siblings followed the girl. Ritsura was glad that this girl understood that formalities, like making the guests wait until the host prepared himself, were not always necessary… and sometimes unwanted.

Against Ritsura's expectations, she didn't lead them into the mansion but instead took them towards a collection of trees inside the mansion walls. It was unusual to see such large trees in a mansion's courtyard, especially at a smaller one like Houkou's.

"Houkou-sama, you have visitors." The girl lead them to another wolf-like person, with white fur and long, straight orange hair, whose backs were turned towards the Nuras and the servant, starring at a tombstone that stood right in front of the largest tree in the courtyard, with two smaller tombstones standing behind that one. Ritsura guessed that those were Houkou's father and brothers.

Houkou turned his head aside but, against Ritsura's expectations, he first addressed his servant. "Thank you. You can go now."

"Yes, Houkou-sama." The girl bowed and left.

"Ritsura-sama and Rihan-dono…" Houkou then turned towards the siblings. "You should have let me know you were coming. It is inconvenient to surprise your host like this… creates an impression of distrust."

"How so?" Rihan asked. Ritsura was interested in Houkou's answer as well, but asking him something like that might lower his trust in her. Luckily, Rihan had less reasons to care about impressions.

"It is polite to let a host know you are coming because it gives him time to prepare himself properly. Not only would the guest get a treatment he deserves, but the host would feel more at ease. Also, the fact that you told him you are coming and were putting your safety into his hands proves your trust in him." While still lecturing her, Houkou then turned back towards the grave which likely belonged to his murdered father. "On the other hand,let's say you distrust someone and want to create pressure in order to get something out of him. By catching him at surprise you take care he is under pressure and sometimes you do it so he wouldn't find out something useful in time… or be able to act on something. In summary, surprise is distrust, announcing your arrival is trust."

Rihan's widened eyes showed that he was impressed by his explanation, but Ritsura only smirked.  _Acts as if he were one of the older youkai… Just as one would expect from Houkou, the youkai who had to deal with many who wanted to steal his clan and authority from him, yet managed to come out to prominence inside the Nura Clan._

"That's rude of you, Houkou." Ritsura spoke, putting her hands behind herself so he wouldn't notice that they shaked. After all, she had little experience with matters like this and that made her nervous. "I spent the last few days asking your followers and friends about you, even mentioning that I might visit you. I may not have sent a formal invitation, but you have expected my arrival… after all, that speech of yours is very well done so I am not buying that you came up with it on the spot."

Houkou turned his head a bit and looked at her. However, she couldn't see any signs on his animalistic face about what he thought. "Hmph, good to see our heiress did that intentionally… or that she is good at bluffing, which is also a promising quality." He said and turned back towards the grave and put his hands together.

"Thank you." Ritsura nodded.

"Well, there is another reason one might come without an announcement I guess: they want to hatch a plot." Houkou said while bowing to the grave after which he turned around, once again facing the siblings. "Were you not the Supreme Commander's beloved daughter and heiress I would have gotten worried and invited someone from the Main House just to stay safe."

"Your loyalty is commendable." Ritsura said to him.

"So, what did you come here for?"

"I wanted to make a friend." she answered with a smile.

"A… friend?" Houkou seemed surprised by her answer. "I hope this is not some childish proposal. I must confess that I have little patience for games."

"Alright, I will be direct: I am seeking allies who will help me become the Underboss."

"So direct…" Rihan whispered.

Houkou smirked, understanding what she meant. "Ah, I see… yes, after reaching the age of thirteen you should have been made the Underboss but haven't because the Supreme Commander… was protective. But seemingly his daughter wants the tradition to be followed…" He put his hand under his nose. "Hmm… Kubinashi, Aotabou, Kurotabou, Shouei and the rest of your father's most loyal followers would be too reluctant about this. However, you have Gyuki's support as well as Hitotsume's and if you could get one from me, the  _Rising Star_  for whom the older youkai have expectations for, you would get support of many of Nurarihyon-sama's retainers."

" _Rising star_?" Ritsura smirked. "You sure have a high opinion about yourself."

"And what is your opinion about yourself, Ritsura-sama?"

Ritsura felt she should think this through before answering, but knew that if she took too much time she would lose points with him. "I consider myself worthy of the title, as you will get to learn in near future."

"Let's hope so." If Houkou was impressed or disappointed, he did not show it. "Anyway, we bosses always need to have a good image and be aware of what others think about us.  _Rising star_  is not how I would call myself, but it is the opinion others have about me… and I tend to make use of it." Houkou put his hands behind himself. "But enough about me… if I give you my support, I would be stuck with supporting you even if you prove unworthy. You understand that, I hope?"

"Yes, I do." even though he looked as old as her, talking to Houkou felt like talking with someone ancient like Gyuki. And Ritsura found that to be tiresome.

"Alright then…" Houkou crossed his arms. "I am sure you are aware that the Dandy Houkou Clan owns a chain of Chinese restaurants in Tokyo, right?" after Ritsura nodded, he continued. "There have been a few… ambitious upstarts that have started stealing our business."

"What exactly do you mean by  _stealing_?" Rihan cut in. "Are they playing dirty or are they playing fair?"

"Hmph, you think market competition is so simple that you can play only fairly or dirty? But if you want to ask if they play by the rules, then the answer is yes, they do… they tend to be disrespectful all the time, but they tend to play by the rules."

"So, why are you making it sound as if you want them out of competition?" Rihan continued.

"Because that's exactly what I want." Houkou replied to which Rihan's eyes narrowed. "Don't look at me like that, Rihan-sama. I don't know what your father is telling you, but the Nura Clan are yakuza and so is Dandy Houkou Clan. And if you want to compete with yakuza, you must show them respect and give them a part of your profits."

"That's bordering crime."

"Bordering?!" Houkou had a mixture of confusion and outrage on his face. "We are Yakuza. Yakuza are criminal organizations." Houkou clicked his tongue. "I see you are your father's son through and through."

"What do you have against father?" Ritsura asked.

"Your father… don't get me wrong, please… I respect him as a warrior and I respect him as a person… but as a yakuza boss, he is sometimes disappointing, thus why so many of the executives and clan leaders still have a grudge against him."

"I saw father deal with other yakuza many times." Ritsura crossed her arms. "He was far from a bad yakuza boss."

"I didn't mean to say that he was unskilled. As a matter of fact, he is highly skilled and one of the best diplomats I know of. It is the way he uses those skills that we have a problem with."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that he acts more as a policeman than a yakuza. He sees himself as protector of justice when he should be furthering our clan's power. He tries to befriend the unaffiliated clans instead of conquering them. All in all, he is simply not what we want in our boss… that is, his ideals are more like those of a regular human rather than of a yakuza."

Rihan did not seem touched in a positive manner. "Now I see why father doesn't want to have anything to do with those fossils you call friends, Houkou." Rihan said and turned around and immediately started walking away. "No need to reply, I just remembered I don't care about all this yakuza crap."

"Rihan, where are you going?" Ritsura asked him, but feared it might come to this. Ever since  _that_  incident, Rihan often found himself questioning the Clan.

"As I said, I don't care about all this yakuza crap… not sure why I let you take me with you in the first place." Rihan said without turning back. "I will leave those matters to you,  _Fourth_   _Heiress_. Call for me when you need something more honorable."

Neither Ritsura nor Houkou spoke until he left. Ritsura hoped that taking him with her would revive some of his old enthusiasm, but it seems that it just weakened it.  _Well, nothing I can do about it…_

"Hmph, I see me and him will never be on good terms." Houkou tried to sound calm, but his voice and the way he squeezed his arm showed he had to fight in order to look so. "You are still here, though."

"I disagree with your claim that father is a bad yakuza boss, but I guess I can see where you are coming from… and I do need your help." Ritsura replied, tough still unsure if she wanted to go on with this. "So, what do you want exactly?"

"I just want to see how you would deal with the upstart that bothers me the most." Houkou's body calmed down. "You see, your father rejected to do anything about most of upstarts because they did nothing wrong and competition is supposed to be a good thing as he says."

"He-"

"Please let me finish." Houkou stopped her. "Young as I was back then, I found his words wise and I decided to fight them fair and square. However, after a few years I ended up regretting it."

"Why?"

"The Dandy Houkou Group became known as harmless yakuza and many, especially the youkai upstarts, took pleasure in showing their superiority… and it gets worse with each passing week. Even the warriors of my clan have started feeling weak and down, their Fear getting weaker as the time passes. And then these upstarts, the Tabebakemono Clan, came and started their own little business in front of our most important restaurant."

"What is special about this Tabebakemono Clan?"

Houkou raised a finger. "First, they opened their business in front of our most important restaurant, just like I said. That alone already devastates our image and Fear." He then raised his index finger. "Second, they imitate our meals and sell them at a disgustingly low price." He raised another finger. "Third, they openly provoke us. They even badmouth us in front of their customers to the point that some of the customers visit our restaurant, spit out our food without even trying it and then make a ruckus about us and our prices." He then raised his last finger. "Fourth, they spread the word amongst the youkai. Not only the Dandy Houkou Clan, but the entire Nura Group, seems weak and soft to many youkai. I don't think I need to tell you that this has a bad effect on all of our Fear, do I?"

Ritsura didn't say or ask anything. She just contemplated on what he said.

"I am begging you, Fourth… I did not ask the Third for help because I feared I would lose any right to fight these guys, but I hope you can do something." To her surprise, Houkou bowed to her. "Me and my Clan beg you to prove to others that the Nura Clan will protect its own members."

* * *

Houkou gave Ritsura a week to take care of the problem so Ritsura didn't rush. Instead, she took her time to check the situation as well as check if Houkou was honest. She also had to decide on what to do.

Houkou was right on all four claims: the Tabebakemono Clan opened their restaurant in front of Dandy Houkou Clan's oldest and largest restaurant, they sold cheap imitation of his meals, they subtly badmouthed Houkou's restaurant and she confirmed herself that the other youkai in Tokyo started noticing this sad state of affairs and some even made use of it. Of course, nobody disputed Nura Clan's power, but some were starting to feel that they were just a harmless giant. As a consequence, many other youkai challenged the authority of the subject clans, usually the older ones who were, just like Houkou, too reluctant to notify their Supreme Commander about their sad state.

Ritsura had no doubts that if they or her brought this to her father's attention that he would fix the situation, no doubt in a better way than she ever could. However, doing so would make it look like she was incapable of solving an issue without  _daddy's_  help and that would put an end to her attempts to prove herself to the First Generation.

No, she had to do this herself, even if it made her feel like she was working against her father. Like Tamazuki would probably say, the path of ambition is a thorny path.

However, that meant she had three problems: first, she had to come up with a way to solve the situation. Second, she had to do it in a way that would please Houkou. Third, she also had to do it in a way that would please both her and her father.

Five days since Houkou asked her for this favor, Ritsura made her decision.

It was early in the morning, an hour before the restaurant opened but late enough for its stuff and boss to be awake. A police car was parked in front of the restaurant, with two dirty cops loyal to Nuras standing close by. Once the Nuras enter, they will take care nobody interrupts them no matter how much of a ruckus Ritsura and her entourage might cause.

Two youkai entered the restaurant, the one-eyed youkai Hitotsume and the bald Mokugyo Daruma, the Nura Clan's advisor. Since this was not a personal matter but a clan matter, Ritsura could not come alone so she chose these two to accompany her. Hitotsume was someone Ritsura always relied on so he was an obvious choice while Daruma was chosen because she needed an experienced advisor and unlike Karasu Tengu Daruma would not immediately run to alert Nura Rikuo of his daughter's plans.

The restaurant's staff was surprised to see someone enter before the restaurant was open but one look at Hitotsume and Daruma made it clear that these were yakuza and rare were those who dared to stand up to that kind of people.

Then Ritsura herself entered, but her hair was brown, her eyes were human and her kimono was now white whose motif were brown branches with sakura petals on them. Also, her hair was defying gravity by flickering a bit, as if there was wind inside the restaurant. This was the form in which she lacked physical superiority that most youkai had, but in return her Nurarihyon blood was at its strongest.

Ritsura didn't say anything when she entered the restaurant. She just put a sheathed sword, which she borrowed from Daruma, on her shoulder and waited for certain something to happen.

And no words had to be spoken. The staff understood that these youkai were yakuza and that they had business with their boss so one of them left the room through unusually large doors, probably to get bring boss. Ritsura noted that some, mostly the older youkai, were terrified while the others, mostly the younger ones, whispered to one another about what they should do.  _The old ones probably have a better understanding of how dangerous dealing with yakuza is while the younger ones think we are a fang-less wolf._

" _Hronk_  Who is trying to ruin my business?!" a loud voice came from behind the large door. Then, a three feet tall and fat youkai looking like a boar came out, dressed as a chef and holding a butcher's axe in his right hand. His black, pig eyes soon fell on the two youkai behind Ritsura and his eye brow jumped up a bit, probably recognizing them as yakuza.

Then, his eyes fell on Ritsura and both eyes widened after which he started laughing. " _HRONK HRONK_  What is this?! For a moment I thought the yakuza have  _Hronk_  come but then I saw that kid in front and  _Hronk_  this is just too funny, is this a circus?!"

Just like their boss, some of the staff started laughing. However, the older ones moved away as if they didn't want to stand between their boss and his guests.

Hitotsume clicked his tongue, but said nothing. Ritsura and Daruma stayed silent, allowing the pig to laugh. Ritsura looked around the restaurant and saw a few bottles of sake behind what looked like a bar. She raised the sword that rested on her shoulder and moved it so that it's tip would fall on the ground. At the same time, she focused on those bottles of sake.

The moment her sword hit the ground, four bottles of sake have, due to Ritsura's technique, exploded in blue flames making everyone in the restaurant jump up and turn towards the explosion. However, the fire quickly extinguished itself.

"What happened?!" the pig youkai shouted as he turned around. "Which of you three did this?!"

"Ara? You seemed as if you liked entertainment so I wanted to give you some." Ritsura commented, retaining her serious expression. "A shame that the sake you are selling is low-quality so flames went out too early." Ritsura commented. The technique is usually used alongside sake produced exclusively for the Nura Clan as it had enough alcohol in it to cause a real inferno when mixed with a Nurarihyon's Fear. "I saw the labels on the bottles and thought it would last longer, but I completely forgot that this is a restaurant owned by a bunch of cons."

More of the staff realized that this was no laughing matter and retreated like the elders did, but a few were angry… and thus naive.

"Are you  _Hronk_  even aware of how much you will need to pay for damage you have done  _Hronk_?" The chef himself was angry, but retained his composure. "Who the hell are you anyway?"

"Nura Ritsura, Fourth heiress of the Nura Clan." She replied. "I am here to discuss a business proposal."

"Ah, the Nuras…" the pig youkai was first to react. He calmed down a bit, but his black eyes were still shone with disrespect. "I see that they sent a rude, little girl to take care of their business."

"You watch your tone, pig." Hitotsume barked at him.

"Sorry, I will try my best  _Hronk_ … but still, sending her instead of you two? Am I to take this seriously  _Hronk_?" it seemed like the pig was not oblivious about the way yakuza work: aggressive, but still as polite possible.

"When he was at my age, father defeated youkai you would shiver in fear from." Ritsura spoke back in an even more polite and cool tone. "I would not judge a Nurarihyon's worth by his years if I were you."

"Yes,  _he_  defeated them  _Hronk_." The way the pig said word  _he_  hinted that he didn't believe that Ritsura's father accomplished it due to his own skills. Ritsura wanted to say something back, but due to it being an indirect insult, doing so would not be a good idea. "Anyway, there is nothing to discuss. Nura Rikuo already said that others can compete with members of his clan as long as it is fair and square."

"Fair and square?" Hitotsume was the one who spoke this time. "We could write an essay about your disrespectful  _competition_."

" _Hronk_ , I thought I was talking with the girl."

"He brought up a good point." Ritsura said back to him.

" _Hronk_ , we still don't do anything unlawful."

"Hronk, I am pretty sure it is not even lawful." Ritsura said, starting her sentence with a pig noise as well. "But lawfulness if not what we meant, which should have been obvious by the fact that we are yakuza. By fair and square we meant showing respect to your competitors, Hronk."

"And only after so much time has passed you guys react,  _Hronk_?" the pig didn't give in. "Is Nura Rikuo even aware that you are here?"

Ritsura almost clicked her tongue. He was not even aware of this problem due to Houkou never bothering to report it otherwise he would be the one here, not Ritsura. But she could not allow this to stop her. "We are well aware of what you are doing here."

"In that case, may Nura Rikuo himself come  _Hronk_." The chef turned his back to Ritsura. "Now leave, I will send you a bill for damag-"

"You are not getting it, are you?" by using her Nurarihyon abilities, she walked up to him without being noticed and made him him stumble in such a way that he started falling backwards. "Fancy words have no meaning here."

" _HROOONK!_ " the pig youkai fell onto the floor. Due to his size and fat, this made everyone in the room feel like there was a little earthquake and the wooden floor underneath him broke.

Once he was down, Ritsura jumped onto him, took out her sword and put it into his mouth. "Our clan has a high degree of tolerance, but it was unwise of you to test the limits." As she spoke, Ritsura's hair started to turn into white and teal and her kimono also changed its color and motif. "You don't negotiate with yakuza, swine. You are simply supposed to give your best to stay on good terms with them. But what you guys did deserves a death sentence…"

As she said that, most of the restaurant's staff prepared to attack. But one strong release of cold air was enough to make them hesitate.

"Don't misunderstand: Hitotsume and Daruma are not here to protect me, but be witnesses. In other words, I alone can freeze to death everyone here in a minute or two." In order to make her point clearer, she released another wave of cold air and a moment later everyone around them was shivering from cold and fear, their faces showing that they no longer had courage to protect their boss. "…but despite you endangering the well-being of my beloved comrades, I will show you mercy."

"Uhmmm…" the pig tried to say something, but the sword in his mouth didn't allow him to. However, the fear on his face was more than obvious.

"You have two choices. One, stay away from our turf… that is, leave Kantou and never show yourself to us again. Anyone who abuses our kindness is not welcome here." In order to let him feel less threatened, she moved her sword away. "Second, the Tabebakemono Clan will swear fealty to the Nura Group. You will work where we tell you to and treat other members of the Nura Group as your comrades."

She walked away from him, returning her sword to its sheaths and then turning back towards the youkai who was raising himself onto his feet.

"And you will make your decision at this very moment."

* * *

"And thus, they accepted." Present Ritsura said to Kanmaru as they sat inside the now empty restaurant. "I thought they would hold a grudge due to what I did, but they ended up liking me. Houkou said that it was because youkai idolize those that make them fear." She decided to not mention the part where she, due to still not understanding the way most youkai think, thought the food they sent her as a gift might have been poisoned.

"Indeed, that's how we differ from humans." The old man Kanmaru said and nodded. "But how did Houkou-dono react to what you did?"

"He was pleased in every way." Ritsura said with a smug expression. "He thanked me for getting rid of the threat, restoring their authority and even adding a new clan to out family. It would still take some more proving for him to give me his full support, but in meantime he did teach me a lot about how yakuza and youkai act."

"And what about your father? I take it that he heard about this the same day."

"He was angry that I took things into my hands of course, but I expected nothing else." However, her mother assured her that father was proud of her. "He thought I was a bit too rough and also gave me a lecture in how far niceness can bring me… however, if I learned something in years to come it is that I don't have enough patience or motivation to be nicer than needed. Anyway,let's continue on…"

* * *

With Houkou's and Hitotsume's help, Ritsura managed to build a bit of reputation, especially amongst the older clan leaders. But as fun as it was to see them support Ritsura in some of her arguments with her father, Ritsura found out that even the entire clan was unable to force her father to formally name her the Underboss.

However, although it looked as if nothing could change her father's mind, Ritsura didn't give up and instead focused on getting a few other roles. And not long after her fourteenth birthday, the clan members managed to persuade her father to at least allow her to play an active role when they meet other clans. Unlike when she was a child, she was more than old enough (as far as youkai world was concerned) to play an active role in clan's politics and not doing so would make her look weak in front of other clans, something that Nura Clan should avoid.

And that's why she was now here in Chugoku, meeting important youkai of both Chugoku and Shikoku. This was to be her first time where she would be at a meeting AND be allowed to speak.

Although there were quite a few youkai in here, only four of them were leading a discussion. The loudest was Housoushi of Setto Aki Clan who claimed himself to be the boss of Chugoku. He was a four-eyed youkai with an ugly face and rumors say he was a descendant of an Chinese exorcist. His clan was always powerful, but after the Gokadoins ravaged many of Chugoku's smaller clans, he gained more power by absorbing those clans.

"The Kyushu is definitely preparing for an expansion eastwards." Housoushi said, giving his best to keep his voice down. "A rogue part of Mizuchi's Hyaki acting independently… that's definitely a lie! The Kyushu were testing our strength, not leading some personal vendetta."

"I hate to agree with it, but he speaks the truth." Dassai of Yamaguchi Clan commented. His was the only Chugoku clan that did not submit to Housoushi after the Gokadoin Cleansing. For a long time Housoushi tried to take over his turf as well, but the emerging Kyushu threat turned them into staunch allies. That unreasonably proud youkai befriending his former enemy and even asking the Lord of Pandemonium, Nura Rikuo, for help shows just how afraid he was of the Kyushu Clan.

"Are there any other proofs that Kyushu's ambitions go as far as taking over Chugoku?" Nura Rikuo, who was now in his human form, asked. "How do we know that these rogues didn't just want to create enmity between the Kyushu and Chugoku youkai?" Nura Rikuo wanted to evande an unnecessary feud, but even Ritsura knew that he was skeptical about their prospects to get along with the Kyushu Clan.

"There is more proof that Mizuchi himself wants to take over Chugoku and Shikoku." The handsome and intelligent leader of Shikoku Clan, Tamazuki, commented. He was wary of the Hashima Kyushu Clan since it started expanding over the island of Kyushu and constantly tried to form an alliance to end their expansions. Of course, along the way the highly skilled Tamazuki found ways to use this entire situation to his benefit. "Many of our and Chugoku's local businesses have fallen under influence of yakuza that are suspiciously friendly with Mizuchi and many smaller but ambitious youkai groups have been invited by Mizuchi for a friendly talk."

"Dammit, Nura Clan!" Housoushi was annoyed by Rikuo's skepticism. "You think we are that stupid that we wouldn't be able to recognize a threat?let's just attack them and be done with it!"

Ritsura decided to reply to this one. "No, we are just trying to make sure that out friendship is not being abused." She said with Rikuo throwing a glance at her.

"What do you mean by that?" Housoushi's eyes narrowed.

"This wouldn't be the first time some clan tried to fool us into helping them." Ritsura said back and then went to improve his mood. "Usually, they are unable to hide it well, but Housoushi-dono is competent and we have to stay careful."

"I apologize for my daughter's words." Rikuo said and bowed his head a bit. "She tends to get excited when Yakuza are being discussed."

"Hmph, unlike some here I would not step so low as to use you to get stronger." Housoushi shaked his head. "I would take a risk and attack rather than win in a way that would show that I need Nura Clan's help."

 _As I thought, his pride is what matters. Even if we say we don't trust him, he won't mind it as long as it looks like we are afraid of him. Also, he dislikes the fact that his clan is seen as beneath the Nura Clan._ This was the first time Ritsura met Housoushi so she wanted to see what kind of person he was. Houkou showed her how much of a difference it makes to understand how someone's mind works.

"Hmph, you sure don't know your manners, do you?" Tamazuki spoke and turned towards Ritsura.

She immediately put a sleeve in front of her face in order to make an angry aura.  _Ah, he finally looked towards me!_ And to hide the blush. "You have something to complain about, Tamazuki?"

"An inexperienced kid tries to look smart. Of course I would complain."

 _I see… you used to need our help while only you and Dassai were wary of Kyushu, but now that the rest of Chugoku joined you in fearing them, you would prefer we leave so YOU could be the leading one here… smart!_  Ritsura made a smirk behind her sleeve.  _Well,let's confirm who is the big boss here, shall we?_

"Oh, but we have a lot of reason to speak high and mighty, Tamazuki." Ritsura made her move. "After all, you guys drag us all the way from Kantou to Chugoku and beg us to help you against the Kyushu. If you expect us to be both humble and trusting, you are quite full of yourself."

"Beg?" Tamazuki and Housoushi said that word at the same time. "Don't YOU get full of yourself, Nura Clan." Housoushi was not angrier.

"Kyushu is your enemy as much as ours." Tamazuki added, his chin held high. "If you hadn't noticed it yet, they seek a war with the Nura Clan."

Ritsura felt her father's elbow softly hit her, but decided to ignore it. "Oh, is that so?" Ritsura moved her sleeve away in order to reveal a smile. "In that case, we have nothing to do here."

"Huh?!" a spider-like girl that inherited the Jorogumo Clan and stood behind Housoushi did not seem to like what she heard. "You don't really mean that, do you?" she seemed terrified at prospect of Nura Clan leaving and the murmurs that came from other minor leaders confirmed to Nuras how much they needed them… and to these two proud youkai.

"You heard them, we are not needed." Ritsura gave her a swift reply and then turned towards Tamazuki. "You say that we need to help you because Kyushu is also opposed to us, but who says that fighting alongside you is the most profitable option for us? Think about it… we could let you guys fall under their swords and then attack while they are still tired from fighting with you, thus minimizing the casualties on our side… unless Mizuchi comes to senses and realizes that entire Japan is too much of a cake for him. In other words…" her eyes narrowed. "We absolutely do not need you nor do we need to risk our lives fighting for yours."

"You little…" Housoushi shivered, but somehow it felt like he was more afraid than angry. "…why should we not just join them?"

"YOU or Tamazuki bowing before someone else?" Ritsura did not fall for his bluff. "Not to mention that Mizuchi does not run a yakuza organization. He would dissolve all your clans and take absolute power over your former subordinates. Tell me with a straight face that you would submit yourself to him and I shall apologize."

Then, a hand pushed Ritsura's head down. "No need for that, you will apologize now." Her father admonished her. "I apologize for my daughter's misbehavior."

"Uhmm… I am also sorry for my misbehavior." She repeated after him and then raised her head a bit to show them a smile.

Her father could not see the smile, but the other two did. However, they decided to ignore it and go with the flow. "Bah, I apologize for getting angry at a brat." Housoushi was the first to speak, naturally as he was the one most afraid of Mizuchi and his army of doom.

"Tz, whatever." Tamazuki clicked his tongue and moved his head away.

However, the fact that they didn't request from her to take back her words or make any comments about it showed that she made her point: they should be thankful that the Nura Clan was helping them. That was useful as Housoushi would stop trying to look too important while Tamazuki failed to make an impression of the leading figure.

 _See Handsome? See how cool I am?_  Ritsura said in herself while looking towards the young man with a manly scar on his face.  _Wait, what if he is angry? No no, I am sure he knows better than that._

"Anyway, this is not the time to discuss pride and who is the boss here, is it?" her father spoke, but more so to the minor leaders of the clan than to these two. "After all, we are here to band together against those we think would be a threat to us."

 _With you leading this merry group, right dad?_  As nice and humble her father's words were, he was not someone who would settle with anything but being in charge himself. But unlike Ritsura, he was able to accomplish that with sweeter words.

"Still, Rikuo…" Dassai, who stayed silent during the former argument, spoke. "You do seem reluctant to attack the Kyushu."

"Indeed…" Tamazuki nodded. "Even if what your daughter said was somehow true, you are leaving an impression of someone who stupidly believes that conflict can be avoided."

_Grrr… Tamazuki is not throwing any glances at me… wait, what if he ain't into fourteen years old girls? Gaah, I know I will grow up but what if he finds someone by then?_

"Hah, I no longer think that's possible." her father replied. "But I am not so careless that I would take the bait which Mizuchi offered us."

"What do you mean by that?" Housoushi raised his eyebrow.

 _Maybe I should make a hair flick? Guys love that!_  Ritsura made a small hair flick once Tamazuki's eyes went from someone yawning at other side of hall to to her father, passing over her. But he didn't seem to pay any attention to it.  _Hmm… maybe it was not sexy enough? I see… I should train some hair flicking before attempting that again…_

"What I want to say is that this is a trap." Rikuo continued. "If we attack them, certain other clans will see us as aggressors."

"Sorry Rikuo but…" Dassai spoke. "…that sounds like some kind of lame excuse."

_Maybe I should make him aware of me? A wink and a seductive smile… NO WAY I WOULD DIE FROM BLUSHING! I can't do that until I am ready!_

Her father didn't react to Dassai's provocation. "Have you checked what goes on in Chubu?"

"I don't pay much attention to what goes on far east." Housoushi said. "Is something the matter?"

 _I should start from little things… like getting his e-mail address… no wait, he lives in a forest doesn't he? Does he even have Internet access down there? Or even a computer?_  Ritsura looked at Tamazuki with worry. _Don't worry Tama-chin, one day Ritsura will save you and bring you into civilization!_

"Chubu Intaglio Clan, Gifu Clan, Tokaido Gojuusanki and a few others…" Rikuo crossed his arms. "They all have the opposite opinion about Kyushu than you guys here have. That is, they sympathize with Mizuchi's cause."

"That, or they see it as an opportunity to expand eastwards." Tamazuki added, unaware of the evil woman starring at him.

_Don't worry Tamazuki, with us two together nothing shall stand in our way and once we conquer entire Japan, you will be able to experience all the wonders of the technological age!_

"Aha, I see…" Housoushi put a hand under his chin. "And if we attack Kyushu, they will treat us as aggressors and maybe even ally with them."

"Yes." Rikuo nodded. "They practically made an public oath of friendship. No matter if we have a reason or not, they will be obliged to help the Kyushu."

"So, we can't attack now." Tamazuki also saw what Rikuo meant. "They must be taken care of before we can make our move."

"I just hope you guys hurry." Dassai said and drank some of his sake. "It is not comfortable for me to look at those youkai hanging just across my turf."

_Maybe I should say something as well? Try to impress him again… but what if I say something stupid and…_

"Leave the clans of Chubu to me." Rikuo said. "I will try to make them change their side. Once they are on friendly terms with us, we can see if we need to make a move on Kyushu."

"As Dassai says, hurry with that." Housoushi scratched his cheek. "If these bastards attack, we are screwed even if we win."

_Damn it guys, I have a man to impress!_

And then the memory got altered.

"Well, now that this has been taken care of, I have an announcement to make!" Tamazuki said with a large smile. "Saki, please come here!" he called for someone as he rose up.

After he said that, a woman walked up to him. She had large breasts, wore an expensive kimono, had long white hair and her face was filled with make-up.

_Hmm?_

"What is he gonna do with that human? Eat her liver maybe?" one of the minor clan leaders whispered.

Tamazuki took her hand and said: "We are getting married! We are already expecting twins!"

"W-W-WHA…" Terrai Onni jumped up. "Now wait just a moment, Tamazuki-sama!"

"What was that you just said?!" Some shouted. "This woman is a human you know!"

"Do you seriously plan on hooking up with someone so weak?!"

"Hey Tamazuki!" Ritsura joined the shouting. "What's so good about this woman?!"

"Wah…" Karasu Tengu, who came with them to serve as her fathers advisor, flew up to her. "That's not something we have to care about, Ritsura-sama!"

"Ah Ritsura…" Tamazuki spoke to her. "This woman is very-"

"D… D-Don't call me by my name, you pervert!" Ritsura turned red.

"Ritsura-sama!" Karasu Tengu flew in front of her. "You can't address one of clan's allies like that!"

"I'll kill you!" Ritsura yelled as she ran out from the mansion they were having a meeting at. "You deserve to die!"

"Hey, why did she turn Karasu-Tengu into a snowman!?" someone wondered.

* * *

It took a few minutes of running and hysteria for Ritsura to remember that this was just another one of Kanmaru's alterations.

"Damn you, Kanmaru!" Ritsura shouted at Kanmaru, tears still coming out of her eyes. "How can you play with a maiden's heart like that?!"

"Hahaha… sorry Ojou-sama, but I just couldn't resist…" Kanmaru was unable to control his laughter. "You are Setsura-san's granddaughter through and through."

"If you tell this to anyone, I swear I will destroy you and all you hold dear…"

"Sorry, sorry…" Kanmaru apologized. "Don't worry, I swore an oath to never talk about what I see in the memories that I visit. Even to Gyuki-sama, I will only say what's my opinion about you."

"And you better not break that oath!" Ritsura threatened with a red face.

"As you say Ojou-sama… now let's, continue on with this."

The world around them started to blur and change and Ritsura immediately noticed what is the next memory they would see.

She had to stop it.

"NO!" Ritsura shouted, freezing everything around them. "Enough with this!"

"Hah?" Kanmaru was taken aback by her behavior. "What is-"

"I say that we saw enough!"

"But-"

"No  _but_ , Kanmaru!" Ritsura raised her index finger at him. "I don't care if you swore an oath of silence, I won't let anyone see this one memory! I swear on my honor, I would die to keep it a secret from anyone!"

For a few moments, Kanmaru just stared at her but then sighed. "As you say Ojou-sama… I think I saw enough to make a judgment anyway."

He clapped his hands and Ritsura woke up in Gyuki Clan's manor, with Kanmaru sitting right in front of her.

"Well, I will go report to Gyuki-sama about my opinions." The old man Kanmaru rose up with help of a wooden cane. "Don't worry, I will no say that you ended this test prematurely."

Ritsura nodded. "Thank you."

"You and Waka will meet Gyuki-sama in the room at the end of the hall." He said as he pointed at the doors through which Ritsura entered the room. "He should come soon, so please be patient." After telling her that, he left the room by another door.

"Where my brother waits, huh?" Ritsura said to herself.

She would keep what happened that night, when she and her brother went to exterminate a lair of urban legends, a secret no matter what… she could not let anyone else find out just how much her brother has changed.

As his older sister, she would protect this secret as long as she could.

* * *

 

At the same time in Tokyo, Nura Tsurara was cleaning her and her husband's bedroom. Rikuo told her he would come back in a day or two, and she wanted to take care that he finds his mansion in top form. It was an old habit from the days when she was still just a servant, though she did no even try to get over it.

And cleaning their room caused a lot of sweet nostalgia. A pink snowflake necklace reminded her of one of her dearest dates with him, a photo of their marriage reminded her of the day when she became a Nura, blankets in her closet reminded her of the happiest days of her life on which their children were born… and there were many other objects that reminded her of the past, each of them being a treasure on its own.

Her gaze stopped at a certain object: the now empty sword stand where her husband used to keep the two Nenekirimarus that Keikains forged for them after the second Nenekirimaru broke during the battle at Spiral Castle. This was not one of her most important memories, but Ritsura and Rihan being on Nejireme and going through Gyuki's training made her keep gazing at this object for a bit longer than she normally would…

* * *

" _Ah, this must be it!" Tsurara said once she saw the sign 'Hotel Neiji'. The sign once used to shine as most signs did in Tokyo, but now it was turned off, just like the lights inside the building._

_This once prominent hotel, fifty storeys tall, has become a cursed place a week ago attacked and now infested with various Urban Legends._ _However, she didn't think too long about this problem. Instead, there was something else that worried her. She could not see anyone on the street so she decided to concentrate and try to feel her family's Fear._

_Naturally, she first focused on the hotel. She was relieved to notice that both her son's and daughter's Fear was strong so they were safe, but still frustrated because they haven't yet left the hotel._

_Now she focused on finding the husband. It took half a minute, but finally she felt his Fear radiate at top of the tall building just across the hotel. Having discovered her husband's location, she entered the building and used the elevator to bring herself to the highest floor, from where she climbed onto the roof._

" _Rikuo-sama." Tsurara said to the man with gravity-defying hair who stood at edge of the building._

" _Ah, it is you Tsurara." Rikuo turned his head aside and met her with a smile. "I see you managed to make it."_

" _Of course I would!" Tsurara said and stood beside him. "This is the first time our kids have to fight a real battle on their own. I have to be here."_

" _Still, I don't like this."_

" _Neither do I, Rikuo-sama." Tsurara let her head drop onto his shoulder. "But Gyuki was right: we must let them grow up."_

_Rikuo moved his right arm, moving Tsurara's head away and then putting his arm around her and pulling her closer to him. He didn't say anything, but just looking at his eyes told Tsurara all she needed to know: he focused all his senses onto his children's Fear, intending to jump right into that hotel at a slight sign that Ritsura or Rihan were in danger._

_And most of all, he had to fight the urge to not jump at any sign that battle was hard for his children. The Gagoze Incident still weighted heavily on his soul… as it did on Tsurara's._

" _Rikuo, it is for their good that they get through this alone…" It was rare for her to not use the –sama honorific, but when she did, she did it because she wanted her words to leave a strong impression. "…even if they get hurt in the process. They have to grow up, we can't always be there for them."_

_She had to look strong for her husband… even though in truth she too had to fight the urge to run into the hotel and just freeze everything threatening her treasures… or at least be present while they fight, but that too is something they should not do._

" _I know…" Rikuo moved his head so it would fall on top of Tsurara's. "But they are still five years old to me."_

" _Wakana-san says children never grow up in a parent's mind… they are forever tiny little kitties asking you to carry them around."_

" _Hmph, that's true." Rikuo smiled. "Daddy, look how far I can throw this ball. Dad, catch me if you can. Dad, carry me on your shoulders."_

" _Mom, I want this candy. Mom, Zen is scary. Mom, look at this house I drew. Mom, buy me a dolphin." Tsurara joined in. "I still remember all that as if it were yesterday."_

" _Indeed, do you remember when-"_

_A loud crashing sound woke ended their conversation, forcing their eyes downwards._

_There was a hole on the building, as if something huge broke through it… and looking at the road, something huge did break through it._

_It was Iron Maiden, a humongous fat woman made of metal. She was the leader of this group of Urban Legends and thus its strongest member._

_Not far from her, a fifteen years old girl with white and teal hair stood, with a large hammer laying close to her. "I think I hit her a bit too hard."_

" _A BIT, nee-san?" Rihan jumped through the whole, onto the street and beside his sister._

" _Eh…let's just get this over with." Although their adversary's Fear was strong, the two youths did not seem worried._

" _Well, seems we will be able to watch over them after all." Rikuo was relieved to see this turn of events happen, and so was Tsurara._

_In the end, their children cleaned the hotel from Nura Clan's enemies without anyone having to interfere._

* * *

_Later that night, Rikuo, Tsurara, Ritsura and Rihan were in their parent's room, summoned there by their father. The kids were nervous because they thought they were getting punished (they weren't aware that this was actually a test for them), Rikuo was sitting with a very serious and determined face while Tsurara was smiling, proud because their son and daughter handled their enemies so well._

" _May I just say that those youkai weren't actually strong…" Ritsura tried to smoothen up what she thought was a bad situation. "I know you may not believe us but-"_

" _Don't worry about it, we are not angry at you." Tsurara assured her daughter with a smile._

" _Eh? You are not?"_

" _Actually, I am angry that you went there at your own." Rikuo however decided to be a bit strict. "But as your mother said, you are not here to be grounded."_

" _So, why are we here exactly?" Rihan asked._

_Rikuo sighed, still not wanting to go through with this, but Tsurara put her hand on his back, softly pushing him. It was a symbolic gesture, but it helped._

_Rikuo took the two Nenekirimarus from the sword stand, one shorter with a simple hilt like the first two Nenekirimarus and one longer and heavier. Holding each in one hand, he offered the longer one to his daughter and the shorter one to his son._

" _Eh?" of course, both of the kids were surprised._

" _Take them. I am good enough with a normal sword." Rikuo said, though the kids still looked confused._

" _What your father wants to say is that you are now allowed to use those swords." Tsurara added._

_Ritsura's and Rihan's eyes widened even more and then turned them back to their father, as if asking for confirmation that what their mother said was true. It was a natural reaction for them seeing as giving them these swords meant that their father accepted that they were now capable of taking care of their own safety rather than have their father decide on those matters._

" _Yes, they are yours now. Yura and Akifusa made them exactly intending for you to use them." Rikuo confirmed Tsurara's words and the kids took slowly took their swords, but disbelief still didn't leave their faces._

" _It is a bit heavy." Ritsura commented on her sword._

" _Yura claimed that her sixth sense told her you would be someone who would prefer a longer and heavier variant." Rikuo said back to her. "But I could ask Akifusa to reforge it if you want."_

" _No, auntie Yura was correct: I prefer it like this." Ritsura said as she turned the sword around, examining it with a smile on her face._

" _She will be glad to hear it." Rikuo commented with a smile. "Akifusa also mentioned that it was made with higher cold resistance and serve as a cold inductor meaning it won't break if you freeze it too much and will even make it easy for you to transfer cold through it."_

" _Cool!" Ritsura declared. "Does that also mean I-"_

" _No." Rikuo said with crossed arms, correctly guessing that his daughter wanted to ask him to declare her his Underboss._

_Ritsura sighed. "Well, baby steps I guess."_

" _Yes, and now that this is done…" suddenly, Nurarihyon appeared in the room. "It is time for a celebration!"_

_And the Nura Clan's Manor exploded in celebrating shouts. It was only natural that the Clan would celebrate the fact that its two heirs were formally proclaimed the clan's warriors._

* * *

 

**Author Notes:**

Damn, this must be my longest chapter to date… and that's so even though I omitted some of the scenes. Sigh. Anyway…

\- after three chapters, Ritsura's flashbacks came to an end! That Ojou-sama sure took some sweet time!

\- poor Tamazuki… he wanted to turn the girl into a puppet but instead he made an enemy ;P

\- Houkou's father, also called Houkou, is that youkai who was killed by Tamasaburo during the HM arc. Since houkous are Chinese youkai and he seemed like he was visiting a Chinese District just before he died, I guessed they were leaders of some of Chinese youkai

\- on FF, I noticed that many forget that Nura Clan, as nice guys as they are, are actually a yakuza, aka members of an criminal organization. Natural, as the canon itself didn't show much of the its ugly side, especially since Rikuo himself was a person of more common sense of honor. Here however, I wanted to have the yakuza element play a bigger role, especially since many fights are of political nature rather than violent (as the antagonists are all below the Nue and only a few reach Hagu-chan's level)

\- just like Dassai, Housoushi is a youkai who appeared at the Grand Assembly during the Gokadoin arc. The part about him being heir of an exorcist is made up by me, but based on Japanese folklore (which mentions that he is an exorcist)

\- I waited for ages to show Ritsura lusting over Tamazuki and am now very happy to have written this scene! (and yes, that scene at the end was a copy of the one where Nurarihyon proposed to Youhime and Setsura became hysteric ;P )

\- the meeting scene also showed one of differences between how Rikuo and Ritsura handle diplomacy: whereas her father is polite and cunning, Ritsura is more aggressive, with a tendency to enforce dominance

\- we are leaving the hotel cleansing scene for later, but I think everyone can guess what would have made Ritsura make such a decision. As a substitute however, we got one from Tsurara's POV which I was very happy to do

\- and for those who don't read the beginning notes (instinctively thinking they are disclaimers): Rihan Junior got an illustration which you can find in my Bio! (as well as two maps)

* * *

**Comment Replies** :

Many thanks to the Anon who reviewed the last five chapters :D You sure made my day with the influx of reviews :) Now to comment on some of them!

_God, I just love Ritsura so much, she's just too awesome XD_

"I hear that a lot!" Ritsura commented with a smug expression. "Glad to see that you accept the power of my Fear! If you were a youkai, I would even let you join my Hyaki… actually, why not just join? I can't have a Parade of a Hundred Demons if I have this few followers!"

_I'm shipping RyuzanxRitsura already xD But still, RihanXAraya still my OTP (anyway, where are those cuite? I'm itching to see their so called "games" :D)_

Well, I hope RyuRitsu shippers weren't annoyed by Ritsura's lusting this chapter XD As for RihaAra, their game will start soon ;)


	29. The Ugly Truths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gyuki's trials are over. Most of SIC can now rest, though Ritsura still has some things to discuss with her brother as well as with Gyuki.

**Chapter 29: The Ugly Truths**

Sitting and with his arms crossed, Rihan was resting in one of the rooms inside the Gyuki Manor. He felt tense. It was not due to his sudden confession to Araya, about which he now felt embarrassed, nor was it about his dark thoughts when he learned of Gyuki's past. No, what made him tense was something that was actually least worrisome: meeting his sister and Gyuki. Gyuki was good at seeing through him and Rihan feared that he might notice the darkness inside him.

But his sister was even more terrifying: she knew him better than anyone else did. Although she never spoke about it, he was certain that she knew about his  _dealings_  with Urban Legends and he was certain she did not approve of it. Even though she never said anything directly, he felt pressured whenever she got into a serious discussion with him. Actually, her indirect approach was as big pressure as any direct words might have been. She didn't say anything earlier today, but that was because she would not want to make a fuss in front of others.

And then the door slid open. He did not need to look at it to see who entered. Sounds of one pair of footsteps made it clear that it was one person and the drop in temperature made it clear who exactly came in.

His sister didn't say anything but just sat beside him, as if waiting for him to greet her.

Although he would have liked to stay silent, the atmosphere in the room was heavy and the silence only made it worse. "Hi nee-san, I see that you are done as well." Rihan turned his head to her and smiled.

"Yes, it was quite interesting." She said with a smile, though Rihan was certain that it was a fake smile. "How are you doing?"

"Good, thank you for asking." He replied in an unnaturally polite manner.

"Is that so…" his sister's smile disappeared. "What the hell were you thinking yesterday?" she immediately jumped at the point.

"…what are you talking about, nee-san?" Rihan bluffed, with a fake smile still sitting on his face.

"Don't act stupid, Rihan…" it was obvious that she gave her best not to yell at him. "Why did you split from the Toono youkai?"

_As I feared, evading this discussion is impossible._ "Because of Mayuri… someone had to deal with the pursuers. Dohiko was the only one strong enough to carry her for long not to mention I didn't want to force Toono to fight our battles."

"Alright, I will let that one go… so, why did you lure the enemy to  _that_  place?" she no doubt meant the abandoned dormitory.

"I…" Rihan had no acceptable answer for that question. Saying that he wanted to test a technique away from everyone else… no, that he wanted to have fun killing those Urban Legends… was not something he could say aloud.

Seeing that her brother had no answers to give, Ritsura continued: "Why didn't you use your Fear to bring them somewhere where our youkai could help you dispose of them? Not only would it be safer, but it would be quick, thus allowing you to focus on other enemies… and we didn't exactly lack enemies in that onslaught."

Again, he had no answer… nor did he dare to tell her that those Urban Legends weren't even affiliated with Shiori. If she heard that he wasted his time with unaffiliated youkai, she might lose her temper.

"After what happened eight years ago… I thought you would have known better. It is one thing to go out and ambush some unaware weakling, but in the midst of battle where the enemy might be looking for you…"

Rihan's teeth clenched at her mentioning  _that_  incident. But she was right: he knew better, but still let his pride take the better of him. He repeated the same mistake and it could have easily resulted in a worse tragedy than what happened eight years ago.

"But nothing happened." He forced himself to say something, but quickly realized that his choice of words could not have been worse.

"Is that supposed to be a joke?" Ritsura's composure has started to falter, as seen by the fact that she started shivering. "You were ambushed by Shiori… and ended up being knocked unconscious in before her and her minions… and you say that nothing happened?"

Rihan bit his lip.  _Damn, now I have done it…_  The situation he found himself last night was severe and it was a miracle he came out of it alive.

"I have no idea why she spared you… I have no idea why she even attacked you…" Ritsura raised her head towards him and Rihan's consciousness hurt as he saw tears in her eyes. "If she wanted to kill you, you would have been dead! DEAD!"

Rihan moved his eyes away from her. He knew this was pathetic of him, but he was not able to look into his sister's eyes right now, especially not now that she was on the verge of crying.  _Damn it, mom and dad too… I made them cry as well, didn't I?_  His parents rarely admonished him these days as all serious problems would result in them remembering what happened eight years ago so it was Ritsura who usually lectured him.  _Unlike me, she is…_

"And who knows what she did to you once you lost consciousness…" his sister continued. "She could have put a curse on you as far as we know."

"I am sorry…" that was the only thing he could say. He did not dare to mention that she really might have done something to him… nor the fact that he went berserk. A lot happened in his battle with Shiori that he didn't want anyone to know about.

"Sorry isn't enough…" she replied in a crying tone. "I swear, I will give you a bodyguard unit of twenty youkai if you do something like this again!"

"…sorry." He repeated, once again because he was unable to think of a better thing to say.

Ritsura cleaned the tears on her face and put her stern face back on. "I hope you at least bring something useful with that incident. What did you learn?"

"Learn what?"

"You met Shiori, our new enemy." Ritsura seemed annoyed by his question. "Me and mom both saw her, but only for a moment. I take it you spent more time with her."

"Ah…" Rihan didn't even think about the fact that the clan would be interested in what he could say about their enemy's leader. "She is a human, but I think I already said that."

"Yes, you did." Ritsura clicked her tongue. "That means she is a real deal."

"A real deal?"

"Can create youkai. Otherwise, a human would not be able to order youkai around."

"Ah, that makes sense…"

"What else did you learn?"

"Basically, she is cruel and crazy… and cunning." Rihan continued. "She was accompanied by some guy called Hikine who was able to control the shadows, create weapons and was one of best warriors I crossed my sword with."  _And I crossed my sword with more youkai than you think._

Ritsura sighed. "Yeah, I also met that guy… he is not someone we should hold back against."

Rihan was surprised to hear she met him as well, but wasn't interested enough to ask about it. "Then there was someone… I think his name was Kouri or something… who looked like a wooden doll and called himself  _Shiori's Fingers_. I think all her Lieutenants have such titles."

"Copying Gorozaemon I see…"

"In a way, he is more dangerous than Hikine. He can control others to the point that… you see, when some of our clan members found me, he was able to force most of them to commit suicide. Anyone with with weak Fear has no chance of standing up to him."

Ritsura's eyes narrowed at this comment. "And I take it some kind of skeleton youkai was with her… both me and mom saw it and the bastard seems to have quite a big mass of Fear."

"Can't tell for sure, he was only keeping the area illuminated and served as some kind of mount to Shiori. But I am certain that he is able to split into multiple parts."

"Split?"

"Yes." Rihan nodded. "Part of its body can split into multiple smaller skulls which back then served as light bulbs so that Shiori could see what was happening around us. He was also able to detach his arm, killing a number of our allies with that one attack."

"Tz, I fear he killed more than the rest of bastards combined."

"Interestingly, when I beat Hikine and Kouri and prepared to attack Shiori, she made it leave."

"She made it leave?"

"Yes… it makes no sense. I thought it was her bodyguard, but the moment I was able to focus on attacking her, she just makes him leave."

"Weird indeed…" Ritsura commented while in thoughts. Then, her eyes widened. "Wait, who else was there?"

"Nobody else was there… only Shiori and those three thugs."

"So… if the skeleton was forced to leave and you beat up the other two… who defeated you?"

"…Shiori." Rihan said, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

For a few moments, Ritsura just looked at him silently. "…you were beaten up by a human? Please tell me she was an Onmyouji…"

"She wasn't… BUT she had an exorcist weapon!" Rihan made an excuse after seeing that his sister started pitying him. "She used some antique gun which had some kind of Nenekirimaru-type bullets."

"Huh? Nenekirimaru-type bullets?"

"You know what happens when you slash someone with Nenekirimaru… Fear starting to spill out…" he explained. "That's what happened when her bullets hit me. It didn't seem as severe as Nenekirimaru, but she shoot a damn lot of bullets into me."

"How the hell did you not evade them? I can understand first bullet hitting you, but you are a Nurarihyon."

"Because my abilities didn't work on her." Rihan explained. "While I was still fighting Hikine, at one point I used a lot of my Fear with intention to evade Hikine and attack Shiori. Hikine didn't notice me and neither did that huge skeleton… but Shiori did. Soon after I used my technique, she reacted by ordering Hikine to cut it. And later when I attacked her and released enough Fear to make the bravest human run away like a coward… she just stood there, smiling and taunting me."

Ritsura didn't say anything. She just sat there with crossed arms, thinking about what she learned. Only after a minute has passed, she spoke: "In other words, your Fear was not strong enough."

"No, I just made a mistake… when I saw that Nenekirimaru didn't do anything to her I got scared for a moment. When she fired the bullet into me, I got even more scared. When I found myself lying on the ground, I got even more scared." He explained. To a youkai, being scared is a fatal issue. "If I found myself in the same situation, I am certain she would not survive."

"But she probably won't give you such a chance again." Ritsura shoke her head. "Stupid brother… you should never underestimate someone leading a Hyaki Yakou no matter how weak he or she seems to be. Surprise weakens your confidence and thus your Fear."

"…I guess so."

"So, what else can you tell me about her? If you saw her in real life or TV, would you be able to recognize her?"

"She wore a mask on the upper half of her face and used her fan to hide the lower half for most of the time… not that I would be able to remember someone by their jaw alone even if I tried to memorize it which I didn't." Rihan sighed. "She had long, black hair but millions of people have it."

"And she can always bleach it or cut it off." His sister added. "What about her voice?"

"I don't know how I would describe it even if I remembered what she sounded like." Rihan said and sighed. Memory of voice in general ain't reliable but somehow he was unable to remember it at all. Was it bad memory or if she did something to him, that he did not know.

"I see…" Ritsura added.

"So, what about you?" Rihan changed the subject of the conversation. "What have you been up to? I heard you managed to save Masato from Shiori's thugs."

Ritsura sighed. "The damn coward realized she could not beat us to Masato so she changed her target to some yakuza. Heiko, whom you met today, was hired to go after Masato instead in order to make it look Masato was still the main target."

"Is it alright to have one of Shiori's former allies with us?"

"I trust in Heiko's loyalty to me. After all, we have exchanged sakazuki."

Rihan didn't say anything back. He hoped Ritsura didn't base her trust on the sakazuki exchange. Unusual for a member of a yakuza family, he did not see any value or meaning in such a ritual.

"Still, the bitch was well organized. We had hundreds of our youkai out there, but only Hitotsume and Toono youkai managed to reach me… though each time I was forced to split from the others."

"With such numbers, why didn't she just storm Masato?"

"Beats me. But I feel there is a lot about Masato we don't know. The man and his entourage didn't seem least concerned about the fact that a bunch of psychos were after their heads."

"You are suspicious of Mayuri's father?"

"If you met the man, you would also be suspicious of him." Ritsura sighed. "But lets put him aside for now… the important question is how Shiori even knew we were going to save him?"

"What do you mean?" Rihan asked, though he didn't know how his sister even found out about Shiori's plot.

"I stumbled upon her plans by accident… and conveniently guessed whom she wanted to kill." Ritsura started explaining. "If we take into consideration that only one youkai was supposed to assassinate Masato, then her other minions should not have been expecting us. You would expect Shiori to find out about us only once we saved Masato, not before we even began."

"Maybe she created a youkai that can foretell the future?"

"In that case she would have won or, if impossible, she would not go with it in the first place… though I guess it  _is_  possible that she created some youkai who can use a different kind of divination." Ritsura sighed. "However, I think it is more likely that we had a leak somewhere."

"And that leak would be…?"

"Three possible places." His sister said and raised three fingers. "One is from Kiyotsugus. We know that Shiori has an Internet youkai serving her and it is possible that it keeps an eye on them. Saaya is looking into it, but she didn't find any signs that any of her equipment was hacked yet… and doubts that she will."

"I find it hard to believe that even an Internet Youkai could spy at Saaya without her noticing."

"Agreed, but I can't just discard the possibility." Ritsura nodded and lowered a finger. "Second, the leak might have come from the ones who gave us access to the cameras."

"And that would be…"

"Whomever Araya contacted."

"Araya-chan?" Rihan didn't expect to hear her name mentioned. "What did she have to do with this incident?"

"-chan?" Ritsura raised an eyebrow and Rihan felt himself blushing to which his sister smirked. "Very few are able to hack the Onieda's security system and Saaya is, unfortunately, not one of them. So I asked Araya if she could find us someone who could. It is possible that the leak came from that person."

"Or from her… unlike Saaya, she would probably not notice an Internet youkai spying on her."

"Kiyotsugus are allied with our clan so they make a logical spying target, but Araya?" Ritsura put a finger under her chin. "On other hand, other than that she is eccentric and rich, we don't really know much about her, do we?"

"Yes, it is possible that she was spied upon." There was another possible theory, but he didn't want to believe it… and neither did his sister. "And I supposed the third possible leak is our clan?"

"Yes… Did you know that the former Hyaku Monogatari infiltrated our clan?" Ritsura started. "And that the one who did the infiltrating was noone else but the youkai who was directly controlled by Sanmoto Gorozaemon himself?"

"Of course… he was one of the head executives, right?"

"Head executive yes… it is humiliating that he killed the real one, replaced him and neither we nor his clan ever realized it." Ritsura seemed annoyed. "We may be a clan with over ten thousand members, but replacing a Head Executive is still too much."

"And you fear the same thing happened?" Rihan raised an eyebrow once his sister nodded. "And what would you do about it? Even I know that starting an investigation would mean you tell everyone that you don't trust them."

"True." His sister smiled. "That means that we need someone cunning, skilled, reputable, with a lot of motivation and with a good hunch on who might be the black sheep to do some secret investigating."

"Don't tell me you…"

"I did not." Ritsura crossed her arms. "Certain someone is just visiting all the clans to check up on how they are doing. If he, who has a vendetta against the Hyaku Monogatari, finds out something he will act for personal reasons."

The one who replied to this was not Rihan, but a man with a deep voice. "Nurari Kurari ( _as slippery as an eel_ ) even in diplomacy." Gyuki walked into the room with a small smile. "I am glad to see that the young heirs are taking the clan matters so seriously."

"Good to see you again, Gyuki." Ritsura said with a smile while Rihan just nodded.

"May I ask…" Gyuki stared as he sat down in front of them. "…whom you sent to check up on other clans?"

"Houkou." Ritsura answered. "He always claims that if Nura Clan discovered that Mitsume Yazura of the Three Eyed Party was an enemy agent, we would have been aware of Tamasaburo's techniques and his father may not have fallen for Tamasaburo's trick. That gives him motivation as well as a reason to act should he discover something suspicious."

"And you are of course oblivious of his real reason for checking up on other clans." Rihan added.

"Of course, I have no idea that he has an uterior motive." Ritsura said while spreading her arms making an innocent, smug face.

Rihan sighed. Although he understood that his sister's plan was good, all this intrigue was not something he was comfortable with.

"A wise move, Ojou-sama." Gyuki commented. "Even if someone realizes his actual goal, they won't make too much of a fuss about it. Everyone knows that it is about time someone checks up on out internal security, but honor doesn't allow them to openly admit it."

"Hmph, I am giving my best" Ritsura replied to Gyuki with a proud face, showing no humility just as usual.

Rihan looked towards Gyuki. He felt uncomfortable, but not due to regret at what he almost did earlier today. He felt cold and calm in front of him, as if dark thoughts from earlier never crossed his mind. In other words, it was the very lack of regret which made him feel uncomfortable.

"Now ojou-sama, don't get too full of yourself." Gyuki changed his attitude. "Humility is not considered a virtue for no reason. Be too proud, and you will lose sight of your capabilities."

"I humbly admit that my utter lack of humility is a fatal flaw."

"…" Gyuki seemed uncertain at how to reply to her  _humble_  answer. "Good one, Ojou-sama."

Ritsura gave him another smug smile.

In contrast to their innocent games, Rihan's thoughts grew darker. The feeling of discomfort has been replaced by feeling disturbed as not only was he calm in front of Gyuki, but his thoughts revolved around how to  _punish_  Gyuki.

"So, I take it you have already spoken to Kanmaru?" Ritsura decided to get to business.

"Yes, I have." Gyuki nodded. "He rejects to go into detail about people he checks up on so there was not that much to discuss. He gave you a very good grade and I believe in his opinions."

Rihan's thoughts returned to when he and Gyuki fought a few hours ago. Against his will, he tried to think of his chances at beating him. His conclusion was that it would be impossible for him to best an experienced warrior like Gyuki in a fair fight.  _Stop thinking about it already…_

"You too, Waka." Gyuki turned to Rihan. The boy forced himself to keep a calm and composed face, motivation for which was as mysterious as his thoughts. "I don't know through what memories you have gone behind the barrier, but the fact that you came out of it with a composed face proves that you have gotten around your traumas. I have to admit that you did better than I expected."

_Haha… you really think I have gotten over it?_  Part of Rihan wanted to laugh at him. Even these thoughts he is having were probably in some way a consequence due to what happened to him in the past. After all, it was only since then that he started having dark thoughts.

Gyuki had a reserved but proud smile on his face. Yet, even this sign of benevolence was not enough to change Rihan's thought pattern. Just the opposite actually.  _Maybe I could use that trust…_

"I am also proud of you, little brother." His sister commented and Rihan reflexively turned his eye towards her. Ritsura smiled… but in her eyes, he saw doubt and concern.

In other words, his sister was not as optimistic as Gyuki.

And just like her, he bluffed. "Thank you sister." He then raised himself up.  _I want to leave this place… I HAVE to leave this place…_  "Excuse me, but I have gotten tired. Mind if I leave?"

"A true warrior would not leave amidst an important meeting." Gyuki complained.

"A true warrior knows his limits." Rihan said back and started walking away.

"As one of Nura Clan's heirs, it is your duty to-"

"Gyuki, there can be, and is, only one heir." Rihan said and threw a glance at his sister. "As such, I have no reason to waste my time on these affairs. You should be glad, ambitious siblings of an heir are never good news." Saying that he left, without giving either a chance to argue back at him.

And body continued walking down the hall, neither him nor anyone else being able see a demonic monkey on his shoulder, whispering into the boy's ear.

* * *

Probably due to not expecting Rihan to leave just like that, Gyuki stayed silent and thinking about something with his eyes closed. Tired of it, Ritsura decided to speak up. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I will get to it shortly…" Gyuki opened his eyes and spoke with crossed arms. "More importantly, is Waka always acting like this?"

"Disinterested in clan affairs? Unfortunately, yes." Ritsura said with a sigh. "After what happened eight years ago, little brother had no motivation to play a serious role in clan affairs."  _He is more interested in hunting people like Gagoze,_  Ritsura thought to herself but had no intentions to say it aloud. "I have tried many times to reignite the spark that would remind him of his childhood ambitions, but to no avail. At worst, he just distances himself further."

"In that case, I guess there is not much we can do but hope he changes his ways." Gyuki nodded. "You are motivated however, are you?"

"Of course I am Gyuki… I thought you'd be the one to know that." Ritsura never stopped being annoyed by his redundant questions. "And Kanmaru definitely wouldn't give me a passing grade otherwise."

"I know, but I wanted to hear it from you." Gyuki explained.

"So, how long have you been preparing for these… trials?" Ritsura decided to ask a question. "At first I thought you got the idea after the battle with Shiori yesterday, but I got an impression that you guys have been preparing yourselves for some time now."

"Yes, we have been preparing ourselves for more than a month." Gyuki nodded. "With all due respect to Supreme Commander, me and many other members of the clan think it is high time to start taking your inheritance seriously."

Although he didn't tell her the details, Ritsura felt joyful emotions pass through her. However, Houkou taught her well on how to use the atmosphere of a meeting room to make oneself seem calm and composed. "Wouldn't that be disobeying father?"

Gyuki smiled at that comment. "Wouldn't be my first time disobeying the Supreme Commander in order to test and motivate his heir."

"Ha, good point." Ritsura heard the stories about the method Gyuki used to help her father accept the burden of inheritance. "If you were able to survive such an incident, this will be like swimming in a shallow pool… you won't be trying to kill me, right?"

"Don't fear, Ojou-sama." Gyuki assured her. "I will just be joining you as your advisor and help you in building your Fear."

"Advice from Gyuki? I am honored!" Ritsura gave him a smirk.

"I hope that is not sarcasm." Gyuki noted. "By the way, I met that Kage Onna… the way she spoke of you caught my interest."

"Why must you always beat around the bush Gyuki?" Ritsura complained to him. "Yes, she is someone who exchanged sakazuki with me and has joined my Hyaki Yakou."

"Is she strong enough? As common it is to have weaker youkai following you, I would be happier if you attracted someone formidable into following you."

"She beat the heir of the Gyuki Group and still has energy to jump around. Which reminds me… did Gozumaru talk to you?"

"He did not… but he complained to Mezumaru who then told me about it." Gyuki tried to look untouched, but concern could still be seen on his face. "Although I got a biased version, I can guess the reason for your decision and I will obey your orders. Still, could I ask you to reconsider?"

"You are soft on those two, aren't you?" Ritsura put a finger under her chin. "I can't go back on my words and Gozumaru has to accept the consequences. However, I harbor him no ill will and shall give him something in order to re-compensate. But only once he has proven himself, I shall lift my decision."

"I thank you for your kindness." Gyuki bowed. "And I apologize for his rude behavior."

_Good timing…_ "If that's resolved, shall we return to the topic at hand?"

Gyuki nodded. "As you no doubt know already, the clan will soon find itself in a war… more than one I fear."

"Yes, we had quite a battle yesterday."

"And I fear that we will have another one on our hands soon…" Gyuki's eyes narrowed. "Are you aware of Gorozaemon's shrines in surrounding settlements?"

"Yes… now that I think about it I am sure that, for a moment, I felt some of his Fear even here on Nejireme."

Gyuki nodded. "Sanmoto Gorozaemon, or one of his retainers, actually created a youkai right here on Nejireme." Gyuki started to look frustrated. "I made a miscalculation… I thought the trials would be over before Gorozaemon's bunch even noticed them, but before you even arrived here I got news that we were attacked by an enemy youkai."

Ritsura wasn't expecting something like this but gave her best to not look surprised. "What about casualties? And is this the first time something like this happened"

"Fortunately, there were no casualties even though the youkai in question was formidable. And yes, this is the first time something like this happened."

"That means they are preparing for something." Ritsura started thinking it through and then realized. "Wait… could it be because me and Rihan are…"

Before she could finish, Gyuki bowed to the point that he was almost kissing the floor. "I am sorry Ojou-sama… yes it is probably because you two are here that Gorozaemon decided to make a move."

"…you are using us as a bait, aren't you?"

Gyuki stayed silent for a few moments and then, with his head still lowered, he spoke. "I am sorry, but we have to bring them out. Until we deal with them, the Gyuki Group won't be able to borrow its power to other areas if need arises." The Gyuki Group rarely fought for the main house (which was strong enough by itself), but its members tended to be sent to help protecting the more remote areas in Western and Northern Kantou (Eastern border was more secure due to lack of formidable and ambitious clans in northeastern Japan).

Although Ritsura wanted to say that it was alright, she knew that was something the heiress of a yakuza should not say in this situation. "Are you certain that, in case Sanmoto attacks in full force, you would be able to protect us."

"When we fight seriously, few are able to stand against us." Gyuki replied. "I promise you with my life that you shall not be harmed."

"You will extend the same protection onto my schoolmates. I don't want anything to befall them, is that clear?"

"Yes, I have sent one of my own bodyguards to the Kiyotsugu's Resort. With such a strong protector, I doubt the enemy would attack them."

"They would focus on you, me and my brother, right?" Ritsura sighed. "You are playing a dangerous game here, Gyuki."

"I know… but risks must be made." Gyuki said, his head still only few centimeters above the floor.

"Even the patient Gyuki got tired of waiting, eh?" Ritsura smirked. "Raise your head."

As suggested, Gyuki raised himself back up. Although he could look her into the eyes, it was clear he had to fight not to avert them.

"I take it father is not aware of it."

"No… I am the only one who knows about this."

Ritsura sighed. "A dangerous game… what if they don't attack? If you are to be my advisor, you won't be able to stay here and help if need be."

"Risks have to be taken."

"Stubborn as always." Ritsura shoke her head. "So, who was the one who beat this formidable youkai?"

"The one I would have never expected to do it." Gyuki put a hand under his chin. "That redhead friend of yours found a way to easily dispose of him and it worked."

"…redhead friend? You mean Ichinoe Araya?" Ritsura's eyes narrowed.

"Yes, I think that's what she called herself."

"What exactly did she do?"

"Mezumaru told me that she saw the youkai, spoke to him and concluded on the best way to beat his Fear. I spoke with her a bit as well and she does seem strangely familiar with youkai lore."

"I see… well, it isn't surprising seeing as she hangs with likes of Fuguruma Youbi." Ritsura said with a smile… but stayed silent on what actually went through her head.

_More and more suspicious…_  A few minutes ago, she made Rihan believe that leak likely came from their side and that she sent Houkou on his mission as a reaction to that. However, she actually sent Houkou on his mission a few days ago and the only ones who knew what was going on were her father's closest retainers and other youkai with unquestionable loyalty.

As a friend she hated the thought, but the leak has most likely come from Araya's side. And unless Araya was stupid enough to tell her contacts the reason why they needed cameras, Araya was the only one, besides Saaya and loyal members of the Nura Clan, who was aware that Nuras planned to foil Shiori's plot.

Ritsura prayed that Shiori simply had a minion who could use divination.

* * *

Behind the Gyuki Manor, Gozumaru was practicing his swordsmanship skills. Last few months he was focusing on his illusionary techniques so it was refreshing to once again put the upper part of his yukata down and train with his sword.

_I can't believe I got this rusty…_  He thought that he was good enough swordsman that he could tone down his sword practices a little, but moving his sword felt heavier than he remembered. He was injured and exhausted, but he was certain that tis felt more tiring than it should have been.  _Had I not neglected my basic skills, maybe I wouldn't have lost against that woman._

He himself wasn't sure whom exactly he meant by  _that woman_. Was it that Kage Onna who beat him in the fight or Tsurara's girl who beat him in a show of Fear. But he was certain that this lack of training hurt his Fear thus why he lost against both of those women.

_Now that I think about it, Gyuki-sama did mention that training only gets harsher with time… I shouldn't have forgotten that._ Realizing that he needed to re-focus on his swordsmanship didn't mean that he should focus less on practicing his illusionary techniques. It only meant that he should put more time and effort into his training.

"Gozu, I really think you should rest." As always, his companion Mezumaru was sitting close by. He was writing some kind of report on a paper that he put onto a wooden board, but more often spent time worrying about Gozumaru. After all, they were like brothers. "Those wounds are not minor… and you Fear is-"

"I AM resting. This is the only way to calm myself down, Mezu." It was true that his body hurt a bit and Ritsura's overwhelming Fear weakened his, resulting in further exhaustion. But his anger didn't let him take a rest.

"Are you still angry at Ritsura-chan?"

"I would advice you to not use such a honorific in front of her." Gozumaru suggested to him.

"No, I heard she only gets strict when someone pisses her off." Mezumaru denied the threat. "I will be fine."

"Tz." As much as he hated to admit it, Mezumaru was probably right. After all, he always made less enemies than Gozumaru did. "Damn yes, I am pissed at her."

"Uh, Gozu…" Mezumaru started muttering something, but Gozumaru ignored him.

"Damn, I was never humiliated like that in my entire life!"

"Gozu, you should-"

"Fourth Heir this, Fourth Heir that…" Gozumaru started make quicker and stronger swings. It hurt him, but he didn't care. "Just who the hell does she think she is?"

"G-g-gozu…" Mezumaru's voice started shivering.

"I will tell you what she is! She is an arrogant, little girl, that's who!" due to growing exhaustion and pain, he finally stopped swinging his sword around. "A little girl thinking herself a woman!"

"Oh? A little girl you say?" a feminine voice could be heard from behind him. Gozumaru froze due to guessing to whom it belonged. Furthermore, he felt soft, cold fingers on his chest, belonging to a woman who hugged him from behind. "Would you be the one to make me into a real woman then?" she whispered into his ear.

"HYAAAAAAGH!" Gozumaru turned red and shouted, turning himself around while at the same time trying to move away from the Yuki Onna's clutches, resulting in him falling onto his behind. "Ouch!"

"Hah? That move won't impress any girl, yet alone a woman." The female commented.

Gozumaru opened his eyes and saw the very person he expected to see: a girl resembling Tsurara in many ways, but with an arrogant stare that she obviously got from Night Rikuo.

"H…hi Ritsura-sama." Gozumaru said. He didn't want to use that honorific, but something in her commands made him unable to disobey her orders.

"Hi Ritsura-chan~"

"Hi Mezu-chan~" Ritsura replied to Mezumaru with a smile, confirming that she was another of Gozumaru's enemy not shared by Mezumaru.

"What are you doing here,  _your highness_?" Gozumaru raised himself back up. Luckily, whatever forced him to address Ritsura with –sama did not force him to behave in any special way. "Have you come to make more fun on my account?"

The girl sighed at his comment. "I am not enjoying anything you know. My meeting with Gyuki is done and, seeing as you didn't even bother to appear before Gyuki, I am here to personally announce your sentence to you."

"Ugh…" Although Gozumaru persuaded himself that he didn't care about Ritsura's intentions, now that moment of decision was upon him, he felt tense.

"First, you are temporarily removed from inheritance." She raised her index finger. "This will remain in effect until I decide to lift the punishment from you."

Part of him expected this… but another part of him was still disappointed to hear that Gyuki accepted Ritsura's demand. Not disappointed at Gyuki, but at himself for allowing the things to come to this.

"However, Gyuki asked for mercy so I decided to let you honorably make up for it." Ritsura continued, to which Gozumaru felt a little hope fire up inside him. "As long as this disinheritance is in effect, you will serve me as my personal attendant." Ritsura said with crossed arms.

"I will… what?"

"As I said, you will serve me as my attendant. You will fight for me, take care that all my personal needs are met and will also introduce me to anyone we meet… with a large, shining smile on your face." Ritsura said with a smirk.

"Hey, it is the same title that Tsurara-chan has!"

"You think that I-" Gozumaru wanted to deny the offered position of a mere servant, but Ritsura cut him off.

"As far as I am concerned, this is non-negotiable." Ritsura put her strict expression on. "So think before you talk. I am offering you a prestigious title and rejecting it is an action that would bring dishonor to you and your clan."

Gozumaru clenched his teeth and fist but didn't say anything.

"I will give you time to think this through." Ritsura continued. "You have to give me your answer before Monday's sun rises."

Gozumaru stayed silent, but Mezumaru spoke: "Hey, this sounds good Gozu! You will also be able to see Tsurara-chan more often!"

And in that moment, Gozumaru's concerns turned towards something completely different. "Mezumaru shut up!"

"Hah?" Ritsura seemed confused. "What does my mom have to do with this…" she put her hand under a chin, but then her eyes widened. "Ooooh…" and then she put on a devilish smile. "Ooooh, I seeeeee~"

It was a smirk proving an eternity of merciless teasing.

"…can I please put an end to my miserable life?" Gozumaru tried to get away from this.

* * *

The Onieda siblings were walking through the Kiyotsugu family's villa, where the club-members were staying at, while searchign for a place where they could have a private talk. Although this was a forest, it was filled with youkai and in case it comes to worst, Mamoru would talk about things he doesn't want any youkai to hear about.

"This is as good place as any." Onieda Mamoru told Mayuri as they entered an empty room. "There are some things you wanted to ask me, right?" Mamoru asked with his usual smile that tended to lift Mayuri's worries.

But this time, it just made her gloomy. "Where were you yesterday?" she asked as she sat down on the floor.

"I already told you that I was at-"

"DON'T LIE TO ME!" they didn't even start, but Mayuri already lost her cool.

For a moment, her brother had a bewildered expression but he quickly let it go, replacing it with a serious one.

_No, this can't do… I can't let myself freak out so quickly…_  "There is no way… that it was that convenient."

Her brother sighed and leaned onto a wall. "I was with an acquittance." He changed his testimony. Although it sounded similar,  _friend_  and  _acquittance_  aren't the same thing.

But that just angered Mayuri more, although she was able to stay composed this time. "You are beating around the bush, nii-san."

"It was something important… I can't tell you more."

"You can."

"No, I can't." he looked determined to not tell her anything of importance. "There are dangerous things here in Tokyo and-"

"I know…" She cut him off. "…I know that you have been cooperating with Shiori." She revealed something her father told her. Though she didn't fully believe his words, she acted as if she did… in others words, a bluff.

The shocked expression on her brother's face proved that her father told her the truth… a fact that made her feel betrayed.

"…where did you hear that?"

"Father told me." She revealed. Now, he looked concerned and… afraid.

"…you talked to him?" he asked but didn't wait for her answer. "What else did he tell you?"

She ignored his question. "Why did you betray the Nuras?"

"I… I have not…" he was thinking on how to reply, but obviously could not come up with good enough words.

"Is it true that you want for father to die?" she attacked him with another question.

He turned pale and speechless…and this hurt her.

"I also heard that grandfather killed many youkai… just what the hell is our family anyway?"

"Please give me a moment…" Mamoru demanded as he put a hand over his eyes.

Mayuri let him have some time to think for himself. A few moments later, he walked up to her and sit just in front of her.

"The Shin Sekai…" he started with few words that meant nothing to Mayuri. "The Onieda Clan is obssessed with it."

"Shin Sekai?" the way he pronounced it made it sound like it was an item or something. "What is that?"

"An organization formed by grandfather." He started explaining. "The Onieda Enterprise's discoveries and profits… all those exist solely for the sake of Shin Sekai, not Japan or some petty ambition."

"Huh?" she was taken aback by his honesty but didn't think much about it. A moment later she made a guess on what it is about. "Is it some kind of Onmyouji organization? I heard gramps may have tried to-"

"Only few know what it is about." Mamoru cut her off, his tone changing to whisper. "Originally, they were simply an organization whose goal was to research youkai and how humans could use it… though I suspect grandfather had different plans from the get-go… no, the Shin Sekai as an idea must have existed since at least the Meiji Era."

"I am not following…" Mayuri couldn't immediately process all that she was said. "Are you saying that grandfather leads some kind of research institute?"

"No, he is retired. Father now leads it." Mamoru fixed his glasses. "To be exact, our family leads it. Grandfather, father, Masashi-nii-san and Mahiro lead it… and I did as well, once."

There were countless questions Mayuri wanted to ask, but she decided to focus on the most interesting one: "You used to be one of its leaders?"

"I was young… but considered a genius." Mamoru sighed. "I didn't know much about it and in my youthful naivety, I actually believed that we were working for the greater good."

"What was wrong with them?"

"A lot… a lot is rotten with them. As a research institute, they are like those crazy scientists you often see in cartoons and comics. Politically, their organization doesn't shy away from using dirty tactics, assassinations… and even mass murders." Mamoru continued to give her a list of horrors. "As for youkai… in their vision of a perfect world, the beings we call youkai have no place."

"That… sounds like…"

"A fairy tale, doesn't it?" Mamoru made a sad smile. "After some time, I had it enough… I gave father my resignation, took you and fled to Ukiyoe where one of their greatest enemy is located… well, the highest Priority Threat to use their jargon."

"But we are still living with father and-"

"I used term  _flee_  to specify a place whee we would be safest in case something goes wrong. Only a few can evade Shin Sekai's all-seeing eyes after all."

"The Computerized Street Surveillance…"

"Indeed… only computers use that data, no privacy is compromised. Hahaha… what a joke. For Shin Sekai, the whole point of that video surveilance is nothing else but a way for them to keep an eye on every street in Japan."

To Mayuri, this sounded like a summary of some dystopian science fiction novel. But the serious expression on her brother's face, a kind she never saw before, left no doubt that he was telling her the truth. "And how does Shiori fit in all this."

"She fits because I decided to fight against the Shin Sekai. For that, I allied myself with a number of organizations in the Youkai World… including both Shiori and the Nura Clan… though I can only freely speak to Shiori."

"Why?"

"Because there is a curse set on everyone who is affiliated with either Shin Sekai or the Hyaku Monogatari. That curse brings immediate, brutal death to anyone who reveals information about the Shin Sekai to someone who has nothing to do with it. As such, I can only speak freely with members of the Shin Sekai and the members of the Hyaku Monogatari."

"And thus why you are allied with her."

"Yes… although I expect it to end soon." Her brother's eyes narrowed. "If I have to choose my allies, I would choose the Nuras, not another evil."

"And do the Nuras know about your alliance with her?"

"No… though if they do find out, I will take on the responsibility." As he said that, Mamoru rose up. "All in all, you should understand that the Shin Sekai is extremely dangerous. Stay away from them, and the rest of our family, and you will be safe." He patted her head and left the room before she could come up with another question.

Mayuri now had an entire night to think about what she had just learned.

* * *

Ichinoe Araya was walking through Nejireme. She didn't go directly to the Kiyotsugu mansion and instead randomly walked around Nejireme.

To most humans, a forest filled with youkai would be a creepy and uncomfortable place. But to Araya, it was the opposite: creepy, dangerous places were something she liked. And knowing that this was a dangerous place, with Sanmoto Gorozaemon's minions possibly hiding in it, only made her more excited to walk around.

It was abnormal, but then again she never was a normal person.

Her eyes turned to left and she saw that white cloth again. Most people would think it was just some trash and ignore it at first. But they would notice it again and again, their fear growing and growing until they saw it above themselves… and then the white cloth would unnaturally drop down, catch the victim by its neck, rise up and hold them until they suffocated.

Araya stopped walking and started speaking. "A youkai with the form of a fluttering white cloth that murders humans, called Ittan-momen." She turned towards the white cloth and smiled. "Glad to make you acquittance."

"What?" two shining yellow eyes appeared on it. "You noticed me?"

"Of course! I have noticed you since you dropped down and grabbed our bus." She said to it. "That's for today. I noticed you and a few other youkai from time to time, tailing my good friends from the Nura Clan." Although he was smaller when he spied at them while traveling. The fact that he was big again hinted that he was not here for spying but with an intention to kill.

The white cloth closed to her and started circling around Araya. "How did  _you_  notice us?"

"So you really were tailing the Nuras." Araya smiled while her hands stood in each other's sleeves. "I am certain you put in a good effort to hide from them, but that doesn't make you any less noticeable to those you are not trying to hide from."

"Who are you?" the white cloth not fluttered in front of her, its eyes starring at hers. "And did you tell the Nuras?"

"Don't worry, I didn't tell them a thing. I am sure you guys are preparing something fun and who am I to spoil one's show~"

"Aren't you supposed to be their friend?" he asked with contempt in his voice. "After all, we are obviously assassins."

"Oh, you mean that you… MWUAHAHAHA!" Araya started laughing and bewildered Ittan flew backwards. "A bunch of guys with such an unimpressive Fear to kill those two? Don't make me laugh." The white cloth flew upwards, no doubt taken aback by the terrifying level of entertainment on her face. "You might give us a fun show and maybe kill someone below them… but harm those two? You are far too uninteresting players to be such major characters in this tale."

"You bitch…" Araya could feel that it released all of its Fear. "…at least now I shall not feel any regret for killing you."

"Side characters should stop making such threats." Araya, who was still holding her hands in her sleeves, continued to look unimpressed. "That's a death flag you know… but it is funny looking at a toilet paper trying to look menacing, I will give you that!"

"Die!" losing all of his temper, Ittan-momen drop towards her with intention to make her another one of his victims.

"Boring." Araya commented and immediately took her hands from her sleeves, holding a lighter in one hand and a flammable perfume spray in another. She prepared both before confronting Ittan-momen.

Ittan immediately realized what she intended to do, but stopping half a meter away from her was a mistake.  _Had you not stopped, you may have survived… but it is the nature of side characters to make such fatal mistakes at critical times so I guess it could not be avoided._

"Adios." Araya turned on the lighter and then clicked the spray behind the lighter. The result was a miniature flamethrower.

"Hyaaaah!" Ittan screamed as he was set on fire, but it didn't take too long for the white cloth to disappear.

"Death by fire again… how repetitive." Araya sighed and put the spray and lighter back into her backpack. "Well, let's hope their shows gets to be more fun than the last night's."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And with a big delay, comes an average-sized chapter. Oh, and as a Valentine Special, I opened a poll which you can check on my Bio (well, it was opened on that day so it still classifies as a special).

\- Ritsura confronted Rihan on what he did. Although both were alone, Rihan actually tried to stay that way and that wasn't something that made his sister entertained. Sorry for the fact that the scene was practically a summary for what went on, but seeing as you guys read that a long time ago, it might be good to summarize it

\- may guessing on from where the leak came commence

\- Mayuri finally learns about the  _Family Business_. Sorry for it being boring and not very revealing (well, one small bit was new). I promise more new info on the Shin Sekai soon though…

\- just what kind of game is 'lil Araya playing?

\- I will kinda miss Ittan-momen… I actually liked the little guy

I thank you guys for reading and reviewing. Extra thanks to  **Citsimsan**  who has to deal with my prototypes, my dear friend  **Dennou** ,  **AnimeChick**  who regularly reviews my chapter and **silvergoldmoonlight**  for the glorious stream of reviews :D

* * *

**Replies to reader questions** :

**silvergoldmoonlight** : " _One question, does Rihan prefer to close one of his eyes like his namesake?_ "

Nope, the boy is not laid back enough to bother with it. That is, he is a bit stuck-up about such things.

**silvergoldmoonlight** : " _Sorry to start with a question but when you write 'procrastinated' do you mean 'prostrated'?_ "

It is  _procrastinate_ : leaving the task for later or wasting time that could be spent on something else

**silvergoldmoonlight** : " _Gyuki is still Gyuki though, I'm sure he won't be done in that easily. I'm getting a little confused as to which enemy is siding with which here_ "

Enemy relations that were revealed up till now:  
\- Sanmoto and Shoumen Kongo are in alliance  
\- Yanagida and Kyushu Clan are in alliance  
\- Shin Sekai is in an alliance with Yanagida (but Shin Sekai and Kyushu don't seem to be). Shin Sekai are also in alliance with some of Gokadoins  
\- Shiori and Kashaimaru are in an alliance

**silvergoldmoonlight** : " _I don't understand Ritsura at all she keeps saying that she is the daughter of a Nurarihyon yet she just stays as Yuki Onna and always relies on ice._ "

_Ritsura_ : "I would love it if I could spend more time in my other form, but although I can use my Nurarihyon Fear to its full potential, my physique is that of a human. So if a surprise attack happened, I would be screwed. My Nurarihyon form is best used for sneaking and surprise attacks, not for battles."

**silvergoldmoonlight** : " _What is the Nayrael by the way?_ "

It is the ultimate form of human existence.

* * *

**Omakes inspired by reader** **comments** :

**Citsimsan** : " _Ritsura's precocious crush on Tamazuki was funny, but Ryuzan is much better (or maybe it's that I want to see the wedding with the Keikain and Nura in-laws xD)_."

_What... is going on here?_  Keikain Ryuzan was bewildered. He was in a fancy, black suit and was standing in front of an altar in a large church, marriage music playing in the background. Looking behind him he saw Nura youkai, breaking the fingers on their own hands, on right side of the Church and the members of Keikain House on the left side, for some reason holding paper talismans in their hands.

People on both sides looked like they were preparing for a slaughter rather than a wedding.

_Wait, whom am I marrying?!_  He immediately turned his eyes to the left where Ritsura, wearing white wedding dress stood. The beautiful girl looked at him for a moment and smiled, almost killing Ryuzan's sensitive heart.  _If this is a dream, it is a beauuutiful dreaaam!_

_But why are we being married in a Church of all place?_  With those thoughts, he turned his attention towards the priest... and was left speechless.

"We have come together in this holy place..." the priest was a giant mantis in clothes of a Christian cleric. Ryuzan never saw Shoukera from Kyoto Clan, but he heard a lot about him (as he killed his great-grandfather) and for some reason this was how he always imagined him to look like. "...to marry these two dirty,m sinning infidels!"

_WHY ARE YOU RUINING MY MOMENT OF HAPPINESS WITH THAT HORRIBLE CHOICE OF WORDS?! And why are we having a marriage in a Church rather than at a shrine?_

"This is the day when these two infernal families become one!" the priest continued. "But first we have to decide who married into whose family?"

"This is what we have been waiting for!" the youkai Aotabou screamed from behind them. "Oyraaaa!"

"We are not losing this Onmyouji, you damn youkai!" Auntie Yura shouted and Ryuzan was certain he heard the sounds of Shikigami being summoned.

Both the bride and the groom turned around to witness the Battle that would decide who gets to change the surname. And while Ritsura was cheering at teh fighters, Ryuzan was on verge of crying.  _Couldn't we start with this after I got to kiss the bride?_

_~Outside the Dream~_

The sleeping Ryuzan seemed to have some bad dreams while Ritsura was playing her flute. She thought that the sound resembling the one in Churches, which played when couples were getting married, would make him think he was missing a marriage and thus would wake up.  _Maybe I should change th tune?_

**Author Note** : For those who don't read Tankobon Omakes nor buy English volumes of the Manga, Rikuo often has bad dreams where he is a manager of an idol group. In later omakes it was revealed that the reason for him having such dreams was Tsurara, with intentions of waking him up, singing self-made songs to Rikuo while he sleeps. so... as mother as daughter I guess ;P

* * *

**silvergoldmoonlight** : " _I keep feeling like Araya knows what got Rihan that time, something about her reactions conveys it however, it is probably far-fetched. Her yokai knowledge could not extend as far as the one sitting in Hell (I think)._ "

**Araya** : "It is my lifelong dream to find a way to enter Hell (alive) and learn what youkai who passed away have to say... and the ones forgotten to history. As a matter of fact, I think it is every folklorist's dream to get such an opportunity."

* * *

**silvergoldmoonlight** : " _I'm more impressed by Masato's cold nature, yes he would give a cold shoulder even if Tsuchi-gumo appeared in front of him (I think)._ "

"So, you are Onieda Masato eh?" Tsuchigumo said as he stood in front of a tiny human called Masato. "I have always wanted to have a good battle with the Head of the Shin Sekai." Tsuchigumo replied while preparing his muscles. "Are you ready for a slaughter of centuries?"

"Are you kidding me?" Onieda Masato said in a cold voice, standing with one arm in a pocket and holding a cane in another. "I don't know what to say to this stupidity."

"Huh?" Tsuchigumo was taken aback by his unusual reply. Even Seimei looked worried when he met him for the first time thousand of years ago. "I want to-"

"Yes, have a battle. Of course, what else would an ox-headed ape want. Masato clicked his tongue and looked away. "You youkai are such unrefined primitives."

"Hey, watch your tongue!" for first time since battling Gokadoin Hiruko, Tsichigumo felt truly angry. "And I am a spider, not an ape!"

"Am I supposed to be impressed at that?" Masato made a large sigh. "Look, I have no time for this shit." Masato said and turned towards his car.

"Hey, where are you going human?" Tsuchigumo shouted. "And what did you mean when you said if I was kidding?!"

"I meant that I have no fucking chance to survive a battle against you, you damn brainless ape!" Masato shouted as he entered the car. "And I have no time to waste on you. So either kill or let me go, but don't abuse my patience with idle chatter! You are not worth it!"

Masato turned on the car and left, leaving Tsuchigumo behind.

"I... feel like I have suffered a crushing defeat in a different kind of battle than I envisioned." Tsuchigumo took his pipe, turned it on and took a smoke. "Maybe he would accept me as a worthy adversary if I practiced my conversational skills?"


	30. The Plague's Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a hard day of dealing with Nejireme's youkai, the members of the Supernatural Investigation Club can finally rest and call it a day. In meantime, danger lurks in darkness from Kyushu to Kantou…

 

 **What came before:**   _after a hard day of dealing with Nejireme's youkai, the members of the Supernatural Investigation Club can finally rest and call it a day. In meantime, danger lurks in darkness from Kyushu to Kantou…_

* * *

**Chapter 30: The Plague's Doctor**

In rural part of northern Kyushu, two youkai were playing shougi. It was night and the two of them were sitting outside, but them being youkai and thus able to see in the dark, night presented no obstacle to enjoying a game of shougi.

One of them was called Umeji, son of Mizuchi and one of his concubines and thus one of the executive members of the Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan, although he was one of the lower executives. Usually he would be in Kurume City, protecting and ruling over the youkai there. However, he was allowed by his father to take a break and rest. And what better way to rest than in country, playing shougi with fellow youkai who was with him through countless battles throughout Japan and China, all while cicadas play relaxing melodies?

But the serene night was broken by the sounds of an ambulance.

"Huh?" Umeji was surprised. "How can an ambulance be here?" After taking over Kyushu, the clan closed many rural parts off from the urban human world. That meant that roads were closed so no car, including the ambulance, should be passing through here.

The youkai protecting Umeji, including the one with whom he was playing shougi, rose up and those who had weapons on them prepared for a fight. Umeji remained sitting, looking towards where the sound were coming from.

And he saw the ambulance, still far away… the car rode chaotically, as if it's driver knew nothing about how to drive. Shining with unnaturally bright blue light, the ambulance was closing up to them.

Umeji finally rose up himself, the hairs on him raising themselves. What was annoyance at hearing sounds of a human creation in his territory freed of human influences, was now caution because he felt something was wrong with the vehicle… that it was not a human riding it.

And when it finally reached them and stopped with an U-turn, a powerful Fear enveloped the area.

Somehow, Umeji was certain that they would not live through this.

* * *

"Thanks for the meal!" the members of the SIC shouted and started eating.

Everyone, but Mamoru who went early to bed because he had a stressful day, were at the table in the Kiyotsugu's Nejireme Resort. This place that once used to be a single mansion has been, with Gyuki's unexpected consent, expanded into a hotel, full with hot springs and various relaxing facilities. Kiyotsugu thought it would be a good idea to open it and attract customers with rumors of the forest being haunted and the visitors would get the luxury of being scared by various illusions and such. It brought the Kiyotsugu family revenue in form of money and to Gyuki Group revenue in form of Fear gained by scaring the humans.

However, a few years ago Gyuki asked for the resort to be closed. The rising threat of Kyushu Clan and the Shin Sekai meant that Nuras had dangerous enemies again and Gyuki didn't want to worry about humans who visited the resort so until those troubles are over, this place is just an empty resort on a haunted mountain.

For the club members it meant that they had a five stars resort all to themselves, although today everyone, but Araya and Rihan, only used the hot springs. So now everyone but Araya were in the light blue yukatas with dark blue squares, prepared for those who took the baths, and Ritsura herself was in her human form.

However, there was a problem: food. The lack of cooks meant that they had to take care of food by themselves… and for this night, it was Hitotsume who took care of cooking.

Suffice to say, it could have been better.

 _Hmm… will have to find someone else to cook for tomorrow._  Ritsura already started making plans in her head.  _Araya is not good at cooking… and neither am I uwawawa…_  Ritsura never got over the fact that, in contrast to her numerous feminine charms, she had negative talent for cooking: the more she tried, the worse the result. _They say stomach is the quickest way to a man's heart, but I guess I will have to use a longer road…_

Once again she sighed and returned her thoughts to the original topic.  _Mayuri is good at cooking, but she seems to be bothered by something lately… probably due to what happened with her father. No, she has to rest._ Ritsura threw a look at Mayuri. Even now, she was quiet and deep in thought, only occasionally throwing an angry look in front of herself.

Ritsura turned her attention to the ones in front of her: her brother and Araya who seemed to be happily chatting about something. Every now and then, one of them would raise their voice causing Mayuri to give them an annoyed look. Ritsura too looked at them with an annoyed expression.  _Damn it, look at this annoying couple… if it goes on like this, both my nemesis and my brother will find one another before I find someone… anyway, I never seen Rihan cooking. And I am not intending to test his skills now._

Next, she moved her gaze towards another boy and girl having a happy talk with one another: Shima and Heiko. Like every time he meets a new girl, Shima tried to flirt with her. Heiko courteously talked with him, but as a fellow girl Ritsura could recognize that poor Shima was already friend-zoned. He of course could not realize that.

_Shima claimed he made a few of his lunch-boxes, but was that honesty or just another attempt to show off? No, I am not desperate enough to test… yet. What about Heiko? Yes, she lived alone so she probably knows how to cook._

She then moved her eyes towards the final pair: Ryuzan and Sakura. Of the three pairs at the table, for some reason this one annoyed her the most.  _Look at them being all friendly and whispering to one another so none of us could hear them… the two newbies just met and they have already bonded to that level._  It was a bit weird that both of them had serious expressions on their faces, but Ritsura payed it little head.

_Anyway, Ryuzan commented once that he is so-so at cooking but what about Sakura? I can definitely see that moeblob cook something delicious… yes, I will have Heiko and Sakura create a grand meal tomorrow fufufu…_

Having made her decision, Ritsura returned to eating. And only then it hit her.  _WAIT… me and Mayuri are the only ones without a… damn it we need more boys in this club!_ She regretted not bringing Mezumaru and Gozumaru with nothing else, at least she and Mayuri would not look like the hopeless duo.

 _Aaah, I can't stand this anymore!_  "I am done." she proclaimed and raised herself up. "Thanks for the meal."

"Why not just stay here until everyone is done?" her brother asked.

 _Because I don't want to be alone while surrounded by couples!_  "I have to meet  _him_. And after that… time to rest after a busy day. I barely slept you know."

"Ah… well, give him my regards."

They weren't the only people staying at the resort. There was a certain clan executive who was staying in another building and Ritsura had to go pay her respects. Rihan should come with her, but she knew well enough that Rihan meeting  _him_  would just cause a mess.

Actually, there are very few clan executives with whom Rihan is on good terms these days.

* * *

"Oh, if it isn't Ritsura-sama!" a feminine voice said as Ritsura walked towards a small house. It was originally built for VIP guests, and was now being used by an executive member of the Nura Clan.

However, other than the house and a tree, Ritsura didn't see anyone.

"Hello, who is there?"

"Haha. It is me, the tree." The tree that stood near the house moved as if there were wind.

"Ah… I forgot that you were a tree spirit…"  _Kind of stupid of me seeing as you are called Blood Tree._  Ritsura turned towards the tree and bowed. Blood Tree usually looked like a beautiful woman so it was easy to forget what kind of youkai she actually was. "Forgive my mistake."

"No problem Ojou. Ah, it is good to be able to be in my true form once a while…" The tree moved a bit. "Have you come to meet my husband? Or did you come to play with our little one? I am sure he is around here somewhere."

 _Ah… yes, the little one._  Ritsura looked around and moved her arms up, fearing that something would bite them. "Just coming to give my greetings. Maybe I will have time to play around tomorrow."

"Is that so? Well, please come in then." the tree moved its branches in direction of the house.

"Thank you." Ritsura bowed and continued on, trying to not get too close to the Blood Tree. She is not normally dangerous, but Ritsura heard that sometimes she can forget herself and instinctively catch someone to suck up their blood.

Ritsura entered the house and sat down in front of the door. "I am coming in!" Ritsura said and opened the paper door.

It was only a few months since she saw him, but Zen looked worse than ever. The youkai, who supposedly used to be a handsome man, now looked old. His hair was as white as it could get, his skin pale and he barely kept his eyes open. He lay down on his tatami bed and seemingly didn't notice that his sworn brother's daughter just came in.

" _Zens never live for long. Their poisonous wings are not only deadly to others, but also to themselves."_  Her father once explained to her Zen's condition. Just like his predecessors he looked for ways to prolong his life, but in the end failed. There is just that much that medicine can help. So now he rests here, far away from cities and politics, and in a comfortable environment.

Finally, Zen seems to have noticed her. "Oh…" he forced himself to smile. "Is that you, Ritsura?"

"Yes." Ritsura nodded. "Me and my friends are on a trip to Nejireme and I decided to come and visit you." She also bowed to him. "I am sorry, my brother was too tired to come." She lied to him.

Although Zen was a subject member of the clan, he was her father's sworn brother and one of the most authoritative members of the clan. To Ritsura, he was also a strict mentor who beat her up into behaving properly in front of him. To Ritsura, it became normal to behave in front of him as if he was a higher status than her.

"Yes, I am sure he is." He commented, not believing that Rihan was really just tired. Zen used to treat him just like her and swore to get him back into shape after the Gagoze Incident, but they seem to have gotten into an ugly fight and since then the two of them barely spoke with one another, with Zen trying his best to hide his dissatisfaction towards her brother.

_Zen always treated us as is if we were his family… I wonder what was it that made him start to treat Rihan like a stranger._

"Anyway, I heard Gyuki wanted to test you. So how have you done?" He returned to smiling. The fact that he was so soft made Ritsura feel worried. Zen always found something to be hard on. Always.

"I believe I did well."

"And Rikuo? Did he return from the States?"

"No, father is still there. But after what happened last night…" Ritsura only then realized that Zen may not be up to date with current events. "Have you been told what happened, Zen-dono?"

"Yes, Kubinashi, Kejorou and Aotabou came to visit me not long ago and told me all about it." Zen's eyes narrowed. "Kyushu bastards were always a growing problem, and then we also had to start bothering about this Shin Sekai. And now we have a restored Hyaku Monogatari led by this Shiori right on our turf." Zen made a sigh. "I thought beating up the Nue would scare our enemies and I was right… unfortunately, it seems to have, somehow, also made the more dangerous bastards appear more often."

"They will still get beaten up no matter what they are."

"Ha, that's the spirit. KAH KAH KAH!" Zen started coughing blood again. This happened so often that Ritsura sometimes wondered how come he didn't die from anemia. "So you are saying that Rikuo is returning soon… please tell him to come and visit his brother once he finds time."

"I am sure he doesn't need to be told that by me." Ritsura smiled. Her father valued Zen a lot after all. But Ritsura had a feeling that Zen mentioned this purely because he was worried that he would not get to see his sworn brother again.

"Better safe than sorrKAH KAH!" he started coughing again. "Anyway, you are tired aren't you? Go take a rest girl, don't stay here with a sick, old man."

 _You are not an old man…_  "As you say Zen-dono." Ritsura bowed and raised herself up. "I will come visit you tomorrow."

"Bah, no need for you to bother with it… but thank you."

"Good night." Ritsura said and left.

* * *

Zen continued to smile after Ritsura left.  _The girl has sure matured… I feel like it was yesterday since she was a child._ Then his smile disappeared.  _I feel like it was yesterday since me, Rikuo and Shouei were young… no, Rikuo and Shouei are still in their prime while I…_

He moved his hand up so he could look at it. Just that simple action has become hard. And once he finished molving his hand up, it was time to look at it… and that too has become hard. His vision became blurry and he felt like he was watching through a fog. He could not even count wrinkles on it.

Moving his body… better to not even talk about it.

"I am useless…" even in his prime, Zen was a youkai who rarely fought on the field of battle. Instead, he used his skills to heal those who were wounded and save lives on the brink of death. But now, that he wa unable to move, see or think properly, even that became impossible. He was now like an old man on a deathbed, waiting for the Shinigami to end his miserable life.

"But I want to be there." Tears started coming out from his eyes. "I want to be there as we fight these three upstarts! I want to drink sake with Rikuo and talk about future of the clan! I want to get drunk and laugh with my comrades! I want… I want…" ashamed that he started to cry, he brought hands onto his face. "I want to live damn it!"

* * *

"Ah, so this is where my dear Thorny Rose was hiding." Rihan said as he entered a small room with some kettle ground, some old fashioned cooking tools and with some Haikus hanged on the walls. "Why didn't you wait for me to be done eating before you left the table?" he put on a smirk and sat down. "Are you trying to hide from me."

Araya, who seems to have composed herself since that confession, gave him a seductive smile in return. "Maybe I was testing on how good you were at finding me." Unlike the others who wore those light blue yukatas with blue squares and wide open sleeves, she wore a pink yukata with narrow sleeves which she seemed to have brought herself.

"I am sure I proved my skill to my lady."

"Aaa, I am already your lady?" she said back with a smirk. "On a serious note, I just wanted to check up on the mansion. And no, I couldn't wait until tomorrow. Such a large place just begs for me to go sniffing around."

"So, what is this place?" Rihan asked.

"Eh?" Araya seemed bewildered by his question.

"As I said: what is this place?"

"Eh?!" her eyes narrowed.

"Why are you so angry?" Rihan was aware he was doing something wrong, but was not sure what. "I am just asking what kind of place is this?"

"EH?!" she screamed and jumped onto her feet. "What did you just ask me you dirty barbarian?!"

"W-w-w-what?"

"Where were you raised? The States?!" she was so angry that Rihan felt like the room was burning in fire. "Are you really Japanese?"

"I… I…" he was rendered speechless by her outburst. Looking around he concluded what kind of room this was, but now it was too late.

"LISTEN HERE!" she put her right arm behind her and took out a red fan which she pointed at him. "Since the Sengoku Era, our people have discovered the holiest of arts: the Way of the Tea!"

"…eh?"

"Sen no Rikyu-sama, forgive this narrow-minded barbarian!" she prayed with clenched teeth. "Listen!" she gave the same order again. "Merchants, warriors and even the Emperors… they all worshiped the Way of the Tea and Sen no Rikyu whose genius influenced it!"

"…hai…"

"He was the only one Oda Nobunaga considered his equal and Hideyoshi feared his power over Japan! Indeed, there is even an Anime where Sen no Rikyu was the true ruler of Japan during Oda's and Hideyoshi's regimes! DO YOU KNOW WHY THAT WAS SO?!" she demanded while pointing the fan at him.

"…no?"

"Because the Way of the Tea was what we Japanese have always truly craved for!" she clenched her fists and looked at the ceiling. "Refinery, serenity, simplicity… those are the values we Japanese value the most… and the Way of the Tea is all about them! The refined, serene and simple action of making tea and then the refined, serene and simple gesture of drinking tea…" she spread her arms wide open. "HYOUGE MONO!"

"Ha…"

* * *

" **Note about Araya #987" has been added to Rihan's Journal: "The only thing Araya seems to be obsessed with more than folklore are traditional Japanese tea ceremonies."**

* * *

She turned her attention back at Rihan. "My family has been following the Way of the Tea since Edo Era so know that you have broken half of my flags by your ignorance." Something in her eyes gave him the feeling that she wasn't kidding.

_Just my luck…_

"Hmph." She sat back down and put the opened fan with which she hid half of her face. "You better remember what you have just learned." she said with one of those smiles of hers.

"…hai." He said.

He blinked and  _suddenly_ _it was night and the eyes in front of him were red._  After he blinked again, the image was gone.

 _Wha-_   _What was that?_ Rihan was taken aback for a moment, wondering what was that image that just flashed in front of his eyes. He also felt some kind of Deja vu right now.

"Is something wrong?" the girl asked as she put the fan back where it used to be.

"Ah… nothing." he scratched his cheek. "If I got it right, you make tea right?"

"Yep, I consider myself a disciple of Sen no Rikyu." She seemed to be in good mood again. "But my tea is only for those of strongest will."

_You are going to blow it out of proportions again…_

"You see, it is so delicious that people just go insane and fall in love with me… and they become like addicts, always asking for more and more." She put her hand onto her chest. "Very few can resist the sweet temptation."

"Yes, you blew it out of proportions again." Rihan sighed. "Just say that you are too embarrassed to do it for others and be done with it."

"Hmph!" she made a pouty face and looked aside. "Think whatever you want, primitive."

"I see that my dear Thorny Rose gave me a new nickname." Rihan smiled.

"Just so you know, you broke down three more flags. Speaking of which…" She added and then leaned towards him a bit and started sniffing.

"Huh?"

"Another flag down."

"Huh? Why?!"

"It is good that you took a bath so you don't smell on sweat but…" Rihan was already starting to turn red. "…a boy in heat should not forget about details like putting perfume after bathing."

"But I am going to bed soon…" He defended himself, although truth be told he never put it on to begin with.

"Doesn't matter!" she shouted again. "You should always be prepared else a girl like me will notice the lack of a pleasant scent!"

"Alright…" Rihan sighed. Then he decided to check the same thing she did. "Speaking of which, I see that you did put yours."

"Hm hm…" she smiled. "Like it?"

Rihan just moved his head in another direction. Saying that he did would confirm that she was right about putting on perfume this late at night. "Oh, I always wondered about this but… why don't you like hot springs?"

Rihan himself didn't like them because he couldn't stand heat so he preferred taking cold baths (unlike him, his sister just changes her form in contact with heat), but Araya also got a reputation of never going into one with other girls. Even today, she went into an ofuro instead.

"Hooo…" she made a face as if she were suspecting something. "Did you peak on other girls and realized I wasn't there?"

"No." he gave a simple answer. He did consider trying, but after seeing Shima get hit by a rock thrown by Sakura he gave up on the idea. "You just brought up bathing and I remembered that you never…"

"Riha-chan, I know we are close but I am not your girlfriend." She leaned on the wall behind her. "A girl like me has no reason to tell you about such private stuff."

"Is it something about your arms?" he saw her eyes falter a bit as he mentioned that.  _Bingo!_  "Is it related to the fact that you always wear long sleeves even on hottest days? I know I am very sensitive to heat but even I am certain that you should find that unbearable." A strange thing about this girl was the fact that she never ever wore short sleeves. Ritsura liked to joke that her self-confidence didn't involve her body.

"…again, you are forcing yourself onto a girl's privacy."

"Even now… I guess the reason you brought your own yukata is because it has tight sleeves…" He said and raised his arm, revealing a sleeve into which he could fit quite a few items. "…while these have wide ones."

The girl didn't say anything, and instead just continued to stare at him with an angry look.

"Is it a scar maybe? Yes, I can understand why a girl would not want that to be se-OUCH!" he was interrupted by some squeezing his nose.

"S-T-O-P asking that question already!" she let his nose go. "I promise you that you shall know why... but today isn't that day."

"...alright... sorry I guess..." Rihan said although he felt annoyed that he didn't get any answer. The moer she resisted, the more curious he became.

"Anyway, I have gotten tired so I am gonna go to bed now." she said and raised herself up. "Oh, and I look forward to tomorrow's date."

"Eh? Date?"

"You truly are forgetful… you should get some sleep." She said and made a hair flick. "You did tell me that I will be spending all my free time with you. I expect you to prepare something to shove me off my feet. And for now… good night~" She winked and walked past him, leaving him alone in the room.

 _Oh yes, that IS practically a date_ …  _WHERE THE HELL AM I GONNA TAKE HER ON A DATE IN THIS MIDDLE OF NOWHERE GODS I NEED HEEEELP!_

* * *

Araya wasn't the only one who came up with the idea of searching through the resort before going to bed. Shima Ryu, Onieda Mayuri and Keikain Ryuzan did the same.

"Oh, we even have a Tennis court!" Mayuri said as they entered another chamber. "Not a court that would satisfy a pro, but good enough for some fun."

"But where is the net?" Shima commented.

"You put it up later, genius." Mayuri didn't seem to be in mood for his quirks and so she was unusually rude.

"That's mean Mayuri-chan…"

Rather then saying anything back to Shima Ryu, Mayuri turned towards the other Ryu. "Keikain-kun, would you mind playing a match with me?"

"I don't know…" he scratched his head. "Would it be fair to play with me?"

"Because you are an Onmyouji?" Mayuri started pouting. "Unless you use talismans, you shouldn't be on an inhuman level."

"No, I mean that-"

"Take the racket, Keikain-kun."

Ryuzan sighed and did as she ordered him to. "Okay okay…"

"Alright!" she said as he took his position on the other end of the small court. "We play until one of us scores three points." She threw the ball into the air and prepared to hit it. "Here it comes!"

She hit it, but Ryuzan hit it back to her, too fast for her to react.

"…ara?" Mayuri did not expect.

"I was a member of the Tennis Club back in Kyoto." Ryuzan explained.

"Ah… so that's what you meant with-" Shima started, but stopped because Mayuri made a surprise attack with another serving.

This time Ryuzan hit it with less force, but made it go so far up into the air that it almost hit the ceiling. Mayuri managed to throw it back at Ryuzan who missed it.

"You did that on purpose." Mayuri accused him.

"No, I was just not prepared for a real fight." He said. "You are not bad either."

"I may not be a member of Tennis Club, but I play it sometimes in my free time. I won't go out without a fight."

"Glad to hear it…" his body stiffened a bit as he prepared for his serve. "In that case I will take this very seriously!"

"…oh no." somehow Mayuri already knew that she would miss all of his following balls.

"Alright, my turn now!" Shima Ryu proclaimed and took Mayuri's racket. "Alright Mister Tennis Club, you should know that the son of  _Maou Shima_  is well versed in all sports."

"Oh? You are the son of that soccer coach? I am a fan of his!" Ryuzan seemed to be impressed to which Shima grinned. "I have great expectations from you so I will fight to my limit!"

"…shit." Shima lost his grin but soon composed himself and made his serve. Unlike Mayuri, he and Ryuzan exchanged a number of blows until Shima finally missed one.

"You fight well, son of the Maou…" Ryuzan complimented him.

"Hmph." Shima grinned. "You too… tell me, what was your rank in the Tennis Club?"

"Captain."

"…I am dead." Shima said but didn't seem to lack resolve as he made another serve. The next exchange lasted longer than the last one, but once again it ended in Shima missing the ball. "There is something in the way you fight, mighty warrior…" Shima said as he cleaned the sweat from his forehead. "Tell me, what was the reason that you joined the Tennis Club?"

"Girls in bloomers and tight shirts jumping up and down." Ryuzan, who didn't seem tired at all, confessed.

"Ha, I am calling you Aniki from now on!" Shima gave him a thumbs up.

"I can't believe it… two Ryus and both are perverts." Mayuri was less approving on his motivations.

Shima made another serve but due to already being exhausted, he lost fairly quickly.

"Well then, I guess I am the Champion here." Ryuzan declared his victory.

"Not so fast!" Ritsura's voice shouted from outside and then loud a song from the group LM.C started playing. The doors opened with such a force that they hit the walls and the brown-haired Nura Ritsura walked in, holding a recket on her shoulder. "You still need to win against the Boss character in the final battle!"

"Ho… sounds interesting." unlike Shima and Mayuri who got taken aback by Ritsura's sudden appearance, Ryuzan seemed intrigued. "Do you have what it takes to win against the Tennis Onmyouji?"

"Do you have what it takes to win against a Hanyu Princess? Even in this form, my reflexes and physical capabilities are a little bit over the average human's… especially at night." she asked back and put her smartphone, still playing loud rock music, on a table. "One score only. Do you dare?"

"You bet." Ryuzan accepted her challenge.

"You shall regret this." She threw the ball into the air and hit it with such force that both Mayuri and Shima doubted they could even make a move towards it.

However, Ryuzan was a different story. "Too easy!" he shouted and hit it back to her.

"We are just getting started!" she turned her entire body around and hit it back. Ryuzan was on the left end of the court and she hit it as far as legally possible from him, but he already counted on her doing that so he started running right before she even made the hit.

They continued exchanging blows like that for some time until Heiko came in. "Aneki, I found some sake!"

"Huh?" Mayuri was confused. "What is the sake for? We are minors so we can't just-"

"Throw it here Heiko!" Ritsura ordered and Heiko did as she asked.

Ryuzan played dirty hit the ball in such a way that it would hit the bottle. Ritsura herself reacted by throwing the racket into the air, catching the ball with her right hand and braking the bottle with her left. Before sake got to fall onto the floor, she took care it would fall onto the ball first.

"What are you doing?!" Shima shouted.

"Just making it more interesting." Ritsura said with a wide grin and threw the ball into the air. "New rule Ryu: if a racket gets destroyed, the owner loses. If the ball turned into ashes due to lack of a proper barrier,  _you_  lose! If fire goes out,  _I_  lose."

"What are you…" Ryuzan started but stopped when the ball suddenly got engulfed in blue fire.

"Here comes the climax!" Ritsura collected Fear onto her racket and hit the fireball towards the Ryuzan, using Fear to keep the racket safe.

"Crazy! You are crazy!" Ryuzan said and hit the ball with racket onto which he already sticked one of his barrier talismans. "Just like how I like it!"

Ryuzan immediately understood what the game was about: Ritsura had to keep the flame burning with her Nurarihyon's Fear while Ryuzan had to keep the ball from being burnt (since it was fire caused by Youki, ball itself didn't actually need to burn). At the same time, Ritsura had to protect her racket with her Fear while Ryuzan had to protect his with a barrier. And of course, they both should not miss to hit the ball.

After a few exchanges with a musical background, Ritsura asked: "Now that I think about it, you have it harder than me. That's not fair so add a rule."

"I am fine like this!"

"Come on, don't be boring."

"Tz." He clicked his tongue and took out a talisman. Although he usually used the glove for this, he always had a talisman prepared in case someone catches him without it. The talisman burned in black flame and the flame soon expanded and turned into a Goat. "You have to keep up while he tries to attack you."

"Now we are talking!" Ritsura said with a large grin.

And while those two fought in this crazy match, the other three just stood aside and watched the show. "What even is this?" Mayuri said and let herself slip down onto the floor. "Why can't they just have a normal tennis match?" she said once she was in a sitting position.

"I for one think this is fine." Shima said with a smile.

"And just what are you smiling for?" Mayuri asked him.

"Because Nura-chan finally has someone who can play along with her again." Shima started explaining and sat down as well. "She was always kinda wild, and in past it was Nura-kun who went along with her charades. But then…" his eyes narrowed. "He stopped and she was… alone."

"Alone?"

"Yes, alone." He now had a bittersweet smile. "She had friends in school, but neither of us is able to go keep up with her. Well, Araya-chan can to some extent which is why they always fool around, but at the end of the day she is still just a normal human…" his eyes narrowed. "…and even though they are often together, there is that feeling as if there is some major distance between those two girls."

"What do you mean?"

"…nothing." Shima sighed and just continued to enjoy the crazy match.

"…finish what you started." Mayuri wanted to continue the conversation. "She has many incredible friends in the Nura Clan, right?"

"No, she has many comrades and servants, but not friends." He continued explaining. "They love her and all, but there is too much sense of duty amongst them… and with lack of youkai of her age, she is mostly seen as Rikuo-sama's daughter."

"Oh… I guess I understand what you mean."

"She desires a friend who can keep up with her and be on her side for friendship's sake rather than duty's." he smiled again as he watched the over-the-top tennis match which now included the Yuki Onna Ritsura using her ice with intention of beating Ryuzan. "And looking at this, seems Keikainkun can fulfill that ro… Mayuri-chan why are you looking at me like that?" he asked once he noticed that Mayuri made a face of someone who suspects you were a murderer.

"Unusually lot of wise words come out of your mouth… are you sick maybe?"

"…why is everyone mean towards me?"

* * *

"Huh? Is someone there?" Zen woke up. He was certain he heard something, but was not sure what. He moves his head towards the window.  _Early in the morning it seems?_   _Hmph, must have been wind or something…_

"What is one supposed to say in this situation?" a feminine voice echoed from his room. "Good evening or good morning?"

 _What… did someone infiltrate Nejireme… how could that be?_  He slowly moved himself up and saw someone leaning against the wall on the other end of the room. The person in question wore black jeans and a red hooded shirt, one of those that has a big pocket at the front-bottom. The person had the hood over her head and kept her hands in the shirt's pocket.

However, Zen couldn't see well enough to guess what the person looked like. "Who… are you? An enemy?"

"Who but an enemy comes in middle of a night?" without beating around the bush, she confirmed who she was. "Don't worry, nobody was harmed while I was coming here… and nobody is in danger."

"Besides me you mean KUH KUH!"

"No, I am an enemy but I am not here for your head… yet." She took something out of her pocket and pushed it over the floor towards him. Looking at it, it was a gray casket. "Here, a friend sends you this gift."

"What… friend?"

"An enemy actually… do you know the youkai called Plaguesdoctor?"

Zen knew that name. Plaguesdoctor was a youkai who looked like the Medieval European Plaguedoctor. But while those tried to save people from a plague, this one infected them with unknown diseases that the rare few can cure. Few years ago he became active in Tokyo where he killed many humans and youkai alike. As a member of the Nura Clan and a Doctor himself, Zen swore to hunt him down but his own medical condition got him before he found him.

"Never met him, but I am aware of him."

"I am sure you are." The visitor put her hand on her chest. "It is known that you declared him your enemy and he is saddened that you can't live up to that rank… and his Tale demands a proper Antagonist… he craves for a worthy enemy."

"His Tale?" that word told Zen who exactly were these people. "Him… and you… are from the Hyaku Monogatari, aren't you?!"

"Still desiring a proper fight with you, he sends you this gift." She ignored his question, probably because the answer was obvious. "They are used for injections. Supposedly, you inject it into your heart and it should temporarily fix your situation."

"A gift? From people like  _you_?"

"A devil's gift of course." She spread her arms. "You get better but… it has ugly side-effects. The more you inject, the more dangerous it becomes."

"Hmph. The more I inject…" he forced himself to stand up. No matter how much it hurt, he could not stand laying down there and not showing strength. "YOU THINK I WOULD EVEN ONCE INJECT SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!"

"You can freely throw it away if that's your choice." She shrugged her shoulders and turned around. "But I'd advise keeping it just in case. In case something bad happens and those dear to you are threatened… you may need it." and with those words she ran away from his house, courteously closing the doors behind her.

Zen fell back onto his tatami, his innards screaming all over due to the pressure. He looked at the gray, metal casket he was given. He would most rather just break it.

But instead, he just put it into a cupboard that stood beside him. Something inside him didn't want to get rid of it, no matter what its source may have been.

And her last words were nothing to joke about either. Imagining something happening to his wife or son… or Rikuo's kids… and him being unable to do anything was just too unbearable.

He'd even accept a devil's gift to save himself from that.

"Huh, is someone there?" feeling some kind of Fear, he immediately moved his head towards the window but saw nor felt anyone there.  _I felt as if there was someone... guess I am just on the edge..._

However, he was worried about the fact that this person has managed to reach this deep into Nejireme. Although Nejireme can be entered from many places, vigilant youkai and illusions protect it.

* * *

Umeji was running through the fields as fast as his legs allowed him to. He was running without looking back, so afraid he didn't even dare to scream. He was a veteran of many wars and battles, son of the great Mizuchi and so beloved by Gorozaemon-kami-sama that he was allowed to know his name.

And that fact didn't change. He would bravely face an army of Tsuchigumos if needed, fighting until every bone in his body was broken.

But this enemy… he couldn't possibly stand in front of him. This wouldn't be a battle, just a harsh, harsh tragedy. How does one even battle that monster?

Suddenly, he felt something sharp cut his left foot and he was forced to fall onto the ground.  _No… no… I have to warn father… anyone… if I die, I have failed to…_

He looked upwards. The person that cut him wasn't the monster he feared, but a grotesque woman with gray-scale holding a butcher's axe and wearing pink nurse's clothes. She and a few other nurses followed that monster and if she was here, that meant that the monster must be close by.

"Umeji-dono!" someone shouted and Umeji felt dozens of youkai come to his aid.

 _Please… no…_  Umeji became even more desperate whereas the nurse jumped backwards, fleeing.

"Umeji-dono!" a member of the Tsuchigumo Clan, the former rulers of Kyushu and now loyal retainers of Mizuchi, jumped in front of him. Dozens of the other youkai of the Kyushu Clan followed. "We heard that suspicious vehicle was going towards you and… You are safe now."

"No… none of us are safe anymore…" Umeji continued to sit on his knees. "That monster will come… that monster…"

"If he comes, we will beat him up!" the Tsukumo punched his own hands.

"No… you can't beat him… he is not a youkai but a catastrophe…"

"HA HA How convenient!" the youkai crossed his arms. "Just as it comes, we Tsukumo are also known as catastrophes."

"You are known as natural catastrophes to be exact." A voice from direction of the Tsukumo's shoulder said. Umeji turned pale when he saw that monster: a freak with a crow-like mask and a hat, holding a stick in his hand.

"ORYAAA!" the Tsukumo hit his own shoulder with his leg. "This is what you get for sneaking up to me, coward!"

But rather than being squeezed, the masked youkai turned into countless insects which flew around, engulfing everyone as if they were a fog.

"What is this?!" the Tsukumo demanded, but Umeji no longer had strength to speak. The scene from earlier is going to repeat itself.

A minute later, the insects flew to one another and turned into the masked youkai again. "The Tsukumo might be natural catastrophe, but I am harbinger of the far worse one: the plague. I am the Plaguesdoctor… mind the 's' as it makes me the Plague's own Doctor." The youkai around them started screaming in pain, each one infected by a different kind of a horrible, painful disease. "Indeed, plagues take many more lives and bring far more despair. An earthquake kills thousands, but plague… one plague can massacre entire continents."

"Stop your monologues and fight bastard!" the Tsukumo yelled and prepared to pummel the enemy into the ground, to which the Plaguesdoctor didn't move. However, just as he raised his four fists, the Tsukumo started coughing blood and collapsed onto the floor.

"Slaves, Peasants, Soldiers, Kings, Nations… nothing can stand against the horror that is Plague." The Plaguesdoctor continued. "And there is no greater pain that a disease. When you want to do something, but can't… when you are forced to just lie down coughing blood and unable to move, even while everything around dies."

"You… cowardly… bastard…" Tsukumo forced words to come out as tumors grew on his body. He then made one final cough and passed away.

And now everyone but Umeji and the Plaguesdoctor were dead.

"Who… why are you here?" Umeji asked.

"I am the Plaguesdoctor, Shiori-sama's Right Hand and her oldest and strongest Tale."

"You… you are one of the Heretics!"

"Indeed." He stretched his arms. "A fool threatened by mistress recently and in order to restore her honor, she decided to leave a message to all of her enemies. You… are part of the message to the Kyushu and to Yanagida-sama. Nothing personal, it is just you being kinda liked by Gorozaemon-sama." Plaguesdoctor finished and stabbed him with his stick.

 _And so dies Umeji, mighty warrior killed by a mere disease_.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here we are at chapter 30, a nice and round number! Thank everyone who is still reading this and hope you continue reading!

\- we saw him already, but only no is he properly introduced: Plaguesdoctor! Of course, we see him quite a few times in future as well!

\- poor Ritsura is feeling lonely :P

\- for those who don't know, Blood Tree is a character who appeared in the first NuraMago Light Novel

\- and Zen appears… and does not seem to be doing so well. Conveniently, he seems to have caught the eye of the strongest tale that Shiori created… just where does this lead?

\- sorry guys, after watching Hyouge Mono (one of my favorite Anime) I just had to make Araya go "Way of the Tea" on some unsuspecting victim ;P

\- for those confused, the thing about a note being added to the journal is a reference to RPG games ;P (we had the similar thing happen with Ritsura in an earlier chapter)

\- now that was an interesting game, with Fireballs and background music

\- oh, and the poll is still open!

* * *

**Omakes:**

**silvergoldmoonlight** : " _And the one with Tsuchigumo and Masato, why didn't the ox-head kill him then?_ "

"I don't know, I just felt like I lost a battle you know… and battles aren't about killing, but having fun and making people fear you know." Tsuchigumo started explaining. "It is one thing when someone accepts my challenge or tries to flee, but someone rejecting me without an ounce of Fear… that is new. It is like… my Fear wasn't impressive at all! So I am going to expand my horizons with other skills and beat him at his own game! Just…" he looked at a book meant for humans. "How do you guys read this tiny thing?"

* * *

 **Citsimsan** : " _And more Shin Sekai, please! After so many battles against urban legends, one can forget that the fic is named after them. Still wondering about how normal humans managed to get so much power. Or maybe they're not really normal humans?_ "

"Soon…" Onieda Masato said as he put his hands together inside a plane.


	31. Helium Aviations and Seamanship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a lot of investigating, Nura Rikuo has found a clue on where he could learn more about the Shin Sekai. But what awaits him is…

**Disclaimer:** it is kinda hard to synchronize timeline of events when you have story taking place in multiple timezones so don't take the chronology of chapters too literally…

**Chapter 31: Helium Aviations and Seamanship**

"So this is the  _Helium Aviations and Seamenship_ , huh?" Rikuo, in his night form, mentioned as he looked at a large, walled area in the middle of nowhere, he himself standing on a faraway cliff. The area encompassed two buildings, which were probably used for production and assemblage of helicopters, a few warehouses and something that looked like the office building. It was night so it was a silent, with only security still being there… a lot of security and Rikuo was certain he saw more than dozen people who looked like workers.

"Something definitely reeks from this place." Daruma commented, and in youkai words that meant that large amounts of Fear radiated from it. Of course, Rikuo did not come alone: there were also Daruma, Shouei as well as two dozens of youkai who followed him to the USA.

"In this situation, it is a scent." Rikuo said and then smiled. "Reek would not make me this happy." After all, it meant that something was going on there and where something was going on, something could be learned. "Anyway, we shall split. Shouei, you check the factories. Daruma, you check the office. I will check the warehouses."

"What about the humans?"

"There are not that many of them." He said. "If they look like regular security or a worker, just sneak past them." Youkai were naturally good at hiding from humans in every kind of environment so this would not be a problem. "If someone looks  _special_ , invite him for some  _socializing_."

* * *

 _It truly does reek in here…_  not long after he, and a number of subordinates, infiltrated the factory grounds Rikuo has started to feel worried about this quantity of Fear around him.  _There is something bad here, but what could it be?_

He expected that, if there was something dangerous being created here, it would be stored in one of the warehouses. Offices are too close to the important people while the factories are filled with common workforce from whom one might stumble upon something important. Warehouses are not filled with as many people and only select few would enter them.

Due to his inhuman speed, he didn't need long to reach the warehouses. There were eight of them, each one of them large.  _Even if my guess is right, I am not sure I could find anything important here before the sun rises._

Rikuo tried to focus his senses in such a way that they would detect Fear. However, the only Fear he could feel was the tremendous one that engulfed this entire area as well as the ones belonging to his parade.  _Knowing them, they probably have some means to hide the source of all this Fear._  Rikuo sighed, understanding that this won't be so fast. _Well, guess we have to do it the hard way._  "Guys, split up and check every box and every corned in these warehouses!" he ordered and the youkai who came after him split around. Not being the patient one, Rikuo went to give them a hand and join the search.

Not many humans were around and only occasionally a guard would walk through the warehouse area, but not really paying much attention to what was going on around. That meant that youkai could focus on their search without having to worry that humans would hear or notice them sniffing around the warehouses.

As one would expect from a helicopter factory, the warehouses were filled with materials that had to be processed as well as parts that were produced by the factory. In other words, there was not much useful here.

But luck was on their side. "Supreme Commander, there is something strange in Warehouse H."

"Of course…" Rikuo put a hand on his forehead. "The last warehouse in mind." With a sigh, he followed the youkai to the warehouse.

At first glance, it looked like the rest of them. However…

"First I noticed that it was in too good condition." A small frog that stood on two legs explained to Rikuo. "The other warehouses have a hole here and there, but seems that even mices left this one alone. Then, I saw a camera being hidden there…" the frog pointed towards a tree. A human eye would not see anything, but a youkai could see that there was an artificial bee-hive and something shiny in it.

"Seems like we were noticed." Rikuo's eyes narrowed. "Well, it was too late since we came here. Lets just hurry up."

Realizing that time was of essence, the frog said nothing more. Rikuo, no longer interested in keeping a low profile, kicked the steel gates down and entered the warehouse. At first glance, it was the same like the rest… but there were some expensive, steel chests around that attracted Rikuo's attention.

He walked up to one and put his hand onto it. _I sense something like Onmyoudo…_ Not wasting much time, Rikuo took out his sword and made a horizontal cut on the top.

"The Dean didn't lie… this place does belong to that organization." Inside the chest, he saw Onmyoudo paper talismans. Yura gave him and the rest of Kiyo Cross Squad a basic lecture on talismans while they were still kids so Rikuo could make a guess on what this was for: hiding one's aura. He immediately remembered the helicopter model the Dean showed him.  _This is material, just like the things in other warehouses… meaning that I will probably find more clues in the factories._  "You guys continue searching the warehouses for a while but then leave this place. If you stumble upon something, let me know."

* * *

"Shouei and Daruma, you are already done?" Rikuo was surprised to see the two of them leisurely standing in middle of the complex, an area seemingly reserved for helicopters to land.

"I am, Supreme Commander." Daruma nodded. "I put a bug into the computers and Kiyotsugu-dono has already started checking the data on them out. There are also many documents, but after a few glances I concluded that none of them are important."

"Good." Rikuo nodded in approval. "And you Shouei? There are two large buildings, I don't think you should be done by now."

"I am not. I had others check them through. I am here because I noticed something."

"What did you notice?"

"Those two buildings are large, but I don't think there is anything suspicious about them. Seeing as the workers here are employees from a neighboring city and thus normal, I doubt the organization would hide anything here." He explained to which Rikuo nodded as he came to the same conclusion. "But I think there is something below us."

"Why do you think that?"

"At first, it was just a wild guess, but then I started checking the floor in the factories. You would not notice it from outside where everything is cemented but… I gave the ground a good… knock." No doubt it was a strong punch that only Shouei and his father Hihi could make, but to them it would still just be a small knock. "There was too much sound. I followed it out and came here. I think we are standing on a steel gate."

Rikuo looked downwards. "Now that you mention it… it does look like something that could open."

"Supreme Commander, would you allow me to crush this thing?" Shouei asked him.

"What about humans? They would hear it."

"We already took care that the few human present here get knocked unconscious." Daruma explained. "It should be safe."

"I see… alright Shouei, lets see if there is something below us." Rikuo gave his approval. "But be careful. There are cameras hidden around here and  _they_  should be aware they are here. Seeing as they didn't strike at us yet, it is possible that this is a trap."

"I take it that you decided to take the bite." Shouei said as he put on his mask.

"We came too far to give up now." Rikuo confirmed and he and Daruma moved backwards.

"Good." Shouei nodded and released his Fear. Shouei's body grew and took a more monstrous appearance, which was followed by him punching the ground below.

Shouei was right: there really was another facility hidden below.

* * *

Leaving Daruma and the rest of the Parade up, Rikuo and Shouei descended into the secret facility. At the moment, it was devoid of humans but the partially assembled helicopters showed that it was used recently, possibly earlier that day. Rikuo also noticed some of those chests that he saw in the warehouse as well as some other occultistic items.

"This  _Shin Sekai_  sure is rich." Shouei commented. "I never expected them to build a secret underground facility… but how do they take these helicopters outside?"

"Probably through that tunnel." Rikuo pointed into at what would look like pitch darkness to a human eye but them being youkai, they saw a tunnel far away as if it were daylight. "I guess it leads to an entrance somewhere far away." He then looked at a number of large trucks. "…by using those."

"Just how many sponsors do they have." Shouei added.

" _For a proper ambition, you need money._ " A voice said from somewhere around them.

"Who is there?!" Rikuo shouted. "Show yourself!"

" _Yelling, just like a caveman._ " A white owl with yellow shining eyes flew down to them. " _Sorry for not being able to meet you in person, but I am afraid such an action would be stupid from my part._ "

"Who are you?" Rikuo asked the owl.

" _The current leader of our organization, represented through a Familiar._ " The owl replied.

"I didn't expect you to appear in any kind of form to be honest. I take it you already know who I am?"

" _Nura Rikuo from the Nura Clan. Quite a nosy fellow._ " The owl turned its head by ninety degrees. " _I was in a good mood so felt like talking a bit… but tell me, why have have you come here? It was an obvious trap._ " As the owl said that, steel plates closed the hole through which Rikuo and Shouei entered, revealing that more than one pair of gates existed.

Rikuo smirked. "You think I am afraid of your trap?"

" _Of course not, the slayer of the Nue has seen way too much to be worried about his own safety._ " The owl answered. " _I thought you'd be worried about your own followers._ "

"Good thing I didn't take them down here." Rikuo said and took out his sword. "Besides my friend Shouei of course."

" _Oh?_ " the owl turned its head by ninety degrees into the other direction. " _Who said the danger was to come from below?_ " as the owl said that, Rikuo and Shouei felt an explosion of Fear and then clash of that aggressive Fear and the Fear of his followers.

It was also pretty clear that the foreign Fear already killed some of the Nura Clan's youkai. "You bastard!" Rikuo shouted while Shouei took his gargantuan form and prepare to jump.

" _And just to mention it: we don't use paper talismans to produce these helicopters._ " The next moment, all the chests opened and the paper talismans flew around, creating a wall around Rikuo and Shouei. However, these weren't aura hiding talismans and though Rikuo couldn't recognize their power via symbols, the fact that they absorbed his and Shouei's Fear made it clear what their function was.

Shouei jumped up, intending to break through the gates. However, the moment his fists touched the gates, they shined in golden light and pushed him downwards with enough force to cause a small crater in the ground.

It was clear that the gates were enhanced.

 _Damn it, we have no time to waste here._  "Shouei, lets use Matoi!" Rikuo shouted and Shouei turned into pire Fear that enveloped Rikuo. The next moment, Rikuo held a sword as wide as him and four times his size. With it, he jumped up and slashed through various talisman barriers that formed themselves as well as the metal gates.

However, the more Fear they used the stronger was the absorption effect of those other talismans and while it didn't effect Rikuo much, Shouei immediately broke from Matoi was fell on the ground, too exhausted to fight.

"Rikuo-sama!" he heard Daruma shout and reflexively caught what Daruma through towards him: a new sword. After all, since it wasn0t Nenekirimaru his other sword broke apart due to Matoi.

First new thing Rikuo saw around was that sky was filled with paper talismans: some were hiding what was going on here, some were absorbing Fear and most were keeping up a barrier so nobody could flee.

And then his eyes fell onto the enemy. Its body was pitch-darkness, with no unnecessary features. It had two pairs of wings, a spiky tail, claws, horns and a long nose with fangs. And floating all around them were pitch black bulbs with a yellow eye on them. The creature seemed monstrous, but it was not growling or anything. No, Rikuo saw enough battles to understand what kind of fighter this beast was: a calculating, cautious one.

Without any warning, the beast swang its wings and flew towards Rikuo with a high speed and Rikuo barely managed to deflect its attack. The beast answered immediately by turning around, grabbing Rikuo by his knee and throwing him into the wall on the other end of the walled facility. However, by the time he reached the wall, Rikuo already moved his body in such a way that he would hit it with his feet and immediately jump back onto the ground.

The beast's eyes were around him, but the beast itself was still standing at the spot from which he threw him from.

However, the pitch-blsck beast was not to be their only enemy: three helicopters looking just like the ones underground appeared in the sky. At the same moment, they started firing projectiles onto all the buildings inside the walls. Sounds of explosions also came from below, causing the ground to start collapsing.  _Did they plant bombs down there?!_

The helicopters and the explosions stole Rikuo's attention long enough for the beast to fly up to him, grab him and throw him far into the air. From there, Rikuo saw two helicopters fire storms of bullets onto youkai. Most managed to take shelter in the rubble, but a few got hit and the effect was the same as when Nenekirimaru slashes a youkai.  _These are weapons made just for slaying youkai!_

But he didn't let this take all of his attention. For now, there was the beast to worry about. Rikuo could not see it anymore, but then remembered the third helicopter. Turning his head, he saw it preparing to fire a bullet into him.

Before Rikuo could react, a large stone crashed into it, destroying it and killing its pilot. There was only one person who could have done this.  _Thank you Shouei!_

With the helicopter gone, Rikuo could focus once again on the beast. Focusing his senses onto source of the large Fear, he saw the beast flying above him and preparing to storm down onto Rikuo in a fast, vertical strike.

"Come down, you bastard!" Rikuo challenged him and the beast accepted. But the moment it got close to him, Rikuo released all of his Fear. His hair turned from gourded into long released one and his Fear was sipping from him, all as usual for his Aggressive Form.

However, the enemy didn't seem least touched by his Fear and continued plunging towards him. But Rikuo's Fear was strong enough to not require the opposing party to be afraid and Rikuo cut through him as if he were butter. Still, the beast realized the threat quick enough to move his body in such a manner that only its right arm would get cut off.

Just as expected, the beast didn't seem to feel pain.  _This will be an annoying battle._

* * *

 _What the heck are those things down below?!_  The mysterious company that gave him this job and unnatural helicopter told them to shoot down anyone they see, be they humans or not. It was a strange order, but the pilot did not expect to see monsters run around.

At first, he thought he'd be safe at this distance, but then one of his colleagues got shot down by a large boulder. The same monster responsible for it was still somewhere down there, occasionally throwing stones and large pieces of rubble at them. Until now both of them managed to evade them, but he doubted that they would last long.

And then there were two more freaks: a man with some strange hair and wielding a sword was fighting something that looked like Satan's favorite pet. And he was unsure who scared him more.

And then he heard an explosion and saw hos colleague get shot down by a giant piece of rubble.  _Shit, we should not have accepted this job! Everything with such high price is too damn dangerous!_

The three mercenaries were told they would be found and killed if they left the mission, but the pilot had no more patience or courage to stay here.  _I will leave, sell the helicopter and then I will_ -

And then ' _Satan's Pet_ ' jumped onto the window. "Ah… I won't leave… I was just…"

The monster turned into black fire which entered his helicopter.

"NOOOOOOO! LEAVE ME ALOONE!"

But the fire didn't burn him… but it did something worse: it violated his mind. The pilot felt his thoughts and emotions being forced to think and feel something he didn't care about. He tried to resist it but…

… _and then he found himself in a never-ending nightmare._

* * *

Onieda Masato was sitting on his chair and looking at the monitor. Serving as a camera, the Owl Familiar sent him images of what was going on.

"Two pairs of wings to fly as fast and flexible as a bug. A nose and fangs of a wolf that can quickly destroy your innards. Claws and tails that can tear you apart." Masato talked into his own chin.

"And of course, the ability to possess a human. The Hyaku Monogatari found out that by manipulating human thoughts and emotions via tales you can create youkai and supernatural events as Fear is nothing else but fuel created by people's thoughts."

"But, that's too much work in my opinion… why not just send a youkai right into a person's head and force his entire being to exist solely to fuel a youkai?" he smiled to himself. "And of course, why make it only one human? And so, we developed a method to create youkai that was far more efficient than the one those fools from Hyaku Monogatari use."

* * *

"What the hell… is going on?" Daruma muttered. He, Rikuo, Shouei and the remaining members of the Parade were watching as pitch black fire engulfed the helicopter.

But it wasn't the fire that scared them. No, the already strong Fear of that beast grew stronger and stronger. "Keep strong… every concern just makes it more dangerous for us." Rikuo warned his followers, but he doubted it would make much of a difference.

Then, the Fear absorbing talismans stopped stealing the youkai's Fear and instead started emitting it right into the orb of black fire. Following that, two tails that resembled that beast's grabbed two humans from below and pulled them into the orb, making its Fear grow faster.

And then the black pyre stopped, revealing a pitch black helicopter. To an eye it would look as if only its look changed, but the youkai could feel that wasn't a helicopter: this was a youkai.

And Rikuo, whose heart and soul were sworn to protect humans, could feel something more. He heard the three devoured humans scream in agony, begging for the nightmare to end. The agony that radiated was stronger than those of humans who suffered under attacks from the Kyoto Youkai many years ago… and stronger than the humans who were attacked during the  _Tokyo Tag_.

His hate for this monster and his creators as well as his wish to save the humans that got devoured caused Rikuo's Fear to grow. "YOU DAMN BASTARDS!" it took only for a moment for Rikuo to run all the way to it and jump. But his attack was quickly evaded and the demonic helicopter released a storm of bullets into Rikuo, throwing him all the way into the ground with bullets made of pure Fear.

But Rikuo felt barely any pain. Did his enraged mind ignore it or was his Fear far too strong to feel damage from this, he did not know. Nor did he care.

The demonic helicopter raised itself up. In only a second, it doubled its altitude.

"You think that will keep you safe from me?" Rikuo said and prepared for another attack.

But before he could do anything, the helicopter started firing rockets. In a moment, three dozens of rockets were flying towards him, showing that there was probably no limit for its ammunition.

"Rikuo-sama!" the youkai shouted and ran up to him, standing behind him. The Night Parade, with its commander in front, cut the Fear from the rockets that rained on them greatly reducing the damage they caused.

But as the dust cleared up, they saw that more projectiles were released. But they weren't flying towards them, instead hitting the ground around them.

It took only a moment to realize that this wasn't a direct attack. Instead, the helicopter cut parts of its Fear and threw them down. Those parts turned into youkai, similar to the one that was responsible for all this.

"You must be joking!" Shouei yelled. "These guys have more Fear than the ones that Kyousai created!"

Rikuo didn't say anything. The agony of those three humans became stronger the moment those creatures were created. With one slash, he hit each of the youkai around him but as a consequence his sword broke into pieces.  _Shit, I should have had Akifusa make another Nenekirimaru for me, even if a weak one!_

One of the youkai handed him another sword and the Parade prepared for the Helicopter to make another attack. But the helicopter just started lowering itself down, with something feeling different in the air.

"It's Fear… is gone." One of the youkai commented.

The helicopter than got engulfed in black flame, but only for a moment. Once it was gone, only a falling helicopter and the three humans inside remained.

"Shouei!" Rikuo yelled and his follower knew what exactly had to be done. He grabbed Rikuo and three him into the air, enough to make it possible for him to reach the helicopter without crashing into it, grab the humans and bring them safely down.

Yet, the expression on Rikuo's face just became grimmer. The three humans were alive, but their eyes looked at nothing with droll coming out of their mouth. They became what is often called a  _Vegetable_.

Rikuo looked towards the Owl Familiar that just stood nearby, looking down at them.

* * *

"Whats with that stare? Are you trying to scare me?" Onieda Masato commented to himself. "Well, a shame it is already over, but not unexpected. The Prototype series of these  _products_  were too brute in their mind control so the minds of the possessed humans would break too fast." Of course, they fixed the problem years ago and the new  _products_  did not suffer from this problem and were in general superior from Prototypes in every way.

"Anyway, you should have ran away Nura Rikuo. What was your quest to find out more about us turned into gaining more data on your way of fighting. Had I known it would be this easy to make you fight with all you have, I would have done it years earlier. But it is soon enough I guess…"

"Well, better to start preparing a banquet for you…"

* * *

"So, is it over?" one of the youkai asked its Supreme Commander.

"Yes, it is." Daruma was the one to answer the question. "The Fear is completely gone and this place is now nothing more than a ruin." He then turned towards Rikuo who was still starring at the spot where the owl was before it disappeared. "I think we have learned enough and Kiyotsugu-dono might find something in the data we salvaged from those computers. I'd suggest returning home."

"No, not yet." Rikuo rose up. "That owl… its master is close." All the Shikigami were connected to their summoners and that connection was able to be traced… something which Rikuo learned a few years ago. "So close I feel as if he is insulting us. Let's rest and then pay him a visit."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Well, this was a short chapter but I think it had quite a bit of content. Guess you can consider it to be a preview to what is to come… after all, this demon was just a lame prototype ;P

Well… that's it. I don't really have much to comment on XD

...

Ah screw it, I am unable to make short Author Notes. Here comes  **some random Trivia for those interested!**

\- I don't know if this fic would even exist without Citsimsan... if anything, it wouldn't be as good. So you go thank that great man, take Google and read Kitsune no Mago. Seriously, that is one great fanfic and you will thank him for getting this great opportunity to thank him!

\- in the oldest draft, unknown even to the mighty Citsimsan, Ritsura actually had an older brother and she became the heiress once the enemy (Shiori I think but not sure if I remember right) killed him

\- yes yes, there will be a Ritsura Vs. Rihan battle one day. Hell, you will even get a Ritsura Vs. Rikuo battle someday!

\- I kinda hate the fact that I sent Rikuo into the States. Still, he had to be away until we reach point X of the story... yes, you can expect some RikuTsura once he is back

\- I like having politics and romance in my fiction. Expect politics and romance in this fanfic. Lets hope we never get to Light Lemons though...

\- I like reviews

\- most of plot related to Shiori was planned while listening to Yousei Teikoku songs. Hell, the tattoo on Shiori's arm is a light reference to Fairy Yui having a tattoo there

\- cookies to whoever guesses what kind of youkai is Shiori's skeletal "vehicle"

\- Prototype Chapter 3 is fun actually (there is no Prototype ck2 BTW: I just skipped over that one) and has some nice planning and a battle which will probably never appear in Main Story. Want to read it? Go and solve some of the fic's mysteries ;P (just for the record, I like making my mysteries solvable)

\- Ritsura doesn't need to use a comb you know. Nurarihyon genes are quite convenient!

\- we were supposed to reach Nejireme in chapter 3. Time sure does NOT fly fast

\- I LOVE reviews

\- some of you might wonder when exactly was the organization known as Shin Sekai created? Now this shall surprise you: the moment I decided to write Rikuo's scene in ch1. People now known as Masahide, Masato and Mahiro were part of the story since the start, but with different, although still villainous, roles. Coincidentally, I gave them surname Onieda, and thus made Mayuri and her brother part of their family, while writing 2nd or 3rd chapter

\- Sakura is the character who surprised me the most: she didn't exist until I decided to start writing the fic. In the Prototype, seen only by Citsimsan, she was introduced as a fully normal and uninteresting girl whose only purpose was to introduce members of the SIC, give them a quest and become a character who appears only occasionally. Yet she didn't allow me: by time I wrote the First chapter you all know and love (well maybe not love) she has become the Genki girl you all know and love (well maybe not love). But the girl didn't stop there: the masochist girl went and made Azuru her nee-san. But her hunger for a more meaningful background was not satisfied just yet: when I decided to add some Kakure Kirishitan characters, she came and forced me to give that role to her. Seriously, this girl has more ambition than Tamazuki!

\- speaking about the Kibiki, Azuru was originally an honorable and decent woman who would end up joining Ritsura's Hyaki. But just like her sister (well, she later became her sister) she did not like her original role and forced me to turn her into a villain. She seems to be quite fond of her role. Guess it is true what they say: some actors only want villainous roles

\- and since we are talking about characters whose roles have changed drastically, we can't go without mentioning the Mighty Rihan Junior-sama! Originally, he was supposed to be a heroic character, nicer than his sister. While writing ch2, I made his past harsher (only to make it much harsher later with introduction of Gagoze Junior). But it was only after watching NuraMago OVA1 where we got a glimpse of Nura Rihan almost committing an unforgivable sin. It was this that made me want to make an Evil Nurarihyon

\- I NEED your reviews!

\- if I had to choose a theme song for the RihAra pairing, it would be "Poison" by Grove Cooverage

\- a few months ago, I entertained myself with the idea of "What the story would be like if Rikuo ended with Kana or Yura". In Yura's case it would be a story of an Onmyouji and story would take place a few years later, where Shin Sekai and Sanmoto Gorozaemon kinda changed the world and the kid would be fixing it. In Kana's case, it would be the story where Nura Clan got destroyed and the Fourth Heir has to restore it. In both cases Kuruguya Midori, due to her character development taking a different route, never embraces the name and role Sanmoto Shiori. Instead, she fully becomes a youkai Gorozaemon Midori

\- some of you may wonder what Yura's kid is like. Let me tell you a secret: even I don't know yet XD

\- the character now known as Keikain Ryuzan was originally Yura's son, not Ryuji's. But with time, I realized that he feels more like Ryuji's son than Yura's so I changed it. It nicely improved his character!

\- I really want to write adventures of Hell Bros (Rihan, Seimei and Gorozaemon) having merry adventures in the Underworld. Seriously, the Vatican has to keep this demon sealed inside me!

\- alongside my main blog, I also have an "Ask Sanmoto-chan" blog on my tumblr. Unfortunately, it is not getting much traffic these days due to Manga having ended and all. So if you feel sorry for the poor, bored Maou geezer, do drop him an Anon comment ;)

\- you know, you don't need an account here in order to post a review. Why let the opportunity go?


	32. (Sunny Saturday) - The Storm Gathers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is Saturday, the second day of the SIC's Nejireme Trip. Some would hope that it gets to be less chaotic than the Friday night, but who are we kidding?

**Arc V: Sunny Saturday**

**Chapter 32: The Storm Gathers**

_Rihan ran through dark streets, sword in his hands and his hair shaped as a gourd. Youkai that looked like they were pulled out of a horror film were everywhere, but Rihan cut down each one of them in his path, his hands, face and yukata getting more and more drenched in fresh blood._

_There were also voices all around him. He heard his sister, his parents, his friends, his comrades and even voices of the strangers begging him to stop, to look what he was doing… to give up on this blood-lust and focus on what is important._

_Opposed to them, there were black monkeys with red eyes sitting on top of fences, buildings and lamps. Unlike the other voices, their shouts were much simpler: they were cheering. The more brutal the kill he committed, the stronger their cheers became._

_But the loudest voices were the ones that came from inside him. A few of his voices wondered if he should stop and consider what he was doing, but they were the silent ones. The loudest were the ones of hate. Even louder were the ones of joy. And the strongest ones were those of pride._

_This slaughter was caused by his_ _**own** _ _Fear… his_ _**OWN** _ _, terrifying Fear._

_And so he continued to slay to the point that the pools of blood became so numerous and large that the street practically turned into a river of blood, soon filling even the path in front of him._

_And then there was only one person left. She stood in front of him, dressed in a yukata and holding a parasol, with her back turned towards him. Her hair was red, her yukata was red and her parasol was red, perfectly fitting in middle of this bloody river._

_Once he got close enough, he stopped and swinged his blade so that he would cut her head._

_And at that moment she turned towards him, but she was not like the rest who had horror drawn all over their faces. No, she had a smirk and her eyes shone with entertainment… entertainment and some form of sadness._

_But what mattered the most was her face… the face of the one he loved._

_**-NO! I must stop!-** _

_His silent voices were the first to scream. Many of his other voices, even the ones who approved of what he was doing up till now, screamed to stop. And his katana slowed down… but didn't stop, and was still going towards her neck. It was slow, but he knew it would kill unless he properly stopped it._

_The monkeys cheered for death… and the voices of his sister, parents, comrades and strangers… demanded that he slay her. All those cheers and demands made the sword move faster._

_**-Fool, move away!-** _

_If she heard those words, she did not obey. Instead, she continued smiling and raised her chin so it would be a clear cut. He could see her eyes, telling him that she accepted this fate long ago._

_**-You of all people should be protecting yourselves!-** _

_And then darkest of his voices, the one which was silent since he noticed the red girl, spoke._

_**-Die.-** _

_And the sword's speed increased, touched her neck and-_

_**-NOOOOOO!-** _

* * *

[He](http://i.imgur.com/P0IQhfA.jpg) opened his eyes. Seeing a ceiling never made him this happy. Still, he closed his eyes again, as if hoping that it would make everything disappear, including the memory of this dream…

_This dream…_  nightmares were not strangers to Rihan, but he wasn't this devastated by one in a long time. He knew that this was not to be one of those dreams that he would forget soon after waking up.  _I have to… I had to kill…_

He then felt another presence above him and opened his eyes. He saw [the girl from his dream](http://38.media.tumblr.com/abd021aa700c01267e13214ca6795bbf/tumblr_ndr7xfR0D31r8zfyfo1_1280.png), now standing on all four not much above him.

"Araya… chan?" as happy as he was to see that she was alive and well, he was uncomfortable. Partially because of the dream he just had about her, and partially because this pose of hers felt way too suggestive. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing, just checking you out." She put on one of her warmer smiles. "You dreamed something bad,  _darling_?"

"Yes, it was a bad- WAIT WHAT DARLING?!" he pushed himself away from the girl who seemed to enjoy his reaction. It was too early to properly handle such behavior from her, not to mention that he was better at playing this kind of game in his youkai form.  _I am starting to miss the shy side of her… not that I am surprised she got her act together._  "What are you doing in my room?"

"What do you mean,  _darling_?" she gave him an entertained smile and fixed herself in a more comfortable sitting position. She was wearing her new yukata again and he cursed his dream because it almost ruined the yukata for him. "I woke up, took a bath, ate and had free time. And since my  _darling_  told me to spend all my free time with him, I came here." She pronounced world  _darling_  with a louder tone than usual.

"Wait… how long have you been here?" seeing as she wasn't the one who woke him up and knowing how far she could go, he had a bad feeling about this.

"Hmm, let me check." She took out her cellphone. "Around two hours?"

"You are kidding, right? You couldn't really have been sitting here for two hours waiting for me to wake up."

"I had been by  _darling's_  side for two hours." She gave him an innocent smile. "But I wasn't bored too much. I downloaded a few e-books before we came to this Internet-lacking wasteland so I spent my time reading them." She showed him his cellphone. "The same thing I would do if I didn't come here, really." She then put a hand over her mouth. "I didn't touch you, I swear."

"Why didn't you just wake me up?!" he decided to ignore her other bait.

"You were so cute sleeping and drolling,  _darling_ …" she giggled.

Rihan immediately wiped off his mouth. "Can you stop calling me that?"

"Can you stop addressing me as  _My Dear Thorny Rose_?"

"Point taken." He accepted her argument, even though in his human form he wasn't as keen on using that nickname as he was in his youkai form. Also, he didn't mind her calling him that and complained more because he should have. "And why the hell are  _you_  the bold one?! Weren't you supposed to be against all this?!"

"Oh that. Damage has been done so who cares… not to mention that I am taking my revenge while you are still in your human form fufu." She winked. Up till this day, Rihan didn't pay much attention to why she would push him away to such an extent, but now… "Also, as long as I don't kiss you and admit my love before Monday morning, my goal is accomplished. No need to be all stuck up about it, right _darling_ ~"

"Tz." Rihan clicked his tongue. Part of him was annoyed because he liked the resisting part of her, but admittedly he liked the bold part as well. "Anyway, I am going to change."

"Alright."

"…"

"…"

"Ahem." Rihan made a fake cough as he looked at her smug face.

"…"

"I gotta change."

"So? Go and change. Ohh…" she acted as if she only now realized it. "Why so shy, I already got a good look at your naked body!" both Araya and Rihan blushed after remembering that prank from two days ago, although he blushed a bit more. "I still have photos~"

"GET RID OF THEM!"

"Hahahahahaha! That's a good one,  _darling_!" she acted as if he made a joke. "Come on, change~ It is my free time after all so I gotta be with you~"

"…please?"

"Grrm…" she pouted and turned herself around. "Alright, I won't look."

If he kicks her out, he risks her returning inside as there were no locks in traditional houses like this one. Letting her stay here at least makes it possible for him to keep an eye on her, but changing while a girl was inside was awkward.

She then started whispering. "And the hot atmosphere affects the hormones of the adoloscent boy, making him sneak up to the unsuspecting girl and as he puts his arms around her and gives a soft kiss on her neck, after which he pushes her down and-"

"You really think that I am going to do that to you,  _Thorny Rose_?"

"Tz." She clicked her tongue. "Boring…" Seemingly, she challenged him to act in a flirty way.

He smiled. Her pranks could be hard to deal with. But then, for him that was part of her charm. In the end, he started changing, in a way enjoying the current situation to the point that he changed into his youkai form.

"By the way, is that hair color natural or…" he decided to ask her.

"No, it isn't." she answered. "I actually dye it a few times a week."

"Isn't that… too much?"

"There is never such a thing as too much effort when a girl wants to get a certain kind of look." She raised her index finger. "Granted, my only effort is spending time as I pay professional to dye it perfectly!"

"Ha, should have expected that much." The work was done so well that it looked natural, that much he had to confess.

"So, why do you ask?" she started and took a few bangs into her hand. "You want to change both my hair style AND color or something?"

"No, it is fine." He said as he finished changing.

"Well, glad to hear that. You already did enough change to my look aft-eh?" she was obviously taken aback as Rihan, following her story, put his arms around her.

"You didn't embarrass me by turning around. A good girl deserved her reward." He said and kissed her neck.

"Eyjha!" she mumbled something incomprehensible and stiffened for a moment. "That's against the rules." She said and turned part of her face towards Rihan in his youkai form.

His smile widened as he saw her blush. "Will you forgive me? After all, I just did what you said you wanted."

"I never said… whatever." She turned her head away and let her back fall onto his chest. She didn't seem to be in rush to move away, and he wasn't in rush either so they stayed like that for a while, each thinking about something else.

_Dyeing her hair… that solves the puzzle._  He thought and thus felt a need to move his hand up and… had to use the joy of holding her like this to force  _certain thoughts_ away.

"Riha-chan?" she asked, probably after feeling his grasp on her getting stronger.

"Sorry, just had… thoughts." He let her closeness and scent calm him down.  _Maybe I am wrong… yes, that thought is a pleasant one… just this day, I shall just try to be happy…_

* * *

_In a small town in Tokaido, seemingly sometime during the Muromachi Period (1337 - 1573), there was a festival in a small town. The local yakuza boss who moved here from Kansai, Kei no Ryu-zan, was sitting in something that resembled a shrine built just for him. It was spring, yet so hot that he needed to cool himself by opening his yukata and revealing part of his chest, much to the satisfaction of the local women._

_But of course, even the heat couldn't force him to relinquish his bottle of a very strong sake. After all, a yakuza boss must be able to endure the strongest sake that humans and youkai can make._

_Close to him, someone played music near him, but he could not see where the players were. He only saw the singers, led by Salma Ibanez, a foreigner. They sang something they called a Choir. She was follower of that foreign religion and exorcism was her secret hobby, as Ryu recently found out._

" _It sure is hot today…" he commented, cleaning the sweat from his forehead as well as his shoulder._

" _Oh, is it hot for you Ryu-dono? Why didn't you just call?" Nura Ritsu, heiress of another loyal yakuza group, sat behind him and put her arms around him. "I shall make it more comfortable now." She said as the cold from her fingers spread through his body, making him feel much better. She then let her head fall onto his shoulder, giving him a cold kiss._

" _Thank you Ritsu, but I can't order you as if you were my servant." He said, but accepted her gesture anyway._

" _Oh ho ho, this is not something a mere servant would give you, y'know." She said and gave him another kiss. "Only one person can do that."_

" _Hmph, sucking up to the new yakuza, are you now Ritsu?" the redhead tsundere Ishikawa Ari, young and attractive head of a local merchant family, commented as she leaned against a nearby wall. "You should be kicking him out of here, not sucking up to him."_

" _Come on Ari, I know you also want to-" he started but the demonic stare she gave him made him shut up. For some reason she didn't like him and something in her behavior terrified him._

" _That's no way to speak about our new resident, Ishikawa-san." The golden-haired daughter from the Onmyouji House Himawari sat to right from Ryu. "You should be more welcome." She didn't make any bold moves, but he felt her elbow hit him and, guessing what she wanted, he put an arm around her and pulled her body to his, making her blush._

" _Yep, if Aneki says he is okay than he is okay." Ritsu's retainer known under nickname Kagehime commented and sat left from Ryu, taking his arm under hers. "Come and share him with us."_

" _Why am I being treated like this by all these ladies?" only now Ryuzan concluded that something was wrong here… and that everyone's name was changed to something else._

_And then the music changed its tune to something darker and more powerful while the choir became more dramatic. And as if invited by the sound of music, a large carriage appeared on horizon, horses pulling it towards Ryuzan at high speed. Suddenly, the carriage made a sudden turn and he saw an of old friend turned enemy riding it: Abe no Kashaimaru._

" _Hey there ladies, like my ride?" he winked at them, completely ignoring Ryu's stare. "I also have chibi pet foxes!" he commented and small fox jumped onto his shoulder._

" _Ooooo!" and suddenly all the women, including Ishikawa and Salma, jumped into his ride. And without any ado of farewells, the carriage rode away, all local women running after it._

" _Who…" Ryuzan started trembling as the choir and music continued with their work even after Salma left. "WHO CHANGED THE TUNE AND DESTROYED MY HAPPINESS?!" Kei no Ryu-zan shouted as he jumped from his seat._

* * *

"WHO CHANGED THE TUNE AND DESTROYED MY HAPPINESS?!" [Keikain Ryuzan](http://i.imgur.com/yqV7Dr4.png) shouted as he jumped from his bed. "…what are you two doing?"

In front of him sat Nura Ritsu and Salma Ibanez… uhm, white-haired [Nura Ritsura](http://i.imgur.com/PBBXnbO.jpg) and Kibiki Sakura. Also, Ritsura played a flute whereas Sakura held a cellphone that played some Christian Choir. Both stopped what they were doing when Ryuzan woke up.

"You sure took your sweet time, Ryu." Ritsura crossed her arms. "I thought our earlier music would wake you up, but there you go all grinning from ear to ear." She sighed. "Were you dreaming about something perverted?"

Due to his experience with all kinds of women, Ryuzan owned the ability to stop himself from blushing and keep a cool facade. "Why didn't you two just wake me up?" he asked instead of answering Ritsura's question. "At least you Sakura-chan! I thought you were above these antics."

"Uhhh…" she seemed embarrassed. "Ritsura-senpai was quite persuasive?"

"Ahem!" Ritsura made a fake cough. "Did you dream about something perverted?"

Both Ryuzan and Sakura seem to have ignored her question, indirectly causing the drop in temperature. "Anyway Keikain-kun, someone came and said that some person called T hoped you would visit him today."

"T? Oh, him…" Ryuzan almost forgot that Tesshin, the youkai he fought last night, gave his name only to those he deemed worthy. "Do we have chores or something today?" he asked Ritsura.

"No, we are free to do what we want." She answered his question. "You want to go visit him?"

"Well, why not?" he shrugged his shoulders.

"Alright, then I will come too." Ritsura nodded. "The moe girl comes with us."

"Eh?" was all that Sakura could say.

"Anyway, back to the original topic: you dreamed something perverted, didn't you?"

"But I'd like to eat something before I go." He turned towards Sakura, intentionally ignoring Ritsura's question and thus causing another drop in temperature. "I heard you and Heiko were cooking today? Are there leftovers?" he asked, guessing by the sunlight that he was late.

"Don't worry, breakfast is only starting in half an hour." Sakura said. "A bit late, but all of you guys were tired so…"

_She is such an angel…_  Somehow, that thought caused another drop in the temperature. "Alright, now could you leave so I get to change?" he asked and Sakura immediately nodded and left the room.

Ritsura however remained sitting. "I am not leaving until you answer my question!"

Ryuzan looked at her for a moment and then smiled. There was no way he was letting her stay here nor tell her about his perverted dream.

* * *

"OUT!" Ryuzan shouted as he pushed Ritsura out of his room and closed the paper door. When Ritsura turned her head back, she saw something that looked like a magical barrier.

"Tz, isn't this supposed to be an action exclusively used by us girls?" she grumbled. She turned around and saw that Sakura was still there.

"Um, Ritsura-senpai… can we talk a bit?"

"Is it important?"

"Yes, it is very important."

"Oh, I see… don't worry, me and Ryu are not dating so freely jump at-" Ritsura made her guess.

"That's not what I wanted to talk about!" Sakura cut her off. "Keikain-kun said I should tell it at least to you…"

* * *

Even though her family's dark secret was revealed to her the night before, Mayuri had no trouble sleeping. If anything, the fact that she knew at least the basics of what was going on made her feel less frustrated. After all, ignorance is frustrating, knowledge is bliss.

Mayuro woke up to sound of alarm on her cellphone. However, it was not the alarm clock that woke her up, but a phone call.  _Huh, but there isn't supposed to be any signal here._  She was confused and the first thing she checked was the status of the signal.

There was no signal, yet the cellphone rang. Only then did she check who called her.  _Father? Is this the organization's doing?_  Mamoru didn't tell her much about them, but they were some kind of organization that researched the supernatural. If so, it would not be a long stretch to guess that they found a way to communicate with cellphones even if there were no signal.

With magic, everything becomes possible. It was a fun thought.

Not wanting to let it ring any longer, she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Mayuri, is that you?" her father's voice asked, calm and cold as always.

"Yes, it is me." She raised herself into a sitting position. "How did you manage to call me?"

"Doesn't matter right now." He said. Although his tone was the same as always and he was always a to-the-point kind of person, Mayuri felt that he was in a hurry. "You should go home, or to any mansion belonging to our family. You can say the same to your brother, although I doubt he will listen."

"…is this about what you talked about?" She tried to find out what was the problem. "That we are enemies with the Nuras?"

"Why suddenly ask that question."

"You and Rikuo-san are both in the States."

"Hmph, you are good. Yes, the Nuras might soon find out about us and that is one of the reasons why I called you." He confirmed her suspicions. "However, that's not the main reason as you yourself are not in danger due to this."

"How come?" she inquired.

She heard her father sighing, but he did not complain. "While I am sure many in the Nura Clan will want to use you in case they find out that I am their enemy, the mental profile of Nura Rikuo, his family as well as his closest retainers suggest that they won't resort to  _criminal_  means. Most likely they will accept you as innocent, which you actually are."

"I see…" she could not disagree with him. The fact that Nuras and Oniedas were enemies would make their friendship awkward, but that's it. Ritsura would never let her clan harm Mayuri and her brother… unless Mayuri herself became an enemy that is. "So why did you call?"

"Tomorrow, Nejireme will be assaulted." He revealed to her. "And they will try to kill whoever they find. So get out of there."

"What if they see me leaving?" She immediately noticed a possible threat. "Ritsura talked a lot about how their clan functions and I guess the enemies won't be that different: there are… scouts… close by. Wouldn't staying close to Nuras be safer?"

"Normally yes, but I have taken care that the attackers don't bother." He said, revealing that the organization had a hand in this. "However, those attacking won't recognize, nor care, about you."

"I see…" she commented. "Is that all?"

"Yes. Stay or go, that's your decision." He said and ended the call.

Still holding the phone in her hand, she looked towards the window.  _A sunny day… but a storm is gathering._

She thought that maybe she should reveal all she knows to the Nuras, but that would mean that she allies with them in fight against her family. _I would be like Mamoru-nii-san... plotting to kill dad._ No, she could not do that. Even if she says one word about it, she helps the Nuras in fighting their family. Yes, she might make her friends safer, but in return her family might get threatened. Mamoru may have resolve to fight against his family due to what he saw and found out, but Mayuri didn't. Until she learns more, she could not make such a decision.

She put her arm over her eyes. She simply could not make herself turn against her family. She did not love them, but they were still her blood.  _Maybe I could ask them to spare them if it comes to that? Oh, who am I fooling here... dad is not someone to give up and yakuza are not forgiving types._

She would stay silent... stay silent and find out more about this whole situation. It pained her to do this, but she was certain that if she doesn't think it through, she would regret it later.

She would need to go to the town where she ordered her bodyguard to stay in case something happened. He is bound to know something and if something happens here, he should hopefully be able to protect her.

* * *

Ittan still hasn't returned to the temple. Yashagoro's comrades looked everywhere for him, but none of them found him. So Yashagoro himself went into the heart of the enemy territory to look for him, even if that meant putting his mission at risk. However, he didn't find him either.

Most likely, Ittan was found by the enemy and either either captured or killed. In case he was captured and later revealed their plans, it would destroy their entire mission and Yashagoro and his group would have to return to Kyushu. Thus, all their effort would be in vain.

_It was my fault… had I not sent him after her then… nevermind, it is of little importance!_

But he had no time to think about his third target. He had to find out what happened to Ittan at all costs. If he was killed, he had to find out if he died with his mouth shout. If he was captured, he had to rescue him. The enemy must not be allowed to find out about their mission.

But this was Nejireme, the territory of the Gyuki Group. Traps and their Fear were everywhere and if he got caught in one of their illusions, they would find out about him.

Rationally, it would be better to go back and gamble. Yet, he had to try and find out how much the gyukis know.  _Yes, I should leave Ittan's fate for later. For now, I should find out if the enemy is aware of us._

That meant getting close to some of them and eavesdrop on them as they converse. Getting close to one gyuki was dangerous, yet alone to two or more of them.

But luckily, he was the  _Youkai Onmyouji_. He could summon his snake Shikigami and use them as his eyes and ears. Unlike the other Onmyouji, Yashagoro and his Shikigami were directly connected to one another and he could use the Shikigami to see and hear all that they could… a relation only made possible for those who went beyond even the  _Gray Existence_.

However, he needed to be close to them otherwise he would need to use more of his spiritual energy and that would result in youkai being able to feel foreign Onmyoudo being used. What is more, using senses from his Shikigami to such an intimate extent was not that easy: he had to stay concentrated which as a consequence meant that he had to find a place to hide in order to safely use this technique.

There were many abandoned buildings, hollowed out tree as well as caves, but he had to avoid those places as they were regularly used as housings by youkai. On other hand, gyukis liked using upper branches of the trees to move and scout, meaning that staying above was not safe either.

In other words, there was no safe place to hide. He had to stay on the move, giving his best to not be noticed and and never stay in one place for too long.

_No wait, there is one place…_  he thought as his eyes fell on the only place fit for living as far as humans were concerned: the Kiyotsugu Resort.  _It is no doubt well protected, but if I could sneak past the guard… no, the guards seem to be chatting a lot. If they found out something about us, they would be tense and mention it a few times…_  he took out his talismans and they transformed into snakes.  _A few minutes of listening should be enough. I can hide for that long._

* * *

"Thanks for the meal." The members of SIC said once they all finished with their humble breakfast.

And it truly was humble: rice and water. Ritsura was right in thinking that Heiko knew how to cook, but she mostly cooked simple meals for herself while her neighbors were the ones who usually fed her. Add to that Sakura, a devout Christian, and you have someone telling Heiko that humble and simple meals are the best. So Heiko and Sakura ended up cooking the simplest meal they could.

Luckily, this was breakfast and nobody really desired anything better anyway. Still, Ritsura already appointed Ryuzan to take care of dinner. For some reason, the thought of him cooking made her smile.

"Well, I am full!" Shima said and leaned backwards. "So, what are we supposed to do here?"

"We just came here to enjoy a trip in a youkai-filled location." Onieda Mamoru, whose red eyes revealed that he didn't get any proper sleep even this night, said to to Shima. "I didn't really make any special plans so you guys can do whatever you want."

"Oh really?" Shima seemed happy to hear this.

"Not really." Ritsura cut in. "The gyukis are expecting an attack so it might be best if you guys leave."

"Eh? An attack?" Shima's face slightly distorted itself.

"Yes. Sorry for that, but until yesterday, when an enemy found his way here…" she looked towards Araya who met the mentioned enemy. "…everyone thought this place would be safe."

"In that case, we should all leave," Mamoru suggested.

"I can't." Ritsura crossed her arms. "As the heiress, it is my duty to stay here and fight."

"That means that I also stay here." Heiko noted.

"Just like nee-san, I can't leave." Rihan shrugged. "Not that I would do it even if I was threatened."

"And as an Onmyouji, it is my duty to slay any malicious youkai." Ryuzan also announced that he was staying. "There's no way someone of my profession can just leave."

Mamoru sighed. "Well, I never expected you four to leave anyway. The rest however..."

From the group of  _normal people_ , Shima was the first one to speak. "Honestly, I feel as safe here as I would feel anywhere else. The youkai are everywhere after all."

"Don't tell me you are staying here, Shima-kun?" Mayuri asked.

"Yes, I am! I will hang up with old and children if the worst happens." He shrugged. "If that is alright of course."

"No, I don't think it is." Mamoru complained.

"Gyuki said it is." Ritsura added. "Zen and his family are staying here so you can stay with them." Although she would have liked for him to leave to a safer place, she trusts that gyuki would keep him and everyone else safe. The Nura Clan are nothing if not able to protect those close to them.

"Ritsura-san..." Mamoru spoke to complain, but was cut off.

"I want to stay here too!" Sakura, for whom Ritsura now knew was secretly an exorcist, raised her hand. "I want to learn more about youkai after all." And by that she meant that she wanted to see what it was like to deal with youkai that did more than just possess someone. Ritsura was surprised to hear that Sakura was no ordinary person, but Exorcists of her kind were rare to find and that made her just more interested in that, now seemingly deadly, moeblob.

"Not you too Sakura-san..." Mamoru sighed.

"I for one am going home." Mayuri made a different decision. "No offense, but I don't feel like staying here and wonder if everything was to be alright."

Ritsura was glad to hear that there was one less person to worry about. "What about you Mamoru-sensei?"

"Honestly, I think I will leave with sis." He said, becoming thus one less person to worry about. "Although as a teacher I am expected to stay with my students, I am aware that I'd just be a burden. I have some stuff to take care of I shall leave in a few hours." He gave an angry look to Shima and Sakura. "I hope you follow my advice and leave."

"I am leaving immediately." Mayuri said and gave Mamoru an judging stare, making it clear that she didn't want to go with her brother. "I am already getting shivers here."

To Ritsura's surprise, Mamoru did not say anything back. He just looked down onto the table.  _Are these two having an argument?_

"What about you Araya-san?" Mamoru asked, though his voice revealed that he was just being formal rather than curious. He and everyone else knew what  _her_  decision would be.

"Of course I am not leaving." Araya said, surprising only Heiko who didn't get to know her yet.

"Well, that solves it!" Shima ended the discussion at hand. "So guys, what are we going to do? The ones who are staying that is."

"I am going to visit a certain youkai here." Ryuzan said and looked towards Ritsura and Sakura who sat one beside another. "You three are still coming with me?" he asked and the girls nodded.

"Me and Rihan will be going to the nearby town." Araya said.

Everyone looked at her for a moment. "You of all people… are staying away from the mountain?" Shima was the one to say it.

"His fault." She pointed at Rihan with her thumb.

"My fault." He replied with a smug smile.

"Curse you Nura-kun…" Shima was obviously frustrated but decided to be a bro and change the topic before someone could inquire about details. "I for one will do what we came here to do: check out the mountain…  _although I expected the redhead at least would come with me…_ " he said the last part in a low tone.

"Good, Heiko will come with you." Ritsura said.

"I will?" Heiko looked at her Aneki. "Shouldn't I be at your side?"

"I am with Ryuzan not to mention that… other gyukis will be with me." She started explaining, trying to keep Sakura out of her explanations.  _Sigh, why she is all so secretive about it…_  "So you protect my dear childhood friend for me." She said and made the  _Nura Stare_  that could steal everyone's hearts.

"H-hai!" Charmed by the stare, Heiko felt happy that her Aneki had such an important task for her.

And so, everyone decided what they would do for this day, although Mamoru continued trying to persuade Araya, Sakura and Shima to leave.

* * *

"The enemy knows that you shall attack and are preparing their defenses." Yashagoro said as he entered the Head Priest's room and stopped in front of his desk.

"Thank you for the information." The head priest nodded. "I feared they would ignore our little provocation."

"Why would that be a good thing?"

"First, it generates Fear and that's always useful." The head priest crossed his fingers. "Second, they shall hold battle positions. For you guys, that means that it shall be easier to move without stumbling on someone who should not be there."

"True, disciplined soldiers are easy to deal with when you sneak around then a bunch that acts on their hunch." Yashagoro had to agree with it. "Anyway, when do you intend to release this… prophecy?"

"The earliest we can do it is tomorrow." The head priest explained. "Please don't ask why, I am not allowed to speak about it."

"Alright, tomorrow is fine." Yashagoro said. "Can you make it happen at sunset?"

"Sunset? Sure, should be possible by then… but aren't you youkai stronger at night?"

"Yes, youkai are stronger at night time. However, our enemies are youkai as well." Yashagoro explained. "I have abilities that can make me and my comrades fight in daylight with same strength they would fight in the night though. What about you?"

"Hmmm… let me check." The head priest took another scroll, this one looking like it was made of gold, and read it. "Yes… I think it is good that you mentioned it." he said and rose up. "Don't worry, our Prophecy won't be affected by the daylight." But first, he should converse with Sanmoto Gorozaemon at the Golden Shrine.

* * *

In Hell, there was a certain, steep mountain. The Yashas serving Shoumen Kongo used that fact to flatten its one side, turning part of the mountain into a large, flat board. At the moment, monkeys were jumping around it, painting an ukiyoe identical to the one in Sanmoto's Temple near Nejireme.

"Stop painting for a moment!" Sanmoto Gorozaemon shouted at them. "I said stop painting already! Take a break, eat a banana, whatever!" however, the monkeys either didn't hear or ignored him.

"STOP PAINTING!" Shoumen Kongo shouted, making the ground tremble. The monkeys, afraid that he would torture them, took care that the trembling didn't cause any stains. "There, they stopped. What is the deal, Sanmoto?"

"I have to add a change into the picture." Sanmoto, who heard the Nejireme's Head Priest's prayer, said and walked to a small painting which monkeys used as a reference for drawing the large one. "Have to add a sunrise… And as the bloody, red sun rose up over Nejireme, Gyuki woke up into a nightmare… kekeke, this sounds good…"

"You sound like you are going to violate a woman, Sanmoto." Shoumen Kongo noted. "Who gets so perverted while painting something? Well, besides Kyousai but then he is part of you, isn't he?"

Sanmoto didn't bother to answer. Any addition to his wonderful tale that shall violate Gyuki and the little Nuras made him feel tremendous pleasure.

"There, they can continue painting." Sanmoto said and turned back towards the enormous version of the Ukiyoe that was being drawn. He saw Fear from Hell itself flow into it, attracted by songs and prayers of his wicked cultists.  _One day, this fear and song will shake the entire world, every city every day… fufufufu!_

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And so we start a new arc with this simple chapter. It wasn't a long one, but I fear the following ones might be.

\- what better way to start a chapter than with a dark dream? And Rihan… are you alright?

\- poor Ryuzan getting another weird dream because ladies got musical near him in his sleeping state :P He wants to be macho yet...

\- I won't blame you if you forgot about Mayuri's bodyguard (refer to ch16). I sometimes do as well :P

\- originally wanted to show how Sakura explained to Ritsura that she was an Exorcist, but it didn't really work out so I left that part off-stage. Some of parts meant for that conversation will be left for later

\- we got the exact time when the attack shall happen: Sunday morning. We have an entire day to fool around :D

* * *

**Omakes and Q &A:**

**Citsimsan** : " _Oh, and how's Setsura doing? Will the siblings meet their maternal grandmother one of these days?_ "

Setsura: Damn this Amazon, why do their deliveries take so long. What do they think, that I can visit my grandchildren without proper gifts? Ritsura didn't even want to look at me until I bought her a dozen of gifts. Ugh, Tsurara would never managed to get away with it… I must be getting soft.

* * *

**Silvergoldmoonlight** : " _Demonic Nayrael, what else should I expect? :D_ "

Hmmm… this might formally be a Slice of Life kind of arc, but expect some major stuff… and even more so when Gyuki's Nightmare starts… and even more so in the arc after… yes, there is a lot of nasty stuff coming up. After all, the first 30 chapters were practically just a Prologue… the real plot starts now ;)


	33. Planning Ahead

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Even though danger looms on the horizon, most of the SIC decided to stay on Nejireme, under protection of the Nura Clan and the Gyuki Group. Splitting into three groups, each one of them went to have their own kind of fun on this trip.

 

**Chapter 33: Planning Ahead**

Although it was only early Spring, the sun was hot on this Saturday, to the point that Ritsura turned into her brown-haired human form. True, the heat was not strong enough to negate the use of her cooling Fear, but with two Exorcists at her side she didn't feel the need to force herself into her less vulnerable Yuki Onna form. It was a good break to stay like this for a change.

She also changed her clothes: instead of her usual kimono, she wore a longer blue skirt, a plain white T-shirt and a thin, caramel vest which fit well with her brown hair. Instead of shoes, she wore sandals. It all might look as too little for Spring, but it would be easier to cool herself in case the need arose… not to mention that she was not someone who would mind the cold anyway.

Sakura on other hand wore clothes more suitable for hiking: small boots, blue jeans and a long-sleeved azure shirt with a purple heart on it. She also had a small bag, but Ritsura guessed that this Exorcist didn't keep her wallet inside it. She probably regretted not taking something lighter seeing as she was wiping off her sweat from time to time.

Ryuzan, however, was dressed in his long black coat and blue pants, just like yesterday. "Ryu, isn't it hot in that?" Ritsura decided to ask him.

"Not really." He shrugged his shoulders. "I use my elemental barriers to deflect part of the heat."

"Isn't that waste of your… chakra or something?" Sakura asked, seemingly not well versed in the Onmyoudo terms.

"Ha, it sure is." He smirked and confirmed her suspicions. "But I need to store all the talismans somewhere and after years, I got tired of sweating because of it so I consider this a worthy waste."

"Why not just use a backpack?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, what she said." Ritsura added.

"Backpacks and bags are too annoying, not to mention that they get in way of fighting youkai." Ryuzan said with a  _isn't it obvious_  expression. "Speaking of it, you western style exorcists don't carry much with you?"

"Normally, we are supposed to carry all kinds of items and by some rules go in groups." Sakura started explaining, thus the topic was changed. "But our branch didn't really have such luxuries so we just make the best of what little we have… but then, I never really fought a youkai so I think I carry less than most do."

"But why hide? That's the part I don't understand." Ritsura joined in. "Christianity has been legal since the start of Meiji Era so why go through these complications?"

"Above all, tradition and pride, I think? Mom once said that some of the Kakure Kirishitan families were so proud with it that they continued the tradition rather than fully convert to the Catholic orthodoxy." Sakura scratched her cheek. "Although it is mostly us Exorcists that do it… now that I think about it, dad mentioned that it allows us to catch demons off-guard and that this became so important to us over the centuries that we can't just let it go."

"That's quite a good approach." Ryuzan added. "When youkai see me, they know I am coming. When they see you, they think you are a harmless girl, a possible pray even… maybe I should really start wearing more normal clothes…" Ryuzan started questioning his way of life.

"Maybe, but I never fought a youkai until yesterday… and even that one was more like an Akuma."

"Sakura-chan, can you once again clarify on what you did all this time?" Ritsura asked. "I mean, you say you didn't know anything about youkai until recently yet you fought akuma, which I think is the same thing, many times?"

"Well, how should I explain it… I am specialized in exorcising spirits that posses a human body. However, I never fought spirits that had a… kind of corporeal form."

"So… what exactly did you do? Shove a cross into someone's face and order the youkai to be gone?"

"I wouldn't be a Hidden Christian if I did that, Ritsura-senpai… I simply recited Latin verses from a distance or, in case the akuma's grasp on the human's body was especially strong, make a more thorough exorcising while they are asleep or unconscious."

"…wait, how do you get to someone while he is sleeping?" Ritsura had a feeling that she would get an awkward answer.

"I either knock them out or break into their house."

""…eh?"" both Ritsura and Ryuzan were surprised at her bold answer… and imagined Sakura as she performed various rituals on a poor, sleeping person, complete with a manual and ritualistic markings.

"Well, sensei says I should not be breaking into people's houses unless completely necessary but I found out it works-"

"Sakura-chan, I am a nurarihyon… a youkai that breaks into people's houses… and yet I think that's going too far!"

"Really? But I never do anything bad to them or take anything from the house. I even take care I don't leave any dirt or anything. And it is for greater good: their soul is saved from an evil demon."

"There really should be something like Eleventh Commandment:  _for love of your God don't break into people's houses_!" Ryuzan proclaimed.

"I am kidding Ryuzan-senpai." Sakura put out her tongue. "I simply don't have many options so I take what I can."

"Yes, but isn't that against-"

"By the way Ritsura-senpai… umm…" Sakura decided to change the topic, but did no yet decide onto which topic she should move the conversation. "Is it just me or is something different about you?"

"Different? What do you mean?"

"I can't put my finger on it but…" Sakura scratched her head while trying to come up with suitable words. "It is kind of like the new Principal you know… only two days ago I noticed that he was not a human, but now that I think about it I saw him before yet in my memories now he always looked like a… cyclops?"

"Ah, that." Ritsura understood what she meant. "Most youkai have a way to mask their identity from humans. In Hitotsume's case, his Fear is strong enough that he doesn't need to actually try masking himself. Most humans thus don't pay attention to that eye of his."

"Not pay attention eh…?" she still seemed a bit confused.

"Yes, it just forces people to not pay attention to anything weird about you." Ryuzan joined in, although he seemed to be pouting, probably because Sakura cut off his earlier lecture. "He ain't a type of youkai specialized in it so he could not fool an Onmyouji or certain other humans, but it is enough to fool most normal humans who expect nothing weird to happen in their lives."

"Aha… but what does that have to do with my question?"

"What color is my hair, Sakura-chan?" Ritsura asked her.

"Brown obviously."

"What color was my hair when we met in the clubroom?"

"White and teal… OH!" now that her attention was moved into that direction, Sakura realized what happened. "Your eyes also changed! They are brown now, not gold and circular!"

"Yep." Ritsura gave her a smile. "When it is hot, I change into a human. When it is cold, I become a Yuki Onna. That's how my Fear works."

"Ehh, so that's how it goes… now that I think about it, you changed your hair-color last night in the onsen… uwww, how did I not notice it sooner…"

"Don't beat yourself over it." Ryuzan put his hand on Sakura's shoulder. "Nobody is better than Nuras at confusing one's attention. You must be a powerful youkai or a highly experienced Exorcist to notice a Nurarihyon trying to fool you."

"Still…" Sakura didn't seem relieved by his words. "Oh, is that another resort?" she said after a mansion appeared in their sight.

"Yep." Ritsura gave her a smile and a wink. "Protected by a strong illusion upheld by masters of illusions themselves." She then turned around. "See, you have already gotten better at it."

And thus Ritsura managed to make Sakura feel better, stopping Ryuzan from successfully raising another flag. Not that she was interested in it…

* * *

"Don't you think Mayuri is too silent?" Araya whispered to Rihan as the three of them walked towards the town. "This entire time, she was just silently walking in front of us." Quite a bit of time passed since they left the resort, but no matter how much Rihan and Araya talked with one another (and no matter how many flirtuous comments Rihan made), Mayuri didn't try to mix in.

"I guess she is still feeling pressured after what happened yesterday." Rihan said and shrugged his shoulders.

"Riha-chan, go talk with her." Araya sid and pushed him towards her.

"Hey, wai-" but the moment he found himself beside Mayuri, she turned her head towards him. "Hey Mayuri, you seem quite moody today." Rihan said the first thing that came to his mind.  _She STILL tries to make me hang with other girls?_

"Oh… sorry about that." she made a weak smile. "My mind has been on many things lately…"

"Is this about what Shiori did?"

"No, it is not about that…" she moved her eyes in front of her. "There are just many things I found out about father and grandfather… like… what they did to those youkai friends of yours."

"Ah, you mean that slaughter in Tohaku…" this was an awkward topic to talk about with Mayuri seeing as it was her grandfather who organized the whole attack. "You had nothing to do with that, Mayuri."

"I have. I am Masahide's granddaughter. Want it or not, I am related to this." Mayuri seemed sad as she said this. "Lets say I am in a room with grandfather and a youkai who came to kill him. And I hold a gun that could kill that youkai and save grandfather. What does common sense say I do?"

"Shoot of course… you must save him."

"Now lets say this man is not my grandfather but someone I never met in my life. What is now the obvious result?"

"I see…" Rihan's eyes narrowed. "You have no reason to shoot."

"You can say that his granddaughter has nothing to do with this as long as she is absent. But I can't be absent always and my blood relation means I cause a different result." Her eyes then turned towards him. "That youkai in my scenario can't just consider me a harmless on-looker if I am his enemy's family. Me and him are enemies no matter what kind of person I am."

Rihan wanted to say something, but was unable to come up with anything at the moment.

"I can't know what future will bring. I can't know what enemies my relatives can make. And I can't know what I would do if anything bad happened."

"Just don't do anything then?" he suggested, though he knew it was a weak and flawed argument. "Or stand up to them."

"It is impossible to do nothing… that's what I wanted to tell you with my scenario. It is all happy and nice now, but my future depends on their actions." She looked sad. "And standing up to them is not the same as standing against them."

"In that case…" Rihan smiled at her. "We can hope that relative comes up with something she won't regret."

"Yes… hope." She smiled back. "Well, we reached the road. I'd like to go alone to the station if you don't mind." She asked and Rihan nodded. "Well, see you next week then… and thank you for talking with me, I feel a bit better now."

 _Why can't this world be a bit more simple…_  he thought as he waved to her.

* * *

"Ah yes, indeed!" Shima started speaking as he and Heiko were walking through the forest. "Fresh air, an intriguing setting and alone with a cute girl. Something great is no doubt going to come out of it!"

"Your presence has started to turn on my feminine alarms…" Heiko, who had to protect this pervert while enemies threaten to attack, commented as she walked behind him. "Are you flirting with me maybe?"

"Shima Ryu flirts with beautiful women." He gave her an answer that could mean anything.

"Oh, thank you for the comment… I guess?"

"Oh no, don't look!" he suddenly shouted, stopping Heiko by putting his arm in front of her.

"What is it?" she asked and looked past his arm, noticing a tree with a hole large enough that a person could crawl through it, with some ceremonital ribbons decorating the tree.

"What have you done?! Don't you know the tale behind the  _One-Eyed Pine_?!" Shima seemed distressed. "This thing is an evil youkai that once attacked this mountain and if someone sees it, they will get devoured unless they pass through the hole in it!"

"What?!" the naive Heiko believed his story. "We have to pass through it then!"

"Yes!" he said and dramatically turned around, his school jacket fluttering as he did so. "I will go first, you stay behind!"

"Don't be ridiculous! If something happens, you will be at its mercy!"

"But I LOOK WE HAVE NO TIME TO WASTE!"

"Then move away!" she shouted and pushed him aside. Then she ran at it and went to crawl through the hole. "Oh no, part of my kimono has been stuck on something!" she shouted from inside. "You wait there a sec until I free myself from this."

 _Gods are on my side!_  Pleased that she got stuck somehow, Shima went to move the lower part of her kimono and thus reveal her-

"PERVERT!" someone shouted from after and Shima felt a projectile hit his head.  _Oh, it is that weird girl from yesterday…_ he thought before falling unconscious.

* * *

"Now you are just showing off, Ryuzan-dono!" Tesshin said as he joined the trio in the dinning room. He was busy when Ryuzan, Ritsura and Sakura came so they were given some lunch to eat while they waited for his arrival. "You just had to bring two cute girls with you, hadn't you?"

"Sorry, they followed me."

He meant that as an excuse, but it had an opposite effect on the youkai who sat in front of them. "So you are saying that girls follow you wherever you go, without you having to persuade them? Now you are pissing me off!"

"Well, I guess you are right haha!" he laughed, but then Ritsura pinched his cheek. "OUCH!"

"That was quite cruel of you, Ojou!" Tesshin stopped pretending to be annoyed and took a more entertained tone. Yet nobody could know what grimace he made under that ox-mask of his. "He is actually a strong and worthy man, Ojou! You wouldn't regret making him your husband!"

Tesshin's bluntness made Ryuzan blush a bit so he pretended to cough whereas Sakura smirked. Ritsura made an awkward face and looked aside. "You sure have fun ideas you don't mind talking about, don't you?"

"Now now Ojou, the best man is an honest man!"

"Good, you just killed all the praise you gave him." Ritsura said with a smile.

"Bwuahahaha!" Tesshin seemed to be entertained by how this conversation was developing. "You sure got me there! Well, honesty is not the only virtue a man can have."

"That's very rude of you!" Sakura, who at first seemed scared by Tesshin's appearance, seemed to have relaxed. "I heard this was a clan of illusionists. What would they say if they heard you?"

"Damn it girl, now I will need to apologize to Gyuki-sama!" he shouted and laughed again. "By the way, who are you girl?"

"Kibiki Sakura, glad to meet you." She introduced herself with a bow. "Don't pay me much head, I am nobody special."

"Peh, such people are always special." Tesshin shrugged his shoulders but didn't inquire more into it. "I heard you guys completely ruined Gyuki-sama's plan. He was so certain that he would take the normal humans hostage and use them as the bait, yet two normal humans end up being first to reach his mansion and the third one defeated Mezumaru and helped us kill an intruder." He then pointed his hand at Ryuzan "Not to mention this bastard beating half of our force… TWICE!" he then quickly leaned towards Ritsura and whispered. "Great husband material!"

"What a shipper you are…" Ritsura commented, as usual expecting such an old person to wonder what that means.

"Indeed I am!" he said to surprise of all three youngsters.

"You know what that means?" Ritsura spoke first. "What are you, an Otaku?"

"Yes! You see, just when I thought my life was getting dull, I discovered Anime and then the forums which taught me the beauty of cheering for fictional characters to get paired with one another." Then his tone changed to a grumpy one. "Then the honorable Gyuki-sama decided to cut us off from the Internet so I had to find another source. Do you know how hard it is to find DVD's in this day and age?"

 _So even old men like him are vulnerable to the lure of otakuism, huh?_  Ritsura sighed and then decided to change the topic. "Speaking about the intruder, are you prepared for more?" she asked the youkai who was in charge of Nejireme's defenses.

"Hmph, so it was true that you are always serious about what goes on within the clan. Well, this is an important issue, so I guess I can understand." Tesshin started and Ritsura felt annoyed that she couldn't see what kind of expression he was making. "Yes, we are taking preparations and keeping an eye on more possible intruders. Still, I told most of the youkai to rest so they can be at full strength tomorrow… especially needed after a certain Onmyouji beat them up."

"How do you know that the enemy shall attack tomorrow?"

"Guts."

"Huh?"

"I have been protecting Nejireme for centuries, Ojou. After some time, I have developed something like a sixth sense for when some enemy would come to Nejireme, be they a youkai parade or some lone avenger. I felt a major tragedy would occur when Gyuki-sama, then still a human called Umewakamaru, was coming to search for his missing mother. I felt a change was coming when Nurarihyon-sama decided to claim Nejireme. And now I feel that tomorrow the bloodiest battle Nejireme has ever seen would come… and trust me, Nejireme has seen many, many bloody battles."

Although it was only his intuition and they would normally not take it for granted, there was certain strength in his words. He spoke with such certainty that it was hard to not take it as a fact.

"Ojou, I suggest you rest well today… you too Ryuzan-dono, I don't think you have recovered completely from the last night's adventures." He then turned towards Sakura. "And if you are really a normal human, I would suggest you leave as well. If not… we shall need every help we can get."

Sakura, who was used to nobody suspecting her, gulped. The other two felt anxious as well.

"Ritsura…" Ryuzan turned towards his brown-haired friend. "Are you up for a friendly match?"

"Why would-" Ritsura started her question, but…

"Hey guys, Ojou and Ryuzan-dono are going to battle it out!" Tesshin shouted so hard that the trio had to put hands on their ears. No doubt, the entire household heard him. "Tell Kurenai to come up with a suitable fighting environment!"

"Um, I didn't yet-" Ritsura started but once again failed to finish her sentence.

"Oh this is going to be so exciting!" Tesshin clenched the fingers on his both hands. "And if he wins, they are getting married!"

"No!"

* * *

Twenty minutes had passed since Mayuri split from Rihan and Araya and she was now drinking some hot chocolate in a café on the bus station. Although she said to others that she wanted to leave she actually wanted to talk to Junji, her classmate and bodyguard whom she told to wait here. Only once that was done did she plan to leave.

"Ojou-sama is getting quite friendly these last few days." Junji, a boy of her age with thin face and a tall build appeared and sat beside her. "I almost got a heart attack when I saw the message saying that you wanted to talk with me at a café. If you weren't my Ojou, I would make a certain kind of joke here."

Mayuri looked at him with a stern face. Although she was usually courteous towards everyone, her father's lapdogs were a different story… especially Junji who looked at her with contempt, no matter how sweet or friendly his words sounded.

He didn't like her, she knew that much… but it was the very fact that he was so easy to read that she chose exactly him to accompany her.

"The Shin Sekai." She said the magical words, wanting to see his reaction. It was possible that he knew nothing about the organization in the first place so she first had to check that.

"Oh my, Ojou-sama now even knows our name. Is the world ending?" his answer confirmed that he knew about it.

"Hello!" a waitress walked up to them after noticing that someone else sat at the table. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Nothing." Junji told her.

"I'd like another cup though." Mayuri asked with a smile.

"I'll be back soon." The waitress returned the smile and left.

"What a sweet smile." Junji commented, after which she put on her serious face again. "Why don't you ever show such a smile to us?"

"What is going on here?" Mayuri ignored his redundant question. "That is, if you know anything?"

"What do you mean by that?"

"The Nuras are certain that someone might attack the mountain. I am interested in what is going on."

"Oh, so that's why we are at the bus station." He made another smirk. "Ojou-sama wants to run away before someone ruins her clothes?"

"Yes, something like that." She answered promptly, even though what he said was meant as an insult. After all, she was running away. "So, do you know anything or not?"

For a few moments he just looked at her, probably thinking about if he should tell her anything or not. "I don't think your father would like me to talk about it."

"Did he tell you not to? Today that is?"

"Not today but…"

"Who do you think told me about the organization? Mamoru-nii-san?" she said and the waitress arrived with another cup. "Thank you." she gave her a smile and took the cup. "Father spoke to me about it already so you could as well."

"Indeed, Mamoru is not someone who would tell you about it." Junji said and Mayuri didn't fail to notice that he didn't use any honorifics for Mamoru. "Even if your father spoke to you about it, as far as I am concerned you are not on our side until your father says otherwise. I don't want to tell you something and have you run to the Nuras with the information."

Mayuri clicked her tongue. If she found out that something too dangerous was going on, she would have probably told it to the Nuras. After all, even if she decided to choose her brother's side, information she could gain while she was still neutral could be useful to them. Thus, Junji's doubts were not so unfounded.

"Then what can you tell me about the organization?"

"I see… the daughter wants to learn about us." He took her cup of hot chocolate and drank all in it. "I will show you something fun, but we have to take a different bus for that."

* * *

"Ryu, why are we doing this?" asked Ritsura after turning into her Yuki Onna form. Although Kurenai offered them to create a proper arena to fight in, Ryuzan rejected it as he didn't want any illusions mix in, no matter how blood-pumping Tesshin thought it would be. So, they were now standing in the clearing, one against another with onlookers standing amongst the trees. "We are probably going to need all our strength tomorrow at latest, we shouldn't be wasting it like this."

"I want to confirm something." Ryuzan said, breaking his fingers in preparations for the match. "I have a request though…"

"If it is related to what Tesshin wants, consider this a death-match." She added, taking out Nenekirimaru. Since Ryuzan would not be harmed by it, it was safer than any fencing sword.

"No no no no!" he shaked his hands before she decided to go for a kill. "I just request from you to not hold back with your frostbite!"

"Did I hear that right? You want me to NOT hold back?"

"Yes, that's what I meant." He confirmed.

"Did you get cheeky after beating me at yesterday's game?"

"That's not it… look, just give it your all." He said as he finished casting a few spells. "We fight until I say enough. I repeat: this is not to see who is stronger or anything, I just want to confirm something."

Tesshin heard that. "You want to confirm if you'd survive a crazy, passionate night with her?"

"NO!" Ryuzan denied it.

But someone else took it for granted. "So that's your motive, Ryuzan?" she said and the fact that she said his full name kind of made him feel bad. "Alright I won't hold back… but don't later return to me as a ghost and complain!"

"Don't worry, I won't." Ryu said with a smile and, in order to further motivate her, added. "…sweetheart."

"You…" Ritsura put on a killer smile and released a gust of extremely cold wind at him, cold enough that grass itself got frozen and stopped moving no matter how strong and forceful the wind was.

However, Ryuzan and his equipment didn't get frozen due to his elemental barrier.  _Alright, I can stand it myself… but it is not me who matters here._

He felt the gust of wind weaken and understood what it means: Ritsura ended her attack and started to move. Not surprised by her sudden appearance in front of him, he successfully evaded her attack. After failing to hit him, she started freezing the air around her.

But rather than run from the freezing zone, Ryuzan stopped moving and spread one of his hands in order to summon a Shikigami. However, it froze before the Shikigami could materialize.  _Not fast enough!_ He spread his other hand and went to summon another Shikigami, but took care to form a connection with it just a moment before it would get frozen.

He succeeded and a rooster appeared between him and Ritsura.  _Good, this one is more useful for my experiment._

"Is that supposed to… fight me?" Ritsura wasn't impressed by the Shikigami's look. "Seriously?"

"Something like that." Ryuzan smiled and the Rooster started running towards Ritsura.

Although she didn't seem impressed, Ritsura didn't judge a book by its cover so she jumped backwards and started firing icicles at it.

However, one of Rooster's abilities was to predict what was going to happen so it elegantly evaded all of her projectiles and, once it reached close enough, her sword's swings. Although for around a minute she was able to keep the Rooster away from herself, the Shikigami was increasingly better at predicting her attacks and soon ended up getting behind her and jumping onto her back.

"Hyaah!" she shouted as it jumped onto her.

"Now onto the main experiment…" Ryuzan commented and prepared to strenghten his connection with the Rooster.

"Get away from me!" she tried to grab the Shikigami with her hand, but it transformed into spiritual essence and possessed her. "Hey, what are you doing!?"

"Besides being able to evade attacks, this Shikigami is also able to possess a youkai and sing like only roosters can." He winked towards her. "The loud sound-waves can paralyze a youkai or break its concentration… and even if that fails, this makes it clear where a youkai is. Hard to hide when a rooster sings from inside you." He explained as he put his fingers together. "But don't worry, it won't start singing."

"Then whats the point of this?! Get it out from me!" blushing Ritsura demanded and Ryuzan guessed that it might be uncomfortable for a youkai to have its Fear invaded by someone else. As a man, he regretted having to make a girl go through this without her consent.  _I guess I really should have asked…_

Either way, Ryuzan didn't answer as he needed all of his concentration. As cold as Ritsura's attacks could get, nothing could be compared to what it was like inside her raw Fear that currently invaded the rooster. "I can see why youkai could not properly perform Matoi with you." He commented as chill spread from the rooster onto him. A few talismans flew from his pockets, strengthening his concentration and spiritual abilities, thus allowing him to strengthen the barrier of the Rooster inside Ritsura.

But for a moment, he failed holding the barrier up and the Rooster got frozen… and Ryuzan felt some of the frost shock his own body.

"Akh!" he reflexively tried to scream, but even his tongue froze and he fell onto his knees.

"Ryu!" Ritsura shouted and ran to him. "You are all pale… are you alright?!" she asked, seemingly distraught. Soon, Sakura, Tesshin and a few others ran to him as well.

"Don't worry, it was only momentarily." He said and smiled. "With a few modifications, it should work."

"What should work?" Ritsura asked him.

"I'll explain later if you don't mind…" using a talisman he prepared in case this happened, he restored his body's temperature and rose up. Still, the mental shock from feeling such a drop in temperature remained so he felt a bit dizzy. "Te… can we use this place as a training ground for just today?" he asked Tesshin.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here we are… not a big or breathtaking chapter, but it sets up ground for certain future developments.

\- the One-eyed pine appeared in the canon, minus the story fabricated by current Shima

\- Tesshin sure is a shipper :P

\- and Junji appears again (he didn't have a name the last time we met him)

\- well we all know what training means: new technique or power-up ;)

* * *

 **Anon replies** :

 **Guest** : " _Wow. This is getting good. Please continue. I can't stop reading this is my favorite Fanfict. The characters are amazing and I'm interested in Rihan and araya. And maybe this thing with Ritsura and Ryuzan. Can't wait for more._ "

 **Guest** : " _I want more of this. This fanfict is my favorite._ "

Glad you like it :) And thank you for leaving a review :D


	34. The Nura Clan Hunts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the youth enjoys its time on Nejireme, the world is not idly sitting by. Lets see what other characters are doing in meantime…

**Disclaimer:** chapters 33, 34 and the upcoming 35 don't happen chronologically after one another but around the same time

**Chapter 34: The Nura Clan Hunts**

Youkai who lived in the Nura Clan's Mansion did not need any alarm clocks to wake up in the morning. The smaller youkai, that did not stay awake for the entire night, tended to wake up early by themselves and cause enough noise and ruckus to wake up the rest of the household.

Kurotabou, who arrived in Ukiyoe last night, woke up because of all the noise. It was ironic that youkai, who were creatures of the night, had to wake up at morning but their Commander was a part-human and had to lead a human life, meaning that some of his followers had to be active during the day just like him. Still, Kurotabou's senses told him to return back to sleep and wake up when the night falls, like all proper youkai do.

Well, it wasn't only his youkai senses that made him want to lay down and return to sleep. A look at the sleeping Natsumi, who decided to stay here for the night, and her naked body made him want to lay down with her.

But he could not allow himself to rest. Shiori's attack two nights ago reminded him that his oath to destroy that wicked clan had not yet been fulfilled. The sooner he starts looking into this threat, the better.

He quickly put on his monk's robes and a straw hat, and took his staff into his hand. He threw another glance at his sleeping fiancee and then left the room.

No matter how dark his thoughts became, walking through the Nura Clan's mansion always lifted his spirit. Small youkai and children played around and even adults rarely resisted the urge to fool around. Unlike the youkai of Kyoto or the Hyaku Monogatari, the youkai of Nura Clan were cheerful and friendly, and always ready to protect this precious life of theirs.

Yes, that was the family that Nura Rihan created. It was a warm, bright family that welcomed Kurotabou no matter how many sins he committed while under control of Sanmoto Gorozaemon. It was not only him: this clan saved Kubinashi, Aotabou, Gyuki and many others. It turned their lives from a dark tragedy to a bright comedy.

Yet seemingly the dark forces just can't leave them alone. And the worst were the Hyaku Monogatari who killed everyone's beloved Nura Rihan, who tried to destroy Rikuo's life on both the youkai and human front… and two days ago this Shiori person almost brought another tragedy onto them. He did not know why young Rihan was spared, and he did not care: he knew them well enough to know that they should not hold back against them.

He failed to protect Nura Rihan and he failed to be there when Rihan's grandson and namesake was in danger. He can't make up for either, but he could give his best to make the culprits pay and stop them from getting another chance to harm his beloved Nura Clan.

And no more would he let himself get too comfortable. Until Yanagida, Shiori and every other member of that accursed group was dead, he wouldn't rest.

"Kurotabou-san…" he heard a feminine voice call him from a room that he just passed. Turning around, he saw that it was Tsurara. "You are going somewhere?"

He turned towards her. "Yes, I came back earlier to take care of something."

"Please come here first." She said and moved back into the room where she stayed and Kurotabou entered it.

It was the young Rihan's room. As usual for a boy of his age, there were many comics and such around. He saw Tsurara looking over some of those comic books, as well as a photo album on the desk close to her. Kurotabou guessed that she felt nostalgic.

After some time, Kurotabou decided o break the silence. "Young master sure does like reading comics, doesn't he?"

"You know, only now did I notice…" Tsurara started speaking. "…that my son's tastes have completely changed." She pointed at the comic books at one of the corners, a place where most would put things they are not intending to read so soon. "He used to love these action flicks. I remember him always begging me and Rikuo-sama to buy him this comic series and next day he would realize there is another one and beg us to buy him those volumes too." Tsurara smiled, but it was kinda bittersweet. "We had to make all kinds of stories of why we couldn't get them all at once… all to stop him from buying too many."

She then moved her eyes to the middle of the shelf.

"He later started buying himself. He would do the chores or ask us for extra money if he earned better grades than usual." Her hand passed over some of the comics. "He bought these himself… thrillers and horrors, not much action. A few western superheroes comics as well, but usually the darker ones. All of this, since he was only nine years old."

It was obvious what she wanted to say: bright action stories for young boys were replaced by dark stories more fitting for adults.

She then moved her eyes towards Kurotabou and he was taken aback for a moment. "Tokyo is our turf and at least Ukiyoe should be a place where my children can be safe." These weren't the eyes of a cute girl that he knew her for most of her life, but cold eyes of an angry mother. Tsurara was always a very protective person and for her children she was even more so. "An enemy creating a clan in our turf is already going too far, but attacking my son and torturing him by shooting all those bullets into him? Find out where she is hiding, Kurotabou… and I will kill her myself."

Kurotabou fixed the hat on his head and said to the Supreme Commander's wife: "As you command, Tsurara-sama."

* * *

Kubinashi, Kejorou, Aotabou, Tosakamaru and Sasami were sitting in the living room of the house where they were staying at.

"So, should we start?" the  _punk crow_  Tosakamaru suggested that they start talking about what they (might have) found out while they investigated the town.

"Awashima and Dohiko still haven't come." Sasami replied to his suggestion. "They are not part of the Clan, but they said they would look into it as well. It would be better to wait for them to come."

"We HAVE been waiting for an hour now." Aotabou complained. "I doubt either one of us found out anything really useful! What was the last time any of us found anything here!?"

"So I take it that you haven't found out anything?" Tosakamaru asked.

"No, not a thing!" Aotabou crossed his arms. "I tried to eavesdrop at the various bars, from high class to low class, but nobody said anything suspicious!"

"I wasn't lucky either." Kubinashi shrugged with his shoulders. "I have tried to look for shady places… dealers, shady bars, gangsters, casinos, smugglers, brothels… this town is way too innocent." Kubinashi continued as he crossed his arms. "Way too innocent for a place which is practically bathed in Sanmoto's Fear." No doubt the town was so moralistic because the Cult didn't want to leave any loopholes, but it didn't stop it from being ironic.

"Maybe you guys just didn't look in the right places?" Kejorou suggested.

"What, did you find something?" Aotabou asked her.

"I eavesdropped at some women in supermarket, the local onsen and so on." Kejorou spoke but her eyes didn't promise much. "They complained that dreams were getting worse and that their woman's intuition made them worried about their missing relatives."

"Well, at least knowing that it is worsening is  _something_." Kubinashi commented in a dull tone. They already knew that some townsfolk disappeared to serve at the Golden Shrine, but the moment Nuras tried to track their movements, the Cult turned their shrine into a monastery it seems: nobody went in or out.  _If only we had been more careful the first time…_

"What about you two?" Aotabou turned towards Tosakamaru and Sasami. "You have checked over the skies, haven't you?"

Both smiled, although not that much. "Seems like the Golden Shrine started collecting worshipers." Sasami revealed to them.

The other three's eyes widened, hoping that they had finally caught some clue. "Please explain." Kubinashi inquired.

"People were leaving their houses on cars, bicycles, foot… you choose it." Tosakamaru started. "Interestingly, they only did it in places where you three weren't present… and they avoided streets through which you passed."

"They seemed as if they were hypnotized." Sasami added.

"Did you follow them?" Aotabou wanted to know. "They should have lead you to the shrine, correct?"

Tosakamaru's smile disappeared. "I followed one and then another and then again a third person. Each one of them just blindly rode around the countryside, usually returning to the same road over and over again." Sasami opened her mouth to ask him something, but he immediately continued. "Yes, I tried to make a guess of where they were going. And no, I couldn't see any pattern. They didn't even take the same routes as one another!"

"Maybe you just didn't notice anything." Sasami sighed. "I followed one person until morning. Like Tosakamaru, it lead me nowhere. The man even returned to the town and visited a bar before returning to blindly riding his car around the countryside."

"In other news, we didn't learn anything new." Aotabou punched his palm.

"That's wrong." Kubinashi disagreed. "We learned that something is going to happen soon."

"You can say that again!" Awashima's voice said. The Nura youkai turned their heads towards the duo from Toono who just came in. "Heyo, did you miss us?"

"Where were the two of you all this time?" Kubinashi asked them. "None of us saw you in the town yesterday."

"That's because we weren't in the town." Dohiko said with an annoyed expression. "I was checking the countryside."

"And I stole a bike and went to neighboring towns and villages." Awashima smiled. "It was quite interesting!"

"Hah, did you two find something?" Aotabou asked them, partially due to hope and partially due to fearing that Toono youkai did better than them.

"Oh yes!" Dohiko nodded. "The weird Fear is everywhere, even in the small pond a few miles south!"

"Huh?" everyone was confused at what was the significance of that.

"Yes, indeed." Awashima nodded. "But it ain't of the same strength in all places."

"Can you two please translate that to something we can understand?" Aotabou scratched his head.

"Ah yes of course… we forgot that you Nuras aren't as good at sensing Fear." Awashima smirked. "You see, we expected that this Fear would be accumulated in the towns, where these shrines and worshipers were supposed to be."

"But it wasn't only in the towns." Dohiko continued. "From the local supermarket to a bear cave in the nearby forest… even if there are no shrines or humans, the Fear is there."

"Meaning that it is not accumulating in these places. Instead, it is sipping from one location." Awashima explained the significance of it. "To be more exact, those shrines absorb the Fear created by the cultists and release a different kind of Fear around a large area, more so in direction of Mount Nejireme."

"I see…" while others wondered why they didn't notice that themselves, Kejorou tried to make sense of it all. "Is it possible to find out where those Shrines sent the Fear they collect from the humans?"

"We should be able to find out where this is." Awashima said but looked less satisfied than a moment before. "But it seems to be masked well. So we would need to be close enough to that location."

"I'd say it would take a few days to find it." Dohiko suggested. "Once found, we can just cut it like we do when we leave or enter the Toono village… I guess."

"Well, time at least is a luxury that we do have." Aotabou said and shrugged his shoulders.

Fate made an immediate reply: someone knocked on the window that was shut so someone couldn't peek inside. Lack of Fear suggested that it was a normal human who knocked.

"I will answer, you guys hide." Kejorou, the one who alongside Awashima, looked most like a normal human suggested and opened the window.

To her surprise, a small human girl, around seven years old, stood there with a large smile on her face.

"What do you need, little one?" Kejorou asked with a kind smile.

"Did you hear? Did you hear?" the girl jumped up and down. "Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"The Messiah will be answering our prayers at the next sunrise!" The girl said with excitement. "They say that dead will rise to life in order to take revenge on that evil demon who lives on Nejireme and serves the Nurarihyon!"

"What?" Unlike her, Kejorou wasn't as pleased with this news.

"That's it, I have to tell the others as well!" the girl ran before anyone could ask her anything, joining other kids who did the same thing from place to place, human to human.

"Time… we don't have time…"

* * *

 It was well past noon when Zen woke up.

"So, it was all a dream then?" as usual, he wasn't too happy about the fact that his dreams ended. For in his dreams, he was healthy. In his dreams, he fought Mizuchi and his Hyaki Yakou, standing side by side with Rikuo and Shouei. In those dreams he wasn't only a healer, but also a fighter.

In reality however, he was a sickly man who was no longer able to leave his own bed, waiting for the day when his own poison would kill him.

He closed his eyes, hoping to at least engrave the dream into his memories while it was still fresh.  _It was all a dream… fighting Mizuchi, standing beside Rikuo, that person's visit…_  he immediately opened his eyes and checked if the casket really existed.

The metal casket was there, the devil's gift wasn't a dream.

_It is noon… I should alert Gyuki that there was an intruder here…_  But if he did that, he'd also need to tell them about the metal casket… and that meant giving up the metal casket. _I must do it… I must get rid of it…_  yet it was easier said than done.

It was shameful. It was completely shameful that he fell to the level where he hesitated to do the right thing.  _Yes, this is only one thing I can do… even if it could help me in some way, it would not come without a price… she herself admitted that it had ugly side-effects._

"Good morning, dad." Voice of a small boy greeted him. He turned his head towards the doors and saw his eleven years old son there. The boy had his mother's hair, but other than that, looked just like his father. "Are you feeling better?" he asked,holding some kind of plant in his hand.

"Of course I am!" Zen put his tough act on, as usual when his son was around him. Even though the boy already knew it was a lie, he could not make himself admit it to his boy. "Come here little one, I know you want to ask me something!"

The boy smiled and ran to him, with a rare, local plant in his hand. "Look what I found, dad!"

"Oh, let me see it!" Zen took the plant into his hand. Just like he did when he was young, the younger Zen was also very interested in herbs and their healing properties and constantly brought his father plants to ask him what were they good for. He may not have started to read medical books just yet, but this kind of education was useful in its own way… and it allowed Zen to spend more time with his son. "Ah, this one is good. You see…"

As Zen gave his son a lesson in healing abilities of this herb, he also noticed his wife looking at them with a kind smile.

_"You can freely throw it away if that's your choice. But I'd advise keeping it just in case. In case something bad happens and those dear to you are threatened… you may need it."_

_Ah yes… that's why I decided to keep it in the first place_ … Even if he could accept his own fate and give up on this, that person's words hinted that he may need it soon.

His first priority was to keep his dear ones safe.

For that, he may need the casket, even if it was a  _Devil's Gift_.

And in order to keep the casket, he had to keep his mouth shut.

It all made sense… it made so much sense that it was easy to fool himself into believing that in past he would have taken the risks and discarded the casket and trusted Gyuki.

* * *

 The sun was setting when Kurotabou entered a large alley in Tokyo where young youkai, most of whom were Urban Legends, liked to hang around… a place where some of the evilest Urban Legends liked to hang around that is. He changed into a simple black jersey and had his hair weaved into a pony-tail as he didn't want them to recognize him for who he were, especially since these people weren't too fond of the Nura Clan.

It was a dark, smelly place to Kurotabou, the complete opposite of the bright Nura Household. In the old days the Nura Clan would have raided this place and purged it from this scum, but recently it became pointless for most part: there were far too many Urban Legends and if they reclaimed this territory, they would find another part of Tokyo where the youkai of the Nura Clan ain't active that much. This way, the crows of the Mount Takao Tengu Faction were able to keep an eye on them.

And now it was convenient: from what he heard, some of the youkai who had fought for Shiori two nights ago were not directly affiliated with her and were instead recruited from places like this. That meant that he had good chances of finding out something about her, as long as nobody suspected that he was a member of the Nura Clan.

Normally, he would not go undercover himself. The Nura Clan always had a few Informants amongst the Urban Legends in order to keep an eye in case they formed a Hyaki Yakou or something. After the Tokyo Tag Incident, which occurred because the Nura Clan was not watchful enough, Kurotabou persuaded Rikuo to expand their network of Informants. Rikuo was usually not too fond about the idea of spying on other youkai due to him wanting to keep up a trustworthy image, but his hate for the Hyaku Monogatari was as strong as Kurotabou's so he allowed him to increase the number of Informants.

It served them well: the Nura Clan had easier time holding up peace on their turf and eliminating possible threats before they occurred. What was more important, however, was that Yanagida was unable to regain a solid foothold in Kantou, thus forcing him to leave to another prefecture... at least until the Shin Sekai appeared, that is. Since then, the Nura Clan more often stumbled upon youkai who were suspected to be affiliated with Yanagida and Sanmoto. However, the situation started to gradually stabilize three years ago, not long after the  _Nakano Incident_. Kurotabou started wondering if this Shiori, and her supposed strife with Yanagida, was the cause of that.

Yet those Informants failed to report anything noteworthy about this Shiori person so he and the rest of the Nura Clan treated her as some low-level youkai seeking power. Yet the Kiyotsugus managed to learn much more, including that Shiori was far from an insignificant player... and they learned it from common mercenaries. There was something definitely wrong here: if Kiyotsugus found out so much from these mercenaries, then why didn't their Informants tell them anything about it? They should have more information, not less.

But he didn't confront them about it yet. First, he decided he would check how much he himself would be able to learn. It was possible that Kiyotsugus just had good luck but if they didn't... confronting the Informants with proof would be more efficient. In general though, it was hard to believe that anyone could have corrupted all of their Informants.  _No, some died throughout the years, some in unrelated feuds and others due to their nation as spies being revealed... but, could they have been assassinated instead?_ _  
_

Either way, he would need to learn something by himself. And as such, he entered the alley.

But only after a few minutes he started feeling that something was unusual here: there were not many youkai here. He expected there to be at least twice as many here that were. He decided to start investigating this part first. "Hey there!" he asked one of the youkai while trying to sound like a spoiler punk. "I came 'ta this neighborhood because I heard there be many guys and gals here. But where is everyone?"

The youkai, dressed in ragged gray robes with teeth all over his skin looked at him. Kurotabou started wondering if his cover had already been blown, but this assassin knew a lot about how to keep a cover up even while feeling anxious.

Finally, the youkai smirked and muttered: "They joined  _that person_  and are now preparing for the Grand Festival."

Kurotabou was not certain whom he meant when he said  _that person_. It could be Shiori, but could also be Yanagida or someone completely else. Either way, it was no doubt an enemy to the Nura Clan.

"Grand Festival?" he decided to inquire further. "Is something going on?"

The youkai's numerous mouths grinned even more. "You don't know? He doesn't know anything about the  _Grand Festival_ , guys!" the youkai rose up and the the other ones also turned all their attention at him.

_Damn it, I must fix this somehow…_  "Hey chill down dude… I am young and only today arrived in Tokyo so I am a bit out of touch."

But the malice just increased. "Everyone knows about it…  _everyone_." The youkai said. But then, to Kurotabou's surprise, everyone relaxed and contained their Fears. "Leave."

"Huh?" this was a development he did not expect. "Why just let me leave?" Kurotabou didn't try to keep his cover up.

The youkai then smirked as much as he could with all of his mouths. "Because the Grand Festival will come soon and even we who are not affiliated were asked to save our Fears for that grand moment." He said and turned away, showcasing that he has no interest in talking to him any further.

Kurotabou looked around and noticed that everyone was smirking. They were all excited about something… excited enough to let even someone who is likely a member of the Nura Clan walk away.

However, he wasn't interested in walking away. If dialogue wouldn't work, force surely would. At least one of them is bound to chicken out and reveal something. And so Kurotabou prepared to release his Fear.

"Start a fight and suffer the consequences." Someone's commanding voice said from the alley's entrance.

Kurotabou turned his eyes towards the person who came in and saw a youkai known as Hikine, an Urban Legend who fought for Shiori two nights ago and ended up beating both of Rikuo's children as well as killed a fair number of Nura Clan's youkai. Still, Kurotabou pretended to not know that. "And who might you be?"

"I am Hikine, Shiori's Shadow." He introduced himself and started walking towards Kurotabou, three youkai following after him. "You could say I protect Mother from shadows."

Kurotabou noticed that some of the Urban Legends, the ones who looked like killers, cowered before him and tried to stay out of his sight. "What is a youkai like you protecting this lot?"

"You Nuras always ask me that stupid question. It is getting tiresome." Hikine said with an annoyed voice. "So let me tell you this: if my Mother said,  _Don't harm little Rihan even if it kills me_ , even the most sadistic of her followers would obey. I wouldn't. I would behead him without a second thought, if it meant saving Mother." his eyes narrowed. "Speaking about which, you should thank her: had she not been there, you might have had to hold a funeral." he revealed, his expression as serious as when he appeared.

Kurotabou had to give his best to not attack him for admitting that he was ready to kill young Rihan. "You bastard should watch your tongue..."

"And you should know more about that young master of yours. It is sad that I know him better than you do."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Doesn't matter, I am not here to talk about him." Hikine stopped walking when he found himself two meters away from Kurotabou. "I came here in order to ask you to leave."

"And why would I do that?"

"You are a strong youkai Kurotabou. But this alley is filled with Urban Legends. And there is me and my companions here. Just in case, there are few more of my comrades hiding in the shadows, prepared to strike you while you are focused on someone else."

Kurotabou smirked. "You think I am alone?"

"No, you came with five more youkai." Hikine said with crossed arms. "You will all get over-numbered... and lets not mention the traps we set in case Nuras came to raid this place."

"So why don't you just attack me then? Wouldn't killing me make your mistress safer?"

"And why would you think that?" Hikine didn't take the bait and explain why Kurotabou would be wrong.

"Hmph." Kurotabou would like nothing more than to beat up this sorry lot. However, there really were too many youkai here and it was too dangerous to fight them all... and useless too: he could later always find some other place where these Urban Legends assemble. Even if they move, they can't mask their Fear and it wouldn't take too long to track them down.

On other hand, if he started fighting he might kill this bastard who so nonchalantly admitted that he wanted to kill young Rihan. Just remembering it made Kurotabou's blood boil.

_No, I have to control myself... this bastard is taunting me. Each one of these bastards would... yes, thats right: they all deserve to die._  Ironically, these thoughts just made him feel even more malice towards them. And the youkai around him felt it, all of them but Hikine preparing for a fight and releasing some of their Fear.  _Damn it, there are way too many of them, after all!_  Feeling this many Fear made him aware of his own vulnerability.  _I am being left alone simply because they were asked to leave us alone rather than because they consider me a threat._  Even if he could deal with these Urban Legends, Hikine and his entourage each radiated with more Fear than these lowlifes together.

"Fine, I am leaving!"

* * *

 Although he didn't learn as much as he hoped he would, he still had enough to confront his Informants. This Grand Festival was supposed to be common knowledge to every Urban Legend yet the Nura Clan heard nothing of it. So, he started calling each one of his Informants.

Kurotabou's mood grew worse with each passing call. Many of the informants did not answer at all and the ones who did hung up, with or without a last greeting. It was clear that their Informants betrayed them. Kurotabou could not fathom how Shiori could have eliminated all of them, but somehow she made it happen.  _This person is dangerous... too dangerous!_

This all irritated him. They created this network of informants so that they would not be caught off-guard like they were by the Tokyo Tag Incident. Yet, the enemy found a way around it. He could only hope that he didn't notice this betrayal too late.

There was only one informant left to call: he was a member of the Hyaku Monogatari while Sanmoto Gorozaemon was still a human being, but was spared under the condition that he sells information about what went on around the Urban Legends to the Nuras. Naturally, the Hyaku Monogatari was aware that they couldn't trust him and due to this reason Kurotabou would usually not expect any info about them to come from him, but this was something that was supposed to be known to every Urban Legend and the fact that he didn't report anything was worrisome. But if he betrayed them as well, it might explain why many of the other Informants did so: he was the one who found most of them.

Kurotabou always thought of him as the safest one due to him being a traitor. The Hyaku Monogatari could not possibly accept him back, no matter if they were loyal to old regime or to this upstart called Shiori. Still, Kurotabou had a bad feeling about this.  _I should just call him and get my answer from him directly._  And so, he dialed his Informant's number.

"Hey there  _General_!" Johou answered with a seemingly cheerful tone and, like usual, was addressing Kurotabou with the title he held while he still served Gorozaemon. "I heard you are losing Informants left and right!"

He wasn't surprised that Johou found out about it seeing as he introduced him to a few of those informants to the Nuras. "And what about you?"

"What about me, General?" Johou pretended to not understand the matter at hand. "Are you suspecting your loyal friend Johou?"

"I heard some kind of Grand Festival is being prepared… and that it is common knowledge amongst the Urban Legend." Kurotabou started inquiring. "also, I find it hard to believe that you weren't aware of Shiori's true capabilities."

Johou didn't say anything back, but he didn't hang up either.

"Johou, what is going on?"

"General, do you remember when two years ago I told you that we were friends and that you would no longer need to pay me for the information?"

"Yes… I thought it was a gesture of friendship."

"It was me proclaiming that I am no longer working for you guys." Johou's voice tried to stay cheerful, but instead, sounded malicious. "Remember? I accepted to sell you information… and I never give it for free, to anyone. Not to Gorozaemon, not to you and not even to Shiori-sama."

_That name!_  What is more, Johou used a honorific… and he was a person that disliked using honorifics. "Shiori? So you work for her now?"

"Yes, she is quite a cutie you know. It is always a pleasure being in her company."

"Why?"

"Why? Why you ask?  _General_ … the only reason I accepted your offer was to survive. Yes indeed, I am a bastard who sold the lives of his own to you devils to keep himself alive. But that doesn't mean I did not want to rise with my brethren and spill the blood of the Nuras and all the other oppressive relics! And now that Shiori-sama is here, I can stop sucking up to you bastards!"

"Is that so?" Kurotabou always felt that Johou didn't like him, but he was a bit taken aback by how passionate he was. "So why didn't you sell us to Enchou or someone like Shikoku if you felt like that?"

"Nuras, Shikoku, Kyoto, Gifu... you are all the same! And Enchou? Really? Even if they did ask me to come back, I wouldn't because I have no love for that dog Sanmoto Gorozaemon. But Shiori-sama... I am ready to die for a chance to follow her. I thought I was too smart to be charmed by anyone, but she... reminded me that I am a youkai after all and that we can't resist not following someone so strong and someone who understands us like she does..."

_So he joined her Hyaki Yakou huh?_  Kurotabou understood that feeling. He was charmed by Rihan and Rikuo. As such, he understood Johou's motives.

"But one time you gave me money for a false information no matter how much I tried to reject it. So I will sell you something useful, fit for the price you paid." Johou could not go against her Fear after all. "Before the Grand Festival happens, Shiori wants to accomplish two things. I won't tell you about one of them, you shall find out soon. The other thing she needs is the extermination of all Gorozaemon's bases. Two remain, one which is the  _City of Vice_  you may or may not have heard about and the other is… guess."

"The area surrounding Nejireme."

"Indeed. We will leave that one to you guys… should probably mention that Gorozaemon will attack Nejireme soon."

"Yes, I know about that." Kubinashi called them and told them about it, but Kurotabou decided to trust Gyuki and his other comrades to keep the kids safe. The Nura Clan setting all their focus on Nejireme is probably what this other enemy desires.

"So you are not as oblivious as I thought,  _General_. Anyway, with this my debt has been paid off. Hope we don't meet again." And with those words, Johou hanged up.

He will have to report all his findings to the clan after which he would go to look for other clues. As much as he wanted to go to Nejireme, he had no time to waste: he had to find out more about the enemy as soon as possible. And obviously, he could not depend on others for this.

* * *

 "How is it going, Sanmoto?" Shoumen Kongo asked his ally who just stared at the giant painting that was nearing completion.

"Good, but I am still waiting for the main ingredient." He said without turning back.

"Good, as I brought it and a lot of others." Shoumen Kongo said to which Sanmoto turned around. Kongo's loyal Yashas led a procession of terrified women whose hands were bound.

"You really did it, Koshin-san!" Sanmoto was overjoyed. "Even the ones who were in heavens?"

"I am the Koshin, Sanmoto. Heavens can do nothing against me." Shoumen Kongo said with a proud smirk. "Most of them were seduced to come here with various promises and the few who didn't… well, they are here now."

"Perfect, perfect… you did bring  _that person_  too, right?"

"If I didn't, I wouldn't bother with bringing these ones either, you fool!"

"Fufufu…" Sanmoto once again turned towards the painting. The monkeys had left already and surrounded the women so he was able to have a full view at his newest masterpiece. There were all kinds of colors on the huge painting… all colors save the red.

Women screaming and begging for mercy as the monkeys tore them apart, made it clear that the red color would soon be added and souls of these women, each wishing revenge on Gyuki and motivated by torture they would have to go through to get a chance for that, would be the strongest fuel for the Tale.

And then he would add the final piece: the main character.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- we saw Tsurara as a fun mom and as a wise mom. Now we see her as a Mommy Bear and there is nothing more dangerous than a Momma Bear

\- storm is being gathered by both Gorozaemon and Shiori in this chapter. And in stories, storms are always fun to have around :D

\- Sanmoto and Kongo are such nice guys, aren't they?

\- originally I also wanted to have the Kyushu Clan discuss Umeji's demise but decided to give them a full chapter for that a bit later. They deserve more than a single scene


	35. His Thorny Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In his attempts to make her his, Rihan persuaded Araya to go on a date with him. Even though something sinister is brewing, the two youths are enjoying their time.

**Chapter 35: His Thorny Rose**

"Well then…" Rihan said, in a melodic tone, to his friend Araya once they split from Mayuri. "…we are here."

"So then…" Araya smiled and imitated his melodic tone. She wore her red yukata as well as a woman's purse where she probably kept her wallet and other things. "…what shall we do in this fine town? What shall happen?"

"What would you hope for, to happen?" Rihan, back in his human form but feeling unusually bold, teased her.

"I don't know." She put her hands together. "Seeing as this town is filled with crazy Gorozaemon-worshiping cultists, I hope one of them abducts me and just as they are to sacrifice me, you rush in and slaughter them all."

_Eh?_  Rihan had to give his best to not give her a reply any normal person would make. Instead, he had to keep cool and on her level. "And the princess married her hero and they lived happily ever after, right?"

"Or the princess died in your arms, the bloody ceremonial dagger already being stabbed into my heart." She made another dramatic gesture. "And you then become a lone wolf, forever remembering her and crying whenever you see a rose."

"There is no way I'd allow this tale to get such an unsatisfying ending." He put an arm around her. "But seriously, what would you like to do, Thorny?"

"Thorny? Did you already get tired of the full nickname?" she laughed. "Why don't we go to eat something first? Heiko's humility may be satisfying in its own way, but a growing girl like me…" for some reason she put her hand over her breasts. "…needs a lot of food to grow."

"We need a lot of food then… lots and lots of food." Rihan nodded. "You choose the restaurant, I pay."

"I don't think that's a good idea…"

"No, you choose a restaurant and I pay!" he put up his hand. " No complaining! The man is always the one who pays!"

"Okay… you shall probably regret this though…"

Rihan was so entertained he laughed. "No way I'll regret this!"

* * *

Rihan was so devastated, he laughed. "I am SO regretting this now."

"I told you so…" Araya said with an awkward smile as she scratched her cheek. "I am not exactly good at choosing restaurants and food…"

The girl he was on a date with, who, he just now remembered, was sometimes called  _Tycoon Princess_  by her classmates, was so used to eating expensive food that she had a hard time guessing what is acceptable for the wallets of common people.

Now, Rihan was a yakuza and they could get away with delayed paying in some situations should the need arise, but not only was this an expensive restaurant but this restaurant chain's boss was on good terms with the Oniedas. And if history had thought the yakuza of Japan one thing, it was that you don't play with the Oniedas.

At first he thought that Araya brought him to this place intentionally but…

"I am so sorry… we passed two restaurants that looked more luxurious so I thought this wouldn't be too much for you…" she looked so unusually regretful that he was certain she honestly didn't understand what was too expensive for commoners… though part of him thought it was worth it just to see an expression she rarely made.

"Don't worry, don't worry… I am sure I can handle it…" he still had a lot of money on his back card that he had saved over the last two months. "So, what shall we eat?"

"Uhhh…" she looked aside. "I don't want for you to regret giving me this choice as well…"

"If you say so… waiter, give us today's special! For two!"

"Shouldn't you have checked how expensive it is before ordering?" Araya asked him.

"No, I can handle it!"

Araya took the menu, read it and showed it to him. "Is this too much?"

"…can I please borrow some money?" Rihan was (again) so devastated, he laughed. "And what are the interest rates?"

* * *

It was Rihan's time to choose where to take the girl next. It had to be a place she would like, but also a place where he wouldn't be transformed into a beggar.

"A bookstore?" Araya asked as he pointed towards the place he chose.

"Yes, a bookstore." He nodded.

Indeed, Araya liked books and this was an opportunity to explore a bookstore for some folkloric books. The truly great things were two: one, he could afford even the most expensive book, he was sure of that. Second, being such a huge, rich fan of books she is meant that she already got almost everything worth reading. And even if by some miracle they found something she hadn't read yet, it was hardly going to be more than one book.

Of course, what mattered was that he raised a flag of hers by showing how he understood the things she loved and was ready to join her in search for more. Buying her a book would of course raise another flag so that would be a good development too.

And so they entered the bookstore and voila:

_The Three Hundred Tales of Nejireme_ , split into three volumes!

Published yesterday!

"A collection of three hundred legendary local tales about Nejireme, some, more than a thousand years old!"

"With it, you can also buy two related art-books, with artworks drawn by old-school masters!"

Price:  **30.500,00 YEN**  (214€, 294$)

Maybe… just maybe, Araya already got her hands on this or she wasn't interested. With his heart full of hope, he turned his eyes towards her.

There stood the most unimaginable horror: Araya with stars in her eyes, desiring that accursed book with all her heart and soul. She would give all she had to get it, but Rihan was certain he would **have**  to give all he had to get it.

_No Rihan, calm down… you are a yakuza and yakuza can just take something without paying, right?_  As he made his evil, yakuza-ish plan that would make his sister and Houkou proud, his instincts told him to look in the other direction.

There stood a demonic photo of a man with a smiling Onieda Masato, both of whom held rifles in a jungle.

"Hohoho…" the fat man with mustache, who was present on the photo, walked up to him. "…yes, that's right! That's me, the owner of this bookstore, with Masato-san. You see, we were friends in High School and although each of us took a different path in our life, we stayed in touch. A few years ago we went on a hunting trip to India where this photo was taken. I may never become as famous as him, but I am glad to call that man my close and dear friend." The man with mustache smiled and walked away.

With his status of a yakuza being reduced to nothing, Rihan was aware that he would have to give all his savings in order to keep all of Araya's flags up.

"You don't need to pay this, you know." Araya tried to persuade him to give up.

"Sorry, but my man's pride is the last thing I have left…"

* * *

Rihan left the bookstore as a broken, broken man, who had almost succumbed to his evil yakuza heritage. Araya left the bookstore as the happiest woman in Japan. Yin and Yang, so to say.

"Riha-chan, where do we go next~?" Araya asked him while smiling like a child. "Riha-chan, are you alright?"

"I am… can you please choose the next place we could go to?" He hoped she would be sympathetic enough to take him somewhere where he would not need to cry about his lack of money… or where his yakuza blood would be awakened.

"Sure can." Araya nodded. "Let's first walk around a bit, okay?"

"Yes, walking… walking is safe." He said and started walking. "And cheap… very cheap!"

He heard Araya giggle and then, with a smug face, she hugged his left arm.

"Hey hey now…" he blushed due to feeling something soft pressing against his arm. "Did I really raise so many flags that I deserve this?"

"Mhm." She nodded and forced him continue to walking. "You deserve it after all that you went through,  _darling_ ~"

Walking like this in public with her and being called  _Darling_  made him stop feeling sorry about what just happened. Add to that, the happy smile she had on her face, and all this was worth thirty thousand yen and a large loan.

So they continued walking like this, looking like a couple to the townfolk. -townsfolk

"Hey, Araya-chan…"

"Yes?"

"If you were a character in… let's say, a book or Manga… what kind of character would you  _like_  to be?"

"What brought up  _that_  question?" she seemed curious.

"Nothing, just interested."

"Let's see… hmm, a cool villainess I guess?"

"Why the hell would you want to have that role?"

"For one, they are cool! You know, actors sometimes fight for the role of the villain because they get the best lines and kick ass… until the end at least." She said with her index finger raised. "Also, it seems much more fun in general." Her hold on his arm got tighter and once again Rihan felt her  _Araya_  press onto him. "And what would you like to be, Riha-chan?"

"A hero, just like my ancestors were." He didn't need to think too long about it. His thoughts were more focused on her own desired role.

"Is that so?" she smirked. "And why do you want that exactly?"

This, as he now realized, was a harder question to answer. His first thought was to say that as their descendant it was his duty, but the moment he thought of it his sister's face appeared in front of him. And that pissed him off.

"Because, someone has to punish the villains."  _No, don't think about it now…_

Araya gave out one of her mocking smirks and squeezed his arm again. "So, in a story where we both appeared, would you punish your naughty Araya-chan?"

_Have to forget…_ "Maybe she really would deserve a good spanking." He made a suggestive joke.

"Hohoho… that sounds neat." She tried to seem suggestive by needlessly fixing her hair and making a suggestive smile. Unlike him, she seemed to find this whole discussion entertaining. "Maybe I already deserve it."

"You have been a naughty girl since the first time I met you so that might be true."

"Ooh? Well, we can discuss the details later. I just found a place that would be fun to visit! And cheap!"

* * *

"Your tastes really baffle me…" Rihan commented as they entered a closed shooting range. That is, they were in a place where people practiced shooting with guns. He heard they became kind of popular in the last few years, but did not expect to find one in this town.

And while he was baffled, Araya was in her element. "Look Riha-chan, a dual-wielding femme-fatale!" She called to him. She was holding a silver pistol in each hand and crossed them while trying to look dangerous. "Although it doesn't really fit with this yukata… should have come here in some cool leather clothes."

"You brought leather clothes with you?"

"No, but I am sure one of the local shops has something nice." She said with a wink.

_Damn you, Tycoon Princess…_  "Do you even know how to shoot?" He asked, though the answer was obvious.

"Of course I do!" She put the guns down and started moving to somewhere else.

"Hey, where are you going?"

"Those are pistols that use plastic bullets and have fake recoil. That's for amateurs." She said and stopped at another shooting area. Unlike the one before, the sounds coming from people who fired here were much, much louder. "But I prefer the real deal."

Before she could take a pistol, a man who worked here walked up to her. "Girl, only people with a license can…" he started but stopped when she opened her wallet and showed him something in it. "Oh, so you do have one. Sorry for bothering you." As he walked away, he whispered. "Seriously, she looks like a high schooler…"

"Wait, is that license real or a forgery?" Rihan whispered a question to her.

"Real of course. I practiced since I was a kid, starting with toys not much different from those training pistols. I had a good and strict mentor you see." Saying that, she took a pistol, removed the safety, put her two hands on it and fired three bullets. "Tz, this scar makes it a bit hard to shoot…"

"Oh…" he remembered how she stabbed her own palm to stop him from doing something he would have regretted… and he didn't manage to fully heal it.

"Do you wanna try?" she asked and pointed in direction where the plastic pistols were located.

_Ah yes, I could use this opportunity to raise another flag!_  That thought made him excited so he turned into his youkai form. With a smirk on his face, he took two pistols into his hands.

"Riha-chan, do you have a license for that?"

"He won't complain if he doesn't notice me." He said, releasing his Fear.

"Riha-chan, slowly put that down…" she seemed concerned.

But he kept a watchful eye and was certain that this would be easy. Pointing his gun in direction of the target, he started moving his finger downwards, to where the trigger was… but then Araya pushed her hand, touched something on the pistol and the magazine with bullets fell out.

What is more, she had a very, very angry look in her eyes. "Plastic. Pistols." She said in a threatening tone.

"But I want to-"

"Plastic. Pistols."

"…okay." She had such a dangerous look in her eyes that he had no choice but to accept and let her lead him towards where younger people were training.  _Don't get depressed now… there is still a way I can end up looking cool and raise a flag!_

After a few steps, they arrived at their destination. "Look Riha-chan, first you-"

"I got this!" Rihan said and took two pistols and prepared to dual wield.  _Not like it matters if the gun is real deal or not!_

He fired a number of bullets… but gods know where they hit.

"…"

"…"

"So Araya-chan… how many flags did I just lower?" He asked, so embarrassed at his failure that he turned back into his human form.

"As many as the bullets that missed the target." Araya sighed. She then took the pistol from his left hand and put it back down. "Alright Riha-chan, let me give you a few basic lessons on how to handle a gun." She said with a smile.

On other hand, having the girl teach him the basics of being a gunslinger was quite nice in its own way.

* * *

After they were done having fun at the shooting range, Rihan let Araya choose the next destination of their date. They didn't need to go far: just beside the building where shooting ranges were located, was a certain kind of shop.

"So you are interested in both guns AND swords?" he commented as they entered some kind of shop that sold all kinds of blades, from small tantos to daikatanas. But they weren't some cheap replicas: they were made of real metal and with high quality decorations.

"I am more of a gun person myself." She said. "You are the one who likes this kind of stuff."

"Hey hey now, I am the one taking you on a date."

"And the girl wants to let her boy spend some time in a place where he would want to be." She put her fingers together. "Come on, enjoy yourself a bit."

"I see that I can't argue with you… as usual." He sighed and started looking around. It was true what she said: he did enjoy checking swords, just like how some enjoyed cars, motorbikes, books, games and such. He guessed that it was natural seeing as he was a kind of youkai who fought with a sword.

And although he was given a very valuable and powerful sword by his father, he always thought about getting one himself. But this wasn't to be such a day: he wanted a spirit sword, but obviously one can't find such a sword in a shop ran by normal humans, no matter how high class it might be.

However, the one thing he learned in his battle against Shiori was that spiritual weapons, no matter how strong their special powers might be, were able to fail at certain conditions. For certain situations, the most reliable weapons were the simple ones.

_I don't need something strong but something that I can carry around without being burdened by it._ Thus, he went to check on Tantos, small Japanese knives.  _Small, but good for surprise attacks. I can always use Nenekirimaru for fighting and this for more delicate attacks. Putting a bit of Fear on it would make it useful even against youkai and this metal looks good enough to handle it._

For some reason, Araya seemed to enjoy looking at him. "What is it?" He asked her.

"Nothing~" she said in a melodic tone. "Have you found something you like?"

"I don't have money for anything here."

"Doesn't matter." She shrugged with her shoulders. "You don't need to be able to buy something in order to like it, do you now?"

"Hmph, that's true." He turned his head back at the tantos and continued looking. And she was right: something did catch his interest. It had a black and white hilt, kind of reminding him of a blizzard. Although he didn't look like it, he was still a son of a Yuki Onna and liked such imagery. The blade itself also had curvy engravings, kind of reminding him of the same thing.

Of course, one look at the price was enough for him to lose interest. But as he sighed…

"We'd like to buy this one, please!" Araya called the shop-keeper.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Rihan immediately reacted. "I can't let you-"

"Don't listen to my boyfriend please!" Use of that word made him blush. "I am just buying him a gift."

The shop-keeper smiled and, thinking he was just being a tsundere, ignored all of Rihan's pleas, which of course had to end once Araya paid the price, thus buying the weapon.

"Here." She turned towards him and offered him the tanto. "A gift from your Thorny Rose."

"But…" he thought of rejecting it, but she had a happy smile, much larger than the one she made when he surprised her with gifts. He couldn't possibly reject it while looking at such a face. "Alright, thank you very much." He smiled and accepted her gift.

"Mhm." She nodded, becoming even happier.

_Of all the gifts you could buy me… why did it have to be this one? Why did you, of all people, have to buy me this? This is just not right…_  For who knows which time in his life, he cursed his terrible karma.

* * *

"What's up with all these shops and such?" Rihan asked a question that was bothering him for a while now. "I mean, this is a backwater town but it has such high class places!"

"Really? I saw better."

"Alright, humble high-class places. Still too good for a backwater town like this!"

"Riha-chan, remember what else this town is about?" She said and pointed at a graffiti hailing the  _Skeletal Messiah_.

"Sanmoto Gorozaemon?"

"He was a rotten merchant of Edo Era and the dream he had was the one you could expect from a person of his class." She continued telling him her theory. "And while he is popular amongst some of the commoners, he is much more popular amongst those of his own kind."

"And that means…"

"That means that many spoiled rich people either moved here or often visit this place… after all, it is still not some backwater village. As a result, you have services the rich could be interested in."

"Makes sense I guess."

"Anyway, it is your turn now Riha-chan~"

"My turn for what?"

"To choose where you would like take me next of course!"

_Damn it! I hoped I could have evaded this!_  He looked around and noticed that it was well past 6 PM.  _I guess this date won't last much longer._  However, that didn't make him feel any better. And, unfortunately, it wasn't only the date that was closing to an end…

But he swore not to think about it so he moved his eyes away from the clock.  _Think… what place would she like to visit… think of things she likes and hopefully aren't related to youkai… ah yes!_

"There." He pointed at a mall.

"You want to take me shopping?" Araya was surprised at his choice. "Aren't you broke?"

"Don't worry about it, I just remembered that I have more money stashed somewhere!" He assured her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Nee-san once warned me to never go shopping for clothes with you and Saaya said the same thing once."

"Maybe you should listen to their warnings?" She said and started and rubbed her hands. "I am very passionate about my own character design."

"I want to know even the darkest parts of your soul." He continued and the moment they entered the mall: "Oh, I need to go to the bathroom! You go check for something nice in meantime."

"Alright… but don't you dare run away." She warned him before she left with a very fast pace.

He took out his cellphone. There was another source of money he could use… a source no true man wants to use, but sometimes one has no choice.

"Hello mom!" Indeed, it was asking one's own mom to help  _her little boy_.

" _Oh, Rihan!"_  She seemed happy to hear her son.  _"How is it on Nejireme? I thought there was no signal there anymore."_

"I am in the nearby town right now mom." He answered. "And both me and nee-san are doing good."/ And both nee-san and I are good.

" _Gyuki wasn't too harsh on you, I hope?"_

"Don't you worry mom, he regretted underestimating us!" He was honest. "By the way mom, can you send me some money?"

" _Money? It was ages since you asked me for money…"_  His mother sounded nostalgic.  _"But I'm not going to do that! You swore that you would earn it yourself by doing chores and earning good grades at school and, as your mother, I would never forgive myself if I helped you break that resolve."_

"I am on a date with a girl."

"… _I am sending everything I can, right now!"_  she said and hung up.

With a smile on his face, he put the cellphone back into his pocket and started his search for Araya. He was smiling in order to make it easier to deal with the fact that his pride as a man had been turned into dust.

* * *

One thing that men universally fear, is shopping for clothes with their women.

Araya… she was such a person that even girls, like Ritsura and Saaya, felt despair usually known only to boys.

Rihan should have really thought thrice before bringing Araya to this place…

"This doesn't look so good… but if I add this vest… and this necklace… no, let's try this necklace… PERFECT!"

She didn't only try the clothes… no, she tried mixing everything she could find in a shop. But it didn't only stop there: she tried to mix it with stuff she bought earlier… and sometimes she decided it would fit some stuff she saw in a former shop and returned resulting in noticing some clothes and possible combinations she didn't think of before.

Rihan was so exhausted by all this that his Fear completely dissipated. If the weakest youkai in the world attacked him now, he would be forced to have an epic battle with him.

"Riha-chan…" she seemed to finally notice his pathetic state of being. "…are you getting bored?"

"YES!" He wasn't able to lie. "YES I AM!"

"Oh, I see…" she seemed sad… but only for a moment. Then stars appeared in her eyes. "Let's buy something for you as well! We can have matching clothes!" She honestly thought that this would make it more fun for him.

"That is a great idea Araya-chan…" His manly pride returned so he accepted her request.

"Great!" She grabbed his hand and pulled him into another shop.

As he walked, the world's colors started disappearing around him, everything turning into white, black or a shade of gray. Also, everything became blurry.

* * *

_I am alive… I can't believe I am still alive…_  Rihan was so happy when he and Araya left the mall that he almost started crying. "My dear Thorny Rose, thank you so much!" he shouted and suddenly hugged her.

"Oi oi, whats the matter with you?" she was taken aback by his reaction.

_Thank you so much for leaving before the mall closed! You are such an angel!_  He was so happy that he forgot that she was the one who made him go through all this.  _Well, it is still my fault that I brought her here even though I was warned not to._

"Waka, is that you? Are you really hugging a girl?" Aotabou seemed to have noticed them. He had a wide smile until he saw who was the girl in question. "Ugh… it is the  _Smartass Girl_ …"

_Smartass Girl_  was a nickname that many members of the Nura Clan liked to use for Araya due to her tendency to lecture them on everything related to Fear and Youkai… and youkai were naturally annoyed by a human lecturing them on such topics. Many of them weren't too fond of her behavior either.

"Oh Ao, perfect timing!" Rihan smiled when he saw him. "Could you please take this to the Kiyotsugu Family's mansion please?" He asked while pointing at a shopping cart filled with bags. Of course, the Tycoon Princess bought the cart as well.

"If that's what you wish…" Ao accepted and started walking towards the cart. But when he reached Rihan, he stopped and whispered: "Don't force yourself with her. If you get tired, I can always introduce you to some nice youkai chicks at Bakenekoya." He gave him a tap on the back, put the cart on his shoulder and started running towards Nejireme. After all, he had better things to do than carrying things around.

"Couldn't we have pushed the cart ourselves?" Araya asked. "Unless there was another place you wanted to take me to."

Rihan looked at the time. "We can still make it…" After he said that, he turned into his youkai form and…

"Hey, what are you doing?" Araya asked when he raised her body and held her like a princess. He didn't use his Fear so the townsfolk saw him, but it didn't bother him.

"Let's go, Thorny Rose." He winked at her and started to slowly run towards the mountain, carrying her in his arms. After some time, he started jumping around like only a youkai can.

"Hey now, don't let me fall!" She said with a face that was a mixture of fun and fear.

"May I ask you to trust me and enjoy the ride?"

She didn't say anything back, but the fact that she didn't seem as afraid anymore told him all he needed to know.

Then, seeing as he still had enough time, he decided to be mean so he no longer jumped in more or less a straight line and instead started to jump in random directions as fast as possible. "Oh my, where was I supposed to go again~"

"You are doing this intentionally!" She started panicking again. "Oh, I am getting a bit dizzy…" And sure, her head started to jump in all directions… but that was probably more thanks to Rihan than dizziness. "I trusted youuuu…"

* * *

"Oh good, we reached this place just in time!" Rihan said and put Araya down.

"Whewe awe we?" she was still dizzy due to his little prank. "You aye goingd to pai for th-OH!" She was unable to keep standing on her feet, but Rihan managed to catch her before she fell down.

"You alright?" He asked her with his most flirtatious smile and lowered his head as close to hers as possible. To his satisfaction, this managed to make her blush.

"Alright, you can let me go now." She said the moment she got better. "Where are-" She started her question but stopped once the sun started setting.

They were standing near a small lake and the setting sun's rays, which had to pass through quite a number of large trees, reflected on the lake's shadowy surface. What is more, the lake was enchanted and at this time it emitted aurora-like light, making the whole scenery shine as if it were made of gold. He would have to remember to thank Mezumaru again for recommending this place to him.

"So pretty…" Araya seemed to react positively to the scene, just as he had hoped she would.

"It is pretty, isn't it?" He said and used the opportunity to make a move on her by putting his hands around her from behind and pulling her towards himself.

For a moment he thought she didn't notice it, but then she moved her hands up and put them on his arms. "It sure is." She said in an, for her at least, unusually sweet tone.

It was time for another attack, this one more fit for someone of her kind. He would have to thank Gozumaru for having told him this. "A few centuries ago, the Tenka Fubu Clan from Gifu assaulted Nejireme in hopes of spreading to Kantou which had become a rich target for youkai of all kinds. It was a bloody battle and one of the women died at this place. They say she sacrificed herself and that this sacrifice somehow allowed the defenders to defeat the attackers, forcing them to return back home." He told a story to the girl who loved stories. "She was a kind woman they say, never wielding a weapon and instead used her illusions to comfort and help the warriors of the Gyuki Group. Legends say that she still watches over her beloved clan and that she would help them in time of need, this light being the proof that her spirit is still around here."

"That's quite a short story." Araya commented, but the tone of her voice showed that she didn't dislike it. "I didn't expect such a fatal attack from you."

"You should have." He said and squeezed her harder. "If it wasn't fatal enough, I'll come up with something much stronger for tomorrow." This was a lie, but he had to say it.

"I… for all these years, I was rejecting you for a reason." She said and Rihan somehow felt that she didn't say what she intended to say.

"And that reason is?" He inquired, wondering what she would say.

"I won't say it." Her tone became harsher. If he inquired any further, she'd probably force herself out of his embrace.

"You know Thorny…" his mood was becoming worse, but he intended to control it. For today, at least, he intended to control it. "…I am a terrible person." He started, his hands starting to hold her tighter.

"Huh?"

"Maybe it is because all that happened to me. As a child, I always lived in the shadow of my sister at best and, at worst, our clan's own allies thought it would be best if I just… went missing." He remembered those disgusting glances that prestigious youkai threw at him… and opportunistic stares the ones who wanted to harm the clan gave him, seeing in him, a potential puppet. "But I decided to try my best… which resulted in, eight years ago, getting caught by a sadistic youkai and getting my guts stabbed multiple times."

"What did you say happ-" she tried to turn around and ask, but he forcefully turned her back to where she was, not wanting to let her see his eyes.

"I still have nightmares about it… and it was then that I realized just how pathetic I was. Alright, I will become a normal human, I said, the opposite of what brought me to this state. If I don't do anything, I don't have to fear anything, right?" The night had started falling on them. "Well, wrong. Dear friends, which I made while I was staying in Nakano, suffered alongside many innocent humans… all no doubt butchered by those devious Urban Legends."

For a few moments, the two of them just stood there in silence.

"No matter what I do, seems like always something goes terribly wrong and my whole life just gets suckier and suckier. Then I met you…" His head fell onto her shoulder. "I liked you… even when I thought that I hated you for your rudeness, I still enjoyed spending time with you. Then I realized that I… fell in love. All became so bright and shiny! What could possibly go wrong? What could possibly… go wrong…"

"Riha-chan, what is it that you want to say?" She asked him in a dull tone, similar to his.

"I should have just gone to sleep… If I did, I would be none the wiser and this pretty delusion could continue for… what? Days, weeks, months? Maybe even years? But I just had to listen to my accursed intuition. I had, hadn't I?" He was feeling his sanity trying to leave him, but somehow he managed to force himself to stay sane. "But I couldn't make myself give up on it… no, I could and should, but I was desperate… desperate for just a little happiness. So I swore… that on this day, which was supposed to be a happy day for me… that I would pretend everything was still alright. Fufufu…" he released a small laugh. "On this day, we are just a normal boy and girl… going on a normal date. If nothing else, I am certain about one thing… you do love me."

"…what do you want to say?"

He stayed silent for a moment, but then raised his head from her shoulder and put his lips in front of her ear. He said one word… a word that made her literally stab her fingers into his hand.

"So… that's how it is…" Her voice shivered as she talked, realizing what it meant. He feared that she would push him away or change her behavior now that she was aware that he knew her secret, but seemingly she felt just like he did and didn't want to rush to the inevitable. So for the next few minutes, they were both silent. "For today… you won't care, you say?" She finally spoke, likely intending to accept his logic and continue the pleasant farce.

"I don't know what you are talking about…" He returned to being blissfully ignorant. "…Araya-chan."

"Is that so? Then, even if it is for a few hours..." She gently pushed his arms away and turned towards him, her eyes looking directly into his. She then put one hand behind his neck and another on his cheek. She was smiling, but her eyes radiated with sadness. "...I love you."

As she said that, the two of them both moved their lips to each other, resulting in a short kiss, still unsure if it was alright. Once they split again, they looked at each other's eyes. Like this, it was easy to forget the reality and both of them had only tenderness in their eyes.

Rihan put his arms around her again and forcefully pulled her back towards him. While the former gesture was a gesture of tenderness, he decided that this one would be purely passionate. He waited for a moment to see if she would resist, but she kept smiling and, probably because she understood what he waited for, she nodded. With her consent given, he put a hand behind her head and pushed her lips towards his and gave her a real kiss. Unlike the last one, this one was longer and less innocent, their tongues playing with one another's until they were out of breath.

The two desperate youths have thus become a couple. But, both because he was excited and because he was certain that this was to be their last time together, he wanted more than just a confession and a kiss. He surprised himself with the fact that he felt no embarrassment for what he intended to do next.

* * *

_It was over._  The day she knew would come soon, has finally come. Still, she wasn't as sad as she though she would be, probably because she was prepared for it for a long time now... and because this was the path she chose herself, fully ready to sacrifice this lifestyle she led for last few years.

Still, it wasn't without consequence. Just like how the realization that this happy life would soon be over made her stop pushing the boy she loved away from herself, the realization that it was over made her want to make the most of the time she had left with him.

He surprised her, as he always did. She thought he would be the angriest one, and she may still be proven right, but he gave her another day and allowed her to spend it with him. She could not be more grateful for it and she took care to enjoy every touch he gave her, every tended or passionate look he gave her and, of course, the kisses he gave her.

But, to her surprise, this wasn't all that he seemed intend on giving her. He didn't kiss her lips again, but instead he started kissing her neck. He moved his left hand all around her body while his right hand went onto her obi (the sash that holds a yukata on) and started to slowly take it off. It didn't take long for her to guess what he wanted to do next.

As it was natural, a part of her wondered if she should let him and if it wasn't too early. And although this was their first time as a couple, she soon remembered that it was also their last. Any embarrassment she felt disappeared with that thought, her selfish desire to make the most out of the situation taking over her heart and mind. "Are you alright with this?" She asked him, knowing that he had more reasons to later regret this than she did. "After all, I am-"

"Araya." He didn't allow her to finish. "You are Araya, a dear friend of mine and the girl I love _…_ thats who you are." He reminded her and gave her another kiss. The two lovers talked with that kiss, both telling one another more than they could with words. Thus, both told one another that this was what they wanted.

Only once the kiss was done, did she notice that he already removed her obi as her yukata no longer covered her shoulders and she had to keep it from falling down. For a moment his eyes looked at what she hid all this time and as a result she felt chills go down her spine as she was afraid that he would change his mind. But he just closed his eyes and moved his head down, starting to kiss her neck and shoulders.

Her body burned with each passing kiss, but somehow she also felt increasingly relaxed. She no longer felt like holding her yukata up so she let it go. Using her now free hands, she started removing his scarf and obi. "Ah… Rihan…" She muttered as he continued kissing her.

"I think this is the first time you said my name." He paused what he was doing in order to say that.

"This is a special occasion after all." She said with a tender smile and kissed his now revealed chest.

"Yes, it indeed is…" And then he said a name that froze her for a moment but, the soon after, made her feel a certain level of joy.

As a thanks, this time she was the one to start a kiss. And while they were still kissing, he slowly started removing the rest of her yukata and softly pushed her to the ground.

And the rest was their own, little blissful dream. For the better or worse, they have become lovers.

* * *

He read the time on his cell five times, wanting to be certain that it was really over. That their friendship was over, that their love was over and that, for him, Ichinoe Araya he knew no longer existed.

It was one hour past midnight. The nice dream was over, it was time for a darker one to take its place. He could no longer delay and pretend that everything was alright.

He raised himself up. He was still in front of the lake, but  _she_  was nowhere to be found, probably having left while he was still asleep.  _Well, let's not waste any more time than it is necessary… gods know, I wasted an entire day on my selfish desire… ha, selfish desire._  He felt himself smiling.  _Selfish desire is too good of a word for my motive._

He betrayed himself by his action and his clan by lack of an action. And he disgraced  _her_  as well, treating her as an object of his desires.  _I just couldn't stop with a kiss, could I?_  She may have accepted his advances, but it didn't make him feel any better.

With such self-loathing thoughts, he started to dress himself.

_Yet, I would do the same thing if I went back into the past… indeed, I am that weak._  Unlike his strong and confident sister who shone just like their father did, he was a weakling… he was always a weakling, doomed to be a mere shadow of his sister.

Realizing where his current thoughts went, he stopped and took a deep breath. "Would you give me a break?" he said and suddenly turned around, grabbing something with his hand.

The thing he caught was something that looked like a black monkey, but with monstrous features like red eyes and fangs in its mouth. Without much consideration, he crushed its head with his hand. "I am rotten enough without your help, thank you very much."

Rihan wasn't sure how he noticed this demon. Usually, he only sees them for a moment and then forgets about them. Maybe it was his resolve to stay as composed as he could, not wanting to be blinded by whatever was the darkness inside him. As such, he noticed this creature as well as the fact that he was the source of these dark thoughts.

In other words, he had absolutely no desire to let these demons, whatever they were, control him now. He had to stay himself, no matter what.

Naturally, he forgot about the monkey a few seconds later, but it didn't matter: he got his thoughts back in order. Once he was finished with dressing himself, he started to slowly walk towards the resort. It was not very far and it took only around twenty minutes to reach it… or at least it felt like it was only twenty minutes.

He wondered if he would find someone awake there, but the only thing he found was a memo. Seemingly, Shima got drunk and was resting with a friend he met here and Heiko was guarding him as ordered by ritsura. His sister, Ryuzan and Sakura, on other hand, were with some youkai, supposedly doing some kind of training.  _In other words, I should be alone now…_

He went to his room. To his surprise, he saw that the clothes  _she_  bought him, as well as the tanto, were there.  _Did she decide to leave my stuff here before going away?_  He looked around and saw a rose on his bed. He had a bad feeling about this…

Deciding that his yukata stank after wearing it for an entire day on this sun, he decided to change. After all, he was sensitive to temperature so he was sweating a lot. He put on some western clothes that  _she_ bought him: black pants and jacket, with dark gray shirt to put under the jacket. He then took the tanto into his hand, the tanto that she also bought him.  _Was she aware what I wanted to use it for? Ha, knowing her, she was!_  He opened his jacket and put the tanto in a pocket inside.  _Now that I think about it, she often looked for pockets where one could fit a knife while she chose my clothes. She sure has a morbid sense of humor._

He left his room and went to hers. He was certain that she had left, but something told him that he might be wrong… And sure enough, her things were in her room. Even her purse lay on the floor. Rihan opened it and saw that her wallet and documentation were there.

In other words, she was still here. "You… damn… idiot…" He threw the wallet back into the purse and looked around the room once more… noticing a camera on the table, turned on. She probably used it to see if he would visit her room.

"Hello, hello can you hear me Riha-chan?" Her voice spoke through the loudspeakers that were installed throughout the resort, both serving for important announcement and in case something bad happened. Now, however, they were her playthings. "It is really convenient that we are alone here, isn't? I can use these speakers to make such a pretty, dramatic scene!"

"You damn idiot…" he repeated. "…I gave you a chance to leave safely yet you…"

"Now, where could I possibly be, I wonder…?" She of course found this all entertaining… she found entertainment in everything. "…if I say I am in my own element, would you be able to find me? Of course you would, if only by following this wicked red string of fate that binds us. I am waiting for you~" she ended the message with a kiss, which to him felt like putting salt on a wound.

He didn't have to think long on where he should go. He simply left the room, checked the map on the wall and started walking to where she was.

She was an enemy. He became aware of that last night when he took a stroll on the fresh night air and noticed her sneaking towards where Zen was staying. He heard it all… he saw it all.

Naturally, he started wondering what it was all about, fooling himself that she may have been only a mere messenger or was manipulated… but the more he thought about it, everything started falling into place. By the time he fell asleep, he had most of the puzzle solved.

He should have immediately told everything to his sister… but he could not accept this ugly truth so quickly. He was too weak so he deluded himself for the entire day after, living in this false happiness.

He put his hand inside his pocket and took out his tanto, a weapon capable of killing a human, and then opened the doors on his way, which lead into a kabuki theater, with a kick.

She was there just as he expected her to be. She sat on the podium, with a microphone in one hand and a gray parasol in another. She wore a bluish yukata with a haori, both having red and blue roses as their pattern. The expression she had, with her eyes narrowed and with a malicious smile on her face, was not the one he was used to seeing on her. Yet, he thought that it fit her perfectly.

"You were pretty quick, Riha-chan." She had a smile on her face, in contrast to his serious expression. "But I didn't expect anything less from you."

He didn't say anything and instead just looked at her. She was still beautiful to him, probably more so than before. Was it because of their deed or because she was no longer holding any facades, he did not know.

But he had to kill the part of himself which treasured her. They may have been in love with one another and they had their fun, but love was not meant for the two of them. He would have to forget all about her as soon as possible… although that was easier said than done. Even knowing the whole truth, part of him felt like just taking her into his arms an forgiving her.

"What is with that dangerous look and that knife?" She gave him a mocking stare, not one bit worried about her situation. "Was taking the last shred of my innocence not enough for you? You desire my life too?" She giggled as she said that. "You are such a dangerously possessive man, Riha-chan~"

"If it means anything to you, I am sorry for that."

"Why? Was I that bad?" She played with one of her bangs as she said that. He waited to see if she would say more, but she didn't.

"Why didn't you leave?" He asked her, ignoring the other issue. "Letting you go was my last gesture of mercy."

"Oh my dear Riha-chan…" she jumped onto her feet and walked up to him. "You really think I  _need_  your mercy?"

His grasp on the tanto clenched.  _Confident again... she has some card inside her sleeve._  But then again, that was obvious: she would not have stayed here in the first place were she not having some sort of plan prepared.  _But what is her goal? To say goodbye... or to silence me?_

"I doubt I would get a satisfying answer, but I shall ask this anyway…" He said while she walked around him and he kept looking at her brown eyes. "…is there any hope for me misunderstanding something… or that you would change your ways?" Part of him still hoped that this all could be avoided, that their relationship could be saved… that they could simply return to being friends and lovers. there was only a tiny chance for that to be true, but he still held hope.

"Fufufu, oh no Riha-chan, you didn't misunderstand anything." If there were sadness in her, she did not show it. If anything, she smiled as if this wasn't even a serious issue. "I don't know how you found out about it, but you were right." She added and then he noticed that she held some kind of case in her hand. "And I am afraid that this isn't one of those stories where the power of love and friendship would change a person." She opened the case, revealing a pair of red lens. "The only way for me to cease being the enemy to the Nura Clan… is to kill me." She took the lens and put them onto her eyes.

"I see… I am saddened to see that you have really chosen to walk that path." With his last glitter of hope erased, the only thing he had left was his resolve. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and looked at her again, this time with eyes that held only hostility.

The entire Nura Clan was wondering where she could be, yet she was hiding in the plain sight since before they were even aware of her existence. The irony of her doing that to Nurarihyons was not lost on him.

"And you sure seem to be enjoying yourself…" He walked up to her and forcefully turned her around. He looked right into her now red eyes as he put his tanto under her throat. Yet, she was still smiling at him. "…[Shiori](http://i.imgur.com/omV1y11.jpg)."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- and so we have a dating chapter which I know a few people waited for. But as all couples, always some challenge has to occur

\- Rihan's money problems sure were fun to write! As was Tsurara sending funds to her sonny :P

\- I am sure that many did not understand what was going on at certain points of the chapter. I hope that it became clearer as the final scene went on

\- and finally, the big revelation! Yeah, I know some will dislike it but the story was building up to this event from the very beginning

\- some may wonder how Rihan Junior realized it and I promise I will explain that soon. I will also mention that this mystery was actually solvable and hints were there since the story began

\- and while I am at it, a little trivia: the final scene of this chapter is actually the scene that started it all. You see, at one point this scene came to my mind... well, it didn't go at all like this, but the most important part was there: the young Nura found out that his dear classmate was a  _big, bad villain_. From there on, I built the story that ended up becoming the fic that you are now reading


	36. From The Other Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A dark secret has been revealed and while Rihan is confronting the traitor, we go back into the past and will look at some passed events through another perspective…

**Disclaimer:** sometimes I wonder if I need to kill a canon character in order to make more people post a review… please, think of Zen and others (just joking… or am I… O_O). Anyway, this chapie is all Shiori-POV and jumps back in time.

* * *

**Chapter 36: From The Other Side**

"Hmmm…" A girl nearing her seventeenth birthday woke up. But only after she was done stretching her arms and shoulders had she opened her eyes and noticed that she was lying in a traditional Japanese room which she didn't recognize. "Huh, where am I?"

"She woke up…" Someone said from behind her, trying to sound creepy.

"Indeed, she did." Another tone whispered in reply, coming from above her. "Here, Miss, your glasses." The girl felt someone putting glasses onto her nose. She didn't need to look up to realize that she was surrounded by youkai.

"Kyaah, where am I!?" The girl jumped up and turned towards a bunch of small youkai that stood behind her. It took her a few moments to remember that she fell asleep while Ritsura played some games at an arcade. It was easy to guess that she was now in…

"The Nura Clan's household!" A youkai that looked like a small devil with an overbite confirmed her suspicions. "We welcome you, young lady!"

"What is her name again?" A youkai she recognized as Nattou Kozou asked another youkai, the one that looked like a rice-ball.

"She is one of the friends of the young master and mistress… I don't remember what she is called, but I remember that she has a certain nickname… ah yes, the  _Tycoon Princess_!"

"You can call me Ichinoe Araya." The girl answered the question for them. Although she was still a bit disturbed to have woken up here, she had calmed down by now.  _Alright, I am not here because they somehow found out who I am… unless they are just buying time!_  Shiori wasn't a person that easily got scared, but suddenly finding herself in the middle of the enemy territory did make her feel a bit anxious, especially if she didn't come in with a plan to get out in case something went awry.  _No no, everything will be alright…_

"Oh, she is one of Waka's girlfriends…" Nattou Kozou made an outrageous proclamation.

"I prefer the golden haired one…" Ko-oni, the small devil with an overbite, commented and half of other youkai nodded.

"Bah, that one is too sweet… and dull." Nattou Kozou argued back. "This one is more fun!" As he said that, the other half of tiny youkai nodded. "And rich!"

But Ko-oni didn't give up just yet. "But the golden haired one is also rich and… what was her name again?"

"Onieda Mayuri." Shiori said, for some reason, interested in their discussion.

"Yes, Mayu-chan has larger breasts." Ko-oni continued and tried to sound like a pervert, his hands squeezing something invisible. His answer, and the fact that more than half of the youkai nodded in agreement, made Shiori angry enough that a vein popped out on her forehead. "She, on the other hand…" Ko-oni ran to behind her and jumped onto her back, his hands touching something they shouldn't have. "…might have larger ones than Ojou-sama, but still smaller than Mayu-chan. That much I assure you!"

_Did this little bitch just grope my breasts?_ A smile appeared on Shiori's face… the smile of a madwoman. "How… DARE YOU!" Before the youkai could flee, she grabbed his neck with her hand and then looked at him. "You bastard… do you know what you have just done?"

"Eeeeek!" The little youkai whispered. "This girl has more Fear than Rihan-sama! She is way too strong for him I say!" Even the dangerous situation, he found himself in, didn't seem to make him forget about the discussion that went on.

"Yes, yes, she sure does." The tiny youkai nodded, with obvious sweat on their foreheads. "She might be too much for Waka to handle. He needs a nicer and more petite woman I say!" Someone added, and those words, for reasons that Shiori didn't want to admit, caused another vein to pop on her forehead.  _I am so feeling like burning this whole place down and laughing as you guys beg for death!_  It even brought out the darkest parts of her soul.

"Stop nodding and someone help me!" The Ko-oni seemed to have felt the growing darkness inside her.

"There is no salvation for you, little youkai." Shiori said as she grabbed his little leg, making him hang. "Are you even aware whose breasts you groped?"  _I am the future Demonic Overlady of Tokyo, Shiori-sama herself!_ "You better be tougher than you look otherwise you are going to meet larger devils in Hell."

"Eeeeeekk…" Ko-oni started to silently scream. "EEEEEEEEKKK!" he started to scream loudly the moment she started spinning him like a yoyo.

"DIEEEEEE!" Shiori shouted and threw this youkai of the Nura Clan with such force that he broke through the paper door and continued flying through a long corridor.

"I REGRET NOTHIIIIING!" The small youkai made his life's last war cry (well, in his imagination at least) as he flew through the corridor. Passing youkai paid him a glance but immediately went on with their business as this kind of scene was far too common in this mansion.

"So…" She turned towards the rest of the tiny youkai, each one of them shivering in front of her. She felt very much pleased that they finally understood the power of the one they were dealing with. "…where are Riha-chan and Ritsu-chan?"

"Go right through the corridor, turn left and then right and take the second door on the left." One of them explained.

"Thank you." She turned around and started to quickly walk away.

"Are you sure this girl is a human?" One of them continued. "And does that make her a good or bad match for Waka?"

"I say the cooler the better!"

"No, the gentler the better!"

"For a change, let's discuss matches for Ojou-sama!"

"Haah…" Shiori sighed as she walked through the Nura Clan's mansion.  _This place is as rowdy as usual. And they don't even realize who is walking through it at this very moment…_  as she thought of that, she looked around. Many youkai walked and ran around, some playing and other working. Most of them greeted her, but didn't look like either one of them stopped to wonder if she should be trusted enough to walk around.  _Just like with 'gramps', an enemy leader walks around and no one is the wiser. This house sure has horrible security._

She finally reached the paper door that reached to where the siblings were supposed to be. Judging by the sounds coming out of the room behind the door, both of the siblings were there, as well as their mother. And not so surprisingly, Ritsura was being lectured by her mother.  _Mission accomplished._  Shiori smiled as the fact that her prank was successful and, putting on a distressed face, forcefully opened the door.

"Can someone explain to me why I woke up in here?" She asked as the door opened.

"Mom has turned evil and desires some human liver!" The girl with silky, white and teal hair didn't waste her time with useless greetings and immediately jumped onto the jokes. "And we choose you as a sacri-OUCH!"

She was cut off by her mother, a very young looking woman with black and blue hair called Nura Tsurara. It was actually hard to believe that she was older than Ritsura. "Good morning Ichinoe-san." She greeted her with a smile. "I saw you sleeping in the arcades…" she then turned her gaze to Ritsura and stopped smiling "…where my dear daughter was fooling around…" then she turned back towards the girl she knew as Araya, "…and I thought it would be wise to bring you here. Oryou, breakfast for the girls!"

"Here, here!" A little fairy-like Tsukumogami with an ice bowl on her head flew up to Shiori and offered her a bowl of rice larger than herself. It was quite a cute sight, Shiori had to admit.

"Well, thank you. Yaaawn." Shiori said and sat down to eat with the siblings.

Nura Ritsura and Nura Rihan were the children of Nura Rikuo, the Lord of the Pandemonium and probably the strongest Japanese demon in history. And both of the siblings were, naturally, members of the Nura Clan which made Shiori their enemy. But they didn't have to know that just yet.

Ritsura was someone she considered her arch-rival: both were ambitious and enthusiastic and often competed with one another, most times via games. No doubt, they would one day be competing through more dangerous means. Still, that all made Ritsura into someone Shiori considered her truest friend. Rivalry was a bond of friendship in its own way.

Then there was Rihan, a boy she met many years ago. Back then he was nicer and kinder, in a way, resembling his mother. Something changed him over the years and while he was no longer the same person, she still… _no, no, don't think about him that way!_

They were both close friends of hers… and one day shall be her greatest enemies.  _Life sure is fun… fufu.  
_

* * *

Shiori did not expect to find Koko no Kira's Fear active, but seeing as the school was open to everyone this day, it did not surprise her that someone with ill intent sneaked in.

Koko no Kira was one of her strongest youkai, created with purpose of punishing the ones responsible for the Nakano Incident three years ago. Although, the mastermind behind that incident, Onieda Masashi, and his lackeys, have been punished, Koko no Kira wouldn't be satisfied until Masashi's superiors have been dealt with.

To Shiori, that was convenient. Although moving to Ukiyoe Town meant that she lived in the Nura Clan's backyard, it was a safe place from her enemies as the Nuras were opposed to the same people she was. And since revealing her identity would be a  _spoiler_  and thus break the  _game's rules_ , the enemy could not lead the Nuras into finding out her identity without summoning the wrath of those cruel dolls. Of course, that did not protect her from the would-be assassins and Koko no Kira was another protection: nobody could enter the school with ill intent without catching Koko no Kira's attention and, usually, get killed as a result. And if the Nura Clan found out about her, Koko no Kira's existence and the dorms could be used to scare the Nuras long enough for her to protect herself.

Anyway, it was time to check if the  _assassin_  was here for her, the Nuras or someone else. "Hey, I think I saw someone I know!" She said to the rest of the group not long after they entered the school grounds. "I am going to say hi, you guys go on."

"Okay, but don't take too long!" Shima commented as Shiori started to slowly walk towards Koko no Kira's Pillar. "Koko, let me talk with him." Once the others entered the building, she whispered with such a low tone that even a youkai's ear couldn't hear her, but Koko no Kira did not use ears and was able to hear what anyone in the campus said, no matter how low the tone was.

_I remember this guy…_  she immediately recognized the would-be-assailant who sat on the pond, entranced by Koko no Kira's Fear. He had long black hair and a long jaw, although still looking quiet handsome.

Shiori didn't know his name or which faction he belonged to. But  _Netto no Yose_  noticed a few times that he kept an eye on the Nuras.  _Well, he isn't after me but it would be a good idea to use the opportunity and find out whom he serves…_

"You are that person that has been sneaking around this area for last few weeks, aren't you?" She started her interrogation. However, even though Koko no Kira kept other people's attention from them, it wasn't perfect and asking direct questions could prove to be risky. "You're searching for the  _New World_?" It was a phrase, but anyone who knows about the existence of the  _Shin Sekai_  would understand what it meant.

"For what?" He answered, confirming that he knew literally nothing about them.

"So you aren't one of them… are you seeking to make a name for yourself and add your tale to the Hundred of Tales?"

"What are you talking about?" Obviously, he wasn't a member of the Hyaku Monogatari either.

"So you aren't a sleeping agent either." She confirmed that he was unlikely to be a threat to her. He could be a member of the Kyushu or some other ambitious youkai clan, but that's something the Nuras would need to worry about, not her. "Well then, don't do anything stupid in this school and you'll be safe. I put all my Fear into this tale and I assure you, you are too weak to do anything against it."

Saying that, she left and Koko no Kira took it as an order to let him go.  _You are lucky I got here when I did, or else Koko-chan would have made quite a bloody job out of you. And it would be a shame to kill such a pretty boy.  
_

* * *

When Shiori arrived in Ukiyoe three years ago, she knew that it would have been wise to not let Rihan who she really was… lest she had to explain to him why she was no longer called Kuruguya Midori, a name she had to throw away in order to stay hidden from the pursuers that Oniedas and Yanagida would send after her.

She had made many preparations, from painting her hair to preparing numerous excuses on why she wasn't Midori or, in case worst came to pass, an excuse on why she had to change her name. She even thought of confusing him by using a Tale, but that might have left a trail of Fear that Nura Rikuo would no doubt notice, if nobody else.

But all those preparations proved to not have been needed as Nura Rihan did not recognize her. Even in the three years they spent together since she arrived to Ukiyoe, he did not seem to even doubt that she may have been someone he met long time ago.

It was, of course, very convenient for her… but that didn't mean that she liked it. Part of her hoped he would recognize her. Yes, one could say that it was natural for him to not recognize someone he met eight years ago and knew only for a short period of time and they would be right. But no matter how much he changed, both in body and face, and even though she accidentally stumbled upon him on a street rather than seek him, she immediately recognized him and, due to that, the mentioned excuse did not mean anything to her.  _Not to mention that he was the one who told me that I should visit him in Ukiyoe someday…_

Shiori believed that she gotten over it and that it was more convenient than a problem, but as she stood there and he talked about Hinata, Minato and her, she realized that somewhere deep inside she hoped, no matter how problematic it would have been, that he at least suspected the truth or that she reminded him of Midori. But there was no doubt in her heart now: he really had no idea who she was.

She kept telling herself that she was happy and that this was very convenient but, for the first time ever, her rudeness was not just a bluff but instead she felt honest malice… she honestly wanted to hurt him, even though she understood that he felt a lot of pain due to what happened three years ago, something that would usually make her go soft on him.

She knew that this was stupid, unreasonable and downright rotten from her, yet she could not help it. Her emotions were stronger than her reasoning… strong enough that, once she realized that her words no longer pissed him off, she ordered Koko no Kira to shake him up when he started hitting the pillar.

Now, that she sat on a bed in one of dorm's room waiting for him to finish washing, she regretted it. The problem wasn't in him but in her. The moment she saw the horrified expression on his face due to Koko no Kira's illusions, she understood that she went way too far.

_Agh, why do I even care… he may be my friend, but we are still enemies. I hurt so many people that I should not even deserve to have this kind of feeling yet…_  She couldn't understand her own behavior and randomly clicked through her smartphone, as if trying to find something that would take her attention elsewhere.  _Why do I even care if he recognizes me or not? In the first place, we weren't even that close back then!_

The sound of the bathroom door opening stopped her thought process and instead she raised her head with intention of greeting him. But the sight in front of her blocked any words that tried to come out of her.

He just stood there with his eyes closed and leaning against the door frame, seemingly unaware of her presence. He was naked, his muscular body revealed to her eyes. As if that weren't enough, he was leaning against the doorframe like he was taking a shoot for a woman's magazine, the few remaining water droplets making the whole image even more delicious to a woman's eye.

Had she been a more conservative or shy person, she would have screamed from embarrassment or kindly asked him to mind her presence. But she wasn't.  _J… J… JACKPOT!_  With her inner prankster awoken, she immediately raised her cell and started taking photos. Then, he opened his eyes and noticed her.

"What a great pose!" She proclaimed. "Your fangirls will LOVE this!"  _I love, love, love this! I will make a thousand copies of this so I never lose it!_

For a moment, the nude Rihan was paralyzed and unable to react to her bizarre behavior but, after a few moments, he did what every normal person would have done. "GIVE ME THAT!" He shouted and jumped onto her in order to wrestle the smartphone from her hands and save his pride.

But she continued taking photos, less so because of the pranks and more so because her body simply continued doing what it did a few moments ago even while her mind went numb.

As he, naked, lay there above her in this suggestive pose, she remembered why she cared about him recognizing her and why she cared so much about him in general. Simply said, she was a girl in love since she arrived to Ukiyoe.

* * *

The night has fallen. But rather than stay at her home and do her homework like most students, Shiori had other matters to attend to on this night. Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with the youkai world.

The matter she had to attend to was some kind of party or ceremony like she so often had to due to her status. For her, staying away from such affairs was far from a good idea, no matter how tiresome it could get. Was this some tycoon's party, someone's birthday, coming-of-age ceremony or celebration for opening a museum or something… she honestly didn't remember. Nor did she care to. She just stood there, wearing an expensive velvet dress with a long sleeve on one end that hid the tattoo on her left arm, with her hair turned into a plunge.

Usually at these parties, older women tried to gossip with her, some trying to make her one of them and others trying to embarrass her, while young and innocent girls thought she was one of them. Young men tried to seduce her while old men talked about their sons, both hungry for her wealth and thinking she was some naive girl who would fall for their false love and make them even richer.

But today she wasn't in the mood for them. She didn't say anything, but the way she behaved as well as the way she looked at anyone trying to approach her made them change their minds and find someone else to bother.

She wasn't in the mood for their little games as today was the day she knew was fated to come.

Onieda Mahiro has found her.

After three years of searching, Onieda Mahiro, and by extension, the entire Shin Sekai as well as his friend Yanagida, now knew where the girl once known as Kuruguya Midori hid. As a symbolic gesture, Onieda Mahiro organized another party, similar to this one, in a hotel just a few blocks away from her school. The Shin Sekai would usually not organize such a meeting in middle of Nura Clan's territory, especially not while intending to kill some people. Mahiro organized it with sole intention to spite her and show her that she wasn't safe, even in Ukiyoe.

It was a stupid move from his part, revealing to her that he found her. But that was far from unexpected for her: for a long time now, she insulted his brother's memory, knowing that it would make him do this. Mahiro thought he was torturing her, like one would expect from someone who idolized the sadistic Onieda Masashi, but in reality he played right into her hands.

Now she knew that it was only a matter of time until the Shin Sekai or Yanagida made their move against her. It could take months, weeks and maybe even just days… but sooner or later, they would strike.

She would have to either run or fight… and she was tired of hiding and running. After three years, she was optimistic that she built enough power to oppose them. The first one to strike would be her, not her enemies.

The only question was: what would her next move be. Yes, she answered Mahiro's gesture by screwing up his little party, but that was just a child's prank. If she intended to fight, she would have to do something more important.

For that purpose, she decided to attack Onieda Masato, the very leader of the Shin Sekai, who was in Tokyo right now… or more exactly, she started a tale that would attack him. The attack would no doubt fail, but it was a declaration of war and a gesture that she would not hold back even from attacking Onieda Masato himself.

Yet, she felt this would not be enough. Not only was it strategically a useless move, but it didn't excite her. And if she, the author, could not feel excitement, it meant that the tale she prepared would prove to be weak and forgetful. And that frustrated her to the point that the atmosphere around her was tense enough to scare even these fools who were indulging themselves in this dull party.

Then something broke this monotony: her servant running to her with her vibrating smartphone on a pillow. "Ichinoe-sama, someone is calling your personal number."

Shiori took it and looked at it. It was Nura Ritsura who called her. "Yeah, what is it?" She answered, frustrated that Ritsura was bothering her at this time. "I am kind of busy at the moment."

"This is important enough that I don't care about your business, Ichinoe-san." Ritsura replied, successfully increasing Shiori's curiosity. "You are getting the honor of helping us save Onieda Masato from an assassination."

"…you have to be kidding me…"  _How the hell did SHE find out about it?_  Shiori did not accept such a development and, not wanting other people to listen to her, she left the hall, telling her servant with her hand to make an excuse for her. "I mean, who is trying to kill HIM?" She bluffed, having to keep her cover in front of Ritsura.

"Some person called Shiori it seems. Or Shiori told the world he will be attacked. No matter, someone is attacking him."

Not only did Mahiro find out where Shiori hid, but Ritsura became aware of the existence of the person called Shiori. It was ironic and inconvenient… yet Shiori started to feel intrigued. "Heee, sounds interesting... and just how could I help the mighty Nura Clan?"

"We need Saaya to get access to that Road Surveillance System so we could find him."

"And just how do I fit into all that?" Of course, she understood what Ritsura wanted from her, but she thought about what she would do about it. After all, it would be weird for Shiori to help Ritsura foil Shiori's own plan, but it would be hard for Araya to justify staying away from this. It was even possible that Ritsura already found her reluctance suspicious so she had to tread carefully.

"You don't seem too motivated or you'd have realized it by now."

"Sorry for being a lowly human rather than a mighty youkai like you." Shiori said in a sarcastic tone. "Next thing I know, scary youkai will be knocking on my doorstep." She tried to find a way to not get her Araya persona mixed into all this.

"Come on now, nobody would attack a  _friend_  of our clan." Shiori felt bitter-sweet at her saying that word. A small part of her felt regret only a traitor could… a larger part of her found this whole thing hilarious. Still, she valued her friendship with the siblings and didn't feel like abusing it for her own needs unless it was really needed. "Also, we are trying to save the mighty Onieda Masato... Mamoru's and Mayuri's father." Ritsura said, thinking that it would make  _Araya_  want to save him.

"It is Onieda Masato, I can't afford to be stubborn here I guess…" No doubt, Ritsura would completely misunderstand what she meant by this. What it actually meant was that this was too important of an issue for Shiori to not make use of. "Alright! You need someone to hack into that system, no? Just give me access to your clan's and Kiyotsugu's network and I'll have some…  _friends_  be done with it in a few minutes!"

"Perfect! You have Saaya's number so you and your friends communicate with her about it. I'll be busy with other stuff… oh, and what business were you on anyway?"

"It is family business. I can't avoid it, seeing as I am the family's head and all." She didn't lie: fighting the Nuras was technically a family business. "Bye and… good luck I guess?" She said, ended the call and opened the doors of her limo.

"Ara, you came back early!" A female voice said the moment Shiori entered the limo. It belonged to Minemawa Kirie, a short girl with white hair dressed as a Gothic Lolita who now sat inside Shiori's limo. Kirie was one of the  _Players_ , one of Sanmoto's descendants allowed to participate in the current Hyaku Monogatari and thus knew how to create youkai, although her ability was far below Gorozaemon's and Shiori's level. Also, unlike Shiori she was a descendant from one of Sanmoto's bastards. Still, she served Shiori which was what mattered.

"What are you doing here Kirie?" Shiori asked as she sat in the limo.

"Fufu…" Kirie made a smug face and tapped on some boxes in front of her. "The delivery of new clothes came! And as promised, I ordered a pair of each set so you could get some too!" Kirie and Shiori had one thing in common: love for buying clothes. Unfortunately, Kirie's tastes were limited to  _Gothic Lolitas_.

"Great, I needed both you and some colorful clothes!" Shiori said and closed the door. "Netto, drive us to Mamoru." The limo's driver was actually a youkai in human form who protected Shiori and not the actual driver. Although he could drive in case the need arose, the real driver here was Netto no Yose.

"Oh, are we going to dress him into something embarrassing?"

Shiori ignored her. "Netto, tell every one of my children close to Masato's driving route to attack any Nura Clan member they find. Also, tell the Urban Legends that there is going to be a large battle between us and that they are more than welcome to participate or make use of it. I will leave the command to you."

A small monitor on the backside of the seat in front of her said: " _Wait, I expected you to cancel the whole operation! O_O_ "

"We are absolutely not!" Shiori proclaimed with a large smile. "I finally came up with something so fun it will shake the entire Japan!"

"Ara, you sure do look excited Shi-sama." Kirie said while scratching her cheek. "But isn't this a bit too much?"

"Kirie, you will meet with Mamoru and tell him it is time for infiltration. Their boss being endangered might have attracted only a bit of the Shin Sekai's attention, but a battle between me and the Nuras alongside that and the fact that I am doing something stupid should make them give us their full attention. This is the perfect opportunity for  _that_!"

"I don't understand what you mean or where we are supposed to be going. Can you slowly explain what-"

The car stopped, signifying that Mamoru was close by. "No time, ask Netto or Mamoru." Shiori said and pushed Kirie out. "I will leave the clothes at your house, don't worry!"

Being in a hurry, Shiori immediately closed the door and said: "Netto, take me somewhere where I may change in peace."

" _This might be just my pessimism but… you are not going to join the battle, are you? -_-;_ "

"Yes I am." She replied with a tone that made it clear she wasn't interested in any complaints.

" _Yaay… not! TAT_ "

The frustration she felt only a few minutes ago was gone. Ritsura's call and the developments that came with it made Shiori excited enough that her mind started making up plan… a plan which would elegantly make her existence known to rest of the youkai world, allow her to have her first feud with the Nuras led by Ritsura without any greater risks, allow her to check up something with Rihan that she could only do with her Shiori persona and, most importantly, it allowed her to participate in a battle of Fears again, a thrill that she came to miss.

" _But can we really harm Masato-sama? O_o_ "

"No, of course we can't. Even if the Nuras fail, he will save himself." Shiori explained. "But he doesn't matter. What matters is that we keep Shin Sekai's attention away long enough for Kirie and Mamoru to finish what they are doing. Even if the battle ends early, Shin Sekai should focus their resources on me, Nuras and Masato long enough for them to finish their task. Also, this shall serve as a good introduction of myself to the Nuras. A good villain always announces her role before the climax."

" _So, if Kirie succeeds we shall be able to harm Masato? :D_ "

"Harm him? I will be happy if we manage to make his eyebrow flicker. That man is way to cool to be so easily harmed." Shiori smirked. "But everyone has to start somewhere, even if it is just an eyebrow. Knowing Masato, even that will be a grand success but who knows, maybe luck finds her way to our side."

* * *

The battle was over. The Nuras won most fights, but that was never in doubt.

Shiori managed to survive her confrontation with Rihan without getting discovered and successfully checked just how deep his darkness was. It was deeper than she would have liked, but she would have expected no less from Shoumen Kongo and Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

Ritsura was successfully fooled into thinking that Shiori was still after Masato's head, thus making her and the rest of the Nura Clan focus their attention at the wrong place. The fact that they fell for it was a great source of comedy to her and, what is important, made it all seem worthless to them.

One of Shiori's old enemies had been taken care of and even though he was just a small fry, his death gave her a sense of accomplishment.

However, Kirie and Mamoru hadn't yet accomplished their own mission. She bought them as much time as she could and the only thing left for her was to trust them. If they ended up failing, this would have all been for naught. Even useless information would be better than nothing.

All in all though, she was satisfied.

"Zzzz…" She heard Rihan sleeping in the hospital bed on which she sat. Lacking any better clothes, she changed into a nurse outfit and used it to play a prank on him… which resulted in him telling her that he trusted her.  _He trusts me huh?_  She wasn't sure how she felt about it, but tried not to think too much about it.

They were in a small private hospital owned by Giovanni Ventura, her private doctor. Secretly, Giovanni was a youkai known as Plaguesdoctor, the first ever youkai she created. Even though he was born before she got the Mirror, he managed to build his own Fear and become a powerful Youkai due to his own effort. As a mother, she was proud of him.  _Still, Giovanni Ventura? How can he think to keep up his cover if the name he chose for himself is that of Giovanni de Ventura, one of the most well known Plaguedoctors? Well, good thing that most Japanese would not recognize it… still, it is kind of frustrating._

"You should rest too, Ojou-sama." One of Giovanni's nurses commented. Giovanni recruited a number of demonic nurses as his personal assistants and this was one of them, but she hid in a human form. "You are obviously tired."

"Good idea, I shall do just that." Shiori said and raised herself up, intending to use another bed in the hospital.  _Anyway, time to start planning my next move._

* * *

There weren't many things that could scare Shiori or make her feel anxious. She wasn't scared for her grades, she wasn't scared that some random car might hit her and even a murderous youkai going after her wouldn't scare her too much, especially if she accepted her fate.

Happy-go-lucky assertive grandmas, on the other hand, were terrifying and Shiori felt like a vampire in front of sunshine whenever she talked with such a woman.

The Second Commander Nura Rihan's widow, Nura Wakana, was one such terrifying grandma. And due to her adolescent grandson's meddling, Shiori was forced to go shopping for kimonos with her.

"See Araya-chan, this is my top favorite clothing shop in the town!" Wakana talked with that shiny smile of hers. "They have all kinds of kimonos and yukatas! No matter how unlikely the chance was to find something I was looking for, in last twenty years this place didn't fail me even once!"

_An Angel and a Devil enter a clothing shop._  Still, Shiori knew this shop and thus understood where Wakana was coming from: it was a two levels large shop (well, a chain of shops) having all kinds of kimonos and yukatas, for all seasons and for all ages. They even accepted commissions under an acceptable price, usually manufacturing the newly made kimonos. Shiori herself often visited this place.

"Araya-chan, what is your favorite color?" Wakana started asking but seemed so excited that she didn't wait for the girl to answer. "Hm, maybe something that fits your hair? I am thinking black of grey might fit… but that might be a tad bit too moody, so what about red?"

"Yes, I like red…"

"And what about pattern? I am thinking flower… flowers fit beautifully with young girls like you." Wakana continued with her questions. Shiori wasn't a hundred percent sure, but she had a feeling that Wakana was more energetic than usual. "And I am sure my grandson will find the sight of you filled with flowers cute!"

And now she understood it.  _Don't tell me that she thinks me and Riha-chan are…_

"So, what is your favorite flower?" Wakana asked, choosing a kimono probably not being the only reason she wanted to know about all these things.

However, Shiori had no reason to not answer her question. "Ro… Roses." Still, talking about such things with Wakana made her feel awkward. She wasn't sure why it was like that, but she was certain that Wakana's friendly behavior wasn't the real reason.

"Ah, roses…" Wakana put a finger on her chin and looked at her, which made Shiori feel embarrassed. "Yes, looking at you I do get a feeling that you like them." She said and started walking somewhere. "I think I saw a nice one here a while ago, hopefully it is still there."

Having no other choice, Shiori followed after her. She felt that she was in her fifties and Wakana in her teens simply by how playful Wakana seemed.

"Great, it is still here! Araya-chan, please come~" Wakana proclaimed, took a red yukata and showed it to the teenage girl. "Here, what do you think?" It was a pretty red yukata with a rose motif. Seemingly too impatient to wait for an answer, Wakana gently pulled Shiori in front of the nearby mirror and put the kimono in front of her. "Hm hm, it sure fits your hair colour too! What do you think?" She asked the question again, but it seemed that this time she was actually interested in the girl's opinion.

"It is quite pretty." Although she would have said that no matter what this nice woman showed her, Shiori was being honest here: she liked the color and the motif as well as how it fit her red hair.  _A parasol would make this perfect._

"Indeed! Why don't you go and try it on?"

"What? No need, I am sure that the size is-"

"Come on, as a thank you for buying it for you." Wakana put her hands together.

"Um, there is no need for buying because I have-"

"No, I insist! Even if you are a millionaire, I want to buy this for my grandson's… um friend." Obviously she almost said something else, but changed the word at the last moment. "Come on, I want to see you in it!"

Shiori sighed at the realizations that even her blackened heart could not say no to this woman's smile. "Alright, I will go and try it out."

"Great!" Wakana said and gave her another sweet smile. Shiori released another sigh before entering the small changing area, but not before pointing to the clerk that she wanted to try it out.

"By the way, Wakana-san…" Knowing that Wakana was still in hearing range, Shiori decided to ask her something. "I am wondering, for what reason are you in such a good mood?"

"Hm?"

"That is, I know you are always in good mood but I have a feeling that, today, your mood is better than usual, Wakana-san." Shiori commented as she started removing her school's jacket.

"Of course I am! Every grandmother would be happy to spend time with the one that makes her grandchild smile." Wakana started and although Shiori couldn't see her from here, she had no doubts that she had a smile on her face, as usual. "Especially for this boy… Ritsura-chan is a strong girl, but my grandson is just like his grandfather: unlucky and way too quick to get depressed and dramatic." Wakana continued and Shiori didn't fail to notice that she didn't address her two children the same way. "It took me a while to make my future darling smile, but I am afraid that it is not in my power to do the same for my grandchild. Natural I guess, that's not a role for an aging woman like me."

"Are you suggesting that this is my role?" She asked a question with an obvious answer while looking at herself on the mirror. She still wore her long-sleeved school shirt, as if reluctant to take it off in this situation.  _Sigh, I should stop wasting time and just change already…_

"Of course you are! It was ages since I saw my grandson have such an honest smile."

In a way, Wakana's timing couldn't have been more perfect as the words came at the same moment when Shiori's eyes fell on her left arm. There was a the tattoo which showed a number of blue skulls connected by a prickly, black stem whose head was a red rose. There were also kanji there, chosen by the person who painted the tattoo, saying ' _Delicate, thorny Rose that rules over hundreds of horrors'_.

_I wonder just how long will it take for that smile to turn into something else?_  She intended to keep such thoughts to herself, but deep inside she wanted to go open with it, thus she subconsciously spoke: "You sound naive Wakana-san. Who says I am not more than just an ordinary rich girl?"

"Hm?" Wakana hummed and Shiori wished she could see her face.

"You are a wife of Yakuza, you should understand the dangers… especially since your own husband was murdered by one of the countless enemies of the Nura Clan." B _y my own affiliation no less._  Shiori thought while talking and putting on the yukata. "I could be a traitor, a spy or even an outright enemy you know."

Shiori made a short pause to see if Wakana would say something. Seeing as she stayed silent, Shiori decided to go on. "And let's say I really am an enemy, what would that mean?"  _I should seriously shut up before I make myself too suspicious… it might already be too late._  Still, she went on. "He already suffered so much… I don't know what happened to him eight years ago, but I know it changed him and I know that the Nakano Incident also brought harm to his heart. If he ended up caring too much about me and I brought him harm, wouldn't that make me into the very opposite… into the last person you want near him?"

With the yukata fully put on, she took a deep breath and went out to see if she managed to prove her point. She was prepared for any kind of look or words.

Ironically, it proved to not be enough. "It looks great on you, Araya-chan!" Wakana said with a large smile and while putting her hands together. "My grandson will love it, I am sure!"

Shiori expected contempt, surprise, shock, doubt… but she did not expect Wakana to still have that smiling face… no, the smile on her face seems to have become larger. "Did you even hear what I said?"

"I did. But, you see Araya-chan, I am not a person who bothers herself with such things… as weird as it may sound, the world of yakuza is still alien for me."

"But you are-"

"A yakuza's wife… a yakuza's widow actually. Even when my son became a part of that world, I could do nothing but trust in him and act as if we were a normal family." For a moment there was sadness in Wakana's eyes, but she immediately forced her old attitude to return. "Honestly, such things are beyond me. Are you bluffing or maybe serious? I won't think too much about it… but I know one thing for certain." Her next words were spoken with an even larger smile. "The way you talked showed that you care a lot about him and his feelings. I don't know where the actual problem is, but what I now know is that you worry about him. That's sign of love, not malice."

"Wait a second!" Her last words made Shiori blush. Having such words be said by this woman was way too awkward for her. "Just to clear any misunderstandings, we are not-"

She was cut off by Wakana putting two fingers at edges of her lips mouth and forced a smile onto Shiori's face. "Calm down and smile. Smile! Even if there are hardships, I am sure it will sort itself out somehow!"

"No, you don't under-OUCH!" She tried to argue, but Wakana pinched her cheeks and thus was stopped.

"But no matter what, don't let your fears hold you back." Wakana let her cheeks go and continued on. "If you don't let him know how you truly feel, you will regret it, I am sure of that."

_You completely underestimate the seriousness of the issue here!_  Shiori thought in herself but understood that Wakana would just shut her up if she tried to argue.

"I can't know what is going on in  _your_  world, but some things are same no matter what kind of life you lead. Just be honest to one another, and it shall end fine." Wakana gave her another smile and then turned around. "Now, let me buy this yukata as the clerks seem to be getting nervous! You change into something else and show it to him when the time comes. Oh, and prepare yourself, I want to spend more time shopping with you!" And with those words, she gracefully walked away.

_Naive… so naive…_  Shiori thought as she returned back into the changing room.  _I know you will regret all that you said and think of me with contempt in future._  Once she removed her new yukata, she looked at her tattoo again.  _I am Shiori, the mistress of hundreds of horrors… and thus a natural enemy of the Nuras.  
_

* * *

It was interesting how easy waking up was when you understood that it was of highest importance to be awake. No alarm clock was necessary, one's subconsciousness wakes you up at the exact moment.

When Shiori opened her eyes, she was still at the lakeside where she and Rihan made love. Although he was sleeping, he still held her in his arms so close that she could feel his breath on her bare skin and there was almost no part of her body that wasn't in contact with his. This sense of closeness made her want to close her eyes and just enjoy this moment to its fullest. And well enough, she did close her eyes to enjoy it.  _Just a moment longer…_

_No… I can't afford to do that…_  With that thought she opened her eyes again and looked at her lover's sleeping face.  _When he sleeps, he looks like the boy he used to be eight years ago._  She always thought of that when she would see his sleeping face.  _But his skin is warm like everyone else's… why though, I remember that his hands alone used to be cold…_

But just like how she could not allow herself to cuddle with him, she could not allow herself to get nostalgic. So she moved his arms away, slowly and gently so she would not wake him up, and then crawled to where her clothes were.  _Heeh, they got dirty and smelly… well, good thing I bought a lot of new stuff._  She moved her bare hand up to her nose and smelled it. The stench of sweat was way too noticeable. _Hmph, I should also take a bath when I return… actually, no need for that._  She changed her mind when she remembered that she was near the lake.

The water was cold, but she didn't mind it, especially since she didn't intend to spend too much time here.  _I sure have done it now… for years I managed to keep my distance and then one word causes me to throw it all away and make love with him._  Yet, no matter what her reasoning told her, now that the deed was done her heart felt no regret for what she did.  _Am I really this selfish? This will cause pain for both of us, I shouldn't be this happy with myself._  While washing herself, she threw another glance at her sleeping lover. For some reason, she remembered Wakana's words of how she would regret if she kept her distance… and sure enough, if there was one regret she felt, it was keeping a distance from him for so long, even though they both were attracted to one another.

_No, I got it wrong didn't I?_ She always classified her desires as selfish and her actions of keeping her space from him as love, but now that she passed  _that_  point, she realized it was the opposite: it was love that flamed the desire and it was selfishness that made her keep her distance.  _I just wanted to take the road that seemed simple, less painful and less sinful… it wasn't my fear for his well being that kept me away, but my selfish fear of feeling regret if it caused us pain._

Feeling like she washed herself enough, she left the water and walked back to her clothes, putting the yukata that Wakana bought her, onto herself.

But she couldn't just leave… not before some kind of farewell. Even though she intended to see him soon, for some reason she felt too reluctant of leaving just like this.  _Why is that I wonder?_ Her instincts answered that question for her: she lowered herself onto her knees and lowered her head onto his lips, giving him a small kiss.  _Well, this is a lover's greeting after all._  That thought made her giggle.

Once again, she looked at his sleeping face. "Sleeping soundly, are you? You are giving me a chance to run away I take it?" She said loudly while patting his cheek, although she was certain he couldn't hear her. "Sorry my love, but I can't accept that offer." She said and raised herself up. "As much as I love you, you are still the second priority. In order to continue fighting, I must find a way to silence you… and deal with Gorozaemon's little cult here."

Of course, she had no intentions of stopping whatever Tale he had planned, but that didn't mean that she wanted him to claim all the Fear which his Tale would produce.

* * *

For most part, luck was on her side on Saturday. And the fact that the resort was empty (with exception of Zen and his family who were close to it, but still far enough to not be worrisome) showed that Sunday might also be a lucky day for her.

She prepared the stage for another tale, a tale where two lovers became enemies. She took out a new set of clothes for him and put down the weapon that he intended to use against her… which she ironically bought for him. She also took control over the resort's loudspeakers which would allow her to surprise him with a redundant show and make him come to the amateurish theatre that was present in one of resort's facilities.

She then changed her own clothes. She put on a new bluish yukata, with red and blue roses. Color red was her color of choice and blue was the traditional color of the Hyaku Monogatari. As such, red roses represented her as a person of her own, aka Ichinoe Araya which was the name that replaced Kuruguya Midori in the human world. Blue roses, on other hand, represented her as Sanmoto Shiori, the Director of the Hyaku Monogatari.

Of course, as a figure of authority one needs a haori, and a fitting one came with the yukata. To add some elegance, she also added a grey parasol to her character. A villain must always look the part.

She was rotten and evil, she was aware of that. Even though she became a Nura's lover, she felt not even the slightest hesitation at continuing on the path that she started to walk years ago. She had no intentions of going easy on the Nuras or avoiding the possibility of a conflict with them. She would go on with this path and become Rihan's and Ritsura's enemy and, just like on the day when she publicly claimed her birthright, the idea of fighting the Nuras only made her more excited.

Of course, there was the traitor's regret. But she was at the point where neither regret nor love nor anything else could deter her from her path. Her resolve was too strong, her love for her children and comrades was too strong and she sacrificed way too much to turn back now.  _Sorry Wakana-san, but some things will never sort themselves out... I simply can't let something like that happen._

Ironically, the fact that her love for Rihan became stronger just made her even more resolved and even more proud of having become Shiori. After all, it was thanks to him that she started walking on this path... rather than taking an even darker one.

And while she waited for his arrival and their inevitable confrontation, she let her memories of those days surge in...

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Last chapter Araya's secret was revealed and this chapter we have, starting with chapter 1, gone through a number of events and showed them from her perspective. Next chapter, we go further back into Shiori's past. Yes, strange chronology, I know, but I have my reasons

\- as some of you no doubt noticed, I referred to Araya as Shiori in all of the scenes no matter how other characters referred to her. The reasons for that are three: 1) jumping from one name to another for the same character is a bit ridiculous, 2) Araya was a place-holder name I forgot to change before publishing ch1 and 3) it answers the question on which part of her is her true persona

\- the little Ko-oni never understood that certain actions can awake the darkest side of a woman's soul ;P

\- as usual, the little youkai discuss pairings for the current generations :P Also, by  _gramps_  Shiori meant Sanmoto… can't blame her for not wanting to pronounce all those great-great-great…

\- one of the strongest earlier hints that Araya was Shiori was the fact that Yashagoro talked to her in Ukiyoe High during ch2. Of course, since Shiori was officially introduced only in a later chapter, most of my readers probably forgot about this :P

\- and now you know why there was a party so close to Ukiyoe High ;P And yes, the person Mahiro asked Yashagoro to kill was none else than Shiori. That's why Ittan tried to kill her a few chapters ago in the first place

\- for those who don't remember her (which is probably everyone) Minemawa Kirie was introduced in ch13 and helped Mamoru break into a Shin Sekai's facility that was hunted by ghosts. And yes, that infiltration is more important than most of you expected :P

\- yes, Giovanni Ventura = Plaguesdoctor :P (I know it was hard to notice since Plaguesdoctor got introduced only a few chapters after… he was originally supposed to appear during the second arc actually)

\- Rihan's Widow and Rihan's Girlfriend walk into a bar and they are complete opposites. Well, the two Rihans are also opposites so I guess it fits ^^;

\- sorry, no confrontation in this chapter :P

* * *

**Comment Replies (from FF) and Omakes** :

**Silvia** :  _"Nayrael-senpai what have you done? She was my all time favorite villain! I hoped she would own Ritsura. I feel stupid for not realizing it. I see what makes you giggle, like you said I would." … "This explains SO MUCH. Well, now I place my hopes on Masato."_

Mwuahahahahaha!

**Silvia:**  " _I suppose you will not show that in the next chapter. In the next chapter it is likely to be all Ryuzan and Ritsura's techniques or Mayuri, I just doubt you would let us have this doh so soon._ "

RyuRitsu's training will be shown via flashbacks (hey, I don't wanna spoil it!) and we shall see when Mayu-chan shall appear.

**Silvia** : " _I have broken record for quickest review ever! (Self Proclaimed, of course) XD_ "

So fast that the Traffic Stats didn't even notice you XD

* * *

**Guest** : " _Holy shit plot twist! Now I thought Araya was Shiori's daughter. However this just adds to the despair that rihan has to face. But could've ya given the guy a break at least. Still this fanfic is still my fav. Keep going. More rihan, ritsura, araya, shin sekai, illustrations. Everything!_ "

If it helps, I'll say that I removed some despair that was planned since the story began ;P And thank you for the review!

* * *

**Citsimsan** : " _Oh, ****, what happened? Thanks I came back to checl other reviews for your fic, because if not I would have never realized that my review for the last chapter hasn't appeared! No, seriously, what the ****?"_

**Dennou** : _"I think an error occurred and my review wasn't sent..."_

I really hope this didn't happen to more reviews :(

* * *

**Citsimsan** : " _Still, maybe this is for the best. Rihan won't have to suffer the shopping trip anymore xD_ "

Shiori: "Hm, good point… will need to come up with something even more horrific than the shopping trip."

Rihan Jr.: "Please just kill me."

**Citsimsan** :  _"None of those two seem to have inherited Nurarihyon's playa or Setsura's femme fatale genes. Too recessive, it seems."_

"Actually… umm, now that I think about it, some things are probably better left unsaid…" Shiori commented with a blush.

* * *

**magicallypuzzled** : " _oh shiori surprised me i really thought araya would end up being a youkai affiliated with her but i never thought she'd be the person her self. a very good chapter i cant wait to see what happens next._

_I have been reading this a long time but i am such a ungratiful person this is the first time i reviewed it._ "

Indeed, nobody seems to have suspected that one… well, besides that maybe that person who voted for both RihAra and RihaShi options in the poll… who are you, mysterious voter? O_O

Anyway, thank you for the review and hope you post more! ^^


	37. The Mirror of Condemnation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As Shiori waits for Rihan to come, she remembers the darker days of her life… the days when she was still known as Kuruguya Midori…

**Note:** with over 16k words in length, this is the largest chapter to date!

* * *

**Chapter 37: The Mirror of Condemnation**

_The Hyaku Monogatari…_

_They say the first ones to play that game were children who got together and tried to tell stories to scare one another. They got so much into the game that they reached the hundredth tale. What happened then is anyone's guess…was it an accident or did they truly create something fearsome? Either way, it didn't matter: the fear had been established and a new legend was born._

_However, the game truly started to be played during the Edo Period. The Samurai, bored by peace, needed thrills in order to test their courage by playing the game. Some told tales they heard and others made their own tales up, claiming that they were not original. Yet, many were too afraid to move onto the hundredth tale so once ninety nine tales had been told, most just decided that they were too tired to continue. Few did move onto a hundredth tale and many were terrified, although that proved to be more a result of paranoia than actual youkai being brought to life._

_As such, those games were just harmless fun… all but the ones held by Sanmoto Mikanbune, a wealthy merchant who saved Edo from a great fire that ravaged it. His games became so popular that even the most powerful men in Japan came to play it._

_And some believe that tales told in those games became true and numerous monsters started terrorizing humans on the streets of Edo, turning the once peaceful city into a portrait of hell itself. People started fearing him and calling him a Maou (a Devil King) and, as if to enhance that image, he took another name onto himself: Sanmoto Gorozaemon._

_Most started replicating his own style of the game. That game was played in three rooms. In the first room, the Samurai would gather and drink tea as they told horrific tales to one another at night. Some believe that Sanmoto owned a special teapot… the_ _**Teapot of the Conqueror** _ _… which made the tea more delicious the more horrifying the told tales were. They say his tea was so delicious that many went insane and became addicted to it. Only Sanmoto Gorozaemon was fearsome enough to be able to drink it without going insane._

_The second room served as a hallway into the third, preferably long so one would get to feel fear as they walked alone through a dark, empty room… empty room that might actually have been possessed by demons._

_The third room was filled with a hundred blue lanterns and each time someone told a tale, he would come here to turn it off. And in the middle of the room, surrounded by the lanterns, there was a mirror one had to look into after telling his tale. In Sanmoto's game, it was said that the mirror was special. Called_ _**Mirror of Condemnation** _ _, they say that this mirror showed you the reflection of the darkest parts of your soul, so horrifying that most people could not muster courage to look into it… but those who told a tale during the game and blew out a lantern were forced by the mirror itself to look into it. The youkai created by the game were fueled by that dark reflection… by the person's own fearsomeness._

_Seemingly, even Sanmoto could not handle the mirror so it ceased to be used and instead he used other means as a supplement, the most memorable one being the Ring of Skulls which was used in his last game during which, stories say, he met an unfortunate end. They even say this final game released a hundred monsters onto the streets of Edo and the ones who played the game turned insane and had to be hunted down by the Shogunate._

_With Sanmoto's death, the games slowly lost their popularity and what used to be a popular game amongst both the wealthy and the commoners became just a thing of the past._

_Yet, the term Hyaku Monogatari did not die with the game. The arrival of the printing press gave birth to numerous collections of tales, many of which used Hyaku Monogatari in their titles._

_But what most people didn't know was that these works, just like the game, had not always been harmless. From the shadows, Sanmoto's descendants used this to spread the tales around Japan, continuing the tradition started by Sanmoto Gorozaemon in their own way._

_Still, it would take centuries until one of his descendants actually became a threat on the level that Sanmoto Gorozaemon reached… and the one who accomplished it embraced the name Sanmoto Shiori.  
_

* * *

An eight years old girl was ravaging through a storeroom, in an old mansion belonging to her family. She was Kuruguya Midori, a simple girl afraid for her life.

Around her were white monkeys, her only true friends in this world of lies whom only she was able to see. It was them who told her that her parents, whom she loved like every daughter did, were actually evil and somehow created numerous evil monsters that killed people.

Someone older would try to comprehend their situation, but she was too young for that. Her all impressions on good and evil were based on what she saw on cartoons and as such, the world was colored in black and white, with no shades.

If her parents were evil, then she was in danger. She had to protect herself somehow and when she asked older children at school on what can protect someone from monsters, they said Onmyouji talismans might. But when she asked where she could get them, they got angry and told her to find a store-room or something and left.

It was a dusty storeroom and she wondered why nobody cleaned it, not understanding that this place was abandoned for decades.

"But what should I do if I find something to protect myself with?" She asked the monkeys who were like her guardian angels.

"Pray to the old Koshin!" One suggested. "And become a hero!"

"Yes a hero! Become a hero!" Another one said and started jumping around. "Look at no evil! Listen to no evil! Speak no Evil! Just kill the evil!"

"No! I can't kill my parents!" She rejected that idea. "That is evil!"

If she were older and more aware, she would have noticed that one of the monkeys seemed annoyed at her answer.

"Not parents! Save parents from themselves!" Another monkey suggested, continuing with their attempts to poison her mind. "Kill the monsters!"

"Aha, I see…" Of course, poisoning a small child's heart was one of the easiest things to do for the manipulative Shoumen Kongo. "But how can I do that…" She asked them.

"Koshin-san will show you the way!" A monkey put its hands together. "See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil. And Koshin-san will help you!"

"Yes!" The girl said with a wide smile, pleased to hear that she could save both the good and her parents from evil, whatever that evil were. Many years later, she would look at this memory with contempt. How foolish she was to believe Shoumen Kongo.

"But first I need to find some talismans!" She said and continued her search. But then the old floor broke under her foot and she slipped, falling with her back towards the wall.

However, this part of wall was actually a secret door so rather than break through it or hit her head, the part of the wall fell from where it stood and she found herself in a hidden room.

"Ouch, ouch, ouch…" She said while scratching her head and rising up, looking towards the storeroom. The moment she thought of turning around to see what was behind her, the monkey started yelling.

"No, don't turn!" The monkeys seemed terrified. "See no evil! See no evil!"

She trusted the monkeys, but nothing was stronger than a child's curiosity and so she turned.

What she saw was a shrine, surrounded by four blue toris. It was surrounded by what looked as talismans, each one of them radiating in some unnatural light. She could feel the shrine call for her, telling her to come closer.

The monkeys became even wilder. "Hear no evil!" One shouted and jumped in front of her. "See no evil! Hear no evil! See no evil! Hear no evil! Leave! Run!"

Midori felt the atmosphere becoming tense. Even a child could feel its never-ending malice so she closed her eyes and put her hands on her ears, just like the monkey told her to. Yet, the she still felt the shrine call for her.

And, for some reason, she started doubting the monkeys themselves.

"RUUUN!" The monkeys became desperate. "HEAR NO EVIL! SEE NO EVIL! RUUUN!"

The talismans around the shrine burst into blue fire, as did the ropes that held them around the shrine, as if they were a decoration and not a barrier keeping something evil sealed. And even a small girl like her wondered why no heat was created by the blue flames.

Then the doors on the shrine opened. Due to darkness and space between them, Midori could not see what was there, but she felt chills running through her body. It was something malicious, she knew that in her heart.

The room was then engulfed in blue color. The light bulbs and moonlight coming through the window were now emitting blue light.

But something else changed too: the pretty white monkeys were now black, their eyes shining in red light and their mouth filled with teeth of predators. Not only that, but even in her memories they now looked like this. And in heart she knew that these were their true forms. She was horrified that she trusted them… that she thought of these evil looking monsters as friends.  _I was… being fooled…_   _I was listening to… evil…_

Then monkeys burst into blue flames and turned into ash themselves. The girl finally realized that she could end up like this too, thus her fear grew even more. Somehow, she knew how to ensure her safety: she just had to walk to the shrine.

But what would she do there? She knew what: she would feed it. But how would she feed it? What was it hungry for anyway?

She didn't want to go there. She knew it was evil and dangerous and that the best choice would be to just run away. But this thing's Fear was so strong that she was unable to resist its unspoken orders and so the girl rose onto her feet and started to walk towards it. She shivered and cried… but tried to cry silently, fearing that making noise would anger this demon.

When she finally reached the shrine, she noticed that inside it was a small mirror, a bit bigger than a palm of an adult's hand. The rope around it suggested that it could be used as a necklace.

However, the reflection inside the mirror was so blurry she could not even see herself move in it.

Somehow, she knew for what the mirror wanted. The mirror wanted to hear a story… a scary one. Yes, the mirror existed to listen to tales and… she didn't know what else. She had no idea why it needed to be told stories. However, she had a feeling that it would somehow use it for evil.

"I…" Somehow, she understood what would telling it a tale mean for her. Somehow, she knew that doing that would make her an evil person. "I don't want to…" There was still time to turn around and run. Her reasoning may not have been mature enough to tell her that, but her instincts knew better.

As she thought about turning away and running, she felt something indescribable… it was like she was making up a story, but against her own will… even though the tale was being written in her head, she felt like she was the audience… and that the mirror was the author.

And it was a horrifying tale. It was about a girl who was in her situation but chose to not tell the mirror anything. The girl retained her purity and innocence, but she suffered a long and brutal death.

The girl looked like her, sounded like her… the girl was her. It was a tale about what would happen if she turned back to the shrine and tried to run.

It was a threat. Would she do the right thing and turn around?

"NO!" She did not want to let herself suffer such a fate. So, she hurried up and decided to tell it something she considered scary. "This is a tale about… a Plaguedoctor… he wears a bird-like mask, a hat, a robe and a suitcase…" She spoke, remembering some figure she saw in an encyclopedia.

"He…"  _…cures diseases._  She remembered that it was some kind of doctor, but she couldn't say that to the mirror. The mirror desired a horror, not a heroic tale. "…brings plagues and diseases." She continued speaking, somehow feeling less tense than she did since discovering this place.

"Inside his body, there are countless crows, flies, rats and other scary creatures." As she went on, the reflection in the mirror became less and less blurry and she could recognize her own silhouette in it.

"He infects people with plagues, sometimes only one person, other times hundreds." She went on, the youkai's very personality becoming vivid in her head.

"He is theatrical and likes showing himself to his victims." Somehow, she forgot that she was being threatened to tell this demon a tale. She just spoke, as if she spoke to her friends at school.

"Doctors make up a cure after a cure for his diseases, but he always comes up with new deadly plagues, hoping to one day find a worthy doctor who could keep up with him." The reflection on the mirror had become clear by now. She saw herself… but her eyes were blue and she was smiling. She knew her eyes weren't blue, and she wasn't smiling… she thought she wasn't smiling.

"He has assistants too." She continued on, not bothered by the unnatural reflection.

"They are his nurses, all of them morbid women, each evil and insane in her own way." She continued. She forgot about the whole good and evil thing and instead started to see this as a game.

"And he travels the world, both in search for a worthy opponent and to make his evil plagues stronger." And then she knew she had nothing more to tell. "That's it."

She just kneeled there for a while, wondering if there was anything else she had to do. However, she no longer felt danger around her and even the lights returned to normal. Yes, the room and the shrine still looked creepy, but she didn't feel as if there was any more danger there.

She looked back at the mirror. Her eyes and expression on it had returned to normal… maybe they had always been normal?

She put her hand on the mirror. "I could take it with me… I could tell it so many more scary stories…"Her fingers wrapped around it and… they let it go and she quickly pulled her hand back. "NO! I must not touch this evil thing!" She said and closed the shrine. Then she turned around and ran out of this scary place, back into the storeroom.

She continued running towards the doors to the hallway, but then she stopped and remembered that someone, most likely her father, would find this place. "I have to hide it." So she returned back and tried putting the cardboard back. However, she didn't know what exactly she had to do to return it to how it used to be.

So she just put it so it would stand and moved the card boxes in front of it. Nobody ever comes to this place so it was unlikely that someone would find it.

After half an hour, she felt like she did all she could do. So, she prayed to gods that nobody would find this place and left.

* * *

She didn't know how many weeks had passed since the day she found that mirror. Nothing new there though: children of her age were not good at keeping a track of time.

However, even if she were good at it, she would not have been sure how much time had passed since then. She didn't pay attention to time, but she didn't pay attention to anything: she didn't pay attention to people around her, she didn't pay attention to her favorite TV shows, she didn't pay attention to scratches she suffered from time to time… she didn't care about anything anymore.

She, a child of mere nine years, was a murderer… no, she was something worse than that.

First, it were the nightmares… she dreamed about the youkai she made up in order to tell the mirror a story. She saw him infect people with diseases, acting like a cartoonish villain while they begged for mercy. Usually she would forget about her dream, but she remembered these ones as if they were something that she saw with her own two eyes.

But then she saw the news. She saw places from her dreams and people from her dreams. And the survivors and afflicted talked about a man who looked exactly like the youkai that she described to the mirror.

She knew this was her fault. The unknown culprit the media should had been searching should not have been that youkai, but her… the person who created it… the person who could create more of such monsters.

_I deserve to die._  Darkest of thoughts went through Midori's head. She was sitting on a swing in a park. The sun had just set and the rest of the children had gone home, but she remained where she was. She was not afraid.

One reason for that was the person who was leaning against a tree far away from her. He was a an adult, slender man with tan skin, wearing pants and a dirty T-shirt and his hair was tied in a pony tail. In his left arm he held a canvas and in the other a quill. For a moment, his right arm disappeared and the quill fell onto the floor, to which he reacted by taking the quill with his left arm and then literally painted the right arm back, as well as the rest of his body that started disappearing. Then he continued what he was doing.

He was her bodyguard… and a youkai. Although she only recently learned about what kind of things her father did, she always knew that youkai existed. Many of her family's servants were youkai and some of them protected her from the shadows, no doubt bringing an ugly death to whichever fool thought of taking the Kuruguya family's heir hostage and demanding a ransom.

He was her bodyguard… yet he seemed to revel in her suffering. Her parents were worried when they noticed that their daughter had got depressed, but this guy… he enjoyed it so much that he started painting portraits of her when she was suffering the most. She asked him why he did that and he said that he wanted to immortalize her tale, wherever it ends up leading, in a picture book.

The other reason she wasn't afraid was that, even if something ended up happening to her, she believed that she would deserve it for the sins she had done.

"Murderer, murderer~" The monkeys, whom she once considered her only true friends, made fun of her. They looked like demons ever since that day, but no longer pretended to be kind. "What is the evil I hear? What is the evil I see? Oh, it is the evil that Midori-chan spoke!"

She wished that her bodyguard was able to see them… then she could have ordered him to kill them. But only she was able to see them.

_Why are they still following me around anyway?!_  She wanted to yell at them to shut up, but she learned that doing it when not alone in her room was not a good thing to do.  _Why don't they just stop with this?!_  Many years later she would know why: they were just continuing with their mission, but used a different method of poisoning her mind.

_Why am I still healthy?! Villains always get killed in stories! Where is the hero who would slay me?!_

"I shall slay you!" A boyish voice shouted, as if accepting her request.

"Eh?" Ironically, now that she heard such words, she started fearing for her life.

"Die you evil monkeys!" Some boy rushed in front of her and started waving some wooden stick at the monkeys, as if he was able to see them. However, all of his strikes missed and the monkeys soon ran away. "Gah, they ran away again!"

"Eh?" She said again, but now felt more confused than afraid.

"Hm?" The boy finally noticed that there was someone behind him so he turned around so she was able to see what he looked like.

He seemed to be a boy of her age, his hair reaching to his shoulders and having an unnatural shade of blue. What she also noticed was a drop in temperature, but at the time she didn't know that it was because he was the son of a Yuki Onna.

"Oh… I…" He blushed when he noticed her and started shaking his head in other directions, as if looking if someone else was there, but noticed no one (for some reason, her bodyguard hid). "Ahem…" He made a fake cough, put a hand in his pocket and took out a chocolate bar. "You saw nothing." He said to her.

_Is this… what they call a bribe?_  Still, she was too confused by the incident so she took his chocolate bar and put it in her own pocket.

"Anyway, I am Nura Rihan, son of the mighty Nura Rikuo I am sure you have heard about!" He introduced himself.

"Nobody asked you…" She was not in mood to make new friends. Evil people never had friends, just like the cartoons had taught her.

"And what's your name?" He completely ignored what she told him and sat on the swing beside her.

"Kuruguya Midori." The girl gave in, knowing that pushy boys like him never gave up until they got what they wanted.

"That's a pretty name!" The boy already had a knack for flirting, even though it had no effect on anyone back then. "So, what are you doing here alone at night? There are youkai around, you know."

"And what were YOU doing here? You are just like me, but you also-"

"You saw nothing!"

"But-"

"You saw nothing!" He said, his face turning red due to embarrassment. "I was just walking and doing nothing strange at all!"

"Ahh…" Again, she gave in. "So, what were you doing here walking and doing nothing strange at all?"

"I was hunting for evil youkai!" He said and boasted his chest in pride. Midori had become certain that temperature fell whenever the boy got excited.

"What are you, an Onmyouji?"

"Nope, I am a youkai!" The boy spoke as if it were a completely normal thing to say.

The girl's hands froze for a moment. If she found his behavior fun, she no longer did so.

"I am going home." She said and left the swing.

"Heh?" The boy seemed taken aback by her reaction, but it didn't take long for him to jump from his swing and start walking beside her. "People either get scared or say that I am cool. Are you scared?"

She looked at him and said: "Please stop following me!" After saying that, she continued walking.

He stood there for a moment, but it obviously wasn't enough to stop him from pestering her. "Hm, you don't seem afraid at all." He then closed his head to her and whispered: "Are you maybe a youkai too?"

"No." She immediately replied.  _But I am a monster._  "I know many youkai however."

"Oh, could you let me meet them?"

Now she was afraid. "No…" She rejected as she was certain that they may harm him. She wasn't sure if all youkai were evil or not, but she was certain that the ones who hanged around with her family were eviler than this brat. There was no concrete evidence of it of course, but somehow she knew that. It was the effect of Fear as she would later learn.

"I get it now!" He shouted and stopped in front of her. "You are a princess in trouble!"

"Eh?" She was surprised at how many ways the boy could find to surprise her. "No, I am no-" She tried to clarify her situation, but he didn't listen.

Instead, he grabbed her shoulders and spoke with such grand excitement that she was certain she saw stars in his eyes. "Don't worry Princess Mi… Midori was it? Yes, Midori… don't worry Princess Midori, I will save you from all evils out there!" Probably imitating those obnoxious knights from cartoons, he grabbed her by her waist with his left hand and pulled her towards himself and used the right hand to raise his stick. He was definitely imitating some knightly scene he saw on the TV, she was certain of it. "No matter what evil it is, I will protect all the fair maidens!"

"Let me go!" She tried to get herself out of his embrace, even more so once she realized that her skin started freezing. "I don't want your help! And I hate all youkai!"

"Mom always says that I need to protect girls in trouble, even if they act like they don't need it!" He continued imitating fairy tale heroes. "And dad says it is my duty to prove to everyone that youkai can be heroes by protecting them!"

"Gaaah! This is why I hate boys!" She no longer had any idea of what she could say to get rid of him. "Let me go!" So she started acting: she bit his arm and the moment he let her go, she started running from him. "I don't want to play with you!"

"Wait, it is dangerous there!" He said and started running after her.

"Someone help me!"

"But I am here to help you!"

"Anyone but you!"

As they ran through Nakano shouting at one another, someone finally took notice of therm. "Stupid little brother, so this is where you are!" She heard some girl yell behind them. "Come back home! Mom says she will punish us both if we don't get home before dinner!"

"Oh no…" Rihan said while he still chased Midori. Before Midori could stop and turn around, Rihan reached her, grabbed her hand and forced her to run even faster. "Run away, she is a tyrannical Demon Overlord!"

"Who is a tyrannical demon overlord, you stupid little brother!" Somehow Midori knew that this girl started running after them. "Come back home, you are way too young to be chasing girls!"

"I don't care, stupid sister!"

"How did I get myself into this?" Midori screamed, running with one stupid sibling from another stupid sibling.

She somehow managed to shake them both away, without ever looking the girl into the face. She hoped she would not see that boy again, but for a while she would hang with him every day as he had a knack for finding her.

And somehow his company always made her forget about her inner demons.

* * *

How many days had it been since she met Rihan? She didn't know as she was not good at keeping a track of time at that age. But he stayed in Nakano longer than even he had expected.

Midori was not sure how she felt about it. To herself, she always said that she hoped the sooner this pushy boy left, the better. Yet, each day for some reason there was that fear that he would leave. Many years later, she would be certain that it was because he had that kind aura around him that made him liked by everyone… and which made everyone feel secure around him.

For a short time, but only a short time, she forgot about the darkness in her own life. That boy and his playfulness were stronger than those monkeys or any other demon that tried to torture her.

Yet, for each moment of happiness there were two moments of pain.

This day, she got into a fight with her father… she just broke and called him evil, told him how much she hated him and blamed him for what she herself did in that storeroom. But that outburst gave her no satisfaction, but only more pain.

After all, she was still a little girl that wanted to love her parents and depend on them. Actions like these were, for a nine years old, unnatural. That's how deep the poisoning from the Old Koshin's Monkeys went.

She found herself on the rooftop of the Nakano Sun Plaza, a reputable concert hall and hotel… and her father's secret base of operations in Nakano. How she got here without anyone noticing her, she did not know.

"Jump!" A demonic monkey suggested, misleading the girl with words and it's Fear. "Fitting end, no?"

"If the girl jumps, she won't need to see evil anymore."

"If the girl jumps, she won't need to listen to evil temptations anymore."

"If the murderer jumps, the murderer won't kill anyone anymore."

Indeed, jumping would end this misery she lives in as well as bring justice to the murderous girl who killed so many people. If she survives, who knows what else might happen to her… or, worse, she may end up creating even more monsters.

But before she would decide on anything, a brick hit one of the monkeys and turned it into smoke. The others scattered before the assailant could attack them.

"Eh?" With the monkeys no longer entrancing her, Midori finally realized just how close to the edge she stood and immediately took a few steps backwards.

"What are you doing?!" The boy on whose voice she recently got used to shouted from behind her- He then grabbed her hand and pulled her even farther away from the edge and pushed her towards the very center with such force that she fell down. "Did you try to jump?! Are you insane or what?!"

_What do you know?_  She wanted to say but kept her mouth closed. However, the look she gave him told him just that.

And that seemed to anger him so he grabbed her hand and pulled her back up. "You finally started smiling yesterday and yet… yet… what is wrong with you?!"

"LET ME GO ALREADY!" She shouted at him and pulled herself out of his grasp.

"I WILL NOT!" He shouted back and grabbed her hand again.

"WHY?!"

"Because you are a dear friend of mine, that's why!"

"A friend…" Those words were not enough to make her calm down. As a matter of fact, they had the opposite effect. "How can you call me a friend when you know nothing about me?" She tried to pull herself away from him, but this time his grasp was stronger.

"Then tell me!" He said and looked her right into the eyes, something made her feel uncomfortable but she couldn't force herself to look away.

"No…"

"Tell me!" He said again, his commanding tone killing all the resistance she had.

"I am evil! My family is evil! My servants are evil!" Somehow, that commanding tone of his made her talk. "Is that enough to you?"

"You are a yakuza?" He asked, his face showing neither shock nor surprise.

"Something like that, yes." She didn't want to tell him everything. She already started fearing that she had lost a friend.

"Did they hurt you?" He said something that surprised her.

"Huh?"

"Did they hurt you? Like in beat you?"

"No… they didn't." She could understand why he asked her that. "Mom and dad and servants… well most of them… they never ever hurt me." This was normal to her, but somehow she felt like she only now realized it.

"Were they kind to you?"

"Yes they were." She remembered her father's and mother's smiles, her Birthday parties, the toys they bought her. Again, she felt like she forgot about this even though their kindness was always there.

"So what is the problem?"

"But…they are… evil." She said while shivering. For some reason, due to things he made her remember she no longer found as much resolve in saying these words.

"I can't understand what exactly you mean by evil… Honestly, I am not sure I want to know anything about what exactly they do…" The honest boy said and gave her a weak smile. "But if they are kind as you say, than I am sure that they have their reasons!"

"Yes… probably." She never stopped to ask to ask herself about that. Was it because of the monkeys poisoning her mind or just due to what kind of person she was, she would never know for sure. But she understood that as a daughter, she did the wrong thing by doubting them.

"Honestly, even I am not such a good person." He started speaking and averted his eyes, but still had a weak smile. "I call my father and my clan heroes but even they are basically yakuza and have their ugly side… and me too, I confess I am the most selfish person in the clan and I am always envious of certain someone and get happy whenever that person makes a mistake." His eyes shivered for a moment but then widened up again and looked back towards Midori. "Maybe you are not a good person yourself… but still, I like you and no matter what may happen, you will always be dear to me."

His words and the smile he gave her at the end had such an effect on her that her eyes started shivering and she started crying.

"Huh? Did I say something wrong?"

Rather than say something back, she just jumped at him and hugged him, continuing to cry. His words lifted many burdens from her and the tears she felt were the ones from joy, not pain.

"What is… ah, if someone from the clan saw me now I am sure they would be cracking jokes…"

In stories, they always portray warmth as a comforting and cold as depressing. However, this boy was a son of a Yuki Onna and everything about him (and around him for the matter) was cold… but somehow, that cold was more comfortable than any warmth that she ever felt.

* * *

Because of his words, she decided to change the way she acted. She decided that, when she woke up next morning, she would become a good daughter again, apologize to her parents and tell them that she loved them. And she would try to understand what was it exactly that they were doing before judging them.

Of course, his words did not make her own sins disappear, but at least she felt less worried… like if there was something behind it that she had yet to understand.

_But fate had crueler plans._

The girl ran through unusually empty streets in Nakano. She had to find someone to help her… to save her.

" _Midori-chan was it?"_ That person's words still echoed in her ears. Just like the images of person deeds were still vivid in front of her eyes.

" _Do you know what the two common ways to generate Fear needed to create an Ayakashi are?"_  That person held a mask and whispered in such a tone that she could not recognize what was his or her gender.

" _One is quantity: if enough people fear something, it will come true."_ Her father was neither muscular man nor a fighter, but to his little daughter he always looked so strong that she was certain he could protect her from anything. But one strike from a youkai was enough to make him fall to the ground.

" _The other one is quality: even if it is just one person, if that person feels enough a monster shall be born."_  Her mother took out a shotgun that they hid in a cupboard, but a youkai protected its master by deflecting the bullets, disarming her mother and used its monstrous claws to slash her from head to her legs, killing her in a gory way.

" _And truly, the purest tales are not the ones popular with common rabble, but the ones that go through a head of a suffering person. Their fear and malice result in the most beautiful artworks known to mankind."_  As the person said that, he took a knife and cut through a living servant's body, whispering something in the servant's ear while carving her hands, legs, chests, head, ears, nose…

" _Do you see this miasma that started coming out of her? In her pain, this young woman blamed you and cursed you and this youkai will make it its goal to carve you up just like I carved her."_  Midori finally screamed at that moment, an action that gave her father another burst of energy, enough to grab his daughter, jump through a window and fall into his death, but managing to protect his girl and tell her to run.

She was hurt from the fall and would normally not be able to run, but fear fueled her… fear and a naive delusion that her family and household could still be saved. It was impossible, but tell that to a nine years old child.

Finally, she saw someone she knew and hoped could help her: Nura Rihan. He was running, with a large smile on his face and with something that looked like a real weapon.

"Rihan!" She called after him.

"Sorry Midori, I am in a hurry!" He rejected her without even looking at her.

_No… you can't do that!_  She ran after him and tried one more time. "Rihan please, I need your-"

"Sorry, this is more important!"

_What could be more important than this?!_ "RIHAAAAAANN! STOOOPP! RIH-" She hoped shouting with all her strength would make him change his mind. But while she was still at it, something hit her and she fell on the ground. She tried to scream, but something unnatural stopped her from doing that.  _Rihan please… at least turn around._

But he didn't. He just continued running until he disappeared from her sight.

"That sure is a convenient gun you have there." A man said. She recognized that voice: it was one of those vicious yakuza. "A silencer that creates no sound and when it hits someone, they silence that person too!"

"Let's be done with this." The one who fired the bullet said. She recognized it as the voice of Onieda Masashi… the person who ordered that psychopath to kill her and her family.

"Remember Onieda-san, she is more useful alive." The yakuza continued. "You could marry her, create a youkai from her, sacrifice her to Sanmoto when he gives you something useful… there are many things she would be more useful at than dying."

And as the two men discussed what to do with her, pain and exhaustion caught up to her and she started losing consciousness.  _Rihan… why…?  
_

* * *

Her parents and household weren't the only one attacked: Onieda Masashi ordered to kill her closest relatives as well, after which he turned towards killing any other descendant of Sanmoto Gorozaemon who wasn't loyal to them.

She was spared, not due to mercy or ethics, but because the Oniedas decided that she could be of more use alive. If nothing else, an Onieda, most likely Masashi, would marry her once she reached adulthood and, once she gave birth to an heir, she would be disposed of as the rest of her family. That way, a branch of Onieda family would become the direct descendants of Sanmoto Gorozaemon and thus they could use Hyaku Monogatari's Fear to its fullest extent.

Fortunately or unfortunately, some of her household survived, her painting bodyguard being one of them. However, his loyalties were uncertain so she was never comfortable in his presence.  _Nee-san_ , the person she considered to be her best friend, also survived because she was outside Tokyo. Although her loyalty was also uncertain, she was the last remnant of the happier days of Midori's life so she was happy that she was there for her. She was also the one who taught her what her family and the Hyaku Monogatari were all about. Thankfully, she was one of Sanmoto Gorozaemon's last surviving body parts and a former higher up in the old Hyaku Monogatari Clan, not to mention she had many powerful friends in the youkai world, so Masashi and his allies were reluctant to move against her… but it was still not enough for Midori to be saved.

Minato, Hinata and other friends from school were also there… but they ceased to be that. Once Masashi and his loyalists got their hands on them, they were brainwashed, possessed, corrupted and some were even transformed into youkai. All her old friends, including any friends she would make later, got one of those treatments and practically became her prison guard.

To save anyone else from such a fate, Midori made herself become a person everyone in the school despised. She created an image of arrogant, delinquent and bully, using her status to get herself out of any trouble… a person everyone would hate. It worked, but it made her feel lonely and her already fake life became even more fake. However, it saved others from becoming Masashi's and  _that person's_ playthings.

Thirteen years old Midori was in her room, looking through a window and the morning sky in melancholy. The alliance between the Hyaku Monogatari and the Shin Sekai became colder and a number of internal factions from both organizations started fighting one another.

At first, that made her happy. For what could be more beautiful than your enemies fighting amongst themselves? But after thinking it through, that meant that Onieda Masashi now had enemies who may want to dispose of her in order to stop the Oniedas from getting their hands on Hyaku Monogatari's Fear. It also meant that some less sane people, for example the one who killed her family and household, may no longer be loyal to Masashi and might come to finish her of.

She was certain that, tomorrow, something bad might happen to her… no, something shall happen to her this day. She would say her intuition told her so, but she knew that this was someone's Fear making her tense, preparing its target for devouring. That's always how youkai attacked their targets: release some Fear in preparation and then attack, thus maximizing the Fear they would gain.

And she had nobody to turn to. Her former bodyguard would just stand aside and watch the show, as he himself admitted, while nee-san was no fighter and would not risk her life to protect Midori. Midori was completely alone in this.

As she thought about such things, her hand automatically went into her pocket and she took out her Smartphone. She opened her Contacts and looked at the name and a number.

Nura Rihan.

After the tragedy that befell her family years ago, she tried to call him many, many times but could never get in contact with him no matter how much she tried. With each call, the pain from her disappointment grew until she no longer dared to call him. Years passed and she contemplated pushing the  _Call_  button many times, but never dared… she was too afraid that she would get disappointed again.

What would calling him accomplish? She was not sure… maybe she could ask the Nuras to save her, but for some reason she disliked that idea. Maybe he alone could come and save her? No, she could not allow herself to trust him in protecting her… not again. She was thankful that he didn't turn around as he may had gotten killed if he did, but a part of her was still disappointed in him… but what he told her there on the rooftop still had a profound effect on her and she could not make herself hate him.

But what she actually wanted was to speak to someone whom she still considered a friend. But seeing that he never answered her calls, she was not sure if he still qualified at such.

Yet, her finger hit the  _Call_  button. If she were to die this day, at least she wanted to speak to a friend. Of course, like always he would not answer…

…or that was what she thought. " _Hello?_ " A boy answered her call.

Her eyes widened, as if she looked at a dream come true. "…is that you, Rihan-kun?" She asked, wanting to confirm it.

" _Yes, it is._ " The boy answered, confirming that this was true. " _Didn't hear about you for ages!_ " He continued. " _How are you?_ "

"Heh… we sure didn't talk much, did we?" She continued, happy to finally speak to someone who wasn't corrupted by the Oniedas.

" _Yeah… why didn't you call?_ " He asked an outright bizarre question.

"I did, but after months of you not answering my calls-"

" _Ah… I am such an idiot… I am such an idiot!_ " He cut in, not letting her finish the sentence she started.

"Riha-kun?"

" _I am sorry, some things happened and I was an entire year in…_ " He took a pause there.  _"…a hospital._ "

_No… I am an idiot…_  Why didn't she think about this? She went through many scenarios, from him losing his cellphone to just being mean and rejecting her calls… why didn't she think that he got hurt and was unable to answer her calls?

She remembered that she found out that Minato and he were in contact (something he never told her, the traitor that he was). However, she wanted to pretend like she knew about it. "What happened? Minato-san never told me about it."

" _I never told him. We didn't hear one another for an entire year either._ " She heard him sighing. " _I don't want to speak about it, but I was… unable to communicate with anyone for a long time._ "

"Ah… I thought… I am sorry…" Once again, she remembered all the doubts she had about him, yet this was not the only reason she started crying. Talking with him made her remember the happier times, many memories surging into her. Just like that time on the rooftop, his voice made the darkness around her disperse.

" _Midori, are you crying?_ " He seemed to had noticed her shaking voice. " _And what are you sorry for?_ "

"Nothing." She forced herself to sober up. She wanted this conversation to be a casual one… casual friendships were what she desired the most after all. "So, how are you doing?"

" _I am alright now. How are you doing?_ "

"It is a bit tough, but I am doing well enough!" It was only partially true, but she didn't want to worry him.

" _Glad to hear that! So, what did you call me for?_ " He asked the inevitable question, earlier then she would had wanted.

"Nothing!" She replied in a cheerful tone. "I just wanted to chat!"

" _The moody girl sound quite… cheerful?_ "

"People change."

"I am g _iving my best to imagine you as anything else but a moody girl wearing gothic Lolita clothes and listening to death metal._ " He teased her.

_Ha, I really did seem like that back then, did I?_  Granted, she wasn't better now either, but she wanted to act like she might have had nothing happened years ago. "Just where did you get that image from, hmmm?"

" _Prediction of a natural evolution._ " He explained his  _reasoning_.

"Haaah? Maybe I should give it a try! I do like gothic art, after all." She continued to play along. "May as well make a straw doll of you and do the  _Ishi no Koku Mairi_  ritual at the  _Hour of the Ox_."

" _Why do you want to curse me?!_ "

"Because I am evil, Riha-kun." She said in a serious tone. This proclamation actually had nothing to do with their conversation, but she still felt like saying it. "Anyway, gotta go. Was glad to speak to you and…" She wondered if she should ask him for help. "Actually, the reason I wanted to call you was…" She started but didn't finish her sentence. She remembered that the Nura Clan and Hyaku Monogatari were two polar opposites: the former were proud heroes and protectors, the later proud villains and killers. Asking him for help would mean abandoning who she was… it would mean abandoning her family… it would mean abandoning the lesson he taught her on the rooftop that day.

She had to make a choice: would she ask him for help and become a normal schoolgirl… or reject it and continued living in this darkness and do her duty as the head of the Kuruguya family?

" _Midori?_ " He became worried due to her silence.

"…thank you a lot. Bye!" And thus she ended the call.

She decided to not ask him for help… or at least delay her decision.

So she took her schoolbag and went to school… and what occurred on this day would be remembered as the  _Nakano Incident_.

* * *

She never thought they would attack a school… at least not the students in it while the sun was still high up.

Yet they did. Humans and youkai alike ran around the school and searched for brutal ways to kill middle-schoolers, all while singing apocalyptic songs to Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

She locked herself in the principal's office… office of a man who worshiped Sanmoto Gorozaemon and who was the one who invited the cult and the youkai here (as most youkai couldn't enter someone's house without an invitation). He committed suicide after she confronted him, not to make up for his sins but because he believed that Sanmoto Gorozaemon would revive him as a youkai. Because of that, he died with a smile on his face.

Midori sat on the floor in center of the room. It was a large room… fit for the inhuman size of this man's greed. She heard children in the hallways run and scream for help, as well as the monstrous roars of the predators, youkai and humans alike.

She knew that they would soon come after her. She was not safe because she was hiding but because she was the main dish and, thus, she was being saved for the last. She was not waiting for someone to save her, but for her death.

Her Cellphone rang, but she didn't answer as it was an anonymous caller. No doubt, it was these guys calling her so they could mentally torture her. She did not want to give them the satisfaction so she stayed like this.

But it didn't stop to ring. She expected them to get tired and return to torturing someone, but whoever it was he continued calling her.

She decided to take her chances and answer. "Hello?"

" _Please look through the window._ " The caller said and hanged up.

Although she was afraid of what she would see outside, she still walked up to the window and looked through it.

Her eyes widened at the sight. There, just outside the school walls stood the Plaguedoctor whom she created so many years ago. Around him was a number of nurses in pink outfits, looking like humans but she knew her own tale: they were psychotic youkai themselves.

The sight in front of her woke up traumas from her past… which summed up with all that had happened since she found the mirror, caused a mental breakdown.

"Aaaah!" She screamed and jumped away from the window. She didn't know why he was there and she did not want to know. But it reminded her of her own sin… a sin she had forced herself to forget.

"Haha… that's right… hahaha… I am just like those murderers outside." A grin appeared on her face. "What a fool I was… thinking of myself as an equal to those children that are suffering outside…"

"My family too… I pitied  _them_?" She put her hands on her face. "They were just like them too! They created monsters and made them commit murders while they sat at safety of their homes and watched what their creations did."

She felt her skin burning, but didn't react. "They deserved to die… yes they did! They deserve everything they got! If it were not for them… if it were not for them, I would not have had such a shitty life in the first place! EVERYTHING IS THEIR FAULT!"

She fell on her knees. Her soul and body were burning but she didn't care about it. "But still, the killers must be punished… if not for them, I could at least have lived in luxury and comfort."

She was burning and she felt her very soul be shred to pieces, but she was too preoccupied with her dark thoughts to care. "I will carve that man until he looks like the meat in a butcher's shop!"

Miasmatic Fear started to envelop her, creating something around her. "Onieda Masashi, I shall feast upon your entrails, but not before you have begged me for death a hundred times."

"And Nura Rihan, you… you…"

" _What are you doing?!"_  She heard his voice in her head.

"Stop trying to stop me! It is too late for me so just shut up!"

" _I WILL NOT!"_  More of his words screamed from the depths of her memories. " _You are a dear friend of mine!_ "

Her eyes opened. She saw the miasmatic fear around her, but did not react to it… the only thing she saw were her memories.

" _Did they hurt you? Like in beat you?_ " He continued. "Were they kind to you?"

"My parents loved me… they tried to protect me…. No matter what they did to others, I was always… loved."

She did not hear any more of his words… but it was not needed. Rejecting to hate her parents cooled her down.

"These thoughts… they are not me…" She looked at the floor, her hands crossing one another and her fingers dag into her skin. "If I continue with them, I will be just like these mindless maniacs…"

"I may be a murdered but… at least I am sane…" She rose to her feet. "I don't know in which way… but I know I am not like that! AND I DON'T WANT TO BECOME LIKE THAT! I REJECT EVERYTHING ABOUT ME THAT WOULD LEAD TO SUCH A FATE!"

As if her shout was wind, the Fear around her was blown away and her body stopped burning. The room had returned back to normal.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.  _I almost…what has almost happened?_  She looked towards the ceiling and opened her eyes… and almost screamed at what she saw.

Above her was a large, black skeleton with blue fires in its eyes and mouth. It looked down at her with contempt, but with no killing intent.

She did not need to ask this youkai who it was… she knew who it was. She saw something similar in paintings, though the skeletons in them had flesh around them.

It was a Gorozaemon… an half-born Gorozaemon. Had she continued with those thoughts, she would have been overtaken by hatred and her body would get torn apart and joined with that skeleton.

But she rejected that fate at last moment and what flew above her was a part of her soul… a part of her soul that she had rejected.

Midori looked at it with contempt. It was not a contempt one feels for another person, but contempt one can only feel for oneself. "What are you doing here? Leave!"

The skeleton disappeared, but she knew it was still there… hiding inside her. Even if she rejected it from her present and future, she could not erase her own past and, in that way, she was still related to that pitiable creature.

But this was not time to worry about this. Just because she rejected a life of hate did not mean that she was friendly with the maniacs attacking this place. She would fight… not in a way she planned to a few moments ago, but she would still fight.

She walked back to the window and looked through it again. Just like how they were patient while calling her, her child and his nurses were still standing, there waiting for her to invite them into the school… for her to ask her to save her.

"Come, get me out of here." She whispered, but those youkai felt that they had been invited into the school.

Plaguesdoctor put his stick on his shoulder and walked into the campus. The nurses that followed him turned into their true forms, each one looking bizarre in their own way and holding their own weapon that would make any horror flick villain proud.

But they were not alone. A hundred youkai, each one looking like it came from a horror flick, followed after them and stormed into the campus. Plaguesdoctor continued to walk in a slow pace, but countless flies have started coming out of his sleeves, infecting everyone they found with deadly diseases that brought to a painful death only after a few seconds.

They killed youkai… they killed their masters… but they also killed any policemen, vigilante civilian and teacher that they met on their way. But Midori was not surprised nor shaken by it. Actually, she knew that they would cut down anything that they saw, be they good or evil. After all, these were evil youkai, not heroes of justice. Kindness was not an emotion they were capable of comprehending. They just came, saved Midori and left before the enemy could make a proper counter-attack.

Once again, she murdered both those who deserved to die and those that didn't. After all, her inner battle from before was not one of good and evil… no, it was one kind of evil versus another kind of evil.

Influenced by Nura Rihan's words, she embraced the very fact that she was an evil person. She would honor her family and bring her enemies down not because of hate for them, but to protect and honor the ones she loves.

Even the remorse for creating Plaguesdctor was, she knew at that point, just a delusion fueled by common sense. In reality, that eight years old girl held no remorse for what she did, and neither did the older Midori. Creating youkai actually felt like the most natural thing she ever did.

* * *

Urban Legends… they were a subspecies of youkai which started to be born when the Edo Period. But since the 20th century began, almost every new youkai species had been a Urban Legend.

They differ from traditional, old-fashioned youkai in many ways, and the fact that they feel more at home in urban areas than in the wilds was the least meaningful difference.

For starters, most of them had less freedom about their actions. Every new youkai species that comes into being had a tale that created them. However, in old times the youkai were both feared and admired, sometimes even worshiped, and humans believed that there were sides to youkai they didn't know about… that they had their own lives, their own reasons for living.

But the humans had changed. Word youkai no longer meant the beings that were to be feared and admired. It had started to be used for one-dimensional monsters with no other purpose but to terrorize and kill, not for some higher purpose but only to entertain the humans so they could have something to talk about and, once the humans no longer cared about them, the Urban Legend would vanish, its existence proved to never have had any meaning nor having left any imprint into the world… and never having a chance to live a proper life.

Even the traditional youkai didn't treat them any better than humans… actually they were even worse. They saw them as lesser beings and killed them on sight. Those Youkai would tolerate one another, but if you were an Urban Legend… they would kill you with no remorse and without considering you a being like them.

And who could blame them? Rare were the Urban Legends that had their own free will, even rarer were the ones that were not born evil. An Urban Legend would only kill, never spare or protect…

…but for some Urban Legends, there was one exception to that rule… There was one family those Urban Legends would protect with their lives, no matter how much it may go against their Fear.

It was Midori's family, including all her ancestors starting with the grandson of Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

Sanmoto's son hated and despised his father to the point that he changed his name just to forget about him… but Sanmoto's wickedness was such that it practically became a fate of all his descendants to have some kind of darkness in their lives. His son ended up becoming just like his father and died an equally pitiable death.

Sanmoto's grandson, on other hand, never tried to flee from his destiny. He tried to create his own Hyaku Monogatari and, to some extent, succeeded. But even though it seemed like he walked his evil grandfather's path, there was a small difference: whereas Sanmoto used the Urban Legends to increase his own power, his grandson and most of his descendants used their power for the good of the Urban Legends.

They did not protect their lives or any such thing… after all, most Tales dreamed of a beautiful and fitting death, not about long and happy lives. In this world where Urban Legends are hated and hunted down by humans and youkai alike, the members of House of Sanmoto gave them parental love. They expanded tales of the Urban Legends to bestow upon them both strength and free will. They guided those Urban Legends into having worthy lives, even if they resulted in their deaths.

They loved their Tales… and for that love they did not mind drenching their hands in blood. Open-handed, they accepted the fact that they would be cursed for Hell. If it meant giving those Urban Legends, who were abandoned and shunned by everyone for doing what they were born to do, a proper life then it was worth it.

That's why Plaguesdoctor, who took on a name Giovanni, came to save his mother. That's why so many Urban Legends followed him and protected someone… and protection was something horrors did not like doing. In honor for her ancestors, they saved Midori from that hellhole and intended to keep her safe until she found a way to hide her trail. Indeed, she could have done that: she could change her name without losing all that she owned, her parents prepared a thorough plan in case that need arose for House Kuruguya to change its name. Once that was done, she could go to Ukiyoe, tell Rihan everything and she would be safe.

She did order a name change… but instead of going to Ukiyoe, she told Giovanni to take her to an old mansion that the family owned since Sanmoto Gorozaemon was still its head.

She returned to the storeroom and was relieved to see that nobody was in there since she left. She kicked away the boxes and entered the secret room. The shrine was still there, waiting for someone to open its small doors.

She now knew what that mirror was. Alongside the Teapot of the Conqueror, it was a supernatural relic that made the youkai creation a thing to be feared. Humans told the tales, the Mirror of Condemnation made them come true and the Teapot of the Conqueror harvested the Fear created by the Tales. The collected Fear could then be used by the mirror to create even stronger Tales, otherwise one would need to find another source of Fear.

Sanmoto Gorozaemon owned both relics and used both in beginning, but he didn't like the idea of spending the Fear that his Teapot collected so he used the Mirror one last time to give himself an ability to create youkai and then ordered someone to destroy it… but seemingly what that person destroyed was one of countless replicas and instead the real one got sealed here. Who did that and why were questions that still needed to be answered.

And the answered seemed to be there: on top of the shrine, there was a piece of paper… a letter. Midori took it and read it.

_My husband was an evil man. He murdered everyone I had, burnt down everything I had and lured me into marriage with false care. Oh, he did love me… but he was so wretched that those whom he hated from the depths of his heart fared better. I was forced to marry that man, sleep with that man and give birth to that man's children._

_But make no mistake. No matter what our patriarchal society tells you, both men and women are your ancestors. You are his children, but you are mine too. And as such, you are my legacy too. Never forget that, my beloved one whoever you may be._

_I sealed this Mirror here, although I didn't originally know why. But after seeing the path that my grandson walked, I knew why I saved this thing… it was for you, my dear children, so you could fight your own battles… if you follow in my grandson's steps that is._

_I didn't tell my grandson about it however… I didn't tell anyone about it. If I did, they would have used it… but without the Teapot, this is a dangerous item. It will eat your Fear, in case you are a youkai, or the Fear that surrounds you, in case you are a human._

_An average human could use it once while using it the second time would result in the Mirror bringing a violent death upon them. People feared by others, however, could use it a few more times because there is enough Fear for this thing to claim from them. However, even if you were a Shogun, the number of times you could properly use this is low._

_And that's why I said nothing about it. Instead, I left it here so it would hunger for Tales. When hungry, this thing makes compromises and uses its own Fear. So the more time has passed, the more useful this thing becomes. Moreover, it considers itself as part of Hyaku Monogatari game and as long as the family spreads Fear while using that name, the family itself builds Fear. That too, increases the number of uses._

_But don't fool yourself, my dear child. You will reach the limit before you know it. Use this to wrestle the Teapot from my wretched husband's clutches. Once you have done that, you will all you need to accomplish our family's goals._

_In return, I ask only one thing of you: if I had to go through all this suffering to give birth to the legacy of Hyaku Monogatari, I want that legacy to be worth something. Please, don't let my suffering go to waste._

If Midori had any doubts about the path she chose to walk, they were now gone. She was to become a villain, but she would be proud of it.

She opened the shrine and looked at the mirror. There was, of course, still time to turn back and lead a normal life… but she didn't even consider that option anymore. She went to grab the mirror, but decided to first introduce herself.

"I am Kurugya Midori, the head of the group of families that call themselves  _House of Sanmoto_. But that is an old name that I have to change… from today on, my name shall be Ichinoe Araya."

"However, the fact that I am here means that I would lead another life alongside my human one… and that means I need another name."

When Kinokunya Bunzaemon got his hands on the Mirror and the Teapot, he changed his name to Sanmoto Mikanbune, a name that reminded all humans about how he saved Edo after it got ravaged by fire (though knowing him, he was probably the one who caused the fire in the first place). But for his youkai persona, he chose a more fearsome name: Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

She would choose a fitting name too. "You can call me  **Sanmoto Shiori**." Sanmoto would signify her ancestry while Shiori was a dignified name that would leave its own mark on those who heard it.

With the trivial introduction done, she grabbed the mirror and took it out from the shrine. The shrine turned to dust as she did it, meaning that there was no place to return this mirror to. There was no turning back.

Her family did many things for the Urban Legends and youkai in general… but their power was limited, nowhere as close as Gorozaemon's. Throughout centuries, they found many ways to supplement the fact that they owned neither the Teapot nor the Mirror… but that was a trivial boost. Had they ended up fighting a real youkai clan, they would have been exterminated. As such, they hid in the shadows, staying out of sight of any youkai… until Sanmoto Goroazemon and Shin Sekai decided they were  _bothersome_.

But with this in her hands, she would not need to hide in the shadows. Sanmoto Shiori could be a name that would be feared if she played her cards right. But it would still be a hard fight, with a hard to reach goal: the fact that he got fused with it made many things complicated so, in order to acquire the second item in the set, she would need to pull Sanmoto Gorozaemon, kill him out of Hell and re-forge the Teapot out of his remains. Obviously, that would be no easy task.

She entered a special room in the mansion, a big room where Sanmoto and ninety nine other people played the Hyaku Monogatari games. They were not here only because the room was capable of holding dozens of youkai, but also because this place was sacred to them... to most Urban Legends, no matter if born naturally or by tale-telling, the term Hyaku Monogatari was sacred. It was the name of the only association of the Urban Legends, name of games and works that spread their tales and made them stronger and the closest they had to protectors.

Ironically, their enemies were also practically part of the Hyaku Monogatari, so this place may not feel as safe as it normally would.

Shiori saw that their morale was low, with the exception of Giovanni who seemed proud to finally meet and serve his mother. It was him who assembled this group and persuaded them to come to her rescue. Normally, rescuing someone was not something they would ever do... but as mentioned, she was an exception and to them the idea of protecting her seemed natural.

But that didn't make them happy or proud. They wanted to spread terror, not shiver in terror for enemies who would make them pay for saving the one they targeted. All of them, no doubt, thought that this was a death sentence. Still, they did it... they saved her and decided to protect her until she was safe, even if it meant abandoning her family's legacy.

Midori might have fled... but Shiori wouldn't. She would show them that they made the right decision, not only for themselves but for countless other Urban Legends. No,  _show_  is the wrong term... she would make sure to make a tale that would that come true.

They looked at her, eyes that showed annoyance. Protecting someone must have been frustrating to them, especially if they thought that person would run away and have a happy life. Indeed, they still thought she would abandon them.

She didn't tell them she wouldn't do it. She didn't beg them for anything. She didn't give any words of rally or encouragement.

She just raised the Mirror in front of her. When their eyes fell onto it, they backed away. The Mirror of Condemnation was a fearsome artifact and rare were those youkai who could look at it and not get devoured, thus why they kept their distance and only looked at the item's border.

And even rare were humans who did not go insane while looking at it... and holding it, which represented ownership of this fearsome item, was even more terrifying. But this girl did it with a straight face, as if it was a normal, harmless mirror.

And that's all without noting the part about the Fear that radiated from the Mirror... a Fear so suffocating that the youkai felt like they might die at any moment. Yet, she held it and even threw a look at it, her eyes showing that she was not terrified and a smile she released showed that she was comfortable around this thing.

They understood then the path she decided to walk... and they knew that this girl was more horrifying than any of them. And when she said: "Come, let us show the traitors what happens when someone crosses Sanmoto Shiori, the Queen of Tokyo's Horrors." and started leaving the room, none of the hesitated to follow her, each one of them ecstatic at the thought of how far she would bring them.

In order to do her duty as the head of these youkai, she would not hold back no matter how evil and fearsome she had to become.

* * *

"And you sure seem to be enjoying yourself, Shiori." Rihan said as he put his tanto under her throat, his eyes looking into hers with anger.

"Now now, my love…" She simply took a step backwards and moved away from him. He didn't follow after her as he still didn't collect enough resolve to make the fatal strike.

"Don't address me like that."

"Sorry, but I have no intention of pretending that our little incident at the lakeside didn't happen." She looked at him with that smile of hers that he used to find disgusting but, now that she used it as Shiori, it somehow seemed fitting and thus less repulsive. "Also, wasn't that the condition of your bet? If you win, we become a couple. And you won!"

"That was then." He was irritated with her behavior.

"In that case look me into the eyes and say that you are breaking up with me." She said and pointed at her eyes with her index finger.

"I… this is pointless!" He averted his eyes away, rejecting to play along with her. "Shiori, what the hell are you planning?"

"I am always planning many things, my beloved." She shrugged her shoulders and started walking around the theater. "It kind of comes with the job description you know."

"Stop playing around, Shiori."

"What I want to say is: please be more specific. If I started telling you about all the things I am planning, we would be here until Monday. And soon enough, nobody on this mountain will have time to waste I fear."

"What? What are you intending to do to this place?!"

"Not me, but someone kind of related to me has some plans." She finally stopped walking and sat on the podium. "You will forgive me if I don't go into details, the dolls tend to get cranky when someone talks about anyone from the Hyaku Monogatari or the Shin Sekai. I couldn't talk about it even if I wanted to from the depths of my heart."

"Alright, so what are  _you_  planning to do here?" He walked up to her until he was only a meter away. Since she was a gunslinger, distance was to her advantage while for him, who used melee weapons, the closer he was to her the better. "And why did you infiltrate our school… and deceive us?"

"Mind if I first answer the second question?" She asked a rhetorical question while playing with one of the bangs in front of her face. "Me and Nuras might be enemies, but conveniently all my enemies are also the enemies of the Nuras. So, that brings us to…" She started but didn't finish. Instead, she pointed at Rihan with her small finger.

"It means that Ukiyoe, the very home of the Nura Clan, would be a safe place to hide." He said and crossed his arms. "But why didn't your enemies leak the information that you were there to us?"

"The dolls are not so convenient, Riha-chan. If they said anything, they would die a painful, painful death." She winked.

"And why did you befriend us?"

"Just so… well, I have an ulterior motive but I have no intention to tell it to you. Now, now… don't look at me like that. I promise that it is a harmless reason and, had I wanted to use my friendship to bring harm to you guys, I would have wrecked havoc by visiting your mansion."

"And why didn't you?"

"Would you believe if I said it was due to honor?"

"No, you don't strike me as someone who would let honor get in her way."

"Ha, you got me there! True, I thought of it as honorable, but there was an actual reason." She rose up from her seat and walked up to him again, putting a finger under his chin and giving him one of her alluring looks. "The same reason why I myself came to Ukiyoe: you guys serve as a meat shield." She moved her hand away and started randomly walking around once again. "We don't have enough strength to stand against anyone who might decide to attack Tokyo… and these days, that would be Kyushu. Unfortunately, they have inconvenient allies."

Rihan didn't say anything nor did he follow her around, but he kept a close eye on her so she wouldn't escape or make a surprise attack.

"Well, I don't have enough power at the time being."

"And what are you planning to do here?" He was getting tired of this and moved onto something that mattered at the moment. The air started to feel heavy and he knew that something bad was going to happen. He had no time to waste.

"Two things. One…" She jumped onto the podium, her backs turned towards him. "…find Gorozaemon's golden shrine and steal its Fear, conveniently before he is done with his own Tale."

"What Tale?" He asked, but she didn't seem intent on answering it.

"And second…" She turned towards him, holding that age's pistol in her right hand. "…sorry, but I cannot afford to have my secret revealed just yet." She raised her pistol and shot a bullet.

"Stupid human, you think that will work against me?" Naturally, he had no trouble evading the bullet and he immediately jumped onto the podium. "Shiori, this is the end for-"

Suddenly his skin froze and he stopped moving. It was no attack… he was simply overwhelmed by some kind of Fear.  _Wh… whose Fear is this?!_

"Oh my dear Riha-chan… do you really thing this is going to be easy?" The girl's words made him turn his attention to her… and then he realized it… he finally realized that he made a mistake: Fear collects around anything that is considered fearsome, be it a youkai, an item, a place… or even a human. When someone is feared, had a fearsome resolve or fearsome potential, Fear naturally collects around them, although only youkai were able to use that Fear. For humans, it just showed how dangerous they were.

She never had any signifact amount of Fear surrounding her… just like any average human. But the moment he realized that she was actually Shiori, someone whom many youkai serve, he should have noticed that the Fear around her was not strong enough. In other words, she was hiding it… most likely, she used some of that magic of hers.

And the Fear around her, no longer hidden, was tremendous… stronger than most youkai he had met. Even if she was a human, Shiori was no small enemy, he knew that now.

"Riha-chan, you are misunderstanding you own role here." She started slowly walking up to him. His instincts told him to run or tell her to keep away, but he was too afraid to do anything. "You sister is a main character, a hero to be exact. Sanmoto Goroazemon, the Shin Sekai and a few others… are main villains." She now stood in front of him. "And I am a main character too, although villainous."

She put a hand on his cheek. "You, however, are still just a side character… and side characters can't stand against the mains."

She jumped from the podium and disappeared from his sight. "If you want to stand against me, you will first need to build your Fear and ascend to the role of the main character… If you want help with it, find the Golden Shrine and confront your demons. I will be there to help you." After saying that, he felt something hit the back of his head and his eyes closed themselves.

* * *

She looked down on him, disappointed at how easily this got resolved.  _Ah well, I have done what I came to do._ She turned her backs to him and started walking away.

But her instincts told her to jump away and she knew better than question them. At the last moment, she evaded the tanto that was thrown at her.

"You almost got me there…" Rihan said, rising back onto his feet. "Impressive Fear, I was actually taken aback by it." He broke one of the stools with his hand and took its wooden leg, intending to use it as a weapon no doubt. "But you are still just a human that stands against a youkai, and Fear is a core part of a youkai's nature."

_Oh good, this may not be 'that' boring._ "Please, use human language." Shiori said and raised herself up. "I can't even see the thing you call Fear."

"Terms like cutting Fear and protecting oneself for Fear would take too long to explain." He swung his new weapon in the air. "I admit, I probably can't properly defeat you as that bothersome Fear around you will just cause convenient accidents… but even side characters have their role."

"Oh, you intend to wait for your sister to come?"

For a moment, she saw something malicious in his eyes. "Anyone's arrival is good enough. Anyway Main Character… let's see just how important for the plot you are."

"Indeed. Come here, Karakasa!" She said and the parasol, which she had previously turned into youkai, closed itself and flew through the air, almost hitting Rihan on its way. When it reached Shiori, it opened itself and nicely landed into her hand. "This is Karakasa-obake, my youngest child!" She introduced the parasol to her boyfriend.

"Do I look like I care?" He said and jumped towards her, but the Pistol Tsukumogami was quicker and immediately aimed itself at him and Shiori didn't lose time in pulling the trigger.

At speed that she could not follow, Rihan slashed the floor with the wooden leg and changed his trajectory enough to evade the bullet. However, Karakasa also had good reflexes and it ended up hitting his left arm and, rather than continue, he immediately jumped away from her.

"Kgh…" Blood started coming out of his left arm.

"Ah sorry for not warning you sooner… I call it Karakasa-obake, but it is actually a tale based on it… I kind of added biting and poisons to it." She said and gave him a wink.

"Tz." Even though he heard that he got poisoned, he didn't waste time… actually, that might the exact reason why he didn't waste time as it was now against him rather than against her.

But she didn't waste time either: the moment the pistol aimed itself, she started pulling the trigger. A few bullets hit him, but neither forced him to start from running towards her. When Karakasa tried to hit him, he blocked him with his left arm and used his right to move grab her yukata and throw Shiori towards the wall on the other end of the hall, her parasol falling from her hand.

It was painful, but nothing serious. "I see… so that's how it is."

"What are you talking about?" He asked her.

"It isn't only that you are weak… why didn't you just crush my throat while you were still there?"

He stopped moving, but only for a moment. "I don't need to kill you. I can do that even after I put you behind the bars."

"Makes sense… but it also seems like you just lack resolve." She raised her index finger as if giving a lecture. "And lack of resolve means your Fear is weakened."

"And that matters to a human because…"

"Because your resistance to damage is weaker, which is especially dangerous if you stop paying attention."

"What are you…" He started, but his eyes widened because he no doubt understood what she meant. He immediately turned his eyes towards Karakasa-obake, but the parasol had already swang itself onto him, hitting his right cheek, then the top of his head, his waist and so on, flying around him and swinging itself at him. "Gods, you are an annoying umbrella!" Rihan shouted and managed to grab the parasol.

"You made the same mistake again!" Shiori said and fired a bullet right into him… and another one just in case.

As a result, his hand let Karakasa go and the parasol returned to beating him up. Soon, due to the numerous beatings, the poison and the bullets, Rihan's fear was weakened enough that Karakasa was able to knock him unconscious with a stronger attack than usual.

"Well, this solves it." Shiori stretched her shoulders a bit, hoping it would ease the main a bit. She then walked back up to him and gave him another last look before she left. "This is the fifth time in three days that I have looked at you while you are sleeping, Rihan." She used his full name this time. She then put her hand on his cheek.  _Warm… unlike eight years ago when it was cold._

But then again, many things about him had changed during these eight years, to the point that he felt like a different person. After meeting his mother, she was certain she knew why the cold part of him disappeared.

_He is similar to what I used to be back then… yet, I failed to repay it… and I wonder if I ever will.  
_

* * *

_So, this is Ukiyoe?_  Shiori thought while walking around. Many years ago, Rihan told her to visit, and once she had dealt with Masashi and his dogs, she did just that.

"Ukiyoe Town, here is your new evil overlady!" Shiori shouted when she reached a bridge from which she had a good look on the rest of the town. "Prepare for trouble!"

"Huh?" Someone said from beside her.

"Hm?" Thinking it was just some random passerby, she turned around and saw a boy of her age leaning against the bridge. But there was something weird about him: his hair defied gravity and had a gourd-like shape.

But she immediately recognized him: it was Rihan. He grew up, his face changed and his eyes had a different shine in them, but somehow she knew it was the same person.

But the biggest difference was how she felt about it. Simply said, her adolescent heart longer thought of him as just a friend.  _He is… handsome!_  She thought with a smile. His looks were, of course, not the only reason she smiled: having desired it for many years, it was an indescribable feeling to meet him again. She wanted to say many things, but she knew that having him recognize her would be a bad thing. Actually, even if he did recognize that she was Kuruguya Midori, she would have had to convince him that he was in the wrong.

"Why… are you smiling like that?" Yet he didn't seem as playful as eight years ago. "And what were you doing a moment ago?"

"Oh… I…" She realized how stupid she must had looked both while shouting and while starring at him. Her female instincts made her blush for having that happen in front of a boy that caught her eye. As if wanting to imitate a scene from the past, she took out a bill and put it into his pocket. "You saw nothing."

"Is this… a bribe?"

"Anyway, let me introduce myself!" Although she recognized him, he didn't seem to have recognized her… which was convenient as it meant that she would not need to make excuses on why she reminded him of Midori. Only a few days later would she start to feel irritated by the fact he had no idea who she was. "I am Ichinoe Araya, a rich and arrogant girl who just moved to Ukiyoe Town." She then bowed to him. "I might be a bit difficult to handle, but please take a good care of me!"

"Why are you acting like we have just become friends…" He said back to her. She had no doubts anymore: their roles seem have been reversed. Although it made her a bit sad, she saw many people make a 180 change after growing up.

"And you are Nura Rihan, son of the mighty Nura Rikuo, right?"

"What? How do you know that?"

"I am a folklorist!" She puffed her chest with pride, mostly because she made a believable excuse in a second. "Anyway, what are you doing here? Saving Princesses from youkai?"

"I should be asking why the hell a rich girl is walking around after midnight hours without someone to keep her safe."

"Hmmm? Is that an offer to go on a date with me, masqueraded as keeping a girl safe from harm?"

"No."

"Well that was boringly honest." She sighed.

"I don't have time for this." He stopped leaning against the bridge and started walking away from her. "Stay safe,  _rich girl_."

"Hey, don't leave me alone like this! What if youkai attack me?"

"Don't worry, this town is safe."

"Really?"

"Yes, really." He threw a glance at her while confirming it and then just went on walking.

"Hey you there!" She shouted at some youkai who were getting drunk under a bridge and spat so many insults and profanities at them that they would get aggressive even if she looked like the Nue himself.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Rihan ran towards her. "Hey look guys, she is just-"

"We don't care!" The youkai shouted at him and started running towards them. There were a good two dozens of them. "And if you stand in her defense, even your status will not save you."

"Oh for fuck's sake!" He grabbed Shiori into his arms and started running away from them.

"Hahaha!" She laughed. She had hoped he would just grab her hand like in the good old days, but this was much better.

"You are enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I am being carried in arms like a princess by a cute boy! What is there not to enjoy?"

"Tz." He clicked his tongue, but she was sure that, for a moment, he had smiled. "I can't wait for this night to be over and I get rid of you…"

"Hohoho…" She gave him a menacing laugh.

A few days later, she moved into his school. And just like how eight years ago Rihan made Midori into his friends even if she said she did not want it, that same way Araya became Rihan's friend even if he said he did not want that.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And thus we end the Shiori Introduction mini-arc… now we have one more chapter with Rikuo in the States and we start the Gyuki's Nightmare Arc!

\- Kinokunya Bunzaemon was a real historical person on whom Sanmoto Mikanbune was based upon

\- the Mirror is not my original creation: mirrors were actually used in the historical Hyaku Monogatari games. The lore in the beginning itself was a mix of historical lore and NuraMago canon

\- there are many parallels between Rihan and Midori's first meeting and their reunion… and the parallels go beyond than just the first meeting

\- interesting revelation: the Fear Rihan Jr. inherited from his mother used to be stronger when he was a child… I wonder why this changed… well, I don't but some of you guys might ;P

\- ah yes, fighting to protect your own… a common trope in Shounen Manga and a central element in NuraMago… but what happens when the ones needing protection are not the ones that make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside? In that way, Shiori is a the dark mirror of that trope

\- yes, youkai do need to be invited to human facilities in order to enter them. We see this during the Edo Flashback (where Nurarihyon's friend had to invite the Nuras in order for them to assault Sanmoto's mansion) and during the Tokyo Tag arc where Maki mentions that a mall is a safe heaven from youkai. Unfortunately, Hiroshi was never very clear on how this worked :/ (also, seems like Nurarihyons are an exception to the rule, maybe that's why them breaking into people's homes is mentioned that many times)

\- no doubt, some of you may ask why I didn't show some characters and scenes directly, like Onieda Masashi. To keep it short: Midori's story is LARGE and if I didn't cut it down, this would have taken numerous chapters to finish. So I focused on scenes that showed two things: her motivations and her relationship with Rihan Jr.

\- speaking of Rihan Jr., he got beaten by Shiori AGAIN. But don't worry: that's part of his development. Once the following arc is done, his competence will be on a rise… he just needs to get his shit together first

\- oh, and cheers to the largest chapter yet!

* * *

**Omakes and Review (from FF) Replies:**

* * *

For **Mirani:** thank you for the beautiful review! It made me feel all warm and fuzy :') Hope you enjoy the rest of the story as well!

**Citsimsan:**  " _Also, it's funny to see how many things were just speed chess instead of part of a master plan. Shiori can ad-lib when needed. Still, maybe boredom is not the best motivation, not really. Though Hagu-chan is the same, but she has the excuse of being a kitsune xD_ "

Hagoromo Gitsune sat in her mansion, drinking tea while reading an old classic.

"…god I am bored. I will need to find something to do in this story as soon as possible."

* * *

**Dennou Writer** : " _My soul has been almost completely crushed. Thanks, Satan._ "

:D Ummm, I mean… :'(

* * *

**Guest** : " _Ok this just confirmed all my thoughts about Shiori and connection to the other characters. Thank god I wasn't wrong. I think its ironic rihan fell for a girl of the sanmoto family._ "

"Uhhh…" Rihan scratched his head. "Please don't tell that to dad… or mom… or to a higher up in the Clan. I fear they would skin me alive if they found out about it."

"Imagine if we did  _it_  in the mansion." Shiori somehow popped up. "Trying to not get heard would get it extra spicy, more points if they are the room next to-"

"Shut up Shiori."

**Guest** : " _Idea! You should make a anime opening for this. The characters, music. Oh man I would give a kidney to see that!_ "

I'd give two kidneys, but getting something like that is as likely as me becoming the new Prime Minister of Russia I fear XD


	38. The Imperial Legacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After his battle with a youkai of the Shin Sekai, Rikuo and his followers follow the trail to another base belonging to their vile enemy

**Note:** please keep in mind that chapters don't always happen after one another

* * *

**Chapter 38: The Imperial Legacy**

" _How dare you, Nura Rihan…" The Emperor of Japan, Mutsuhito (later known as Meiji), spoke as he tried to stop the bleeding from his guts. "How dare you raise your sword against your Emperor?"_

" _I am sorry, my Emperor." A man, with black hair in the shape of a gourd and wearing a military uniform, apologized as he kneeled and held a sword in front of him. "But I did what had to be done."_

_It hurt Rihan to do such a deed. After all, he was Japanese and they value loyalty above everything else. That was why even the most ambitious warlords never tried to steal the Imperial Throne, even if they robbed the Emperors of everything else. Murdering an Emperor... this was something he never thought he would do... something he never wanted to do. Even when the Emperor's forces attacked him, he hoped that things would not end like this._

" _I… I turned Japan into one of the world's greatest powers…" The Emperor spoke, even though it seemed to have caused him pain. "…and I got rewarded with_ _ **this**_ _?"_

" _I know, and the people of Japan will forever remember you for what you did." Rihan said, sounding polite as if he was not the one who slashed him. "For truly, your achievements were what made Japan shine to the rest of the world. I am proud to call Edo Tokyo."_

" _Yet... how… dare you."_

" _But your true ambitions were too much." Rihan's eyes narrowed. "You had to be stopped, no matter what."_

" _You fool… you think that this shall stop my plans… if it didn't hurt me this much, I would laugh into your face, you traitor." Even breathing seemed to have become painful to him, but the Emperor still clung to his life. "Without me…_ _ **they**_ _will become even more ruthless… you stopped nothing, you just made it worse… how dare you…"_

" _I will deal with them in due time."_

" _How… dare you…" The Emperor raised his hand and pointed it at Rihan. "I curse you… I curse your very name, Nura Rihan… I hope you find happiness… and when you do, that you lose it soon after. That is… my final order as the… Emperor of the land of the rising sun…"_

_And after saying that, he passed away. Rihan rose up and left in somber silence._

_"Rest in peace... my Emperor."_

_The next day he was proclaimed to have died from a natural cause and Rihan's war against Meiji's men continued._

_And he never forgot that curse…  
_

* * *

"Hm, I honestly expected something more glamorous from these guys." Nura Rikuo said as he gazed on a building from afar. It was Saturday morning in the States and his youkai blood was weakened, but he and his parade were close enough to their goal that even human eyes could see it. It was a modern-looking building, made of steel and glass, located in the middle of nowhere, far from a highway and impossible to find unless you were looking for it.

"It looks pretty small to me." Shouei commented. "Maybe they have another secret lab under it?"

"I doubt it." Daruma replied to his theory. "This is probably just a bunch administration offices or a place where their boss relaxes. It would be useless to have two labs so close to one another after all… and expensive."

"Maybe…" Shouei was still not persuaded but did not press on it and instead returned to looking at the building. "It seems like they also have a helicopter platform."

"Is a helicopter there?" Although even in his day form Rikuo had better eyesight than regular humans, the place was still too far.

"Yes, their boss no doubt plans to use it to flee if needed." Shouei answered.

"I see…" Rikuo said and closed his eyes.  _If he hadn't fled already._

"Rikuo-sama, what is it?" Shouei asked him.

"Please, give me a moment to concentrate." Rikuo said and focused. "Yes, I am sure of it now…"

"You noticed it too, Commander?" the old Daruma asked to which Rikuo nodded.

"Noticed what?"

"There's an Onmyouji barrier." Rikuo said with a higher tone so that even the other youkai could hear him. "It is weak enough for most youkai to walk in without noticing it…" Rikuo started and Daruma finished:

"…but once they are deep inside, a skilled Onmyouji could strengthen it and exorcise them."

"Yes." Rikuo nodded. "I will have you guys stay behind and take care that nobody bothers me and... whoever I get to meet."

"Wait a second Rikuo!" Rikuo's sworn brother yelled, forgetting to use an honorific. "This little barrier could not stop us and you definitely can't walk in alone." Many of the youkai nodded and yelled in agreement, though Daruma just stood in silence.

"The barrier is even more dangerous for you than any potential threat is for me." Rikuo did not intend to give in. Sometime after he defeated the Nue, Rikuo had asked Yura to teach him a bit about Onmyoudo. One of the results of that training was that he became more skilled at recognizing the dangers that certain branches of Onmyoudo offered. However, even without Yura's lessons he would have been able to recognize this specific style of barrier. "What is more, it is similar to techniques that Seimei and the Gokadoin used, both in style and power."

Mentioning Seimei and the Gokadoin House, both very infamous amongst the youkai, did manage to make the youkai more hesitant, albeit not enough. "In that case, it is even more dangerous for you to go in, especially if a Gokadoin Onmyouji protects their boss."

"I agree with Shouei-dono." Daruma added. "Even if you are three quarter human, the barrier will still weaken you."

"Yes, we should wait and-" Shouei stopped, but then Rikuo disappeared. "Rikuo-sama, where are you? "

"Take care nobody bothers us!" Rikuo shouted from afar.

"Ugh, should we go after him?" Shouei asked.

"A Nurarihyon through and through…" Daruma sighed at remembering how many headaches his three leaders (as well as the two heirs) caused him. "The Commander gave us his orders and we have no choice but to follow them and hope for the best." He turned towards Shouei then. "Well, the sworn brother may act more independently though."

"No, I will trust him this time." Said the one who made a 50:50 sakazuki exchange with Rikuo soon after the Nue fell. "We can easily run to him if things start going badly."

* * *

"Well, this place does look smaller from afar." Rikuo commented as he finally reached his destination: a big, three levels large building made of steel and glass, which would feel more at home in the middle of a metropolis than in the countryside. There was a mountain behind it, but it did not seem connected to it in any way so Rikuo did not expect any hidden chambers here.

The cameras must have seen him from afar so he did not try to hide himself from them. But before he decided to enter the building, he focused his senses in order to detect any Fear that might come from there. However, other than the Onmyouji barrier from before, he didn't feel anything unnatural.

But that did not make him feel any safer. No, it was the opposite actually. If the master of that Owl Shikigami did not lie, the very leader of the Shin Sekai should be located here. One would have expected him to protect himself with everything he had, including those wicked, black youkai. The fact that such beasts were not here at the moment suggested that he had something that assured his safety better than such a youkai would.

_Well, no point in thinking about it. I've dealt with worse than anything these guys can offer._  Thinking that, Rikuo walked up the steel stairs, pushed the glass doors and entered the building.

Now he was certain: this building really had no place here. What else could he have thought the moment he saw the countless cubicle offices below?

"Um, we did not expect any visitors today…" A female voice said from beside him. "Could you please introduce yourself?" She said in English.

Rikuo turned his head to the left and saw a woman sitting on what looked like a simple receptionist table. She looked at him with wide eyes, no doubt wondering what a man in a yukata and with a sword was doing here. "Nura Rikuo, I am sure your boss is expecting to meet me here." Rikuo tried to lighten up the atmosphere while thinking about what to do next.

"Umm… no, you were not scheduled to arrive."

_So she did not say anything about my comment at wanting to meet her boss. Good, that suggests that he really is here._  "I see. Well, that's very mean of your boss." He said with his comforting smile but then put on his Yakuza face. "After all, a Mafioso comes to spill some blood and he doesn't even have dignity to tell his employees to leave."

The woman just gazed at him in shock for a few moments. "Security, there is a madman here!" The woman shouted and hit something below the desk, no doubt the alarm. Rikuo did not bother to do anything about it.

However, two security guards were already only a few meters away from them. "Stop right there, Jap!" One of them shouted and both aimed their pistols at him. "We have a kill-on-sight policy here, I am not kidding!"

"Do you now?" Rikuo put on his good guy face again. "But isn't that a bit hard when your guns are in such a bad shape?"

"What are you- WHAT THE FUCK?" Only then did the two of them notice that their guns were cut in half. "You are one of those ¨demonic freaks, aren't you?"

Not long after, more security guards ran up to him, some of them using less conventional weapons like Kalashnikovs and submachine guns.  _Well, it IS a kill on sight policy inside an organization dealing with youkai and other inhuman specimens._

They did not waste time on dialogue this time. "FIRE!" One of the guards ordered and all of them started shooting at Rikuo. When their bullets hit him, a few of them put on wicked grins… but they were astonished once again, this time because their target dispersed into air. "Where the fuck has he disappeared to?"

"Yuck, this coffee is horrible." Rikuo said from behind them, leaning against the railing and sipping some coffee he found on it, probably being drunk by one of the guards. "May I suggest you replace coffee with some tea? Trust me, it is better for your body."

"Stand right there!" One of them shouted and, once again, they all aimed their weapons at him.

"I have no time for this." Rikuo sighed, took a deep breath and then released large quantities of his raw Fear, terrifying all the humans in vicinity. Even some of the guards dropped their weapons and fell on their bottoms. "Now listen well!" Rikuo shouted so that everyone, both the guards and the officer workers below, could hear him. "I have no intentions of mixing innocent civilians and armed fools into this! I am giving all of you exactly five minutes to leave!" He released some more Fear in order to give his words some more strength. "And  _anyone_  who stays shall be killed." He said in a lower tone, but he was certain that everyone could hear him. "Naturally, your boss is to stay here."

" _Do what the barbarian asks from you._ " The voice identical to the master of the Owl Shikigami spoke through speakers. " _Everyone is to leave immediately. None of you need to return here and payment for this and three following months have been sent to your accounts._ "

The humans did not need any more forcing: they all started running away. Not long after, Rikuo saw some cars leaving the area.  _Hm, guess there was an underground parking lot here._

"Well, I sure did not expect you to give them a bonus after firing them." Rikuo commented when most people have left, with only a few people in lab coats from upper floors still leaving. A few of them were trying to leave with some documents, but Rikuo made them stumble. The less of these documents left this place, the better.

" _Good work has to be rewarded._ " He gave him a simple answer.

"A shame your ethics don't leave any further than this."

" _I have no intentions to have an e-chat with you, Nura Rikuo. If you want to talk to me, try and reach me._ " The moment those words were spoken, the barrier was activated and Rikuo felt his Fear weakening. Were he a weaker youkai, he would no doubt have been killed by this, even though he was in his human form.

_Fighting with this barrier up will be a bother._  Rikuo sighed and started walking towards the stairs for the second floor. Were he in his Night Form, he would have been excited… but like this, the only feeling he had was frustration.

* * *

The second floor was like the first: just a bunch of offices. The only difference was that they were not cubicles but each office was its own room. Rikuo took a bit of detour into a few of them, just to check if he could find anything useful.

However, the Shin Sekai seemingly had no intention of letting their valuable information fall into other people's hands. If someone tried to talk about the organization, they would be met with a brutal death (as Kubinashi and Kejorou witnessed with their own eyes). If someone tried to take a piece of paper into his hands, like Rikuo did, the letters would fade away. If someone tried to check the computers, they would automatically get formatted, just like the ones Rikuo checked now.

_Well, it is possible that letters just become invisible and that the data on computers could be restored, but I have neither the skill nor time to check on that._

The one he was after was no doubt on the third floor, but Rikuo was not in the hurry to go there. He had gone through so many battles that he could feel when someone was intending to attack him, even if it was a human like some Onmyouji.

In other words, he was not alone on this floor. Someone was close to him and it was not a youkai. Most likely, it was the Onmyouji who activated this barrier. Even now, Rikuo felt pressured by the barrier, but his Fear was strong enough to keep him above normal humans in strength, speed and resilience. It was tiring to keep his Fear up while under the influence of this barrier, but if he allowed his Fear to be suppressed completely, even normal humans would become a threat. And the one after him was most likely not a normal human.

Yet, Rikuo walked with confidence. The quarter youkai who beat the Nue himself and fought many other powerful opponents was not someone who would worry for his life. His opponent was unlikely to be on the level of Hagoromo Gitsune, Kyousai, Ao Andon or the Nue. And the twenty years that passed since those battles were not wasted: Rikuo became more powerful with each passing year.

And, finally, his stalker made an attack. Rikuo heard sharp noise, as it something was drilling through walls at high speed, and jumped away, successfully evading a sharp blade that broke one wall and stabbed into another. He was lucky that even his human form was above humans in physical abilities, although the barrier weakened him to a degree.

Someone threw a blade through the walls. Rikuo wanted to check the blade out, but he heard more of them coming so he focused on evading more such attacks, but managed to grab another one of them.  _Is this a silver knife?_

However, he could not spend too much time looking at it: he felt the enemy was close to him… no, above him.  _When did he get there?_  Rikuo thought as he turned around and blocked his silver short sword with his katana. But before Rikuo's eyes fell on his enemy's face, they saw a gun in his right hand so he jumped away, avoiding the bullet at the last moment.

But the enemy was faster than he was and by the time Rikuo landed a few meters away, the enemy was already behind him and preparing for another strike. Rikuo intended to avoid his attack, but the barrier got stronger and his speed came closer to that of a regular human. Although he managed to avoid the slash of his enemy's sword, it was with a scratch.

He finally had time to look at his enemy's face: he had short black hair, obviously using gel to make it pointy. In his left arm he held a silver short sword while in his right there was a pistol. He wore black pants and an open jacket, with a red shirt underneath. As far as his age was concerned, he looked like a slender youth in his early twenties.

"So you are the King of the Japanese Pandemonium, eh?" The attacker asked him. "You are the Nurarihyon, right?"

"To be exact, I am Nura Rikuo." Rikuo answered, but did not lower his defense. "And you don't seem like the Onmyouji I expected to meet." The enemy was dangerous, but it did not feel like he was someone who used Onmyoudo. What was more, he spoke in English and addressed him as  _King of the Pandemonium_  rather than  _Lord of the Pandemonium_. Any Onmyouji would be using Japanese when talking to a person from Japan. "So, who are you?"

"In front stands the one and only LeX." The man made a dramatic pose as he introduced himself. "Mind you, it is written with a big  _L_ , a small  _e_  and a big  _X_. Thus, LeX."

"Eh?"

"And no, I am no Onmoji or whatever. No, I am a hunter! But not any hunter! A half-vampire hunter, aka a Dhampyr!"

"You mean Dhampire, right?" In Eastern European mythology, Dhampires were children of Vampires and humans... and often, they were believed to be natural vampire hunters.

"No, Dhampyr sounds cooler than Dhampire." LeX grinned and Rikuo saw small fangs.

"A hunter you say…" In tje west, there were many who hunted non-humans for various reasons, many of them being half-breeds. Even in Japan a few years ago, some humans and half-youkai tried to start the Hunter business and called themselves  _Dark Hunters_ , but the Keikains put an end to them. Thus, Japan remains one of few lands where such hunters are a rarity.

Somehow, Rikuo was not surprised that the  _Shin Sekai_  employed these disgusting bastards as well.

"Exactly, I am a Hunter. A shame you are not pure-blooded, but I am sure your blood or something would catch a nice price on the black market." LeX said and prepared for another attack. "Even half-breeds get a good price when they become Kings of Pandemoniums."

"People like you, who turn against their own blood for profit…" Rikuo also prepared for an attack, his eyes radiating with murderous intent. "…I just can't let them do as they please."

"Ha ha ha, that's the spirit." LeX's eyes also started radiating with murderous intent. "But you got it wrong, Nurarihyon. It isn't profit that motivated me…" Once again, Rikuo got astonished by his incredible speed: he jumped and the next moment he was with his head facing towards the floor and his sword was close to Rikuo's throat. "It is the excitement of the hunt that fuels me!"

"That's equally bad!" Rikuo said and easily pulled himself out of his predicament. He was annoyed that he was not in his youkai form as then he could have been the one attacking from the back.

"It is very silent here, don't you think?" LeX said and took out a Smartphone. "One of my friends is a great singer, you will love this!"

As his finger touched the screen, a strange song started singing on the loudspeakers… a song that did not come from the human mouth. Rikuo felt his mind slowly getting affected by it and thought about putting his hands on his ears, but if he did that no doubt LeX would have used the opportunity and attacked.

"Enchanting, isn't it? The real deal is even better, but even when played through the instruments, it is… to die for, wouldn't you are?"

_I am in my human form, the Gokadoin barrier is weakening me and now I have this guy and the song to deal with._   _Odds sure are not in my favor._  Still though, he was not worried.  _Guess it is time to get serious._

LeX had already appeared in front of him, his pistol ready to shoot him in the head. "Farewell, friend."

"Indeed so." Rikuo muttered and released his Fear.

"What? " LeX felt it but rather than jump back, he pulled the trigger and then jumped back.

"I may be in the human form and the barrier may be active but…" Rikuo said from behind him. "…I can still control my Fear to a certain extent." He said and slashed him across his shoulder. However, the Dhampire's body was tough so it didn't go far enough.

"You…" LeX slashed back at Rikuo with his silver sword, but he hit air and Rikuo was standing a few meters away from him. "Still, it seems you lack necessary strength to slay me."

"Shit." Rikuo said but didn't do anything.

"This is the end of it, prey." LeX said as he ran towards Rikuo, prepared to stab him with his sword. "Know that you die by the hand of LeX, the Sixth Pillar of the Shin Sekai!"

"Heh." Rikuo gave him a smirk and, suddenly, LeX found himself in the air, braking through a window without noticing it.

Shouei, who was looking from afar, seemed to have noticed it. By the time LeX's body reached the first floor, he was hit by a boulder and broke back into the building.

Originally, Rikuo was able to only confuse one's attention about himself, but more training allowed him to expand it to his surroundings. Even if LeX researched the Nurarihyons, he probably did not learn about a technique that Rikuo invented and which was only used by him and his own children.

Rikuo was not sure if LeX was dead or not, but he didn't intend to check it out. The more time had passed, the more likely it was that their leader managed to flee.

* * *

"Just what do you think you are? A fictional villain or a cartoon character?" Onieda Masato asked LeX by using a microphone. He was able to see the hunter on his computer's monitor, using the building's surveillance. "You didn't even try."

"I…" LeX started as he rose up from the ground. No doubt many of his bones were broken, but his blood should heal all the wounds in a few minutes.

"No excuses. Next time you will fight with your full strength or I swear you will pay." Not intending to listen or talk to him anymore, Masato turned off his computer and rose from his seat.  _Each one of them… they all act like some cartoonish villain._

It was time to leave this place. If Nura Rikuo arrived, his life would be at risk and the organization still could not afford to lose him.

However, the stairs to the third floor were hidden and strong illusions and barriers should keep Rikuo away for a while. So, Masato went to the balcony and climbed up a small ladder, where his helicopter awaited him.

But the moment he got there, another boulder was thrown, this one hitting the helicopter. "What…"

"Don't get speechless just yet." He could hear Rikuo's voice from beside him. "I am here too."

Masato was glad that another barrier stopped anyone from seeing living beings on the roof... otherwise, more youkai would have swarmed in.

* * *

Even in his wildest dreams, Rikuo could not imagine Onieda Masato being in charge. But here he was, dressed in his long black coat and with a hat on his head, and walking with a cane. Actually, now that he thought about it, he should not have been surprised: the Oniedas tried to kill off all youkai in Tohoku, a goal fitting for the bunch of human supremacists that made up the Shin Sekai.

It was the kind of information he was looking for… but if the Oniedas were his enemies, this would become a challenging war. Many called Onieda Masato the Modern Shogun because of his enormous influence. The Oniedas had a strong grip over the Japanese Government, controlled much of Japanese underworld and even employed many Onmyouji that took care even the youkai could not bother them. Thus, the Oniedas were the worst possible enemy.

"How did you get here?" Onieda Masato asked him, but if he was afraid he did not show it. But then again, he always had the same expression.

"I found a nice place without cameras, opened the window and climbed up." Rikuo smirked. "You think I did not feel your traps on the floor above? Your intention to flee was so obvious that it stank for miles."

"I see, guess I was another fool that underestimated you." The man said with his stoic face still up. "I sure did not expect this to happen."

"I am not buying that. You probably had something planned in case this happened." Rikuo sharpened his senses, trying to feel if someone was nearby. However, he could not sense anyone. "So, is this how you repay my clan for saving you?"

"You really think I needed saving?"

"I guess not, but a thanks would have been in order. So, just what the hell are you planning, Masato-dono?"

"Hmph, I have no reason to talk to you about our goals." He said, resting both hands on his cane. His calmness was disturbing. "I am your enemy and you are my enemy so you should just try using that sword."

"I'd prefer to at least know  _why_  you are doing this." Rikuo stayed resilient.

"We do it for the greater good of humanity, of course."

"Quite interesting, seeing as you have sacrificed a good number of humans last night."

"Sacrifices have to be made."

"And the youkai? What about them?"

"Youkai are nothing but human delusion given form and that makes them below the humans." Masato continued, his face still stoic. "As all delusions, they have to be destroyed in order for the world to advance and for the pure to take the reins."

"Really, your beliefs are as disgusting as you yourself are." Rikuo pointed his sword at him. "I don't like killing humans, but you will be one of the exceptions." And after saying that, Rikuo jumped at him, intending to slash him.

And Masato raised his cane… and stopped his attack.

"What…" Rikuo's eyes widened. "This is…"

It was a shining Heptagram… the same one that Abe no Seimei and some members of House Gokadoin used, although it was not as strong.

"You are a Gokadoin?" Rikuo asked after jumping backwards. He knew well enough how dangerous such Heptagrams were and standing too close to that seven-pointed star would not have been a good idea.

"Close. This is actually Tsuchimikado-Shinto, a weaker but more flexible version of Seimei's technique."

"Tsuchimikado? But that's impossible." They were the descendants of Abe no Seimei, but through adoption. They were the most powerful Onmyouji house for a long time, until they lost their ability to use Onmyoudo during the Meiji Era. "No wait… you couldn't be."

"Yes, I indeed am!" Masato hit the floor with his cane, and the Owl Shikigami appeared beside him. However, Rikuo's senses told him that this Owl was far more dangerous. "The Onieda family are the descendants of the Hirata branch of House Tsuchimikado. You Nuras nicely  _cleaned_  my entire House, but failed to realize that another member was born.. you failed to notice my own father. And in honor of Emperor Meiji, he started our plans anew… but without certain redundant elements."

"Tsuchimikado-Hirata… that explains everything." Rikuo's grasp on his sword strengthened. The Tsuchimikado-Hirata, also known as the  _Himawari_  (Sunflowers) were a dangerous enemy, from what Rikuo had heard at least.

The Hiratas were a branch of the Tsuchimikado family that researched the very nature of youkai… and caused certain things that made the main family expel them. However, they survived to the Meiji Era and, under orders of Emperor Meiji, somehow cursed the entire Tsuchimikado House to lose their ability to use Onmyoudo.

After Meiji's death, they became a major faction in Japan and continued their experiments, intending to use them so that Japan could take over the world. But at the end of the World War Two, the Nura Clan managed to destroy them… or so they thought.

But now Rikuo found out that they survived and continued with what they were doing. It seemed as if the Shin Sekai was, at the end of the day, nothing else but the continuation of Emperor Meiji's darkest ambitions.

"Tz, can't believe that I am still not done with Seimei's descendants." Rikuo commented. "Can you guys never be nice?"

"You indeed are not done with us, youkai trash." A voice said from above. Rikuo raised his head and saw another one of those black demons, but this one was shaped as a serpentine dragon. On him, three Onmyouji stood. "The Gokadoin House is still not done with you." One of them said. He had orange hair, wore black Onmyouji clothes and looked as if he were in his early thirties. His face shone with disdain.

"Gokadoin Akihito…" Rikuo recognized this man. Alongside the more tolerant Gokadoin Kashaimaru, Akihito was a candidate for the new head of the Gokadoin House. But unlike Kashaimaru who wanted to protect both the human and youkai world, Akihito wanted to make the Gokadoin follow more extreme methods in extermination of youkai. Rikuo already knew he was on good terms with the Shin Sekai, but hoped he would not find him here. One does not become a candidate for leadership of the Gokadoin unless he was highly skilled.

Before Rikuo could say anything else, the other two Onmyouji jumped down. One of them landed behind Rikuo and punched him with such a force that he broke into the helicopter's rubble. The other Onmyouji landed beside him and Rikuo immediately rolled away, successfully evading his halberd's attack.

But then he felt a strong spiritual energy hit into him, causing extreme pain. "I am actually surprised you are still standing." Masato commented once Rikuo managed to not lose his footing.

Rikuo did not look at him, but at the other two Onmyouji. One was a young woman with glasses and black hair, wearing a black yukata. She was the one who punched him. The other one was dark-skinned, wore white Onmyouji clothes and held a halberd.

"Let me formally introduce them to you." Masato spoke. "The fair lady is Keikain Akira, the Fourth Pillar of the Shin Sekai. Her genius has brought us much good. The one accompanying her is her cousin, Kazuma."

Rikuo recognized these two rogue Keikains. Akira was the daughter of Keikain Haigo, who was killed by Hagoromo Gitsune, and Kazuma was the son of Keikain Goura who was killed by Kyokotsu. Many Keikains were disappointed in Yura's tolerance for youkai and the Kyoto Youkai in general, but these two were the most extreme ones. They wanted to make the Kyoto Youkai pay for what they did to their parents and relatives, but since Yura did not want to give them a chance, they left the Keikain House when they reached adulthood and pursued their own goals.  _So this is where they went._

"And the gentleman above you is Gokadoin Akihito, the First Pillar of the Shin Sekai."

"And I am the Sixth Pillar, just in case you forgot." LeX seemed to have found his ways back to the rooftop, but the aura around him was more dangerous than before. It was obvious that he went easy on Rikuo a while ago.

"Let get this shit over with." Gokadoin Akihito said and put his hands together, another Heptagram appearing above him. "Nura Rikuo, you will make a fine slave in our army." The Heptagram rose until it covered the entire sky. Then it shone and disappeared, leaving behind a score of flying youkai… all of which seemed to have been turned into slaves, similar to those Familiars that the Shin Sekai  _produced_.

The situation seemed horrible… and if his comrades came, it would get worse as there was no way for them to win this with such numbers and with their leader being in his human form, weakened by the barrier to boot. He could only pray that his comrades did not come to help.

Masato hit the floor with his cane again and a Heptagram appeared beneath Rikuo. Before he could even move his leg, he felt himself being thrown into the air.  _That's right, Abe, Gokadoin and Tsuchimikado specialized in gravity techniques amongst many others._ Rikuo felt the enslaved youkai fly towards him, intending to attack him. And once they were done with him, his five enemies from below would finish him off.

"Hey, something is coming this way!" Akura shouted and pointed in direction behind Rikuo. Everyone, including Rikuo, looked at it.

To his relief, it was not one of his subordinates… but a military plane. The plane fired missiles and the four Onmyouji created barriers to protect themselves. LeX jumped from the building while Rikuo could only watch and hope that this person was an ally.

The missiles hit each floor of the building, especially the rooftop. The explosions created a smokescreen which could be used by Rikuo to hide himself. Of course, the youkai continued attacking and why would they not: he could hardly move from where he was.

Well there was a way to move: he kicked the youkai the moment he got close to him and pushed himself into the direction of the plane. The loud noise made it clear that the plane got close and Rikuo made another risky gambit: he tried catching the plane's wing... and he succeeded.

"Stop him before he flees" Akihito ordered, but by the time has finished his sentence, the plane was already too far away from them.

The plane made an  _L turn_  and flew away, but Rikuo did not immediately check who came to save him. Instead, he took his Smartphone and sent the message to his comrades: "RETREAT! WE ARE RETURNING TO JAPAN!"

After the message was sent, he turned around and looked toward the building. The Shin Sekai's members did not go after him.

Rikuo left out a sigh of relief and noticed that the hatch opened. He jumped in and was surprised to see who came to his rescue. "Dower-san?"

"Why do all of you Japanese call me Dower-san?" The man said as he controlled the plane. "I am Dower! Michael Dower McRein!"

"And an Ace Pilot, eh?"

"Ha, a man must have a hobby. I never expected I would steal a military plane though, but here I am! God must be on your side boy, I only came here thinking you may need something blown up."

"I take it one of my subordinates told you where I was going?" Rikuo guessed and Dower nodded. "Anyway, what is with the cowboy outfit?" Rikuo asked, noticing that Dower wore a white hat, an expensive white cowboy-like suit and a revolver on his belt.

"Damn it Jap, if you can dress as a Samurai and swing your sword around, I sure can dress as a cowboy and fire my revolver around!"

Both of them laughed at the comment.

"Anyway, I hope you found what you were looking for. What do you intend to do now?"

"It is time for me to go home."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- And here is the final chapter of the "Sunny Saturday" arc and the final chapter of the "Rikuo in the USA" subplot! Sorry for the delay, I had an exam :(

\- Rikuo, Zen and Shouei seem to have a special relationship. Shouei did not exchange sakazuki with Rikuo during the story, but I am sure he would eventually and when he did, just like with Zen it would have been a 50:50 exchange

\- We find out more about the origins of the Shin Sekai as well as the Onieda family. I am sure none of you expected Meiji to play a role, but he does! And indeed, Rikuo inherited another enemy from his dad :P

\- Unlike the Keikain and the Gokadoin, Tsuchimikado House actually exists. It is surprising that Hiroshi didn't use them, especially since they were descendants of Abe no Seimei through adoption. After I researched them a bit, I just had to make Oniedas related to them… I don't know why I had to, but I had to!

\- Gokadoin Akihito may have been introduced now, but this actually ain't the first time you heard about him: Kashaimaru mentioned him a few times

\- Freely think of the Seven Pillars of the Shin Sekai as your common Shounen Villain Group. I wonder who else is amongst them… ;P

\- Originally, I planned to make the two Keikains kids of the two cousins that died off-screen but were dear to Yura. However, we know Haigo and Goura better so it would be easier to develop plausible techniques for these two... and used better than by their ancestors ;P

\- Those who read Illegal Rare no doubt noticed the references to that Manga. Many characters from NuraMago have lookalikes in IR, and some like Gitsune's lookalike are the very opposite of what they were in NuraMago. As such, LeX is the opposite of AxL and even has a Mermaid friend ;P Hunters like those in IR also seem to exist in NuraMago-verse, as hinted by chapter 210.3 where we have a man who sells various items and such taken from youkai, all gathered by the so-called Dark Hunters

\- Yes, I DID have to make Dower ride a military plane while dressed as a cowboy. Nothing you guys say will dissuade me from thinking it was a fun decision!

* * *

**Omakes and Replies:**

* * *

**Citsimsan** :  _"Shiori and Rihan are made for each other, that's for sure. So now she considers him her boyfriend? Ok, Batman was dating Catwoman, but she was never above the "classy burglar" level. What will Rihan do with a villain so powerful?"_

Shiori: "We will swear to be together forever and ever. Then we shall take over the youkai world and rule over it as its Demonic Overlord and Overlady, all while filling it with fun people ^_^"

Rihan Jr.: "No ಠ_ಠ"

Shiori: "Tsundere ಠ_ಠ"

* * *

**Citsimsan** : " _Those poor Urban Legends need protection! Or maybe sex. Reproduction is needed, you creepy guys and gals! Learn from those Nurarihyons, tengus, tanukis, kitsunes and Yuki-onnas!_ "

Kashima Reiko: "Thank you for reminding me that I lack  _stuff_  ಠ_ಠ Watch yourself…"

* * *

**Citsimsan** :  _"Yep, it was curious that Rihan was leaning to the Yuki-onna side of his family when he was younger. Maybe Yuki-onnas are more family-friendly, while Nurarihyon's powers are more hardcore, ideal for rebellious teenagers? ;)"_

More on Rihan Jr.'s forms later in the arc ;)

Shiori: "Yeah, I have read the alpha script! It will be fun!"

Please stop stealing my scripts...

* * *

**Citsimsan** :  _"I have only one question: how did Shiori know of Shomen Kongo? I mean, it seems that most people in Nuramago ignore that he's not another deity, but a Big Bad manipulating people from afar."_

Shiori: "The monkeys always blabbered abut some Koshin. I simply followed the trail from there ;P"

* * *

**Guest** :  _"Oh man I love this. I was wondering if Shiori and Rihan were going to duke it out. I was expecting a scene skip and where rihan was just unconscious. Now I'm wondering is Rihan going to take control or expell his Maou's Fear? Got to wonder. I can several epic one on one battles happening. Ryuzan vs Kashaimaru, Yashagoro vs Sakura, oh man possibilities are endless!"_

Shiori: "They all seem fun… more fun than my boyfriend's lame battle against me. It would probably have been for better if he just woke up unconscious ಠ_ಠ"

Rihan Jr.: "I have been going easy on you! And stop calling me that! ಠ_ಠ"

Shiori: "And the result is an unimpressed girlfriend ಠ_ಠ"

Rihan Jr.: "Stop calling yourself that! And why are we using these emoticons anyway?! ಠ_ಠ"

Shiori: "To represent the growing sexual tension ಠ_ಠ"

Rihan Jr.: "Ugh, why did I even ask? -_-; Anyway, I will show you all what I am capable of later in the arc! Nayrael himself assured me that!"

Shiori: "Badass Riha-chan… mmmmm... ^_^"

Rihan Jr.: "Please stop that…"

Ritsura: "You will also see just what I am capable off as well! ^_^"

Ryuzan: "Indeed! And we have even developed a new technique BD"

Rihan Jr.: "What are you two doing here?"

Zen: "Me too! I am not going to just be sitting around and doing nothing for much longer!"

Shiori: "Good, making that pois... I mean medicine cost me a fortune to make!"

Gyuki in his best black suit and wearing sunglasses: "Guys, let us not forget who will be the star of the following arc."

Ritsura: "That outfit really doesn't fit your character..."

Gozumaru and Mezumaru: "We can't wait to see you shining, Gyuki-sama! *o*"

Kashaimaru: "Sounds fun, maybe I too shall make an appearance and steal all the girls!"

Ryuzan: "I will kill you if you do that."

Kashaimaru: "What? Come or steal the girls?"

Ryuzan: "What about both?"

Nayrael: "FFS STOP SPOILING THE PLOT!"

* * *

**Guest** :  _"Hello is Nura Rikuo here? I have an exclusive on his son rihan and his mystery lover. This top rate news this has to be known to the parents!"_

Rikuo: "Yes, Nura Rikuo is here. What do you need to tell me about my son… wait he has a lover?!"

Voice over the telephone: "Yes, you see he  **amhmmhjmmmh!** "

Rikuo: "Huh? Is something going on? Hello?"

Rihan Jr.: "Nothing dad, just one of my friends from school trying to joke around."

Rikuo: "Wait, you have a-"

Rihan Jr.: "Sorry dad, gotta go!"

Rihan Jr.: "Okay now, just what am I going to do with this snitch…"

* * *

**Silvia** :  _"Ha, I could easily predict Rihan would lose and lose quickly and even THEN the way he lost made me so disappointed in him...I prefer not to shame him more."_

Shiori: "I know, right? It was like SO anticlimactic… sigh, I guess I will have to find a way to make him stronger… maybe going to the gym would help…"

Nayrael: "Like you would plan something as easy as a gym treatment…"

Shiori: "Now now, let us not spoil too much…"

* * *

**WhiteWings** (ch4):  _"All the characters are so nice and well-written! Are you a professional author? You do seem to be one! I love this story! It's the awesomest story ever written in FF!"_

No no, I am just an amateur ^_^; But I am glad you enjoy this story so much! And thank you for all the reviews and I hope you continue reviewing! Nothing makes me as happy as reading reviews ^o^


	39. (Gyuki's Nightmare) - The Words of Sanmoto

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The sun shall soon rise above Mount Nejireme and Sanmoto's dark play shall commence. And as usual before the shows start, the actors are getting nervous…

 

**Arc VI: Gyuki's Nightmare**

**Chapter 39 - The Words of Sanmoto**

Abe no Seimei rode in a flying youkai carriage, a hundred youkai following the carriage. He was not alone in it however: Ibaraki Douji and Kidoumaru, two of his most loyal and competent lieutenants, sat in front of him with crossed arms while their master just gazed through the window.

Seimei remembered the streets of Kyoto. Not the streets of the dirty Kyoto where he was revived, but the streets of the elegant and pure Kyoto from the thousand years ago. At the time, looking down at the Imperial Capital of Japan made him feel like he owned the city… and in a way, he did. But even more than Kyoto would have been his, had his plans succeeded... were they not crushed.

Thanks to Nura Rikuo, a part-youkai just like him, Seimei was now cursed to watch the dull landscape of Hell alongside his loyal youkai and descendants who failed to survive just like he had failed. Even though his power saved him from many pains that Hell brought upon its denizens, Seimei did not consider himself fortunate. No, Hell was a horribly dull place. Nothing ever happened, nothing ever changed, there was nothing to be ambitious about… it was an eternity of boredom and pointless existence.

He had a plan to flee from this place and stay in the world of the living forever… but that chance was stolen from him. What was worse, in his arrogance he never even thought about making a backup plan in case his original one failed, thus he had no other way to get himself revived. In other words, he would stay here until the Reincarnation cycle made him start as a new person.

"Seimei-sama, may I ask a question?" Ibaraki Douji spoke, though his lips could not be seen because of the wooden gravestone which covered half of his face. When Seimei nodded, he asked, "Why are we helping them?"

"You mean Sanmoto and Shoumen?" Seimei asked, his eyes still gazing through the window.

"Yes, what is the point of it?"

"Revenge." Seimei gave him a simple answer. "They want to harm the Nuras, and so do I. If they have the means, I will gladly give them a hand."

"Is that the full truth?" Kidoumaru joined in, also unsure of what his master had planned… to be more exact, he was hopeful that there was something more to it.

"True, there is something else." Seimei added.

"And that would be?" Ibaraki's eye widened, him also being hopeful that their master at least, was not stuck in this place.

"The other reason is…" Seimei considered telling them more, but he did not feel like raising their hopes up… mainly because he feared that he might even raise his own hopes up by doing so. "…a gamble."

"A gamble, my lord?" Kidoumaru wanted to know more, obviously.

"A gamble." Seimei repeated in a harsher tone, making it clear that he did not want them to ask him any more questions.

_My mother was the only way for me to return to the world of the living… but her soul is now in Hell and the current Hagoromo Gitsune has no intentions to give birth to me._ Betraying his mother… it may have made his Fear and resolve stronger, but it was a mistake. She could have given him birth over and over again but he, thinking that there was no threat to him, though it would be unnecessary.

_Gokadoins too… many of my descendants found ways to become immortal without reincarnations, but almost all of them were killed. What is more, the only surviving head abandoned me and the rest of the Gokadoins also have no intentions of helping me._  If only he had ability to independently contact someone, he might have been able to lead one of them astray… but he lacked that.  _Making all of my loyal and talented descendants fight… that was another of my mistakes._

_Tsuchimikados, my descendants through adoptions are there too… but reincarnation techniques were not something that many of them studied and even if they did, due to events that transpired during the Meiji Period, they have been rendered useless._

_That leaves only Shoumen Kongo, a youkai with a long record of fooling the heavens and all other kinds of laws set by the gods. He MAY have a way to help me, but for that I need to stay on good terms with him. Tz, to think that I need to suck up to someone…_

"Seimei-sama!" One of the flying youkai appeared on the opposite window. "We have a problem!"

Seimei did not ask what the problem was but instead looked outside. His teeth clenched when he saw a parade of demons walk on the horizon, the parade being so large that his eyes could not see all of them even from this distance. "They are going in the same direction as we are… this is a problem."

There was only one person in Hell who could assemble such a large army of demons: Enma, the greatest of the Maous and the ruler of Hell. He was the one who judged the sinful mortals who were sent to Hell and decided their punishments… and for demons, he was the one who kept them in order and although he tolerated the demons playing with the humans in the world of the living, that tolerance was limited.

And seemingly he was not very fond of what Sanmoto, Shoumen and Seimei were up to.  _But this should not have been enough to make him…_  Then he saw who led the parade. He never met that man in the world of living, but he knew his name very well and he met him many times here in Hell.  _Damn it, I should have foreseen that this bastard would try to foil us again!_

"If they reach Sanmoto and the Koshin, this whole plan will be ruined... right?" Kidoumaru spoke. "And they are already way too close."

Seimei said nothing but instead just continued gazing upon the impressive army. Once they reached the painting, Sanmoto's Tale would end.

"Seimei-sama, should we leave? If we get mixed into this, King Enma will punish us along with those two." Kidoumaru added.

"I say we fight!" Ibaraki spoke and turned towards his master. "Fuck the punishment, we would all gladly accept it for you."

Kidoumaru said nothing, but the barely noticeable smile on this face said that he agreed.

"O my Lord!" Shoukera, another of Seimei's lieutenants, flew to them. "I beg of you, give us a chance to fight for you this day! Let not these heathens stand in way of your wishes!"

Ibaraki was obviously annoyed by Shoukera's words, but did not complain.

"There is a place down their path… if we attack there, we should be able to buy you enough time to finish whatever you were supposed to do."

"You do not even know how much time we need." Seimei added.

"O my Lord, it does not matter!" Shoukera replied. "Minutes, hours, days or even months… we shall do it all for you! Even if they have the numbers, the youkai serving you are the strongest!"

"Alright then." Seimei finally let a smile come to his face. "Go there and show them the power of Kyoto Youkai! Once I have done my part, I will come and fight beside you." Seimei accepted their offer.

"""Yes, Seimei-sama!"""

He did not like the idea of having to go through Enma's punishments once this all was done (and there was no hope from keeping yourself from his hands for more than a day). He did not like the idea that his followers would have to go through it either.

But Shoumen despised Enma and opposing Enma was a good way to get on Shoumen Kongo's good side.  _How unpleasant.  
_

* * *

_I was beaten again…_  [Rihan](http://i.imgur.com/P0IQhfA.jpg) thought as he sat on the bed in his room.  _Well, not surprising this time._ When he fought [Shiori](http://i.imgur.com/omV1y11.jpg) a few nights ago, his Fear was at its highest and he had no reason to hold back. However, this time his Fear was not only weaker than back then, but he also had trouble forcing himself to slay her.  _Once again I was unconscious, at her mercy… and once again, I wake up safe and sound…_

He was not sure how much time had passed since he was knocked unconscious, but it was still night… however it was not that dark meaning that the sun would rise at any moment. When he woke up there in the theater, his first course of action was to check the resort for her, but the only things that he found out were that she had changed her clothes and left the resort.

In other words, she was not at the resort anymore. Also, her purse and wallet have gone missing meaning that she may have no intentions of coming back.

Also, there was something tense in the air… something that would make unknowing humans afraid, but to a youkai it was a sign that someone was preparing for an attack… and it felt like that  _someone_  was very powerful.

_Is this Shiori's doing?_  He wondered, but somehow it didn't feel like the Fear that surrounded … to be exact, it was more like the Fear that sometimes surrounded him. There was the stench of hatred and violence in it… it was malice so strong that the one to whom it belonged would probably kill both its targets and anyone else it meets.

And Rihan felt like he was one of the targets.  _[Sister](http://i.imgur.com/PBBXnbO.jpg) and the clan will need my help soon…_   _But what about Shiori?_ She did not do anything to silence him yet and he was certain that she did not intend to just run away as she would have done that by now if that was her intention.  _No, she is definitely plotting something._

He remembered what happened when Ritsura ordered Onieda Masato's rescue. He did not know when Ritsura called  _Araya_  to help them, but it could have been long before they were attacked by Shiori's forces. Shiori did not expect to fight the Nuras, yet in so little time she and her youkai were ready to stand against them. Nejireme may not be an urban territory, but he had a feeling that she was not powerless.

So should he go after her or should he first inform his sister? Unfortunately, the cellphones did not have any signal here so he would have to find her… and that meant giving Shiori more time to prepare herself. Also, it was possible that once the  _Unknown Enemy_  attacked then Rihan, and anyone else for the matter, might be unable to go after Shiori.

_Just who might be this unknown enemy? Sanmoto? No, I have no time to think about it now!_

_Sis,[Ryuzan](http://i.imgur.com/yqV7Dr4.png), the retainers who followed us here and the entire Gyuki Group will deal with whoever intends to attack us. But only I am able to immediately go after Shiori and stop her from putting something bad into motion._

Thus, he made his decision: he would go after Shiori. For that purpose, he decided to not think about who the  _Unknown Enemy_  might be. The moment he decided to let the others deal with him meant that he did not need to think about it as long as there were more pressing matters on his mind.

_She no doubt ran far by now… but the Gyuki Group would get suspicious if they caught her so she probably had to sneak and that would've slowed her down. Also, I can move faster than she can. I will catch up to her._

_But once I catch up to her, then what?_   _Would I be beaten AGAIN by her?_  No, he could not afford to be beaten for the third time. No matter what, he had to defeat her… kill her.

" _You have to kill her…"_  Someone said to him. Just like his memory of  _them_  returned whenever he saw  _them_ , it sometimes returned when he heard  _them_  as well.

A demonic monkey was sitting on the ground in front of him.

" _Ask the Koshin for help."_  The monkey suggested.

The moment he thought of accepting its offer, some unknown power forced his eyes to look at his Nenekirimaru. And when they fell on him, he remembered his father's and sister's noble Fear… his Clan's noble Fear. He remembered the uplifting atmosphere of his home and all the lessons that his father thought him.

_She did something to this sword…_  He did not need long to realize that she was the cause behind this sword reminding him of how dark his intentions were.  _She was definitely the one who did something to this._

And he understood exactly what she did: he could either use the sword's help or the Koshin's. "Hmph, not like I will need you to fight against a human." He returned the sword into its sheath and then put it into a sword bag. He thought of just leaving it here, but the item was too powerful to toss aside.

The monkey had already disappeared and Rihan had forgotten about the monkey again, but his sub-consciousness knew that he was able to fight her this time.

"Now, how to find her…" He muttered to himself when he exited the resort. However, before he could even start worrying, the wind blew and rose petals flew up in front of him. "Shiori… so she wants me to come after her."

It did not surprise him however. Whatever plan she had to silence him, it no doubt required him to be at her disposal… and she was no doubt preparing a trap for him. "I'll take the bait, dear… but I won't fall into your hole again, this I swear!"

* * *

_Too slow…_  Shiori thought as she ran through the forest.  _I am being way too slow! He will catch up to me in no time._

Unlike what Rihan had thought, Shiori did not have to sneak around. The part of her soul, that had the form of the black skeleton with blue flame around it, helped her by splitting into multiple parts, scout around and steal the attention of any member of the Gyuki Group it would stumble upon by simply causing a lot of noise, thus stealing their attention and masking the sound she herself made. What was more, the Gorozaemon was strong enough to cut off any illusion-creating Fear so that was another thing that Shiori did not need to be afraid of.

She hated using the abilities belonging to the discarded part of her soul, but Shiori was not someone who would let pride cloud her judgment. She was too weak to afford that, especially now that she was without allies yet surrounded by enemies from all sides. If Rihan decided to tell his sister about her rather than go after her, the threat to her life would grow.

Fortunately, her goal, Sanmoto's local temple, was not located on Nejireme itself but somewhere in the lands surrounding it. She was not sure where exactly it was but she had the means to guess where she would have to look. Unfortunately, the safest way to get to where she thought she should start looking was by going through the forest. Technically, she could have left the forest by the main road and used a bus or taxi to get there faster, but her ancestor had way too many cultists in these lands. And, since she had none of her youkai servants with her, that meant that she had to spend as little time around them as possible. She had no intention to risk being attacked by the brainwashed cultists, especially the ones worshiping someone as wretched as Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

She changed her pace from running to fast walking in order to catch a breath. She was no athlete so running around like this was hard for her. However, she could not allow Rihan to find her too soon… and definitely not while she was still on Nejireme. Of course, she had a plan on how to delay him further, but she was not sure by how much it would delay him.

It was a good idea to change her clothes before she left the resort as running around in a yukata would not have been a good idea. The clothes she chose were a  _matching set_  to Rihan's: black jeans, a small black jacket and a gray T-shirt underneath it. She also put her hair into a ponytail so it would not get in the way, but she did not put her glasses back on.

She put her hand inside her T-shirt and took out a collar, which was actually a Mirror… but not any mirror.  _Good thing that I had Netto prepare a number of Tales whose creation I can easily trigger with simple actions. And if worst comes to worst, I can power them up with this._

However, the Mirror did not have unlimited uses. She could choose how much of the Mirror's power she would use at once, but it required payment in form of Fear. Normally, that Fear would come from the _Teapot of the Conqueror_ , but since she lacked it, the Fear that it devoured was that which accumulated around her. She could increase that amount of Fear by being feared and respected, but there was just so much that she could do to increase it. At some point she would go  _bankrupt_  and the Mirror would create a tale to kill her.

In other words, this Mirror was a weapon but also a ticking bomb. Unless she somehow gets her hands on the Teapot, her life would meet a gruesome end.

"Huh, who's there?" A voice forced her attention to return to the real world. Unfortunately, her plan of sneaking around was not foolproof and someone noticed her. "Red haired human girl… hey, you are the one who was with Mezumaru."

_Kill him._  Shiori said in herself... it was an order to certain someone.

A human-like figure jumped in front of her. "What're you doing here at this ti-" He started but was unable to finish the sentence. Shiori could not even get to remember his face when Midori Gorozaemon, the nickname she gave to the part of her soul which she discarded and which became a youkai, squashed the poor youkai between her giant, skeletal hands.

Midori continued squashing him, until she turned him into a meatball. She then opened her mouth and ate it.

_You are truly unpleasant._  Shiori thought in herself, but the words were directed to Gorozaemon Midori. She did not like depending on this youkai, not only because she despised her but also because she had a feeling that depending on her made her stronger… and she had a bad feeling that this would not be a good thing for her.

Midori just chuckled and disappeared, creeping the hell out of Shiori as usual.

"I need to find a way to get rid of her as soon as possible…"

* * *

Ritsura's training with Ryuzan was done two hours ago when they both agreed to get some rest before the sun rose. However, the danger was in the air so she was too tense to fall asleep. Thus, she played with her yoyo in her room, trying to find more uses for it. Swords and cold air were more than enough, but it never hurt to have extra weapons.

Ritsura did all she could do considering the current situation. She ordered Kejorou and the rest to come to Nejireme, though she had yet to see them. She also sent someone to check if they could leave if need arose, but all trains, buses and cars conveniently broke down whenever one of them attempted to leave Nejireme or the surrounding towns.  _Walking away may be an option, but a lot can happen to those who move on foot._

In other words, Sanmoto Gorozaemon had them trapped here and, in order to get out, they would need to defeat whatever he sent at them.

"Ojou." One of Tesshin's maids opened the paper door to her room. "Kejorou-san and the rest have arrived and are holding a meeting with Tesshin-sama."

"Alright, tell them I will be there soon. I'll go wake up Ryuzan and Sakura." Ritsura told her to which the maid nodded and left.  _Well, I'll wake them up in case they are sleeping._

She took her sword in her hand and put the yoyo and a fan inside her obi. Should anything attack, she would have all necessary weapons on her, not to mention the countless ice weapons that she could make at a moment's notice.

However, Ritsura didn't immediately leave the room. Instead, she walked up to a mirror in the room, created an ice comb and started fixing her hair. The bed hair was not that messy, mainly because her own hair had a tendency to fix itself even in her Yuki Onna form, but combing made her feel calmer.

Indeed, she was nervous. It would be deadlier than the one against Shiori, if only because Shiori did not dare to risk the full wrath of the Nura Clan by killing their heiress. Sanmoto Gorozaemon probably would not care about the Nura Clan's wrath as much and, thus, his youkai would probably make her a prime target for killing.

Then there was her brother, a person who inherited the bad habit of going alone when he should not. Unfortunately, his motives were different from their ancestors and Ritsura doubted that anyone could easily dissuade him from rush actions. Thus, Ritsura worried about his own safety as he too would be Sanmoto's prime target.

Their human friends too… she was annoyed that only Mayuri and Mamoru left, but she could not force them to leave. Although she was sure that both the Nura Clan and the Gyuki Group would protect them without much trouble, she could not help but worry.

And, most of all, she was certain that Gyuki would not allow others to stop her from doing her duty as the heiress, in other words she would once again be given the burden of leadership. This may be what she always asked for, but she knew better than to underestimate the role's importance… that lives of others would depend on her again.

So, she had to calm herself down before she left to meet the others. She was not sure when Sanmoto would attack, but the tense Fear that swirled around her gave her a feeling that it would be soon. _Logically, the time for an attack would be the night, when youkai are at their strongest. However, enemies can always bend the rules, especially the ones like Sanmoto._

Her hair now being as perfect as it could possibly be (in her opinion), Ritsura let go of her ice comb and started walking out of the room. Time for relaxing was over, she had her duties to attend to.

Ryuzan was in the room next to her so naturally she would go wake him up first. Well, he was no doubt awake like she was. After all, he was less exhausted than she was after the training and equally worried about the enemy. Indeed, he was no doubt awake.

"Hey Ryu, it's -" She slid the door open and looked into the room where Ryuzan was resting. "Eh?"

Ryuzan was lying on the tatami and, probably because there were no sleeping yukatas here, only wore his boxers and an undershirt. The blanket only covered a part of his belly while his hands and legs were spread like he was making a snow angel. "SNOOOORE." Also, he was snoring like only a man can.

_Ugh, I completely forgot… he is a boy._   _And boys never meet a girl's dreamy expectations!_  Ritsura sighed as her delusion proved false.  _Well, how shall I wake him up? Maybe I should use a snowstorm?_

For a moment there, she thought of allowing the dark side of her to give him a cold wake-up call.  _Ugh, I am spending way too much time with Araya and the kids from my clan… I should be grateful to Ryu for all his help and wake him up like any other person would._

And with kindness in her thought, she walked up to him and kneeled beside him. "Hey, wake up Ryu~"

"I know Ritsura-chan…" he muttered.

_Oh, so he was awake after all!_

"Everything is ready for the casino raid, Ritsura-chanzzzz…"

Ritsura sighed. "Ah, I see... he is dreaming about something stupid again."

"Relax Ritsura-chan." He muttered again and then his hand grabbed her waist and pulled her towards himself. "No need to… zzzz… be that nervous."

"Hey, what are you…" She started asking but then remembered that he was sleeping. _Ugh, once again I forgot that he was a boy! And now I see that a girl really can never let her guard down, even if the boy is asleep!_

"Zzz… let me help you calm down then." He pulled her closer and her face was now dangerously close to his.

_Eh? No, don't explode now Ritsura… tsunderes aren't popular anymore!_  "Ryuzan, wake up already." She tried to wake him up again, but whatever caused the blushing somehow also seemed to have lowered the tone of her voice.

"Zzz…" While she was trying to force herself out of his hands, his right hand then caught the back of her head and pulled her closer to his head. "Come on, just a small kiss."

_Screw that! I will go full tsundere on your ass you damn pervert!_

"AAAAHHHHH COOOOLLLDDDDDDD!" Ryuzan immediately woke up… and quickly realized whom he held in his arms. "Ah… ah… oops?"

"If you have time to be  _oopsing_ …" Ritsura started to lower the temperature again.

"Uh, sorry!" He let go of her and moved away from her. "I have no idea how this happened!"

"Just what kind of dreams are you having?" Ritsura looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"Eh…" He had a comical grimace on his face for a few moments, but then turned serious. "We were… robbing some casinos?"

"I am not talking about the casinos part!"

"Oh… I know, it is just that…"

"What? "

"My dreams are prophetic." He said with a straight face.

"That says a lying Onmyouji!" Ritsura did not buy his excuse and raised a fist at him.

"No, I am serious! I would make a better lie if that was my intention. I swear!"

"Oh, I see…" Ritsura closed her eyes and nodded. "DO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD FALL FOR THAT?"

"BUT I AM BEING HONES-AH COOOOOOOLLLDDD!"

"Pervert! Die! Go bald!" Ritsura yelled and swung her hands, throwing ice shards at him.

"No, I am honest! Please believe me!"

"JUST WHERE WOULD THAT DREAM LEAD IF I LET YOU GO ON WITH YOUR DREAMS? WOULD YOU… WOULD YOU… GYAAAAHHHH!" The speed at which she threw ice shards at him accelerated, her face getting even redder. "JUST WHAT ARE YOU DREAMING ABOUT WHEN I AM AWAY AND IGNORA NTABOUT WHAT GOES ON IN YOUR HEAD? MY CHASTITY..."

"I AM SORRRYYYY!" He shouted and protected himself with his arm and had his eyes closed. Then, the storm stopped and he hoped that she had stopped with her tantrum… but when he opened his eyes, he saw that her hair changed to brown.

"See what you did? You embarrassed me so much that I turned back into my human form!"

"Phew, saved at the last moment."

"Uhhhh…" Ritsura would start hitting him with something else, but she knew that he would just overpower her and kick out of his room or something.

"Anyway, back to my dream." Ryuzan spoke to which she started turning red again, her face hinting that she would attack him again. "On the casino part I mean!"

"Alright! Whatever! I believe you so leave the casinos alone!"

"For the hundredth time, I am being serious!" Ryuzan continued excusing himself.

"Ugh…"

"Come on, believe me!"

"Alright, I'll bite. What's so damn special about that dream?"

"We were raiding casinos."

"Yeah, so?"

Ryuzan just starred at her for a few moments, as if she said something weird. "Is raiding casinos something you do in your free time or something?"

"Well, as yakuza we do steal some stuff from time to time but… no." Ritsura said but still held her stern expression. "But raiding casinos in a dream isn't something one would panic about."

"I am not panicking. I am just interested in what the dream meant! Sometimes the dreams are not direct, but casinos aren't really something that can serve as a metaphor or symbolism." Only then did Ryuzan seem to notice that he was not dressed so he grabbed his pants and started to put them on.

Ritsura shook her head and wondered why she went along with his bluff. "So, is anything else special happening in your dream?"

"Well, there were six casinos, three ruled by some evil families and other three ruled by some kind of Dark Lady."

"…huh?"

"I mean-"

"Forget it and get dressed already, you pervert!"

"I was not the one who peeked on someone in their underwear." He said, putting his long, heavy coat on himself.

"My mind was a hundred percent pure." Ritsura said, trying her best to net let her face show that her inner thoughts at the moment were:  _shit, I could have used this opportunity!_  "Anyway, you were deeply asleep. Are you not worried about the upcoming attack?"

"I am, that's why I gave my best to get some actual rest. Not to mention that I would have gained nothing by worrying anyway." He said and put on his gloves. Now he was fully dressed and prepared for a fight.

"Well lucky you." Ritsura said and rose up. "Well, let's go wake up Sakura and then see what we shall do from now on."

"Alright." Ryuzan said, but instead of going towards the doors, he walked up to a wall and removed a paper talisman.

Only once he did that and Ritsura felt Sanmoto's wretched Fear again did she realize that there was none of Sanmoto's Fear in this room. "Do those talismans block Sanmoto's power or something?" She looked around the room and noticed a few more talismans sticking on the walls.

"Of course, I could not sleep in peace while I felt his bad breath." Ryuzan gave the answer that she expected.

"Could you have-"

"No, it takes quite a bit of spiritual energy to create them in order to protect just this small room for only two hours. Unless it is needed, I don't want to waste my spiritual energy by protecting an entire household." He explained as he removed other paper talismans.

"You will need it." She added in it, understanding his motivation.

"You know me way too well… and since a few moments ago, more than I'd like."

The brown-haired Ritsura blushed again and immediately turned around. "Alright, let's go now." She then cooled herself and thus turned back into her Yuki Onna form.

"As you wish, Ritsura-sama."

"Oh, there you are guys!" Sakura appeared in front of the open doors. "Some fair skinned, large guy told me to wake you two up." She said with a normal smile but then the smile turned to an awkward one. "You two didn't… sleep in the same room right?"

"Of course not, I just came to wake him up!" Ritsura immediately explained the situation to her.

"Is that so… but I am sure I heard you both being loud and-"

"That's it, the jig is up!" Ryuzan jumped in. "Yes, she did inappropriate things to me while I was not even dressed." He said the truth, but in the context that would make anyone misunderstand it.

"WHAT WERE YOU TWO DOING THERE?"

"NOTHING!" Ritsura shouted, the embarrassment being so large that she turned into her human form again. "I SWEAR WE DID NOTHING!"

"I know many people of our age like… inappropriate things but…" Sakura continued to ignore her. "But you must understand that love and lust are two different things so-"

"PLEASE STOP MISUNDERSTANDING ALL THIS!"

"As entertaining as it is that you three have a love triangle…" Tesshin shouted from another room. "…I would prefer if you refrain from shouting in my house! Yes, that includes you, Ojou-sama!"

"Uh… we will speak about this another time!" Ritsura said, turned back into her Yuki Onna form and started walking away. "And why can't I always so conveniently change into my human form? Why must the easiest method be the most embarrassing one?" She walked, muttering random words under her breath.

Ryuzan and Sakura followed after her, silently giggling at Ritsura's earlier outburst.

The trio entered the meeting room where Tesshin and Kurenai sat on one end of the hall and Kejorou, Aotabou and Sasami were standing on the other end. "Ah, Ojou-sama!" Kejorou was the one to greet her verbally, but the others also smiled when they saw their young mistress.

"I am pretty sure you all heard us bickering there." Ritsura said with a sigh and leaned against a wall, facing both groups. "Anyway, where are Kubinashi, Tosakamaru and the Toono youkai?"

"Kubinashi-san said that he would keep an eye on Waka while my brother is scouting the forest." Sasami was the one answer the question. "The Toono guys said they were more interested in something outside the mountain."

"And a good thing, I say!" Tesshin added. "I know they are allies, but the only youkai that should be allowed to enter this place should be the Nura Clan's."

Ritsura wanted to admonish him for talking like that, but she held back. It took ages for the youkai of the Main House to get used to them, let alone some staunch conservatives like Tesshin. Also, Tesshin was aware that they were allies and if needed, he would not openly complain about members of other clans entering Gyuki Group's territory.

"So, have you found out anything about those Shrines?" Ritsura asked. "Did you find where the Golden one is?"

This question removed the smiles from their faces. "No, we found out nothing new."

"Just where could it possibly be hidden?" Ritsura muttered, not surprised that they found out nothing. After all, only luck could have led them to its destination seeing how long they were searching for it. "So, anyone having any ideas of what Sanmoto plans to-" She started, but the wretched Fear suddenly became stronger, making everyone move from the spot where they were standing and look around themselves, as if fearing an enemy was here somewhere.

"The sun!" Someone yelled from the outside. "What has happened to the sun?"

Everyone immediately ran outside and stopped in their tracks when they saw the sky: it was normal for the sky to be in a shade of orange when the sun rose, but the red sky and the red sun that they looked at was in no way natural.

"What the hell is going on?" Ryuzan spoke the words that were on everyone's mind.

* * *

"Seimei-dono, where were you for so long?" Sanmoto yelled when he saw his other accomplice float down between him and Shoumen Kongo. "The sun will rise at any moment now!"

"Well why did you make it the sunrise?" Seimei asked in annoyance. "Shoumen-dono, do you have anything else to do here?"

"No." The giant youkai replied. "What? Is there a problem?"

"Check for yourself. I will come join you when I am done." He replied, making it obvious that something bad was going on.

"Ha? What is happening?" Sanmoto asked, obviously afraid.

"Enma I take it?" Shoumen asked and his eyes narrowed when Seimei nodded. "That bastard, he just would not allow us to have some amusement, eh?" Shoumen Kongo rose onto his feet and his monkeys surrounded him. "Hmph, I wish I brought my Yashas here. It does not matter. I will take care his trash does not stand in our way." With that said, Shoumen Kongo jumped away.

"What? Is Enma coming?" Sanmoto started to literally shiver. Sanmoto was not one of Enma's favorite people and thus had him punished whenever he did anything to the real world.

For a moment there, Seimei wanted to threaten him into continuing with the plan, but there was no need for it. "No, but his lieutenants are. So, do you wish to pass a chance to kill Nura Rikuo's offspring?"

It took only for a few moments for Sanmoto to stop shaking and for resolve to return to his eye. "Of course not. Let them taste hell." He said and turned around. The only things stronger than his cowardliness was his hate for the Nura Clan. "How long will it take for you to be done?"

"It appears there are a lot of people to revive… this will take quite some time."

"Just give them bodies that would last a day or two."

"Then thirty to forty minutes."

"Good, I will go and make some time then."

* * *

"How…" Ritsura started as she starred at the blood red sun. Not only was the sun red, but looking at the sky made it easy to forget that it was supposed to be blue. Its shade of pink seemed so natural that it was bizarre. "How can a youkai change the color of the sun itself?"

"It is similar to illusions." Tesshin, the only one who seemed to be unfazed by the event, spoke in a calm tone. "Most likely, the sky and sun look like this only to us on Nejireme. I can see Sanmoto accomplish this, especially with all the Fear that he had gathered by now."

"But isn't doing this pointless?" Sasami spoke. "I mean, why waste Fear on harmless illusions?"

"Harmless illusions?" Kurenai complained. "Trust me, reddish sky has quite a strong effect on its victims."

"Yeah, Kurenai-san herself has used it on me." Ryuzan added.

"ARGHHHH!" Someone screamed from near them and they turned towards that person, Ritsura taking out her Nenekirimaru, Kejorou making her hair move, Ryuzan moving one of his hands up in preparation for summoning a Shikigami and everyone else also prepared for a fight.

But there was no attacker: one of Tesshin's servants just started screaming and clawing his own face. Blood started to spill… but not only from his face. No, it started to spill from all parts of his body, wounds being created from thin air. Everyone could feel Sanmoto's Fear around the servant, thus everyone knew whose doing this was.

Then the screaming servant stopped moving, his hands hanging from his body and the right half of his face ripped to the point that his skull could be seen.

"Eeeekk!" Sakura screamed, as any human not used to this would. Even the youkai had disgusted grimaces on their faces as they looked at the standing corpse.

The corpse then moved its head up and everyone saw a smoke around its head. An eyeball, that did not belong to the servant, floated above where his right eye used to be. There were also floating teeth above his mouth. " _Ah so you are…_ " A voice came from it, so deep and wretched that it could not have possibly belonged to this servant. " _…Nura Rikuo's daughter, hm?_ "

"Who the hell are you?" Ritsura asked as she gave her best to keep looking at him. She could feel the malice to such an extent that she could even feel what the subject of that malice was: this youkai hated the Nuras from the depth of his soul.

"Sanmoto Gorozaemon…" Kejorou introduced him, confirming everyone's suspicions.

" _Yes, indeed._ " The corpse raised its arms. " _I personally came to introduce my tale to all the important characters… so that you know that you would die, like every other character in a horror tale!_ "

"Haah, you still didn't learn your lesson?" Ritsura spoke. This was the first time she met and spoke with this youkai, but she knew about him enough for it to not matter. "By the heavens, you really are as stupid and slow as they say. Do you need to be taught the same lesson a hundred times in order to learn that you have no hope in beating us?"

" _Maybe you should ask your grandfather? Oh wait, he was torn into pieces by us keh keh keh!_ "

Ritsura felt furious, but Aotabou and Kejorou were even more so. They still held Nura Rihan close to their hearts.

" _This tale is written for Gyuki-dono, but I guess we can give you an important role as well._ " Sanmoto said and pointed his finger at her. " _And when it is all done, I will return your pretty head to your father. Just imagine the beautiful despair on his face when he sees how you died with horror on your face. Maybe I can even make you shed an ice tear just before you die, that would make it all the prettier hahaha!_ "

Sakura muttered something to Ryuzan and he then spoke the words that she probably told him: "The host is already dead."

With that confirmed, Sasami and Kurenai stabbed Sanmoto with spears, Kejorou caught him with his hair and started squeezing him to the point that parts of his body literally blew like bubbles and then Aotabou jumped and punched the corpse with such strength that there was only a crater left under his fist, the body that Sanmoto occupied being torn into billions of pieces around them.

" _Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…_ " Sanmoto's sinister laughter could be heard for a while longer, until it finally disappeared as if blown away with the wind.

"Tz, can't believe they are actually attacking during the sunrise." Ritsura said, trying to force the topic away from this unpleasant person.

A youkai who can change the way you see the sun and skies and that extraordinary malice in his eyes... Ritsura was now certain that this would be a more dangerous battle than the one against Shiori.

* * *

The Gyuki Group had recently changed their strategy from protecting Nejireme from possible invasions to protecting certain locations, mainly Gyuki, the Kiyotsugu Resort and the Nura Clan's heiress.

This meant that it was easy for the Kyushu assassins to enter Nejireme unnoticed. Even moving through Nejireme was not much of a problem anymore, but even if they were seen it would be of little consequence: they already started moving into offensive.

Nura Ritsura was neither at the resort nor at Gyuki's mansion. They knew she was visiting someone called Tesshin, but the Kyushu youkai had no idea where his place was. However, it was only a matter of time until they found it and, with it, her.

Nura Rihan was more of a problem: they knew he was at the Kiyotsugu Resort until a while ago, but he then left and not even the Gyuki Group knew where he was. Yashagoro did not feel comfortable with that: for all they knew, he found  **them**  instead and followed them, prepared to strike at them when their guard was down. Targets that could hide in plain sight were dangerous targets.

In order to find the siblings who were obviously not together, Yashagoro had split his group. That way they could cover more ground, would be able to move with a lower chance of being noticed and if the enemy ended up finding one group, the rest would still be safe and able to go on with their mission.

Yashagoro and his group already found Nura Ritsura. However, she was far too well protected for him to make an attack on her.

"Should we attack?" Konaki-Jiji, a youkai who looked like a baby with the face of an old man, suggested to Yashagoro. "If we wait, more reinforcements would arrive and that would just make it harder for us."

"It is unlikely that too many people would protect her instead of…" Yashagoro started but then remembered that he was not allowed to talk about what would come. "They would not stay long with her anyway."

"I don't know what aid Sanmoto-sama promised you but…" Konaki-Jiji was stubborn. "…what if they discover us while too many youkai protect her? It is hard to run away from a Gyuki, you know that."

"That's true…" Yashagoro felt stupid for not thinking about that himself. The longer they wait, the higher the chance that they are found too soon. "In that case…"

" _No Yashagoro-kun, just stay vigilant._ "

"What, who is that?" Yashagoro and a few of his followers asked and looked around, but they saw no one.

" _It is your Savior, Sanmoto Gorozaemon._ " The voice spoke and then something red shone and in front of them a person floated. He looked like a large samurai, clad in red armor. And he was also transparent, adding even more creepiness to his appearance.

"SANMOTO-SAMA!" All of Yashagoro's followers kneeled, with only him still standing.

"Yashagoro, show some respect!" Konaki-Jiji ordered him but Yashagoro had no intentions of doing that. More than ever, he felt that this  _Messiah_  was bad news.

" _No, you show respect!_ " Sanmoto spoke through his mask. " _Yashagoro is my champion, be he aware of it or not._ "

As he said that, Yashaoro stopped feeling judging eyes on his backs and instead he felt his Fear strengthen due to his followers having more trust in him. Yashagoro did not find Sanmoto's words flattering and the fact that they made everyone act like this just pissed him off for some reason.

"Why are you endangering us by showing up?" Yashagoro demanded, speaking with a tone that made his disrespect for this self-proclaimed god obvious.

" _Do not fear boy, nobody will notice you._ " Sanmoto said. " _My angels shall arrive soon and start cleaning this den of Nura Clan's ass-kissers._ "

"Your  _angels_?"

" _Yes, they are people who offered their souls and hearts to me in order to punish the one who wronged them. They shall bring the divine punishment on the Gyuki Group who dare serve my enemies and dishonor my name._ "

"And  _when_  will they attack?"

" _Very soon my champion, very soon…_ " Sanmoto said and pointed at Yashagoro. " _However, their mission is to kill Gyuki and his servants. But the ones_ _ **I**_ _truly want tortured and killed are the children of Nura Rikuo, my archenemy._ " He spoke and started disappearing. " _It is_ _ **your**_ _mission to take care they get what they deserve._ " As he said that, his silhouette completely disappeared.

_Tz, I am not doing this for you, Sanmoto Gorozaemon  
_

* * *

Sanmoto Shiori managed to finally leave the forest and see a human settlement in the distance, but her relief was immediately negated by the sunrise… which was unnatural in every sense of word.

"So he really is starting his Tale on sunrise of all times." She commented to herself. The youkai were strongest at nighttime so this was a bold move. "Well, at least I left in time."

" _You think you are safe, you little whore?_ "

"What?" Shiori turned around, but saw nobody. "Who are you?" Shiori demanded as she looked around herself, her pistol in her hand. Karakasa, who silently followed after her, flew up both in order to get a better look at the area and to strike anyone who might appear.

" _It is Sanmoto Gorozaemon, a name you should know well._ " The voice said. " _I know what you are planning and I prepared another tale just for you._ "

"Oh, just for me?" Shiori smirked. "I'm honored. Even the Nuras had to share theirs with Gyuki's."

" _Oh, just you go around smiling… once I hold you in my hands here in Hell you will cry tears of blood._ "

"Oww, you are such a nice grampa. I am so blessed to call you family~" Shiori found his mocking entertaining. "You know what? I will go to your temple and throw a coin on your shrine. Maybe you can use that extraordinary wealth to fix the shrine once I vandalize it?"

" _If you even reach it…_ " The voice said in a more sinister tone. " _One of my champions might end up slaying you right here where you are._ "

"Huh?" Before she could even contemplate on his words, she felt a killing intent coming from up the mountain and then heard someone land just behind her.

"Tz, I can't believe you already reached me…" She spoke and turned around. "…Riha-chan."

"Well, you are the one who left a trail behind you."

_I left no trail… must have been my kind-hearted ancestor._

Just like a few nights ago, the Fear that came out of him was the mixture of his and of two Maous from Hell. He did not smile like a madman this time, but there was a real resolve in his eyes. Unlike their fight at the theater, her odds now were not nearly as good.

"Coward. I can't believe you are asking  _them_  to give you some courage."

"I gave you enough chances to let me end this easily." He said nothing but just swung his tanto, showing that he was ready for a rematch. "And I remembered that I have to ask you about what happened in Nakano three-"

"And why do you think that I have something interesting to tell you?" She asked, slowly walking backwards, in the direction of the village. But he walked towards her with the same pace.

"Because I remember reading Shiori's name on the boards. Also, it is very convenient that Koko no Kira is in the same school as you are."

"Ho..." She was literally at a loss for what else she could say. She could taunt him, but in state he is now, that did not seem like a good idea.  _Should I call for Midori? No, if I lost control over her for a moment, she may do something to him that I would regret... does that mean that I need to use the Mirror?_

"Huh?" He suddenly stopped walking and looked at something behind her. "What the hell..."

She continued looking at him, thinking that it was a trap... but still, it did not seem like a good idea to ignore whatever he may have seen. Thus, she took out her mirror and used it to look at it while still not losing Rihan from her line of sight.

What she saw in the mirror was a motorbike and flames exploding behind it. She did not expect to see him here, but this worked well in her favor.  _Not a moment too late, Kashaimaru.  
_

* * *

The sinister Fear and the accompanying change of the skies had put everyone on Nejireme on their edge... everyone but one person: Gyuki, the ruler of this mountain himself.

He sat on the terrace of his mansion, looking up at the skies, with Gozumaru, Mezumaru and his other retainers sitting around him.

Gyuki saw the great quantities of Fear in the form of black mist fill the skies, until suddenly they split as fireworks and black orbs started raining on Nejireme and disappear as quickly as they appeared. Only one black cloud remained, floating above the last place Gyuki wanted to see it.

Gyuki rose onto his feet, his sword in his hands. He then started walking and each time he would pass a retainer of his, that retainer would rise up and follow him. It was a silent parade... a parade of youkai who were less interested in pranks and partying and more interested in war.

The intruders appeared on the sunrise but would be killed off long before the sun set. That was Gyuki's decision and resolve.

He never even suspected that this day would turn into a living nightmare for him.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And another chapter comes to an end… and another arc comes to a start!

\- Some old friends of ours have returned, most notably Seimei (from now on referred to as Sei-chan) whom I just could not stop from mixing in and trying to harm the Nuras with the two other Maous

\- Enma is mentioned and I should note that he is not an original youkai but an important part of the Japanese folklore

\- Sanmoto sure likes listening to his own voice…

\- And Rihan is preparing for a rematch with Shiori… though how things are going, his enemy may end up being someone else

* * *

**Omakes and replies to Anons (from FF):**

* * *

**Guest** : " _Damn now that just set like the whole beginning for a epic battle. And I can't wait to see who fights who and how and where! I love this story! I'm very curious about this Project Izanami. I know about Izanami from Japanese myth and I have to say if it's anything I've read...Rikuo you have to gather all your strength!_ "

"He definitely needs to if he intends to stand up against us." Masato said while resting in his sofa. "A day will come when the Nuras will face the true power of our organization."

* * *

**Guest** : " _I'm very interested in Rihan's development and how he conquers his flaws and fears. If he was a bit more creative he could do so much more with Nurarihyon's fear like his sister does with her Yuki-onna fear. Now I'm wondering what would happen if another guy came to sweep Shiori off her feet? I'm curious in what Rihan would do then._ "

It is planned for Rihan to get a lot of development during this arc so look forward to it ;)

As for the other part, your curiosity may get kind of an answer sooner than you are expecting ;P

* * *

**Awesome D.T.**  (ch8): " _Gorozaemon, you intrigue me. Shomen Kongo, eh? Already sounds like a disgusting creature._ "

"What?" Shoumen Kongo jumped onto his feet. "SOMEONE LIKES SANMOTO MORE THAN ME? AND FINDS HIM LESS DISGUSTING THAN ME? I WON'T TOLERATE THIS ATTROCITY!"

"Woohoo!" Sanmoto cheered behind him.

"DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?"

"Um… I can't even fathom why someone would say something like that, Koshin-san."


	40. The Unforgettable Grudges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanmoto's newest play has started. As the sun bleeds, the heroes prepare for yet another youkai feud

 

**Chapter 40 - The Unforgettable Grudges**

_Typical._  Kashaimaru thought when his eyes fell on Shiori and someone who was obviously Nura Rihan the younger. The fact that he had a weapon pointed at her hinted that he was aware of her identity.  _She always has to get herself in one kind of trouble or another._

The part-youkai turned his weapon and attention towards Kashaimaru, prepared for a fight. In response, Kashaimaru pointed his index and middle finger at him and summoned a three-tailed Kitsune which immediately rushed at Rihan. When it got close enough, Kashaimaru activated his spell and the Kitsune burst into flames, forcing Rihan to jump back and confront a flaming spirit.

Kashaimaru, did not stop when he reached Shiori but instead went past her, made a U turn and grabbed her.

"Huh?" Shiori did not seem to have expected this turn of events.

"I will borrow her for a while, if you have no complaints, my good friend." And saying that, he rode off, leaving the Nurarihyon to fight a Kitsune.  _Ah yes, he is the son of a Yuki Onna._ Kashaimaru remembered when he saw the horror on Rihan's face as he tried to pull himself away from the flaming Kitsune.

"What are you doing here?" Shiori asked him as they rode. "Oh, and please take me in that direction."

"As you wish." Kashaimaru said with a sigh. "You asked me to send some talismans to Nejireme, remember?" He said and then took out a small package from his pocket and put it into hers. "And since I had nothing better to do, I went to deliver it myself."

"Well thank you very much." Shiori said and smiled.

"So what is going on here?" Kashaimaru demanded answers. "A person who is supposed to be unaware of you is trying to kill you and the sky seems to have gained quite a pretty shade of manly pink."

"Too long a story and I don't have time to talk about it." Shiori said. "I will say that Nejireme is being attacked by Sanmoto Gorozaemon's newest minions."

"I see… they are attacking the Nura Clan I take it?" When he asked that, she nodded. "Just wondering: if they win, what will those youkai do?"

"Send as many humans to Sanmoto as possible. You know how he rewards his loyal subjects."

"I see." Kashaimaru stopped riding his bike the moment she said that.

"Onmyouji before anything else, right?" Shiori smirked and jumped from the bike. She knew him well enough to know that he would put the safety of the humans here before hers. "Well, thank you for bringing me this far and for the talismans."

"No problem. Is there something you need done while I am on the Nejireme? Something I may like to know?"

"I don't need anything done and I can't give any useful advice because I don't even know the full story behind this Tale."

"I see." Kashaimaru nodded and turned the engine on. "Well, good luck and stay safe, Shi-chan."

"You too." She nodded and then he made a U-turn and started riding towards Nejireme. He would have wanted to talk more with her, but he could see that she was in rush.

"I feel like I am forgetting something…" He muttered to himself. "Ah yes, my Kitsune seems to have been unsummoned. Wait, that means that-"

Suddenly, he felt something punch him right into the face, making him fall from his motorcycle.

"And just who might you be?" A male voice asked him.

"Kashaimaru." He introduced himself to his attacker. "And you are Nura Rihan I presume?" He looked around, hoping that his pet fox was alright. When his eye saw it hiding behind a bush, he felt relieved. The little fox must have jumped out of his backpack before he fell down.

"Yes." The youth with a gourd hair said and prepared to fight by using a tanto. "Shiori must have sent you to delay me."

"Umm…" Kashaimaru thought about saying that he was wrong, but somehow he felt that this person would not trust him anyway. Well, who could blame him for not trusting someone who was on good terms with someone like Shiori?

"Well, care for a fight?" Kashaimaru proposed with a smirk as he rose up. He was not in any rush seeing as the Nura Clan would not lose so fast that he would need to worry about innocent civilians and Shiori would probably be grateful if he kept this guy away from her. "Was about time I got to fight someone with a reputation."

And thus a Fire Onmyouji, and a man with the blood of a Yuki Onna, prepared for battle.

* * *

_Many centuries ago, Buddhist monk called Michitarou lived. He was the smartest monk in his temple and knew every scripture so well that he was challenged to recite as much as he could. His masters were astonished that he was able to successfully recite every scripture from their library, not missing even a word._

_Hungry for more knowledge, the monk left the temple to learn more about his faith. A few years later he would leave Japan for China and India, learning even more about his faith._

_But he was far from a sinless person. As his love for his faith grew, his hate for the other faiths also grew. This was against the Buddhist teachings and he understood it, but he frowned upon everything else from the bottom of his heart. So when he returned to Japan, he joined the radical Buddhist monks who wanted to purge the Shinto faith from Japan, but like every group with that goal, they ended up being annihilated by the Daimyos._

_With that goal becoming unreachable, he wandered Japan until he stumbled upon a razed village. Curiosity got the better of him and he tried to find the mysterious culprit… but to his surprise, the culprits were neither bandits nor the Daimyo. It was the youkai of Mount Nejireme. He went to Nejireme where he found the sacrificial pits where the villagers were sacrificed as an offering to someone, probably some Shinto god._

_And then the giant monsters with the head of a cow and the body of a spider appeared before him and he ran… he ran until he finally managed to flee the wretched mountain. He was ashamed of how he lost his cool and promised to return to this place and to purge it of evil._

_For that goal, he became an Exorcist. His knowledge of Buddhist scriptures helped him to quickly become a famous Buddhist and his work brought him glory that not even some of the Onmyouji Houses held._

_With his spirit strong, he finally returned to Nejireme. He did not feel fear as he put a foot onto this wretched mountain, a dozen more Buddhist monks following after him. They split then, each one going in one direction._

_Michitarou did not stumble upon those monsters again… no, the one he stumbled upon was a young man. The man said that he was trying to attain enlightenment in these serene forests, but the demons that haunted this place made it impossible. The man joined him and soon impressed Michitarou with his knowledge and philosophies concerning the scriptures. The man was so talented that Michitarou soon forgot about trying to lead the man outside and instead started to believe that it was his task to protect him._

_Finally, they met a youkai and Michitarou slew it with one strike. Then more came, and he slew them too. Without much difficulty, he slew nine of them. He laughed as he saw their monstrous corpses below him._

_And the young man laughed when those corpses turned into Michitarou's fellow monks. With illusions, the wretched Gyuki led this pious monk onto a path of sin._

_Michitarou was taken over by his rage and attacked Gyuki, not remembering even one of the scriptures he held so dear._

' _It was your eyes that lead you into this.' The wretched monster told him, evading each one of the monk's strikes. Umewakamaru then grabbed him from behind, his fingers stabbing right into Michitarou's eyes. 'Here, let me free you of what made you commit such a mistake.'_

_And just like that, Michitarou's world turned into darkness. For the next three years he was Gyuki's slave and fool, verbally abused by Gyuki every day… until he finally tried to flee. Then, Gyuki decided to turn the blind monk into another sacrifice for his mother._

_~ Three Hundred Tales of Nejireme, Tale No. 117  
_

* * *

_This waiting game is killing me._  Ritsura thought to herself as she stood outside Tesshin's mansion, looking at the skies while one of Tesshin's retainers stood close to her, guarding her like she was a VIP… actually, she was just that to the Gyuki Group. She was also playing with her ice techniques, creating small quantities of cold wind and freezing the wood and ground around her.

Fifteen to twenty minutes had passed since the  _firework_  happened and the balls of light rained upon Nejireme. None of them fell too close to Tesshin's mansion however, and nobody was in haste to check up on what exactly fell down. Thus, they were  _Sitting Ducks_  while they just waited and discussed about their next course of action. Normally, they would have gone to check on it, but the Fear radiating from those directions made even the impulsive Aotabou reluctant.

"Ritsura-chan, why aren't you with the other youkai inside?" Ryuzan walked out of the mansion, followed by Sakura. "They are discussing what to do next. I would have thought that you'd like to have a say in that."

"If they ask me to make a choice, I will." Ritsura replied to his question. "But I will leave the main decisions up to them."

"And why is that?" Ryuzan continued inquiring.

"They have more experience than I do with these sorts of things. I'd rather not risk everyone's safety for my pride."

Ryuzan didn't seem convinced. "Is that really all there is to it?"

Ritsura did not give him an answer. What she said was true, but so was the fact that she was still afraid. Shiori was new to the youkai feuds, just like Ritsura was. But Sanmoto Gorozaemon had played this game for centuries… and what is more, that malice that came from his eyes and voice as he gazed at her… she may have kept a strong face, but in truth she was terrified. This was the first time she met someone harboring so much hate for her very existence.

"Anyway, what are you doing here?" Obviously he did not want to push it so he changed the topic. "Why are you playing with your ice?"

"I am doing some tests." She answered.

"What kind of tests?" Sakura was the one who asked this.

"You see Sakura-chan, youkai are strongest at nighttime and when they are in a Fear filled territory." Ritsura decided to give her Kouhai another lecture. "Nejireme is one such Fear-filled territory, as are places like Mount Osore, certain parts of Kyoto, Toono and many others. In such places, we youkai feel complete."

"Just out of curiosity…" Ryuzan cut in. "…is this counted as day or night?" He asked, pointing at the dark forest around them.

"It is definitely counted as daytime, the unnatural colors did not stop the sun from weakening me.." Ritsura answered while looking at what looked like a forest pulled out of Hell itself: the dark, red sun made the whole place feel terrifying.

"But the supposed daytime isn't the only thing that is weakening you I presume?" Sakura suggested.

"And you are right." Ritsura created a small orb of cold wind above her right palm. "Sanmoto's stinking Fear is all around us, and is weakening us further." Then she clenched her fist and the orb disappeared. "What is more, Nejireme which nurtured my Fear for the last few times had stopped doing so. As a matter of fact, I feel as if I am not welcomed here."

"Now that you mention it…" Ryuzan seemed to have remembered something. "…Tesshin and Kurenai mentioned something similar just a few moments ago."

"Yes, it seems like the very youkai who live here are weakened." Ritsura said.

"Weakened?" The guard spoke as well. "Oh no Ojou-san, we are not just weakened." Now that he was looking directly at her, she noticed a few drops of sweat on his forehead. "I feel as if voices are screaming in my head… I and every other member of the Gyuki Group felt the same since midnight."

"What do you mean?" Sakura inquired. "What are the voices telling you?"

The youkai must have been quite terrified seeing as he did not seem to be hesitant of talking about such things with a human girl he did not know. "I don't know whose voices they are, but they are screaming for our deaths… they are screaming how they will kill us… slaughter us."

"Are you sure you are not-"

"Listen boy. We of the Gyuki Group are seasoned warriors. We do NOT get scared easily." The guard guessed what the Onmyouji wanted to say. "But this… I don't know why, but I have a bad feeling about this."

"Normally, I'd have called ya a coward but…" Tesshin and Kurenai walked out of the mansion, followed by three retainers. "…but truly, something is wrong here."

"Don't worry Tesshin-dono, I will fight like I usually do." The guard bowed.

"We know you will." Kurenai said with a smile.

Kejorou, Aotabou and Sasami also left the mansion. "I will be on my way then." Sasami said, bowed to Ritsura and flew away without saying where she was going. But no words were necessary: the Sanba Garasu had the same role in all battles against the enemy.

"So, what are we going to do?" Ritsura asked, feeling impatient.

"Me, Kurenai and my retainers will go to Gyuki-sama." Tesshin said and walked past Ritsura. "Good luck, Ojou-san." And as he said that, he and the rest ran. Time was of the essence after all.

"And what are we going to be doing?" Ritsura asked, turning towards Kejorou and Aotabou.

"We will go to the resort." Kejorou spoke. "It is the safest place right now so we will fortify there."

"The resort is the safest place?" Sakura seemed surprised.

Ritsura was the one to answer this question. "It may be a tourist facility, but my father was worried what may happen if someone attacked the mountain while the humans are there… and some small or big fry attacks every now and then… so father and Gyuki took care that the place is protected by all kinds of talismans."

"My dad made the barriers so you can bet they will be strong." Ryuzan did not let the chance to boast go to waste. "And my father is as good as the legendary Onmyouji Tenkai used to be."

"Oh, even I have heard about Tenkai." Sakura nodded.

"Of course you did." Ryuzan winked while Kejorou and Aotabou, who did not know what Sakura actually was, wondered what he meant by it. Ryuzan then turned towards Ritsura. "By the way, how many youkai does the Gyuki Group have? They look small compared to most clans I saw."

"Seventy five youkai make its main force." Kejorou answered this one. "But after the Nue was defeated, Gyuki-sama became worried that Nura clan would be facing even stronger enemies so he went around Japan, visited some old friends and recruited some of them, as well as some youths that wanted to serve a famous clan."

"And you can bet they are all the finest fighters." Aotabou added. "I heard you have defeated most of them, Onmyouji boy, but when they fight to kill, they  _fight_! The recruits are no doubt also quite formidable as Gyuki would not take in just anyone."

" _So the demonic bastard found himself some new monsters?_ " A sinister voice spoke. " _So many monsters to kill until the world is pure…._ " A sigh was heard.

Everyone turned towards the source of the voice and what they saw was a figure dressed as a Buddhist monk. He had a shaved head, with a gross, inhuman eyeball sticking out of his forehead, moving around as if it were a living being. His actual eyes were missing, and in their place were empty eye sockets through which the blood flowed.

"This Fear…" Kejorou started.

"…it is the same as from those balls of light!" Ritsura finished.

Aotabou did not say anything and instead immediately went for an attack. But the morbid monk did not move. "It is a shame how many of us become monsters, is it not?" But the monk successfully evaded his fist, grabbed it and pulled Aotabou into the air.

"Wha-" Aotabou started, but the monk hit the ground with him with such force that a crater was created, as large as the ones that Aotabou himself could create.

"It is tragic to see another brother turned into a monster." The monk said, putting his hands together. "But don't worry, I will purify you and send you to the greatest of the bodhisattva, Sanmoto Gorozaemon himself."

_And here comes our first enemy._  Ritsura thought and gulped. Immediately after that, she took out Nenekirimaru from its scabbard and prepared for the fight. The rest did the same.

* * *

_They used to be Gyuki's favorite servants and lovers. No, not of the current human-like Gyuki, but the true Gyuki who ruled Nejireme since time immemorial, until a human-turned-demon killed him and took his name, title and fief._

_Now, eight sisters were in a make-up prison. It was made of wood and bones of the Gyuki who rejected to bow to Umewakamaru. These sisters were especially hated by that wretched boy, mainly because they were the ones who had led his mother to Mount Nejireme, where Gyuki killed her. They giggled as they thought that the brat would follow the same fate as his mother._

_But they did not giggle for long._

" _Food…" There were six of them left, the others having been murdered by Umewakamaru in a fit of rage. When the wretched boy calmed down, he decided that just killing them was too good for them, so he intended to starve them to death._

" _You already have food." The wretched boy said in an emotionless tone. "Just kill one another and eat their flesh. Your master seemed to have a liking for flesh, so I am sure you do too."_

_Every time they saw him pass or look at them, they begged him for mercy… or at least some food. And each time he would look at them in contempt and, in an emotionless tone, tell them to eat one another._

_Of course, they did not even consider doing that. They were sisters after all and cared greatly for one another. They were certain that, sooner or later, he would give in, if only so he could continue torturing them in some other way._

_But then their youngest and weakest sister never woke up. And as they cried for her, Umewakamaru said "Bon Apettite". This and only this time his tone was not emotionless but playful… playful in the most sinister way possible._

_Of course, they did not eat her! They gathered some wooden trash from their cells and buried her under it and waited for her to disintegrate into smoke._

_The second sister to die was the eldest one and she committed suicide. With a smile on her face, she told her sisters to eat her so they would not die in agony. Desperate and deluded that this would satisfy Umewakamaru, the sisters did as their elder sister asked them to._

_But Umewakamaru did not set them free and soon they returned to agony._

_Eating her was a mistake. Once they tasted it, they desired more than just any food._

_Then the third sister died. They found her dead, her Ikigimo, face, an arm and both legs eaten. Finally, Umewakamaru got what he wanted: one of the sisters went past the point of no return. Or maybe more than one did it? Nobody would ever know._

_When the fourth was found dead, the remaining four sisters went berserk and started killing each another… until only one was left. She feasted upon the flesh of her sisters, becoming so wretched that her very appearance changed._

_Umewakamaru never set her free. After he saw that only one was left, he never even passed past the cage. And the final sister died in agony brought by starvation, cursed to the point of no return and judged by Enma, the King of Hell, to spend an eternity in starvation._

_Still, the humans should fear her. Because should this monster ever leave Hell… no words could explain what may happen. For not only has she become wretched, but her hate killed what little sanity was left in her._

_~Three Hundred Tales of Nejireme, Tale No. 13_

* * *

That brown hair, slender build… and her pretty face… most of all her pretty face… she looked just like her sister. And Niko loved her sisters so much that she could eat them.

She did eat them in her former life. That was why she now had a large, round mouth with fangs that could move at their own, and why her skin had gotten a reddish color, as if the blood of her sisters was impossible to wash.

"Stay away!" She shouted, two giant claws stretching from her backs. "Do you even know with whom you are dealing with? I am a member of the prestigious Gyuki Group, the strongest-"

Niko did not care about words. Unless they were words of her savior, Sanmoto Gorozaemon, or screams of that wretched Umewakamaru, she did not care about words. The only thing she cared about was flesh… flesh and the delicious suffering of her victims.

Niko jumped at her prey. The prey went to grab her with one of her claws, but Niko just grabbed it with her hand and, as easily as if she was breaking a branch on a dry tree, she ripped the claw from her.

But the prey did not whimper: it threw her spear at Niko and the spear stabbed her right into her guts. The spear had a lot of Fear enchanted into it and it hurt Niko to feel such extraordinary pain.

But to Niko, who had suffered so much already, this pain was ecstatic. And not only that, but her hunger just grew… she liked her growing hunger as it made the taste of flesh all the more delicious.

The oblivious prey had a large grin on her face. Did she stop grinning when Niko jumped at her? Nobody would know as the moment the Niko found herself atop this woman, she stabbed her teeth right into her pretty face and ripped it off.

"AAAAAHHHHH!" The woman screamed, and she screamed even louder when Niko's sharp tongue stabbed into her eye and pulled it right into her mouth. " **AAAAHHHHHHHH!** "

The screams of her victim have started to annoy her so the next target for Niko's tongue was this woman's tongue: it went right into her mouth and ripped the tongue off. However, that did not stop the woman from making annoying sounds, so she turned her around and pushed her face into the ground.

Most of the time, youkai were proud of the fact that wounds that would be instant death to humans would not kill a youkai. One could lose half of their body and still survive. However, at times like this, many no doubt wished they did die like humans did. With each bite that Niko took, the victim's agony became worse.

Then, something hard hit Niko, throwing her into the air and almost breaking her skull. Still in air, Niko turned around and landed on all fours. She was furious to see that a group of youkai arrived and, due to mercy, ended the life of Niko's prey in one swift strike.

And Niko became even more furious when she saw just who the ones that lead this group were. "Tesssshin… Akaaaannneee…" Niko let those two names leave her mouth.

"N… Niko?" Kurenai was the one to speak. "W… what happened to you?"

"She is no longer the Niko we used to know, Kurenai." Tesshin put a hand on Kurenai's shoulder.

"Trrraitorssss…" Niko spoke. She remembered Kurenai and how they used to be friends, but when the wretched boy imprisoned Niko and her sisters, Kurenai did not even come to look at them. "Traitorsss…" She remembered Tesshin, the true Gyuki's kin and the one who should have lead the Gyuki Group against the wretched boy… but what he ended up doing was becoming the wretched boy's servant. "TRAITORSSS!"

For the first time in as long as she could remember, Niko's hunger was replaced by another emotion: hate. She would bring divine justice upon these traitors.

* * *

_In the early years of the Sengoku Jidai, one of the defeated Warlords decided to build a castle on Mount Nejireme. It made sense, after all Mount Nejireme did seem like a perfect place for a castle. The only problem was: the number of deaths and razed villages surrounding the mountain suggested that some strong bandit groups plagued the region._

_So, he and his soldiers went there. Mind you, these are not some peasants armed with cheap armor. Oh no, they were samurai, armed with finest weapons and a number of them dressed in plate armor. They would make quick work of these mysterious outlaws._

_However, they found nothing on the mountain, other than a few abandoned houses and shacks. Obviously the bandits ran in fear of their might. With a smirk on his face, the warlord had claimed the mountain as his own._

_He ordered the men of surrounding villages to work on building the castle, but they rejected. When he and his armies threatened to slaughter them, they said that they were far too afraid to risk Gyuki's wrath. In his own fit of rage, the warlord had an entire village killed for this disobedience, expecting the other villages to submit. But they did not._

_So, he sent for workers from his own provinces and took good care that they did not get in contact with the locals, lest the fear took them over too. So, he left Nejireme to conquer a few fiefs, not returning for two weeks._

_When he did return, he found the workers and soldiers guarding them all dead, slaughtered like animals. He had every foot of land on Nejireme and the surrounding lands investigated, but once again he did not find even a trace of the bandits._

_Fortunately, he had recently conquered more land and had the workforce come to work on his castle. In order to take care that no bandits delayed the building of his castle, he and a part of his army kept guard. But when they went to sleep and woke up, they found all but one of the workers dead. Interestingly, all warriors were sparred._

_It was now obvious that these were not bandits. After all, it was impossible for mere bandits to sneak into the mountain, sneak past the sleeping warriors and kill the workers without anyone noticing._

_Obviously, there was a would-be usurper amongst his men and a part of his army supported him. They must have hired mercenaries to slaughter the former group and then they themselves killed the current group of workers. The surviving worker confirmed that he saw the soldiers move around and that he survived only because he went to relieve himself and hid when he saw a group of workers moving around._

_If the traitors thought they could sabotage him and make him think it was done by youkai, they were wrong. The tyrannical warlord had every soldier who was with him on Mount Nejireme killed._

_But the next week the same thing happened: workers were slaughtered and the warriors sparred. Obviously, he could not kill another group of (supposedly) local warriors so instead he decided to stay awake and guard the workers himself._

_Nothing happened the first day, but he did not stop. The traitors or bandits just waited for him to go away. He became so obsessed about finding out who the culprits were that he no longer paid attention to what happened in the rest of his lands and soon lost everything but Nejireme._

_His lack of sleep and nocturnal life in general made him paranoid and rash and soon he looked more like a madman than a powerful warlord. Everyone around him was a traitor, a murderer hid behind every tree and maybe even the workers were some kind of suicidal cult._

_But on the twentieth night, an army of monsters attacked and razed everything he had built. But rather than flee or admit defeat, he went insane and decided to stay and fight. He would make the youkai pay in blood._

_They attacked again the next night and while his own soldiers died left and right, he managed to slay a number of the demons. The taste of youkai blood was so delicious that he turned into a berserker, killing everyone he found in his way, be they an enemy or ally._

_But it took Gyuki only one slash to cut through the warlord's full-plate armor and split him in two. They say that the insane warlord constantly leaves Hell, searching for his unnatural enemy with an army behind him. If you see them, stay out of their way for they cannot differentiate between an enemy and a civilian._

_~ Three Hundred Tales of Nejireme, Tale No. 273  
_

* * *

_Where is it?_  The undead warlord, clad in armor from head to toe, walked through the forest.  _Where is it… where is Gyuki's castle…_   _Gah, these forests are annoying! I don't care if you are a human or a youkai, if you are even a Kokujin you should clean your own damn fief!_  The warlord thought, ignoring the fact that a youkai has no need for farms, trade and such.

He hated Gyuki. Were it not for him and his games, he might have become a Shogun or, failing that, his name might have been remembered by generations to come. But because of this youkai, he was forced to die a death that would result in him being forgotten by history.

For that purpose, he would help in destroying everything that Gyuki owned. His life, lives of his comrades and even his houses… everything would be killed by him if possible. He would burn everything to a crisp.

Finally, he found what he was looking for: Gyuki's mansion. He never saw the place, but something told him that this was where Gyuki lived.

He was disappointed.  _This? Are you serious? This is something built for a merchant, not a mighty warlord. How could a piece of shit that lives in a place like this manage to defeat a mighty warlord like me?_ As wrathful thoughts pulsed through his head, he raised his sword and shouted: " _MEN, PREPARE FOR THE ATTACK!_ " As those words left his mouth, countless warriors from whom some lacked limbs and others had arrows and swords stabbed into them, appeared around him. They were his army and they had to serve him even in death.

"What kind of warrior sends an army against a lone man?" A voice said from the manor and Gyuki appeared at the entrance. "Come in, we shall fight it as a warrior against a warrior." He said and disappeared into the darkness of the mansion.

" _It is a trap obviously. But whatever._ " The warlord said but lowered his blade. " _MEN, WAIT FOR MY SIGNAL!_ " With that said, the warlord walked into the mansion with a quick, but confident, pace.

"Good to see you still have some honor." Gyuki waited for him inside, sitting down and reading a book that stood on a pedestal. "You are the aggressor, so it falls on you to make an attack."

" _Where are the rest of your men?_ " The warlord asked him.

"They are fighting the other enemies in the woods."

" _And yet their leader is here, all alone._ "

"I trust that they can deal with Sanmoto's men easily enough." Gyuki said and rose up, a long katana being held in his right hand. "As for me… well, I can handle you and your entire army alone."

This understatement was what spilled the glass and the Warlord jumped at him. Gyuki deflected his sword and moved aside, pushing the Warlord in another direction.  _At least I am certain that he is not just some illusion._  He found out during his human life that Gyuki used illusions in his fights so a part of him was always afraid that he could fool him with one.

But he was here, in flesh and blood. And that assurance made his blood boil.

" _AAAARGHHH!_ " With his adrenaline overflowing, the Warlord ran at him and swung his blade with so much speed that Gyuki was forced to evade rather than defend. But to his annoyance, Gyuki's face was emotionless as always.

Of course, he had no intention to play fairly.  _Come here and help me._

And while he kept Gyuki's attention, one of his soldiers stormed inside with a spear and impaled Gyuki through his right shoulder. Finally, Gyuki made a concerned expression.

The warlord used did not waste his chance and made one last swing at his enemy… but Gyuki was not someone to lose his attention so easily so he evaded the attack, but not before it made the wound on his shoulder larger.

"Hmph, should have known you would be cheating."

" _Says the one who had fought against me with illusions while I was still alive._ " The Warlord did not care that he dishonored himself and just watched at him with confidence as more of his soldiers ran into the mansion.

"Good that I was not alone then." Gyuki said and then the doors around them slid open and human like figures appeared behind them, with bows in their hands, ready to fire.

And then the world around them turned into a mixture of colors.  _Damn it! Gyuki is blocking our sight!_  And just as expected, arrows started raining at them from all directions, hitting into their bodies.

Were they not undead, this would have been the end for them.

"Yo _u bastards… YOU UNDERESTIMATED ME LONG ENOUGH!_ " And then the Warlord screamed, turning everything around him into fire. As he had hoped, his flaming rage had broken the illusion, killing both his own soldiers and the enemy's. Of course, he would just revive his own men so that was of no consequence.

And then Gyuki attacked, using his left hand instead of his right. He alone did not seem to have been caught by this inferno.

_There is nothing more annoying than smartasses who use the left hand!_  The two warriors fought while an inferno burnt all around them.  _Something is fishy here… something is fishy! But what?_

" _I am getting tired of this! MEN, EXECUTE HIM HERE AND NOW!_ " And as those words left his mouth, the spear-wielding soldiers appeared all around them and stabbed Gyuki through all parts of his body. " _This is the end of you, you lowly marauder!_ "

And the Warlord then kicked him down onto the ground. " _Where are your men now, marauder?_ " After saying that, the Warlord punched him with such force that he broke some of his teeth. " _Where is your Fear now, eh?_ " The strength of his punched intensified to the point that blood started filling at all sides. " _Where is your fucking pride now, Gyuki?_ " And with one last strike, he crushed his head.

And then Gyuki turned into black smoke and disappeared.

" _What?_ " It took him an entire minute to conclude what had just happened. " _THIS WAS A FUCKING ILLUSION AFTER ALL!_ " The Warlord than turned around and started looking around himself. "WHERE ARE YOU HIDING GYUKI! TELL ME!"

* * *

"Is that coming from the mansion?" Shima commented when he saw a large pillar of fire from the distance. "I sure am glad that we are no longer there."

"No time to look around." Heiko pulled his hand and thus forced him to continue walking. "We are close to the resort, let us not get caught by someone just before we reach it. That would be beyond embarrassing."

"What did you do to the manor again?"

"I made it haunted. That's what we Kage Onna do." Heiko explained. Now that she was no longer holding up a distant illusion, she was able to run so she made him and herself turn to running. "Gyuki-sama was kind enough to let me take some of his Fear so the illusion was not a pushover."

"Your face makes it look like it was not enough."

"No, it wasn't." Heiko bit her lower lip. "This is one powerful youkai, able to create an entire army from nothing. I did not expect that."

"An army? Are you sure that those barriers we were told about would keep him at bay?"

"No. That's what I am there for: we both use similar techniques." Heiko said, with fear and excitement in her voice. "In other words, he is kind of a rival to me and so it falls to me to keep him at bay."

* * *

Gyuki remembered them all.

He remembered some by their faces. For those who no longer had faces, he remembered them by their voices. And in case they lacked both, his sixth sense told him who they were.

They were all his victims, people he murdered between his transformation into a youkai and Nurarihyon making him into his underling, thus changing his life. So killed so many innocent people in his rage and delusional belief that he was honoring his mother… or that spilling blood upon her grave would somehow return her to life. In truth, he was just satisfying his own rage… and his lack of purpose. And now, they were all turned into monsters… ironically, for almost the same reason that he became one.

Still, there was no hesitation in the hands that swung his blade. Men, women, children… he slew them again, albeit without unnecessary violence. His retainers did the same. With their leaders leading the parade, there was no fear or hesitation in their strikes.

Yet something was amiss.

These youkai were simply too weak. No, that was wrong: they did not fight to their fullest. The Fear that resonated from them was much stronger than the Fear that attacked them.

And they were definitely able to fight at a higher level. He could feel youkai battling far away from him, and in their cases the invaders used all of their might.

Coming to a conclusion was easy: they had no intention of stopping him. They did attack him in great numbers, but they did not fight. And even once they fell dead, Gyuki could still feel their Fear around. Most likely, they could return to life again.

They wanted him to reach his destination… and that made him worried about what he would find there.

But that was of no consequence. He would  _pass that bridge once he reached it_  and, until then, he would keep bringing down these abominations that his sins had created.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

The Play has started. Let's hope the audience likes it!

\- The first battles are decided, but of course there are more villains to come, each with their own story in italic ;P

\- We see here that Ritsura is feeling uncertain, especially after feeling Sanmoto's malice. Her careful approach has its uses, but in return it makes her quick to worry

\- Niko's segment was a bit brutal, and more is to come in this arc. For this reason, the fic's rating will change to M last a Moderator deletes the fic and I have to re-upload it all

Well… that's it. Nothing else to say here, bye!

* * *

**Omakes and FF Comment replies:**

* * *

**Silvia** : " _Ritsura, I have a feeling this battle will make you feel weaker and foolish for bragging about your strength earlier._ "

Bragging and being sure of it are two different things ;P She already knows that she may be too weak for this, but she doesn't really have a choice due to the path she had chosen. At least, she is less sure in herself than her predecessors were.

* * *

**Digitalwriter92** : " _Finally some Ritsura and Ryuzan fluff. I knew she wasn't completely pure every teenage girl has those moments where thoughts of dirty things just come at ya. However a onmyouji Keikain and a nura yokai heiress...who would be more upset over that. I can't see Rikuo being to upset nor Yura._ "

"Who cares about my imbecile of a sister?" Ryuji shouted, ignoring his sister's complaints from the background. "No son of mine will date a youkai!"

* * *

**Guest** : " _Yashagoro really doesn't like Sanmoto and I can't blame him. Sometimes I wonder if he really wants to go through this. I know he is an assassin and loves his clan but I believe Yashagoro would make one hell of a ally. However I wonder if Ritsura could handle a real fight with Yashagoro._ "

Yashaogro's time will come once this arc is over. Had I known that it would take this long for him to get into action, I would have introduced him later -_- (originally, the Nejireme arc was supposed to start much, much earlier)

* * *

**Citsimsan** : " _(You know, can't Rihan kick their collective asses in hell? Or maybe he's too busy with Yamabuki Otome, if you know what I mean...)_ "

The former second commander of the Nura Clan just gives another one of his trademark winks ;)


	41. The Undying Legacy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first part of the play has started, and some of our heroes are already in the midst of fighting for their lives

**Chapter 41 – The Undying Legacy**

_Fire. Why must it be fire?_  Even though he was unable to use ice techniques, Rihan still disliked heat. And unlike his sister and mother, he was unable to use ice to cool himself down, thus this weakness was even more cumbersome than it would have been for them.

Still, as long as it was not naturally created heat, he could protect himself to some extent by the power of his raw Fear. However, that had its own bad side-effect: the more Fear he used for defense, the less he had for offense.

And as he and his nemesis gazed upon one another, Rihan realized there was another concerning issue: this Onmyouji seemed powerful. Kashaimaru did not seem as concerned as Rihan did, and smiled as if he were going to enjoy himself.

Annoyed, Rihan released some more of his Fear, hoping to make that grin tremble, if only for a moment. Yet, the grin just got larger. "When an animal feels endangered, it tries to look more intimidating." The Onmyouji moved his hands away from each other and then punched one hand with another, burning all grass in a two meters radius. "Come on, don't be so concerned. We are both warriors, show some sporting spirit."

_No talismans… even I know that only the strongest Onmyouji can fight without those. This guy is dangerous._  Yet, the concern just made him smile.  _Interesting. Very interesting._ Thus, Rihan also started to grin.

The next moment, Rihan appeared beside the Onmyouji, intending to slash him with the Nenekirimaru. Since he did not intent to kill him, he did not use his tanto which would be dangerous for a human.

The Onmyouji gave him another grin and the air around them heated up to the point that even a fire youkai would get worried. Luckily for Rihan, he just tested the ground by having his mirage attack so he was spared of the heat. But even from a safe distance, he could feel just how strong the heat was.

"Ah, so there you are." The Onmyouji said and pointed his index finger at him. "We're just getting started with the show." Two light orbs came out of his glove and turned into two-tailed foxes, which were no doubt Shikigami.

Without hesitation or warning, the foxes jumped towards Rihan, but his Nenekirimaru slashed through them like they were butter, so they were disposed of quickly. "Isn't summoning of Shikigami supposed to be exhausting for an Onmyouji?"

"Yes, but don't worry about me." The Onmyouji said and prepared his fists for an attack. "The term  _above average_  would not make justice to the spiritual energy that I posses."

Rihan prepared for the Onmyouji to jump at him, but then he felt something bite at his shoulder. Instinctively, his eyes started moving toward his shoulder.  _NO!_ Before he even got a chance to look at what bit him, he turned his eyes back towards the Onmyouji who was now a mere meter away from him, but his fist was only half a meter away from Rihan's nose.

Even though the unknown assailant stabbed its claws into Rihan's backs, Rihan evaded the Onmyouji's fist, grabbed the unseen assailant on the place where he expected a tail, pulled it out while ignoring the pain of part of his skin and flesh being ripped off, turned around and hit the Onmyouji with the fox. The Onmyouji and the fox managed to land on their feet and then move a few steps away from Rihan.

"I see, so you summoned three of them." Rihan said while putting his hand on his shoulder, healing the wound. "That's quite dirty of you."

"Less dirty than a guy who wants to kill a pretty girl in cold blood."

If there was any playfulness in Rihan, it went away after the Onmyouji said those words. For some reason, he really wanted to kick this guy's ass.

Knowing that he could not go easy on him, Rihan took out his tanto and planned to fight with dual-wielding techniques. Fortunately, his father taught them to him long time ago.

"Oh, raising up the stakes eh? Guess I should do the same then." The Onmyouji smiled and clapped his hands. The Two-tailed Fox Shikigami disappeared and another one appeared, this one larger and with six tails. However, Rihan was certain that biting was not the only thing this one could do. "Impressed? I am not even done yet." The Onmyouji put a hand on the fox's backs and it burst into flames… or more exactly, it turned into a fire-fox.

"SHIT!" Rihan yelled and took a step back. The six-tails jumped into the air with such speed that it was already above Rihan. The Onmyouji did not waste time and started to run himself.

Rihan met the fox's fangs with Nenekirimaru and slashed his tanto towards the Onmyouji, forcing him to go from offensive into evading his blade. However, none of them were actually stopped: the Onmyouji turned by 360 degrees and hit Rihan into his left abdomen, while the fox grabbed his right arm with its tail and threw him away. Rihan's fingers slipped and Nenekirimaru was left in the fox's mouth.

Rihan hit a tree, but managed to keep standing on his feet. "Gaaakh!" He let a painful moan, not because he hit a tree (the force he was thrown with was not that bad, from a youkai's perspective at least) but because of the burn on his right hand where the fox's tail touched it. Luckily, his healing ability worked on burns too.

This Onmyouji was dangerous. This Onmyouji was way too dangerous. Rihan had to go all out on him if he intended to win.

Once again, the fox and the Onmyouji ran at him. But this time, Rihan did not wait for them but instead ran at them.

The burning fox burst into flames and Rihan felt like he was melting as the gap between him and his enemies became smaller. However, he had to endure it if he wanted to win.

The fox bit him into his shoulder, but that proved to be just a mirage and the real Rihan was half a meter behind, with the tanto in his mouth. He grabbed the fox head with his left hand and its neck with his right. He felt like he had put his hands into a volcano, but he clenched his teeth (almost breaking the tanto that Shiori gave him as a gift) and broke the fox's neck and skull, resulting in it disappearing. Rihan was not sure what could kill a Shikigami, but somehow he was certain that it was not killed by this, only un-summoned. Not that he really cared.

But the fox was only one of his enemies: his other one looked at him and moved his hands in a position. He was no longer grinning.

Rihan was not sure if the Onmyouji wanted to attack or summon another fox, but he did not wait to find out. While the Onmyouji glared at the mirage, Rihan stopped right in front of the Onmyouji who got shocked to find out that his enemy was closer than he expected. But before he could do anything, Rihan slit his throat with his tanto.

The Onmyouji's eyes widened at the shock of what just happened to him and he reflexively grabbed his bleeding throat. However, not only could he not stop the bleeding from there, but the blood started spilling from his mouth as well. The Onmyouji gave Rihan another shocked glare and then fell down onto the ground with his face down.

"Sorry, but I could not risk it." Rihan apologized to the corpse. "But I need to be at full strength for today." Normally, he may not have killed him, even though he knew that he worked with Shiori. However, going easy would mean he would get exhausted and getting exhausted at this time would increase his own chances of dying. And Rihan was not such a hero to sacrifice his life for a hostile stranger.

So he turned his back to the Onmyouji and cleaned his tanto, all while his hands healed themselves. He then took the Nenekirimaru which was on the ground and… felt a great amount of Fear collecting itself behind him.

He slowly turned around and saw the black mist around the Onmyouji's corpse… no, corpse was no longer a valid term because it started shaking and tried to rise up. The fear then turned into flames and part of it collected around his head and back, making him look like a Kitsune.

_I know this Fear…_  Rihan took a step backwards.  _It is like Hagoromo Gitsune's._  He remembered meeting that terrifying woman and feeling such powerful Fear, he wondered how his father could have ever defeated her. _Not using talismans, powerful Onmyoudo, use of Fox spirits as Shikigami, part-youkai and immortal… this guy is a Gokadoin._ Even he knew how powerful the Gokadoin Onmyouji were, as well as that quite a few of them found different ways to reach immortality.

_Shit, how do I fight this guy… no, I can't fight him! Shiori is my target, not him._ Rihan was certain that he could defeat him if he gave his best, but he was also certain that fighting someone this powerful would make him too exhausted to keep fighting anyone, yet alone Shiori or whoever ended up protecting her.  _I have to slip away…_

So, he turned his back to the Gokadoin and ran away. Even more than for their strength, the Nurarihyons were known for their talent to escape unnoticed.

* * *

"Just… who are you?" Aotabou asked the Buddhist monk with empty eye sockets and a tentacle holding an eyeball on his forehead.

"Does it matter?" Ryuzan asked.

"Doesn't hurt to know… or confirm." Ritsura replied, still prepared for a fight.

"I am a pious monk, which is all you need to know." The youkai monk prepared to fight with his staff. "And I have to purify my corrupted brother, monsters and two heathens."

"It seems like you may need a rehearsal on our lessons,  _brother_." Aotabou punched his own fists. "But first, some disciplining is in order."

"So, you are the first one I will be fighting today." The monk started spinning the staff in his hand. His eye also turned to blood red and started to grow. "Good, cleaning the ranks always needs to be done before anything else."

"There is no reason for a one-on-one battle here." Ritsura said, created a spear of ice and threw it at the monk.

But before the spear reached him, the eye flashed with red color and both of the Buddhist monks disappeared into thin air.

"What…" Sakura was the first to talk. "What just happened? Where did they disappear?"

"Tz, I hate guys who create their own worlds with their Fear." Ritsura said and sheathed her sword. However, it did not seem like she was replying to Sakura's question.

"Let's just say that the monk teleported them into another dimension and leave it at that." Ryuzan answered Sakura's question. "I will explain in more detail later."

"So, what do we do?" Kejorou asked. "Should we go on or try to free Aotabou?"

"Sunrise and Sanmoto's Fear is weakening our Fears while somehow strengthening the Monk's. I doubt we can cut it…. But it is worth trying, I guess." As Ritsura said that, she took out Nenekirimaru and tried cutting any foreign Fear. However, other than Sanmoto's Fear weakening a bit for a few moments, nothing happened. "Yep, the monk's Fear is way too powerful right now."

"So, we go on?" Ryuzan asked.

"Yes, we go on." Ritsura sighed. "We go on, hope Ao beats him up soon and hope that anyone else we may stumble upon doesn't possess such an inconvenient ability."

* * *

" _AAH!" Niko jumped out of her sheaths, sweating so much that one would think it was the middle of summer, not a winter night._

_Knowing that she wouldn't get any sleep tonight, Niko got out of her tatami, put on some sandals and started leaving her room._

" _Mmm… Niko?" One of her sisters spoke, but Niko was not sure which one. "Was it a bad dream again?"_

" _Y… yes. Excuse me." Niko said and continued leaving the room._

" _Clear your head, but don't take too long. Gyuki-sama gets annoyed whenever he sees bags under your eyes."_

' _In that case, I hope he doesn't punish me.' Niko thought as she walked on the snowy ground. Her feet got dirty, but she did not care. 'Well, at least I know Gyuki-sama will not be the one who will kill me. Those dreams reassure me of that, if nothing else.'_

_Fortunately, there was a medicine for these dreams of her. It may not stop the dreams themselves, but at least it could make her feel less horrified._

_And that medicine was in the forest, not that far away from where she slept. Niko stopped above that place, but there was more moving to be done as her medicine was located in a deep hole. However, it was not that hard for her to reach the bottom._

_And there it was, her medicine: the bones of people killed by Gyuki. There were bones of animals, men, women, children and the elderly… some bones were so old that even someone with no scholarly knowledge like Niko could guess their age._

_She sat on a stone and gazed upon them. Niko, and her sisters, were responsible for quite a number of these bones. They were the ones who, under Gyuki's orders, approached humans and convinced them that they had to go to or pass through Mount Nejireme._

_None of the bones belonged to people whom Niko had killed directly. That's not to say that her hands were clean: she had killed many herself, but mostly other youkai. However, she was still responsible for the deaths of many people here. She was a murderer._

_And murderers deserve a proper punishment. Because of that, she felt more accepting of whatever horrible fate awaited her. She deserved to die, there was no denying it._

_Yet, there were still people who disagreed with that notion._

" _You are here again." He said. "Can you not find something nicer to calm down?"_

_She turned her head towards the man who spoke. He looked ordinarily, with a face that was shaved only every few days and a small, but still strong, build. "Were you following me again, Atsushi-san?" She greeted him._

" _No, my shift just ended." Atsushi said and sat on the ground next to her. He was a member of the T-Squad, a trio made of Tesshin, Kurenai and Atsushi. However, he was a kind of youkai that did not need to sleep so he often volunteered for guard duty. "I simply had a feeling that you may come here again."_

" _Ah… and why did you think that?" She asked and, after a bit of hesitation, put a hand on his shoulder. It was a soft touch and he might not have even felt it, but the shy Niko barely managed to accumulate courage to make such a simple gesture. She knew that she acted like a girl who just entered adolescence, but there was not much she could do. She may act confident in front of her targets, but false confidence and real confidence were two entirely different things._

" _Just a hunch." He said and put his hand onto hers, to which she reacted by quickly pulling her hand away and blushing. His counter-reaction was an entertained smile, but the smile lasted for only a moment. "Are the nightmares still getting worse?"_

" _Yes…" She would have wished that he did not remind her of it. "They are getting more common and more… real, so to say."_

" _Do you at least have any idea what it is about?" Atsushi asked her but when he saw her face turn pale, he realized that he should not have asked it in that way. "I mean… besides that… that they are brutal and all that." However, he was as awkward as she tended to be. Maybe that was why they took liking to one another in the first place._

_And while his words did make her feel slightly uncomfortable, his clumsiness was soothing. "No… it is getting more terrifying, but I still cannot understand what is going on… as a matter of fact, it is actually getting harder for me to perceive what is going on in those dreams." Niko crossed her fingers. "After all, it feels like I am not even… sane in those dreams."_

" _Umm…" He obviously did not know what to say._

_Before he could spoil the moment, Niko decided to demand something from him."Atsushi, if I ever…" She was not sure what exactly she could say. "If I ever lose my sanity, could you please kill me?"_

_Atsushi just continued gazing in front of him, although his mouth was open and eyes widened due to shock. Then he rose up and turned towards her, gazing at Niko from above her. "What… no…"_

" _Please?" She asked him again. "I don't want for those nightmares to become true. I don't want to be responsible for… any more deaths…"_

" _NO!" He yelled and took her hands into his. "No, I will not! You will not fall into insanity, Niko! You are stronger than you think, so that will never happen no matter what the dreams try to tell you!"_

" _Atsushi…san…?"_

" _And don't forget about me!" He grabbed her hand and pulled her up. "I will be there to protect you…" He put a hand behind her head and pulled her towards his. "Both your body and soul."_

_And the two had their first kiss that night… and their last, for the next day a boy called Umewakamaru arrived at Nejireme.  
_

* * *

_Niko… why did this happen to you?_  Kurenai could still not believe her eyes. Niko, once a beautiful woman, had become wretched to the point it was hard to believe that she used to be a youkai that looked like a human. The fangs in her mouth, bloody and with pieces of meat sticking from them, hands with a predator's claws and even the way she stood, with uncertainty on should she be on two or four legs, made her look like she was an entirely different kind of youkai. And she probably was.

Niko lowered herself onto all fours and with high velocity, jumped up onto a branch and then to another. Both Kurenai and Tesshin lost sight of her. Niko moved so quickly that it seemed like she was everywhere, and the wind did not help.

"Stay vigilant, Kurenai." Tesshin spoke, prepared to strike at whoever and from wherever strikes at him. "You too men! She could-" He spoke to the rest of their entourage when…

"AAAAH!" One of them screamed. Tesshin and the rest turned towards the source of the voice, only to see that one of them was now lacking a head.

Before any of them could react, it happened again. "NO!" Another one screamed and most turned towards himself while the others kept their eyes upwards, hoping it would make spotting Niko easier.

And they were the first to see something fall from one of the treetop… and that something were their comrade's limbs. When they fell down, the ones close to the corpse saw that Niko took quite a number of bites. But they did not look long at them and instead everyone turned their eyes upwards, not wanting to give Niko another opportunity for a surprise attack.

However, she surprised them again, this time by attacking from a bush. However, managing to catch and kill a Gyuki was something one could call luck so her potential victim slashed at her direction before even confirming where she was, which was then followed by trying to cut her without giving her an opportunity for an attack.

Seeing as she had no way to attack, Niko jumped three meters backwards but then a chain came from the shadows, grabbed her by her neck and its user threw her into a nearby stone with such a force that the Gyukis could hear her bones cracking.

However, if Niko felt that pain she did not show it. A moment later, she climbed up the tree and disappeared again.

Tesshin's group and the group that just came ran to one another and turned their backs, making a circle so they would no longer have a blind angle.

"You having some troubles here, Tesshin-dono?" Shouted the leader of the  _reinforcements_  at Tesshin. He had a black eye patch and was missing a tooth. "Good for you, we just got rid of our own troublemaker so we are free to lend you a hand, heh." His name was Eikichi and, due to his strength, he was one of the high commanders of the Gyuki Group, just like Tesshin was.

Even the danger in front of her and Niko's fate could not stop Kurenai from feeling annoyed at this man. Unlike most members of the Gyuki Group, he did not have the blood of a Gyuki in his veins and he was young by standards of the Gyuki Group, being born in the Sengoku Period. As such, Kurenai wished he treated Tesshin with more respect.

However, Tesshin was not the kind of person to be annoyed at something like that, especially not at times like these. "I will ask you about your own epic fight later, but yes, now we could use a hand."

"Well then…" Eikichi raised his now short chain and made a sound with it. "…let us make this into another battle worth telling, shall we? Heh."

* * *

The prey was way too cautious. Her last attack was unsuccessful, but now more of them came and formed a circle, making it much harder for Niko to find an attack opportunity.

She did not know who the man with the eye-patch was, but he smelled like all the other rotten lackeys of Umewakamaru which made her want to butcher him and feast upon his flesh. However, he felt as fearsome as Tesshin and Kurenai. As much as she wanted to make those two pay for what they did, she was well aware that fighting three of them would be too dangerous even for the predator.

Because of that, she decided to find another prey. Sooner or later, she may stumble upon these two again and then she would take care they paid for what they did.

She jumped to another branch intending to flee, but then felt something bad and so threw another glance at the prey she was abandoning.

The man with the eye patch was gone.

The man with the eye patch was now in the air, having jumped from ground to where she was. "So this is where you were hiding, m'lady? Heh."

"Hissss!" Niko reflexively gave him a warning, just how animals do. But he did not seem to care and a chain he carried with him grew and buried deep into her flesh. That way, the enemy took care she would fall down with him.

Unfortunately for Niko, his comrades did not just stand in awe. Before she even reached the ground, two spears got stabbed through her guts and heart, with a sword getting stabbed into her neck the moment she reached the ground.

The finishing blow was Tesshin's fist which created a hole through her chest. "Rest in peace, Niko." Tesshin gave her his last regards, soon after which Niko lost the control over her body.

_Why am I still alive?_

"You mean,  _rest in pieces,_  heh heh right?" The man with the eye-patch said, however nobody laughed. "Um, why do I have a bad feeling you used to be friends with this mon… lady?" Again, nobody answered.

_No, I am dead… I died again…_

"I understand you guys wanting to pay your respects to the lady you probably used to know but…" The man with the horrible sense of humor suggested.

_Why am I stuck in this corpse?_

"Should we not go to Gyuki-sama?"

" _Because you are still not done, sweetie."_

"Hmph, we really should get on our way." Tesshin spoke.

" _I, Sanmoto Gorozaemon, declare this an unfit ending for your tale._ "

"Let's not waste anymore time then." Tesshin spoke and started walking, the rest following after him.

" _So go on, continue with your tale!_ "

"AAAARRRKHHHH!" Niko shouted and jumped towards Kurenai, her wounds healing so fast that she looked like nobody ever harmed her.

"Wha-AAAAGHHHH!" Kurenai screamed without finishing even a word due to Niko stabbing her fangs into Kurenai's arm. "Let me go!" Kurenai screamed and started hitting Niko with her staff.

The others had thrust their weapons at Niko, but she jumped backwards, taking Kurenai with her.

"Kurenai!" Tesshin shouted. But part of Niko still remembered his techniques, so she evaded a giant red claw that tried to tear her apart.

"Get away from me, Niko-chan!" Kurenai yelled and a red lightning bolt went down and hit Niko, forcing her to free Kurenai.

However, there were no burns or pain and the landscape changed as well.  _This is the prey weapon!_  Realizing it, Niko screamed again and broke the illusion. Then, the chain forced her to stay where she was and Tesshin's Claw turned her into minced meat with one strike.

"Well, you can no longer complain if I say she rests in pieces, heh."

* * *

"What are you doing Eikichi?" Tesshin shouted when Eikichi cut off Kurenai's right hand.

"Look down there, Tesshin-dono!" Eikichi spoke and pointed at the cut off hand. Something that looked like a plague disease spread through it, and soon after the hand was rotten. "This bitch's fangs have fucking poison or something! Keh."

"You have to be kidding…" Tesshin said as he gazed upon the hand and then turned his attention back to where Niko was standing.

The blood, bones and flesh that Niko was made of had started to connect with one another and in less than ten seconds, Niko was whole again, howling and looking at them with bloodthirsty eyes.

"Why can't a beautiful babe be immortal and untouchable?" The eye-patch man said. "Wait, was she maybe beautiful in the past? But that doesn't count right now, heh."

"This is not the time for that, Eikichi-sama!" One of his allies admonished him.

" _Whhhhen I am dhooone…_ " Niko started speaking.

"Oh, she speaks!" Eikichi just could not keep his mouth shut. "Ugly voice though, heh."

" _Yhouuu will be resthiinh in piechesss!_ " Niko spoke and crossed her arms, thus making her claws grow even more. In addition, steam had started coming out of them.

"Guys, I think her Fear just keeps evolving." Eikichi spoke again. "We sure got ourselves in some mean mess, heh." The chain flew up and got longer again. "Well, let us get serious then."

The chain than stormed at her with higher speed than before, but Niko evaded all of the strikes and then cut the chain with her claws, causing the parts of it near the cut to melt.

"Very fiery… but if you think my ability is just some little chain strangling…" The chain then turned pitch black, as did the area around him. "My illusions are what makes me dangerous, sweetie."

The horror was apparent on Niko's face, but the illusion was broken before it was even cast by Kurenai tackling Eikichi. Niko used the opportunity to retreat and although the other Gyukis tried to stop her, they were a few moments too late.

"What the fuck are you doing Kurenai, huh?" Eikichi was, naturally, angry.

"No, she had suffered enough!" Kurenai yelled at him. "Let her go!"

"Are you fucking crazy, woman?" Eikichi pushed her away. "This bitch had fled and if we don't stop her, just how many lives will she take, huh?"

"You let us deal with her, Eikichi-dono." Tesshin said and pushed him away. "You go and tell Gyuki-sama about her."

"The hell?" Eikichi did not seem to like the idea. "You think I can just let that beast go around, without taking every assurance that she gets put down, huh?" His choice of words was obviously intended.

"Do not worry, if Gyuki-sama complains just tell him that-"

"Who cares about Gyuki's complains, huh?" Eikichi pointed his finger at him. "What I care about is the threat this woman offers to my comrades… or anyone else if she leaves the freaking mountain! I do not care if you knew this woman, I-"

"We have no time to waste here, Eikichi." Tesshin turned his back to him. "And thus, there is no time for arguing." Without even giving him a moment to argue, Tesshin ran and Kurenai with him. The rest were still wondering what to do, and thus ended in Eikichi's group.

"Tz." Eikichi clicked his tongue and spit on the ground. "Guys, time to visit Gyuki-sama!"

* * *

That man called Eikichi was terrifying.

His ability was terrifying. It was so terrifying that Niko completely forgot about her hatred for Tesshin and Kurenai. No, his Fear was actually so horrifying that she forgot even about her hunger, which was such a core and basic need for her.

She just wanted to flee. She had to flee. But this time not in the way that she would find a new victim, but in a way that she would be leaving Nejireme for good. After all, there were enough people to feast on. Both human and youkai were in abundance out there and she always intended to go after them once she took enough bites or the Gyuki Group got their act together.

Indeed, she would leave this accursed place and feast. Her stomach growled after thinking on all kinds of youkai and humans she could feast upon. Even a smile appeared on her face.

Then, an arrow stabbed into her shoulder.

There was something strange about that arrow. It was not special in any way, meaning it was not enchanted, cursed or even imbued by Fear. Yet, she felt like nothing could hurt her more than this arrow could.

She pulled the arrow out and threw it away. Her wound did not heal… she somehow knew that even Sanmoto Gorozaemon could not heal this.

Then another one came, hitting her in her back. And another one, hitting right into her knee, killing any hope of adventures outside Nejireme that she may have held.

She fell down and her bones broke. This may not have been the first time that something broke her bones this night, but subconsciously she knew that this time she would not heal. Still, she tried to get up. Failing that, she crawled to a tree and made herself turn around.

Only then did she notice that the archer who attacker her stood in front of her. "A… Atsushi-san?"

* * *

" _If I ever lose my sanity, could you please kill me?"_

His greatest nightmare stood in front of him. He hoped he was freed from her when he heard she died, but that was wrong.

" _What… no…"_

But deep inside, he always knew that it was not over… he knew that she would come back to hunt him.

" _Please?"_

She was there now, starring at him with both fear… and hope. It was a stare she may have given him had he come to end her misery after Umewakamaru apprehended her.

" _I don't want for those nightmares to become true._ "

He was a coward.

" _I don't want to be responsible for… any more deaths…_ "

And because he was a coward, the woman he claimed to have loved had turned into this.

" _No, I will not! You will not fall into insanity, Niko!_ "

He overestimated her. He thought that believing in her would make it come true.

" _You are stronger than you think, so that will never happen no matter what the dreams try to tell you!_ "

Why did he naively think that believing in her would make her win? It was this naive way of thinking that stopped him from opposing that wretched Umewakamaru and ending her misery. Had he realized that she was not that strong, this would never have happened.

" _And don't forget about me!"_

Or maybe it was his cowardice rather than his naivety that stopped him from doing that? Well, it did not matter anymore.

" _I will be there to protect you…_ "

As she gazed at him, he pulled the string. Suddenly, she started to look the same as she did in the past to his eyes: her skin silky, her nails well kept and her teeth were white and shiny. But he would not be weak this time… he would do what he should have done so long ago.

"…protect you…  _Both your body and soul._ "

And he let go of the string, thus killing her.

Since this was not a song, she just turned into dust and died, without a smile or any final words. But he was not naive anymore so he never expected such a warm farewell.

* * *

"Atsushi!" Kurenai called after him. "Atsushi, is that… you?" Still though, she had trouble speaking. Since they did not even have time to treat her wounds, she was still bleeding. If she were a human, she would have probably bled to death by now.

"Kurenai…" Atsushi turned towards them, with tears coming out of his eyes. "Tesshin, you too?" He cleaned his tears and took another look at his old friends. "It is good to… what is…" His eyes widened when he saw that something had cut off Kurenai's arm.

"It is alright…" Kurenai said and looked at the blood around them. "Did… did you kill Niko-chan?"

Shock was replaced by sadness on Atsushi's face. "Yes… I did what I had to."

"How? She was immortal." Tesshin asked.

"I don't know, Tesshin. I really don't know."

"Well, we can think about it later." Kurenai said with a smile. "Now we should-"

"Who is hiding up there?" Tesshin suddenly shouted.

"Heh, I sure was found fairly quickly." A person from above said and jumped down, between the three of them. It was Eikichi. "Well, if it isn't the entire  _T Squad_  in one place again?" Tesshin's and Atsushi's eyes narrowed as he spoke. Kurenai was, of course, unable to do something like that. "I may not be the oldest member of the Gyuki Group, but even I have heard about the legendary  _T Squad_ , heh."

"What are you doing here?" Tesshin demanded to know. "I thought you were on your way to Gyuki-sama."

"I sent the rest of our friends there. As a good friend, I went after you guys instead… to lend a hand… which was not needed, it seems. Heh."

"So you were spying on us?" Atsushi asked.

"Indeed, heh." Eikichi admitted. "After all, you are not supposed to be here. Everyone who rejected to bow to the new Gyuki was forbidden of ever setting foot on this turf, heh." Eikichi said and shook his chain. "So, what are  _you_  doing here?"

For a few moments, the trio just stared at him. If someone stumbled upon the four of them, they would think that a fight was about to occur. After all, Eikichi was hostile to Atsushi, a friend to Tesshin and Kurenai.

But then Tesshin spoke: "It is no secret that I and Kurenai are still friends with Atsushi. And when it became clear something bad was about to happen, we asked him to come and help."

"Oh, is that so?" Eikichi smirked, but his grasp on the chains lessened. "I also heard that he cursed Gyuki and everyone who declared their loyalty to him, heh."

"And I still curse Umewakamaru every time the sun rises or sets." Atsushi admitted, his eyes narrowing. "But my curse to everyone else was made in a spur of the moment. I do not wish to see old friends die."

"Is that so?" Eikichi asked and looked right into his eyes.

"Yes." Atsushi claimed.

"Tz, I don't think we will ever get along." Eikichi said and turned around. "Well, I have to go now… as do Tesshin and Kurenai. I'd advice not appearing in front of Gyuki-sama."

"Do not worry." Atsushi said while Eikichi walked away. "Neither of us two want to look into each other's eyes… besides, I still have to make some kind of grave for Niko."

Knowing that they had to go, Tesshin and Kurenai also started walking and they gave a nod to Atsushi as they walked past him, leaving their friend alone with the woman he thought he loved.

* * *

"Just how long has it been…" Kashaimaru asked himself as he sat under a tree and petted his pet fox. Even though his throat was cut not that long ago and blood was all around his clothes, he looked fine. "At least two decades have passed since I was killed by someone." Then, he smirked. "And this is the first time that I was killed by someone who was not a Gokadoin and the first time I was killed in a real battle. I actually forgot how that felt like."

"Nura Rihan…" Kashaimaru continued. "You sure surprised me twice today. I thought I would win, but not only were you strong, but you were also ruthless. Defeating my Shikigami like that and then slitting my throat without care for who I am or what I am doing… You don't believe in going easy, do you?" Kashaimaru grinned again. "But even more so, you actually ran away rather than stay and fight me. A good decision, seeing as you are going after Shiori and all, but still it takes quite a lot to resist the prideful urge to stay and fight."

With his pet fox in his arms, Kashaimaru rose up and looked towards the direction where Rihan and Shiori left. "I feel like going after you and continuing our little battle." Whenever Kashaimaru was  _killed_ , his youkai blood would take over, heal him and made him more aggressive. A few moments ago he used his Onmyoudo to suppress his youkai blood again, but he still desired to spill Nura Rihan's blood.

But instead of going towards him, Kashaimaru turned towards Nejireme. "But I am needed somewhere else right now."

"But have no worries, we will fight again."

"And next time, I will be as ruthless as you, my friend."

* * *

"So it really is here…" Gyuki commented as he gazed upon the sealed part of the forest, where Rihan took his test.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Gyuki-sama." Mezumaru was concerned.

Gyuki put a hand on his skull. "Stay strong, Mezu." He said and walked into the sealed part of the forest. "Stay strong everyone, I feel like the Fear of this place had been corrupted." Gyuki spoke, hiding his own concerns… concerns that made him want to just go into frenzy and kill the invaders for what they  _may_  have done.

"Forgive me for being late, young master." A man's voice returned Gyuki from his thoughts. He turned around and saw men walking from a different direction then the one Gyuki and most of his retainers took, with the group's leader being quite easy to notice.

The youkai in question had a humanoid appearance and had a bald head, a gray goatee and many scars on both sides of his face, with one large scar going over his left eye which was white. He wore light, black samurai armor and he held a horned helmet under his left arm, while in his right he held a steel staff. He was obviously very old, but anyone could see that this youkai still had a lot of vitality in him. And indeed, he was old: as old as Gyuki Group itself as he helped the former Gyuki in founding it.

"It is important that you managed to come in time, Gen'ei." Gyuki greeted him. "Did you meet too much resistance?"

"There was nothing we could not handle, young master." Gen'ei said and walked up to Gyuki. Due to their age difference, he had a tendency to call Gyuki  _Young Master_. "Well then, let us go." Gen'ei said and walked in front of Gyuki, not showing too much respect to him.

And Gyuki did not complain about it like he would complain about anyone else. Gen'ei was one of the most important of Gyuki's retainers and the very reason that most of the Gyuki Group accepted the current Gyuki as their leader in the first place. Many centuries ago, he was the key factor in keeping the Gyuki Group loyal so Gyuki got used to being tolerant of this old man, lest the members of the Gyuki Group started fighting amongst themselves. Most of the group was now unquestioningly loyal to Gyuki, but the old man Gen'ei still commanded a lot of respect and Gyuki saw no reason to not give it to him.

Even if his enthusiasm to fight for the Gyuki Group left a lot to be desired.

* * *

Mount Nejireme was not the only place where the play took place.

Those who did not revere Sanmoto Gorozaemon were attacked by those who did. They were beaten up until they died or accepted Sanmoto and even if they lied, a curse brainwashed them and their reverence became true. Men, women and children screamed, while most just stayed in their homes and prayed for someone to save them.

The wicked cultists went even further. There were attempts of rape and if someone had a grudge against someone, they beat and killed them without even presenting the option of revering Sanmoto.

The demonic monkeys serving Shoumen Kongo gazed upon it all… and were the ones actually responsible for these hideous deeds. Whenever someone hesitated, they would jump down to them and whisper into their ears, luring them into sin.

The monkeys were ecstatic. Just like their master, from whom they were made of, they enjoyed in watching down at mortals as they destroyed themselves. And so they fervently looked around, searching for more victims… when their eyes fell on something else: blue monkeys, the servants of the new Koshin.

"I see that my father's wicked Fear engulfs this place." A large green youkai with four arms appeared, his face looking just like that of his father, Shoumen Kongo, who was now in Hell. "Shogyou, clean this place up, will you?"

"Hmph, this is just another phenomenon." A blue monkey called Shogyou Mujou, the son of the new Koshin, carried a staff in one of his arms which he used to hit the ground, creating a storm of blue fire that could not be seen by human eye. "And all phenomenon are impermanent, all is transient."

The demonic monkeys did not even have time to scream when the blue inferno engulfed them, killing them. Humans seemed to have been affected by it as well, as most of them stopped with their wicked deeds.

"Death comes to us all." A giant red monkey walked beside him and commented as he looked at the demonic monkeys being burnt to death. "And now it came to them." His name was Zeshou Mepou, the second of the four servants of the new Koshin.

"I feel that many of the other towns and villages in vicinity of this mountain are filled with the old Koshin's Fear too." The black monkey and another of the four servants, Shoumetsa Metsui, said.

"Indeed, it is good we saved the people here, but…" The last of the four servants, Jakumetsu Iraku who was monkey with body of a human, said. "What should we do, Koshin-san?"

"We shall split. North, East, West and South of the mountain… each one of you will take those positions and use your powers to suppress the Fears of my father and… whatever ally he had found." The new Shoumen Kongo said. "Fear not for me, for I can take care of myself."

"I shall stay here then." The blue ape Mujou said. "It was me who cleaned this place up after all."

"I shall come with you, Koshin-san." The red ape Zeshou said. "Going through the mountain is the quickest path to reach the opposite end so it would be the best to accompany you."

"Indeed." Shoumen Kongo nodded. "Let us get to work then. If Nejireme falls, the darkness that would ensue would be too strong. We cannot let that happen."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- And thus ends the (first?) battle between Kashaimaru and Rihan Jr. What was supposed to be a quick and clean death proved to be something different. But then again, Gokadoin were never fond of dying ;P

\- Niko used to be much nicer while alive… a shame what happened to her. A shame the tale ended so tragically, but love is not only about trust but also about understanding one's strengths and weaknesses

\- Obviously, not everyone forgot that Umewakamaru was not the original leader of the Gyuki Group. Some hate him from the depths of their souls

\- And we are introduced to Shoumen Kongo's own son, who represents the benevolent interpretations of the Koshin faith. In the Koshin faith, Shoumen Kongo is accompanied by a group of four servants. However, the sources differ on which group of servants accompanies him. In some cases, it is the  _Shima_  (made of Klesa-mara, Skandha-mara, Mrtya-mara and Devaputramara) who harass the humans and lead them into the sin (in here, they serve the old Koshin and will be introduced later on). In other cases it is the  _Shikumon Sektsuki_ , the wise monkeys who, in this fic, accompany the second Koshin

\- No new Horror Stories are introduced in this chapter, we are just dealing with some plot points left by the last chapter

\- there was a mistake in the last chapter: for some reason, I called Kurenai Akane (and the mistake almost made it into this chapter as well)

* * *

**Comment Replies and Omakes:**

* * *

**Guest** : " _Ritsura I'm interested in hearing your opinion about this war with Sanmoto. Even though you have proven your strength and leadership many times, do you believe you are able to accept the consequence of War?_ "

"I have to be… I still did not get over what happened on Thursday night, but I have to go on. It is my duty after all."

* * *

**Guest** : " _I am concerned about Rihan's condition and his ever growing darkness. In your own thoughts do you believe you would be able to draw your sword upon him if he lost himself?_ "

"Ever since what happened eight years ago, I have been ready for him saying he plans to do something stupid and me beating some sense into him. I will give my best to stop him from doing something stupid again."

"If you mean I would kill him then the answer is no. He is my little brother and I would protect him with my life!"

* * *

**Guest** : " _Jeez a bad boy onmyouji biker comes and sweeps Shiori off her feet. Rihan I think you just got dumped. It's ok I'm sure shiori didn't even like her time with you._ "

"I-it is not like I still care about that woman… baka."

* * *

**Guest** : " _This chap is so great.I really like the tale.:-D. But i really want to see some minor char gozu but it still great. Keep up the good work.3_ "

All in its due time ;) Gozu will not be just a minor character here, as you will see later on.


	42. The Inner Beasts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First enemy had fallen to the defenders of Nejireme, however countless enemies still remain and have yet to launch even a real attack. In meantime, Rihan still pursues Shiori who is still searching for the exact location of Sanmoto's Golden Shrine

**Chapter 42 – The Inner Beasts**

Even though it was Sunday, the police still had to work. Isao Jin, a policeman living in a small village not too far from Mount Nejireme, worked in a city to which he traveled for hours. For that reason, he left for work before the sun rose.

If only he had listened to his sixth sense and stayed home.

First the sun turned red, and then his son calls him that something was horribly wrong in the village. But before his son could explain what was going on, Jin heard something break from the other side of the line, a scream and then someone else took the phone.

" _The bloody sun rose, the demons sing and dance with their beloved._ " A voice said and ended the call.

After hearing that spooky message, Jin had turned his car around and driven home with as much speed as possible. As a policeman with many years of experience, driving at such a high speed was not something he was new at.

When he finally returned to the village, his skin turned pale and for a moment he actually forgot what he came back home for.

The village looked like it had turned into Hell. Wherever his eyes looked, he saw figures dressed in red and wearing those traditional demonical masks. They sang to Sanmoto Gorozaemon and ran and danced around with various gardening tools in their hands, killing or beating everyone who was not dressed as them.

" _Rejoice, rejoice, for this is a glorious day~_ "

" _Rejoice, rejoice, for the shackles of virtue have been taken down from you~_ "

" _Rejoice, rejoice, for on this day you can sin all you want~_ "

" _Rejoice, rejoice, for your inner beast can finally be released~_ "

" _Rejoice, for you can finally be what you truly are~_ "

" _Rejoice, for Sanmoto Gorozaemon's love has reached us~_ "

But even louder than their songs were the screams if their victims. Jin could see only a small portion of people being hunted, but dozens more could be heard from everywhere around him.

Jin then did what every other policeman would do. "Station, this is Isao Jin speaking!" He called on the radio. "We have a mass riot here in my position, send reinforcements as soon as-"

" _Despair, despair, for nobody is going to save you._ " A spooky voice came from the radio, freezing the blood in Jin's veins and killing the last glitter of hope that he had. " _Despair, despair, for Hell is your new home._ "

The realization that he would be a lone policeman against dozens of humans terrified him to such an extent that he did not notice that some of those madmen reached his car until they were already in front of it. They started hitting the car and Jin did not waste time by sitting idly. He took out his gun, put as much ammo into his pockets as he could and left the car. He shot the nearest freak into the head so he would not get grabbed by him and continued running.

This was the first time that Jin killed someone, but he could not afford a luxury to care about it. He was an experienced policeman who had to use his weapons in order to survive and, if any were left, save innocent lives. He thanked the gods that owning fire weapons was illegal in Japan so none of the freaks had any.  _At least I hope that none of the Bad Guys have any._

Jin made his way towards where his home was, avoiding the freaks whenever possible. He then heard a gunshot not too far from where he was. His first thought was to ignore it and continue on his way, but he quickly decided that it was out of question. If the freaks got their hands on such a weapon, he had to give his best to rob them of it. The situation was bad enough as it was. Just one of them having a gun would make the situation two times more dangerous.

He was surprised at what he saw, for more reasons than one.

The one who shot was a teenage girl, around seventeen or eighteen years of age, with red hair and wearing black jeans and a short leather jacket. She did not seem to be a good shooter, but it sufficed. Around her there were villagers, brawling with the freaks with various gardening tools and improvised weapons. Judging by the looks of things, they were retreating towards a bus. He was horrified by the fact that neither his son nor his wife were amongst them.

"Isao-san!" One of them yelled. "Quickly, we need your help!"

"Yes!" He remembered what he was supposed to do and started firing. Unlike that girl, he was a trained man and all of his shoots hit, forcing the freaks to take cover and leave the rest alone.

"Quickly, even that gun won't save us if they bring over their friends!"

"Where are my wife and son?" Jin said as he ran up to them, guarding the villagers while they ran into the bus.

"I have not seen them, but there are more groups trying to flee the village." The only remaining villager, a barber, said. "We split so that if one group fails, not everyone would be doomed."

"Then I will search for them." Jin said. "And what the hell is happening? Who are these people?"

"Go after them? If they left already then… no, actually I understand you. We will pray that everything gets resolved in the best way possible." The barber said and then pointed towards one of the dead freaks. "As for who they are… take a look."

Jin took a better look at the freak's face expecting a stranger, but he was horrified to see that it was a woman whom he knew his whole life as they were both born and raised in this very village. His eyes turned towards other dead and wounded freaks who lost their masks, and each one of them was a resident of this village.

"This… how can this…" Then it hit him. "The cult… that damned cult that came to this village years ago…" Many people changed for the worse when it arrived, as if they got possessed by demons. But there was nothing they could do about it.

"We will all get quite an earful from Hiruiko-san, if he survives all this shit." The barber said the name of the local tax collector. "We should have listened to him and kicked these damn cultists out: they went too far a long time ago."

"Damn it… Damn it all!"

One of the men who entered the bus honked at them. "Well, I have to go now. You go look for your family, Isao-san. Good luck and I hope we see each other again." The barber said, tapped him on his shoulder and jumped into the bus which started leaving as soon as he got in.

Only then, when it was too late, did Jin notice that the mysterious girl stayed behind, leaning against a tree and looking at him with a smile on her face. Why anyone would smile in this situation was beyond him. She also must have had been wearing lens because her eyes were crimson.

The moral and ethical person in him wanted to stop the bus and push her in, but not before taking the weapon from her that she should not be allowed to own. However, there was something about her that made him feel like she was not just some normal girl… that she was even creepier than these psychotic cultists. "Who the hell are you?" He asked in a blunt tone, the creepiness towards her overcoming whatever paternal feelings he would normally have felt towards a kid of her age.

"Just a devil passing by… you can call me Sanmoto Shiori if you want."

"San… moto?" He remembered that surname… it was the surname that appeared in that crazy song which the cultist sang. However, her name seemed to have been different.

"Yes, I am related to the fat guy that these  _definitely-not-psychotic_  gentlemen worship. I am a rebellious granddaughter you could say. I am sure you policemen have heard hundreds of such stories already." She talked. Her calmness and disinterest in what was going on was terrifying. Even though she was supposedly on his side, his grasp on the gun got tighter. That was not because he did not trust her, but because he was starting to feel afraid.  _Why… she is just a small girl, why am I acting like she is a demon?_

"Anyway, you are Isao-san right?" She then asked. "Your son… he likes using a bow, right?"

"How… how do you know that?"

Then she smiled again, her smile becoming even more malicious. "Do you not remember the dream?"

"…what dream?" Jin said, but his eyes widened when she said that word, showing that he knew what she had talked about.

Many weeks ago, many people in his village, and from what he heard many people from surrounding settlements, had a dream. But it was not a dream about them, but about a man or woman who donned a sky-blue yukata and a sky-blue demon mask, and then became a demon who hunts those humans who had abandoned their humanity.

Many had dreamed that same dream. And no matter how much time had passed, all of them still remembered it.

"Don't pretend to be oblivious. I sent the dream to everyone who had the will to rise against a potential threat." The girl said.

"You… you sent it?" Jin wanted to aim his gun at her, but he was afraid that she would take it as a threat. Indeed, he was afraid of her.

"Yes. The dream was an invitation to certain people in case  _this_  happened." Shiori said and pointed her hand at the chaotic state of this village. "Your son and some friend of his decided to give it a try. While finding a matching yukata may not be a problem, finding the-"

"SHIT!" Jin shouted and started running. He did not have time to ask her anything else: he had to stop his son from doing something stupid.

Fortunately, he knew where to find him… or at least he had hoped that his son went to  _that place_.

But then he saw his house… and first, he had to confirm something…

* * *

"What is this place?" Aotabou wondered as he walked through that monk's world of Fear.

It was a dark place, resembling a dim-lighted Buddhist temple. Aotabou walked through large a hallway, with giant statues that resembled Buddhas sitting on both sides.

But the keyword was  _resembled_. Each of the Buddhas looked different from one another, and each one of them looked like it came from a horror flick. Some statues were broken on some places, with fresh blood decorating the statue on the place of the missing part, as if parts of flesh were bitten off or limbs were cut off.

But worse were the statues that did not have missing flesh or limbs. There was a demon that sat like Buddha, a Buddha engulfed in blue flames, a Buddha that had a smile like the Cheshire Cat, a Buddha with a top hat and a monocle, a Buddha with demonic wings, a Buddha dressed as a samurai… each statue that Aotabou passed by had its own unique feature.

"Just what is going on here?" Aotabou muttered as he continued walking, with no end in sight.

"Ugly, is it not?" The monk's voice spoke from every direction, but he was nowhere to be seen. "That's the image of the material world. It should be our mission to save it, but we failed. Disgusting, isn't brother?"

"Don't call me brother, monk." Aotabou replied. "I suspected it since you opened your mouth for the first time, but now I am certain: what you preach is not Buddhism."

"Says a demon with such an aura of violence around him."

"I am a lousy monk and I never claimed otherwise." Aotabou said and broke the bones on his fingers when he saw what looked like the end of the hallway. "But at least I understand what I am doing wrong and respect the true beliefs. You on other hand, want to corrupt them."

"Buddhist Exorcism forbids harming even the demons. Even if they are not humans, they are still souls who must be guided to enlightenment." The monk spoke. "But I see that you are beyond saving, demon. I am left with no choice but to destroy you."

"Ha, like you ever even considered saving a demon!"

Aotabou and the fallen monk both reached one another. They were now in what looked like an arena, with two enormous Buddhist statues on their sides. One statue looked like Aotabou and was surrounded by skulls, while the other looked like… someone Aotabu remembered. "Sanmoto Gorozaemon? What is he doing there?"

"Ah, Sanmoto Gorozaemon…" The monk looked ecstatic. "Of all the Bodhisattva, he is the one that has reached the highest level of enlightenment! And the time has come for the rest of the world to learn about it."

"Sanmoto? Sanmoto of all people? You are insane!"

"The hundreds of men and women are celebrating his name around this wretched mountain. Thousands are celebrating his name across Japan. Are you claiming that so many people are insane?"

"Yes!" Aotabou punched his own hands. "I don't know if you are misinformed, brainwashed or an idiot, but calling him a Bodhisattva is way too much."

"I see." The monk swung his staff and prepared for a fight. "Then it falls on me to enlighten you."

"No, it falls on me to break your damn head!" Aotabou did not waste time and immediately released his skulls. "I am not one who has the right to preach about our faith to others, but I am perfect for breaking skulls."

The time for words was over so both ran towards one another. Aotabou tried to punch him, but the monk evaded his attack with a dancer's elegance, slashing Aotabou on his left shoulder as he did it.

 _A blade?_  Although he had no time to look at it, Aotabou now knew that the monk had something inappropriate on his staff.

But one missed hit and one wound from the enemy was not enough to decide a battle, so Aotabou continued trying to hit him, but to no avail. Even though his strikes were fast and explosive, the Monk hadn't suffered even one wound. On other hand, he managed to slash Aotabou many times. Fortunately, Aotabou was muscular and this monk was weak so none of the wounds were much to Aotabou.

Obviously, it was time to change the strategy so his next punch was not directed at the monk, but to the ground. The strike caused an earthquake, a sound explosion, some smoke and, most importantly, made countless pieces of rubble fly in all directions, to the point that even Aotabou himself was wounded. It was practically a technique in its own right: the earthquake immobilized you, the sound caused a headache, the rubble wounded you and the smoke took care that the victim's eyes saw nothing.

But that was not enough. Aotabou was not sure if it was intuition or he subconsciously noticed something, but he looked into the air and saw the monk above him. Aotabou only had the time to pull the hand back and raise himself up when the sharp staff got thrust into Aotabou's right shoulder. Additionally, the attack did more than just stab him: Aotabou felt as if something exploded there and his nerves reacted to it as if something really did explode, even though the wound was only a thrust.

The monk was on offensive – that much became certain when he took out his staff, jumped back down and started dancing around Aotabou, slashing him with his staff as he did so. Unfortunately, unlike the former counter-attacks, all of these slashes caused the similar  _explosive sensation_.

Aotabou was not getting more afraid or worried though… no, he was getting more frustrated. And there was a limit to how frustrated he could get before entering frenzy.

"AAAARRRRGHHHHH!" Aotabou yelled and abandoned his senses in order to give in to his inner beast. As a berserker, his speed and strength grew without end and it became increasingly harder for the monk to avoid his attack. Finally, Aotabou managed to hit him into his chest, after which he grabbed him, threw him into the ground with all his strength, punched it for longer than he could count and finally pulled him up and through into Sanmoto's statue with such force that the statue broke and turned into rubble.

However, frenzy took a toll on his body and Aotabou was now having trouble with breathing and his muscles screamed in agony. But he won, that was what mattered.

Or that's what he thought. The world of Fear was still there, that was one sign.

The other one was the monk's voice. "Ah, so you finally abandoned your humanity and showed your true, demonic face." The voice came from the rubble and soon the monk rose up from it. He was so brutalized by Aotabou that he looked like something a butcher would sell. But as moments passed, the wounds and clothes regenerated and soon the Monk was whole again. "Fortunately, Sanmoto Bodhisattva gave me an eternal life for as long as I desired it. Even if you turned me into minced meat, I would not die, demon."

"Gh…" Aotabou became even more annoyed and prepared for another round of fighting, though with the pain in his muscles that would probably be a tough one.  _How do I kill this bastard? I must destroy his Fear somehow but how? Gah, I should have swallowed my pride and asked the Toono to teach me how to cut Fear!_

"Anyway, by abandoning your humanity and giving in to your inner beast, you have signed your death sentence." The terrifying Fear that collected around the monk suggested that he was not kidding: his strength doubled, if not tripled. "This will not take much longer, brother."

* * *

The youkai may be all stressed and anxious, but Shima Ryu just filled himself with food. Just because their lives were at stake did not mean that a human like him did not need to feed. Still though, sitting alone in the dining room and eating canned food was a bit depressing. But, he knew better than complain about such things while hundreds of dead were outside auditioning for a zombie flick.

Still, he had hoped that at least Heiko would have stayed behind and eaten with him, but she seemed very enthusiastic about aiding in defense of this resort. Supposedly, the youkai kingpin who ruled over Nejireme did not have large enough mansion to serve as a  _castle_  so they decided to use a tourist facility instead. Sometimes, Shima wondered how these youkai survived for so long.

"Ah well, let's eat this, get a rest and find some babes to eat!" Certain that nobody was listening to him, Shima said that aloud. "Life is beautiful and no freakin' zombie will change that!"

"Yeah!" The boy sitting in front of him shouted in agreement.

"Yes, finally someone agrees with me." Shima nodded and with his eyes closed, continued to eat. "Hm?" Only then he had realized that he was not alone. Fearing that one of the zombie found their way in, he quickly opened his eyes and saw a 10-years old boy with lime hair sit in front of him and look at him. "You are… not a zombie, right?" Shima asked him.

"No Aniki, I am Zen!" The boy said with a smile.

"Wait… I thought that Zen-san was an old man."

"And he is!"

Shima looked at the boy in confusion while the boy just sat there, still smiling.

"So… you are an old geezer stuck in a kid's body?"

"No, my father Zen is old by Zen's standards but I, Zen, am a big child by Zen's standards."

"…what?" Shima was confused to such an extent that he saw word  _Zen_  fly all around him.

"I am Zen, but my father is also Zen and I belong to a youkai species called Zen."

"Aha… that's a little better explanation." Shima was still not sure if he understood it all, but he decided to ignore it for now. "So, what are you doing all alone here, kid?"

"Oh, that Kage-Onna was looking for you because you disappeared without asking someone to keep you safe. So I am came here to protect you!"

"Um… I am flattered…" Shima knew youkai had unnatural abilities, but he was not certain that a boy who looks like he is only ten years old would be of much help in keeping him safe. "Anyway, let us look for Heiko-chan before she-"

"Ah, here you are Shima-kun!" Then Heiko appeared from behind little Zen. "You should not have gone away without notifying us first! What if an enemy caught you all alone here?"

"Heiko-chan, I did tell you I was going to eat something, but you were too interested in other matters to pay me any heed."

"Uh… was I?" The clumsy youkai called Heiko scratched her head. "Umm… sorry? I guess that I should have paid more attention. STILL, you should not have walked away alone! You know how dangerous it is."

"Yes yes, sorry about-" Shima started, but then noticed something. "Hey, what are you-"

But too late: the little Zen has bitten Heiko by her left arm while she was still looking at Shima.

"Eh?" Heiko muttered, shock obvious on her face. She then moved her eyes downwards and saw the bizarre sight of a boy biting into her arm. "EH?"

"Hey, what are you doing brat?" Shima rose from his seat and ran to Heiko. He would have pulled him away, but noticed that his teeth were stabbed far too deep into her flesh.

"Eeeeeek…" Heiko started shivering. "He is sucking my bloooood!"

"Eh… EH?" Both Shima and Heiko were at loss on what to do about this.

"W… what if I have anemia? I never went to Doctor, what if I actually have anemia and dieeee?" Heiko started to be more afraid with each passing moment.

"Calm down Heiko…" Shima tried to soothe her and make it clear that she should somehow push the boy away. "Calm down and-"

"Is he a vampire? Is there a vampire in the Nura Clan?" Heiko turned pale, but probably more due to fear than lack of blood. "What if I turn into a Vampire? How am I gonna be a Kage Onna if I have to live in full darkness, away from sunlight that creates shadows? MY life is ruiiiined!"

"Zen, stop it! Now!"

Finally, the boy let go of Heiko who immediately moved to a safe distance. "Woah, you are awesome, Onee-chan!" The boy said to her with stars in his eyes.

"Eh?" Heiko muttered and Shima wondered if everyone had such a communication problem with this boy like these two had.

"After Ritsura-Onee-chan, you have the strongest blood I have ever tasted!"

"Oh… thank you… I guess?" Heiko said with a small blush, but her face showed that she hoped he would not do that again.

Seemingly, by drinking someone's blood, the young Zen could also feel their Fear.  _Oh yes, isn't that blood-sucking tree his mother?_  Shima thought as he remembered how that woman, while looking as a tree, once caught him and  _accidentally_  drank some of his blood.

"You should drink some too, Aniki!" The boy said to Shima and pointed at Heiko.

"Eh?" Due to having a feeling that this may lead to something bad, Shima's face turned pale.

"Huh?" Heiko muttered and looked at Shima with an angry glare.

"Don't you remember when we talked about how we would eat some girls?" Zen said, as if they actually talked about it.

"No, you-" Shima started, but it was too late.

"THIS IS YOUR FAULT THEN YOU DAMN PERVERT!" Heiko shouted and started throwing things at him. "DIEEEEEE!"

"WHYYYYYYYYYY?"

* * *

Two youths, each twenty four years old, were sneaking through the village with bows in hands and quivers behind their shoulders. Isao Daichi and Hironari Juzo were their names. They were inseparable friends since childhood and now possibly the only remaining warriors in the village. Both were policemen in training and thus had some knowledge on what to do in a situation like this. And even though they were not allowed to have firearms, bows were not prohibited here.

"LEFT!" Juzo shouted and both of them turned to their left and let their arrows fly. Two freaks were shot, but neither were killed. Although they both hated these freaks from the depths of their souls, murder was a line they were not ready to cross.

Silently, they continued sneaking around. However, that was not so easy to do as many of these freaks were villagers who knew the area as well as the two youths. The rest were  _tourists_  who only arrived here to participate in this madness however, and they were a bit less of a threat.

The two youths were telling themselves that they were searching for survivors in order to help them escape, but in reality they had very naive plans: embrace the persona of a dark superhero from their dreams in order to spread fear on these evil men and women. They did not know why they thought that just donning some clothes would help them, but deep inside they knew that it would… and they knew that the price for it would be enormous. Their dreams made that thing clear... and some mysterious red-head assured them that their suspicions were correct.

"DOWN!" Juzo shouted again, but this time it was a different kind of order: rather than tell him where to turn, he told him to jump down. However, it was a hypothetical order as Juzo pulled him downwards into the long grass.

The moment later, there was a loud sound… and both of them knew what that sound meant. "Someone has a shotgun? Are you kidding me?" The situation was bad enough without crazy bastards wielding firearms.

"Don't just lie there, start moving towards that stone and prepare for a sprint. The grass won't protect us forever." Juzo whispered and pushed him. As fast as possible, they crawled on the ground while the enemy tried to shoot them. He missed every time, but each bullet was closer to them and the sound became increasingly louder, suggesting that the armed freak was walking towards them. And the closer he was, the less point was there in hiding.

At least it was a gun that could not fire in small intervals otherwise they would have both been killed by now. Only due to that did they have a chance to flee.

But they forgot another thing: there were more than one of the freaks.

"RUN!" Juzo, who was behind Daichi, yelled and jumped up.

Daichi turned his head around, and at the same moment he heard a gunshot. Juzo's blood splattered on Daichi's terrified face.

"R… run Daichi…" Juzo repeated and then got impaled by a spear from one of the freaks with a demon mask.

"No, I…"

"SURVIVE DAMN IT!" Daichi heard him yell. What was more, Daichi heard the armed freak reload his gun and saw two more freaks with axes walk towards them.

Finally, his fear and wish for survival forced him to leave his friend and bow behind and run. Without looking back, Daichi continued to run and turned at the nearest corner at the last moment, as the bullet barely missed him. He also thought that he heard something being stabbed into flesh.

He was no longer trying to hide. He was no longer sneaking. He was just running through the village, as fast as he could in hopes that the freaks would not bother by going after him. A few threw stones and other objects at him, but they did that more as a gesture of mocking than because they wanted to attack him.

 _Why is this happening?_  He asked himself as he ran over the blood and corpse-filled roads.  _Why did this day need to happen… why could this not just stay a nightmare?_  He ran, not knowing himself where. _Why is this happening in Japan? No, this kind of madness doesn't exist anywhere else in the world!_  Indeed, there was much violence in the world, but this kind where crazy devil-worshiping cultists slaughter an entire village? He never heard of that kind of thing happening even in the dark ages.  _Why are humans doing this… why did they descend into this madness?_

And worst of all, his mother and a childhood friend were both killed. How was he supposed to retain his sanity?

Suddenly, he stopped and turned towards the local Shinto shrine. It had been desecrated and a skull had been placed on top of it. It was now the shrine to Sanmoto Gorozaemon, similar to the ones he saw in some places in the village.

" _Give in…_ " he heard the skull talk to him. " _You suffer because you resist. Give in to the darkness and enjoy this madness with everyone else._ " The devil spoke to him in a seductive voice. " _Don the red mask and the red yukata and become one with me. Your suffering will turn into joy, I assure you hahahahaha!_ "

For a moment, Daichi felt an unnatural force trying to convince him to accept the devil's offer.

"No… I can't!" He took two steps backwards. "You killed my mother… you killed my best friend… you…"

" _You will not get them back this way… but if you bow to me, I might return them back to life._ "

The devil's offer became even more attractive.  _If what he says is true then…_

" _The dream was_   _an invitation._ " He remembered another devil, which appeared in form of a red-haired girl, telling him those words. " _The first person to don a blue demon mask and a blue yukata will get the power to fight these humans-turned-monsters._ "

"No… another devil gave me a better proposition." Daichi said and started running, while the devil laughed at his naive hope.

Fortunately, the pawn shop that had such a mask in its store was very close by. If he could break in, he could become a demon and ring justice upon these corrupted souls.

But then, three freaks appeared in front of him, standing just before the entrance into the store. Daichi immediately thought of turning around and luring them away, but when he looked behind himself, he was too more freaks.

_Is this where it ends… just when I am so close?_

Then he heard a car drive at high speed and when he turned back, he saw how it hit the three freaks in front of the store. The driver, who ended up being his father, got out and immediately shoot two bullets behind his son, killing both of the freaks.

* * *

He reached his son not a moment too soon. He immediately started walking towards his son.

"Dad?" Daichi was obviously surprised to see his father. "Move away, I must-"

But his son was cut off by a sudden hug from his father. "I am so glad you are still alive…" Jin said with tears in his eyes. He found his wife dead in their house and since then feared that the worst might have happened to his son as well. "Listen son…" Jin started as he pushed his son away a bit. "I know this day must have been horrendous for you, but don't ever lose faith in humanity, Become a good policeman just like your dad, alright?" He told his son with a bittersweet smile on his face.

"Dad, why are you-" His son started, but was cut off again, this time by a strong punch into his guts that rendered him unconscious.

Jin kissed his son on his forehead and started pulling him towards the shop. He opened the gates with a strong kick and hid his son in a nearby closet. He gave his son another last look and then closed the doors. "I am sorry Daichi, but you are too young for this kind of fate."

He then walked up to the window and was relieved to see that none of the freaks saw him hiding Daichi. That meant that they would most likely not look for him here. He then turned towards the corner of the shop, where he saw a blue yukata and a blue demon mask. After those dreams, the shop owner thought it would be fun to order these two items and sell them at a high price. However, everyone was too terrified to buy these clothes.

He was terrified too, even now. But his rage at what those freaks did to the village... and what they did to his wife controlled him now.

He took the yukata and put it over his uniform. He then took the demon mask and looked at it.

" _Are you sure this is what you want?_ " That girl's voice said in his head. " _Once you don the mask, you will become that tale itself. Isao Jin shall die and the youkai Ao-Ju shall be born. You will never be able to return to being a human again and will most likely disappear after this whole cultist incident is over._ "

"I understand."

" _Do you?_ "

"Yes, that's why I gave my farewells to my beloved son." Jin said and looked through the window. He saw a number of freaks go towards their dead comrades, one of whom held a shotgun. "I am ready for this."

" _Alright then. But have a final warning: if you want a happier end, do try to retain as much humanity as you can._ "

Not even caring about those words, Isao Jin took his last breath as a human and put his new face on.

* * *

The beast had been exhausted so, for Michitarou the Monk, the battle had become child's play. The youkai's attacks became slower and weaker with each swing, while Michitarou continued dancing around and slashing him, without needing to take a breath.

"Why… are you like this?" The beast called Aotabou asked while fighting for his breath.

" _Why_?" Michitarou said and stopped for a moment. "Why am I like what?"

"I want to know what made a Buddhist like you so hateful."

"Alright, but why don't you first tell me how you became a youkai, brother." Michitarou suggested and made another swing, this, time cutting the beast's shoulder. However, the beast did not even flinch.

"Nothing much, I have been unusually violent since birth and embraced Buddhism in order to try to tame the beast within me. But then bandits attacked some innocent children and in order to save them, abandoned my humanity."

"So you abandoned your faith?"

"No, I continued fighting the beast within me, I just stopped being extreme about it." The beast grinned. "I am much, much nicer these days."

"That is, until the beast comes out again." Michitarou said and thrust his staff into his right arm, but once again the beats did not even flinch. "There is not much to say for me either. I simply travelled across Asia and got to know the difference between the Japanese Buddhism and the real Buddhism."

"How could that possibly have made you like this? The ones on mainland are even more pacifist than the Japanese ones."

"That's the thing: I found out I have been corrupted since the start. And deep inside, even that realization did not change the fact that I felt more at comfort as a warrior monk than a pacifist." Michitarou's said with a bittersweet smile. "So you could say that since then, subconsciously, I have been looking for the true meaning of my spirituality."

"Aha… then let me teach you a lesson, monk." The beast said and put his hands together, as if in prayer. "What is your name?"

"There is no reason for you to know it." Michitarou said and ran for another attack. He did not know what the beast had planned, but he had no intentions of letting him do it.

* * *

There was a time when Aotabou was little more than a rampaging beast. Only did a Buddhist monk manage to teach him the basics of controlling it… although even that monk failed to save him from becoming a demon.

But Aotabou did not mind it. He sacrificed his humanity to save children. Humanity was a small price to pay for their precious lives, even less so seeing as he became a youkai whose very nature is to be a protector of children.

Still though, the beast continued existing inside him and although Aotabou learned to control it and suppress it, it was still there… lurking and waiting for Aotabou to show a weakness.

Aotabou thought that there was one way to defeat this particular youkai. However, it required a use of technique which Aotabou feared for there was a threat that the beast would consume him. But sometimes, risks like that had to be made. In order to save his little Ojou-sama, he had to risk the loss of his humanity once again.

Aotabou started a silent prayer, all while the fallen monk clashed and stabbed him with his weapon. But his mind was less peaceful than he seemed to be.

_He wanted to crush him and mutilate his body, to teach him that screwing with Aotabou was the greatest mistake he ever made. He was immortal? Great, then he could take as much time as he wanted._

He had to stay strong, to push some wisdom into that thick skull of his.

_He wanted to throw away all of his humanity, for evil was so much simpler and happier. He had already become too violent to call himself a Buddhist._

He was maybe not the role model for kids, but Aotabou still tried. And even if he was blasphemous, at least he always tried his best and kept a hold of himself.

_He could not even save himself._

But maybe he could save others.

It was his duty to save this pitiful monk.

"What…" The monk spoke when he saw Aotabou move his hands and prepare for a strike. "The hell… is with that mature, cool face of yours…" Obviously, the monk did not like Aotabou's current stance. "What is with that holier-than-thou aura, huh?" After saying that, the monk went in for the final attack. "A stab into the neck will teach you your final lesson."

"No, I am the one teaching a lesson here." Aotabou said in a calm tone. Although the beast within him was half-released, his soul was as strong as ever.

* * *

Michitarou was afraid, but not for his life. No, the way this youkai monk stood, looked and moved… it was as if he had found his Enlightenment.

Michitarou was afraid of that. That someone else, a youkai to boot, reached it was simply terrifying. Even worse, this beast was like him: unable to control his violence. It was like a proof that Michitarou's path had been wrong.

He knew that, at this moment, he wanted to kill him in order to not see the answer. If the youkai died before he could show him the fruits of his labor, than he could forget about all this.

But when Michitarou reached the youkai, with unnatural speed he was punched.

It did not hurt… to be exact, Michitarou could not feel his body at all. It was like the punch had destroyed most of his nerves, thus saving him from having to feel pain.  _He could not walk a path of non-violence, but at least he could save his enemy from suffering?_

Michitarou smiled as the darkness appeared in front of his eyes.  _I see, so that was where I went wrong… unlike me, at least he tries to not needlessly kill others._

Michitarou's body did not even move from where he stopped. Instead, the force was destructive in a different, unnatural way: it destroyed every part of Michitarou's body, turning it into dust.  _And this force that frees someone from having to suffer through pain and cleanly destroys one's entire body… it probably could not be achieved by completely abandoning his inner demon. He turned his greatest weakness and sin into his greatest strength and virtue. That is actually… the purest form of Buddhist exorcism: saving both the human and the demon that dwells inside._

Finally having found the answer to his question, Michitarou was able to rest in peace. As such, he did not regenerate when his body turned into smallest particles.

Aotabou had won, both in a battle of muscle and in a battle of spirits.

* * *

Zen was still unable to get rid of the dark medication given to him by one of his Clan's greatest enemies. And after feeling the Fear that followed the invasion, he was now keeping one such injection hidden in his clothes, just in case that something happened.

He tried to force himself to walk up to the terrace, but failed. So he ate his pride and crawled up to it, all just so he could ensure himself one more time that he was not just imagining it.

And indeed, the blood-red sky was still there, shining down on Nejireme as a dark omen that only horror awaited everyone on this day. No enemy youkai was (supposedly) in vicinity, but he could still feel their Fears from afar. It was filled with malice and countless dark emotions, waiting to be unleashed upon any victim it found.

"And what if those youkai assaulted this resort?" Zen muttered aloud.

"In that case, we fill them with holes." A male voice said from beside him. "Well, that's my duty. So you just lay down and read a book or something."

Zen turned his head towards his companion and saw an unshaven man in an aged light armor. He also wore a bamboo hat and had two Sengoku Era muskets on his back. "Benmaru…" Zen knew who this man was.

Alongside Tesshin, Eikichi and Gen'ei, Benmaru was one of the four Guardians of Nejireme. It was a title given to four strongest members of the Gyuki Group after Gyuki himself. They were formally Gyuki's bodyguards, but their duties were usually guarding Nejireme and leading its defenses, as well as to advise Gyuki. Each of them also had a number of youkai serving directly under them, numbering from five to fifteen youkai. They were practically the Gyuki Group's Board of Executives.

 _It is fortunate that Gyuki did not inform them of his plot to assassinate Rikuo twenty years ago._ Or at least that was the official word.  _Though I guess it is also possible that they were informed but decided not to cooperate._ Gyuki Group may have acted unified to the outsiders, but Zen lived long enough to know that yakuza politics could sometimes get quite dirty.

"Are you sure you can fight against these guys?" Zen asked Benmaru. "Their Fear seems quite threatening."

"We are the Gyuki Group." Benmaru said and took a sip of some whiskey. "We faced worse."

When the Black Ships came, Benmaru was one of those who happily embraced elements of the western culture. Even now, he used muskets instead of the bow that he used before the westerners came in contact with Japan. And they seemed to have been quite fitting to his style because his battle efficiency became better to the point that he rose from a mere archer to a Guardian after the old one died in the battle against Nurarihyon.

"You may have faced worse, but from what I heard, these youkai are hunter types. Their Fear is far more efficient against the Gyukis."

"Hm, you sure get your news report early, don't you?" Benmaru took another sip. "I say what I always say: do not worry, just stay cool and roll with it."

"You sure you are not related to the Nurarihyons?" Zen put a smile on his face. "You are as laid back as they are."

"Who knows, the world is filled with surprises. Maybe I am related to Mizuchi and Hagoromo Gitsune as well, and Tamazuki is my grandson." Benmaru grinned while joking. "Well, I used to be deadly serious once, but realized after some time that it was worthless. So now I-"

"Are they back?" Then Kubinashi appeared and ended their pointless conversation. "They are taking way too long." He was walking left and right, barely paying any attention to Zen and Benmaru. "I should have gone with them. I definitely should have gone with them!"

"This is what I am talking about." Benmaru smirked. "Seriously, look at this worrywart and tell me that you would trust him with guarding your dog."

"Dog? Did a dog youkai attack Nejireme? Oh no, a dog could find Kejorou, Ojou-sama and the others with just-"

"Shut up Kubinashi!" Zen did not have patience for this kind of behavior while Benmaru just laughed at it.

"Emergency!" A feminine voice called to them. "Emergency!" After a few moments, the Kage Onna appeared in front of them, with a mirror in her hands.

"Calm down sweetie and tell us, what is the problem?" Benmaru waved his hand, but otherwise did not show any worry at all.

"What is it?" Kubinashi was less calm. "Did something happen to-" He started with his demand, but Heiko knew better than waste time by listening to it.

"The resort is being attacked from north, west and south!" Heiko informed them.

"How do you know that, girl?" Zen asked.

"She can use a building's shadow as her senses." Benmaru explained. "So I have ordered her to serve us as a surveillance cam." He finished and jumped up. "Well, let's deal with the first group of invaders. I will go in this direction…" He pointed at direction he was facing while sitting. "That's west I think."

"I will take south then!" Heiko said and started running.

"That leave me with North I guess." With danger imminent, Kubinashi calmed down. "Zen-sama, you just stay here. We will deal with it." He said and left northwards.

"Okay, I guess I will get going as well." Benmaru said and started leaving. "I just hope that Onmyouji gets back and uses some fancy talismans to build some walls… metaphorically speaking of course."

 _Again… it is happening again._  Once again, Zen was unable to go fight with his comrades... or at least offer them medical help, which was what he usually did even while he was still in his prime. But with a body like this, even that much became impossible.

He looked at the injection that he hid. Resisting the temptation to try it out became increasingly harder with every passing moment.

* * *

Ritsura was still not convinced that leaving Aotabou behind was a good idea. Not only did it reduce his chances at winning, but it also reduced the number of youkai with her. " _A Hyaku Yakou is strongest when it's members are fighting together._ " Gyuki once told her. " _And a true leader is not the one with most strength, but the one who can bring hundreds of youkai together and make them fight as one._ "

In other words, the less youkai there were around her, the weaker they all would become. Of course, knowing when to let one youkai stay behind and keep an enemy away was also an important strategy, but Ritsura was still not sure if using it in this case was a truly wise idea.

" _But what if my decision proves wrong?_ " She once asked Gyuki.

" _In that case you will become wiser and you will be able to make a better decision next time. But the same will happen if you bring the right decision. Wisdom comes with experience and experience alone._ " Gyuki explained to her. However, even if the worse were wise, it did not make her feel any less worried about Aotabou's and everyone else's safety.

Of course, she had no intentions of turning back. Once a leader makes a decision, the leader must stick to it. Once a leader starts having second opinions, they fail. Still, Ritsura thought it would be useful to question a decision if only to help her analyze a situation a bit better.

And as far as situations went, she was still not certain that the enemy had showed them all his cards. No, deep inside of her, she was certain that he had showed them only his first card. She was trying to guess what the other cards, if they existed would be… and who the enemy might be. Hell, she was not even certain that Sanmoto was the main player in this.

_And then the second card started to be revealed._

"What the hell is that?" Ryuzan suddenly yelled and pointed at the sky.

Everyone stopped and just starred at a giant snake descending upon them, with a thick, black mist following it. All of them evaded the snake, but the evasion forced everyone to move away from one another. For a moment, that did not seem as much of a problem, but then the black mist engulfed them all and nobody could see anyone else.

"Guys, get here as quickly as-" Then Ritsura felt something, probably the snake, hit her and throw her who knows where. "Do not get separated!" Ritsura shouted, hoping to stop the worst from happening.

" _Do not bother, little youkai._ " Part of the mist formed a face and said to her. " _I am as good at blocking sound as I am at blocking your eye-sight… amongst other things he he._ "

"Who are you?" Ritsura demanded from it.

" _You can call me Akashita._ " The youkai said and the face started disappearing. " _But I am not your opponent so farewell. I doubt we will speak again._ "

"Wait, who are-"

Then, the snake hit her again and Ritsura was once again thrown far away, to the point that she fell out of the mist. She finally stopped when she hit a large tree.

"Eeee…" She patted her head.  _Damn it, now I am split from everyone else…_   _And who the hell are these guys?_

Ritsura did not need to try feeling their Fear in order to understand that the snake and Akashita were not the same kind of beings that were invading Nejireme.

_Damn it, we were naive. Nobody ever said that only one enemy would attack us._

But she did not have the luxury to think too long about this. A certain kind of sensation hit her… a sensation she did not feel since her toughest and most dangerous test in Toono.

And during that test, she learned her most important lesson… and what kind of sensation this was.

_It was the sensation of an imminent death._

A very capable killer had started his attack, intending to end her life with one, swift strike. It was a horrible feeling that happened only when the chance of death was over ninety percent. And the terror a victim felt as the sensation enveloped it made sure that the victim's chances of survival were null.

But at Toono, she learned how to deal with it.

She let go of her emotions and forced her mind to stop thinking.

She forced the warrior inside her to shut up, and called for the less elegant survivor to take over.

What was coming was not a battle to her, but survival.

She immediately turned around and deflected a ko-wazikashi (a dagger-sized Japanese blade) that almost cut her throat with Nenekirimaru and evaded another wazikashi that was supposed to be thrust into her forehead.

She did not look at her assailant's face or try to guess what his or her next attack would be. She just moved, letting her reflexes control her, not her mind.

The deflected wazikashi immediately went for her shoulder while the evaded one started moving in another direction, attempting to slash her head. Ritsura kneeled down a bit and jumped backwards, evading both attacks. Then she created a wazikashi of her own in her hand and used both of her swords to block an attack that came immediately after it.

Then the assailant kicked her in her guts and tried to use the opportunity while she was in pain to slash her over her throat with both of his blades. But she played dirty just like him and kicked him into his jaw.

She used the opportunity to distance herself from her enemy, but the assailant immediately moved at her. Again, his attacks had been blocked, but then he jumped into the air and tried to thrust his blades into her, which she easily evaded by kneeling down. After that, she turned around and kicked him over his feet, forcing him to fall down on the ground with his face down.

She then went for his throat with Nenekirimaru, but the assailant evaded it by rolling over. Rather than pull the sword back, she slashed it through the ground towards his neck, but he stopped the sword with his wazikashi's grip.

Seeing that her sword failed, Ritsura jumped backwards and threw an icicle at him, which hit him into his shoulder.

She spilled the first blood, and the enemy distanced himself from her and calmed down a bit.

No longer feeling that atrocious sensation, Ritsura's senses returned and she was finally able to see what was going on.

Her enemy was a tall young youkai, with pale skin and snake eyes. "You are Orochimaru of the Kyushu Clan." Ritsura recognized those features. "The Kyushu are infamous for their dishonor, but I thought you were still above allying with the likes of Sanmoto."

"Tz." Orochimaru spat on the ground. He did not say anything back.

He was here with sole ambition of killing her, that was certain now. There was no negotiation with this person.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

FINALLY Yashagoro made his damn move! A few dozen chapters later than I expected, but hey!

\- While things are not going well on Nejireme, the situation in some of the towns and villages seems even worse. For better or worse, Shiori is there to help. But what kind of help is it going to be?

\- Writing the battle between Aotabou and Michitarou was all but simple. Not only is my knowledge of Buddhism kinda limited, but the Japanese have unorthodox ways of following Buddha's teachings. Well, I gave my best

\- There was some comedy at the resort, but we see that it has been attacked. The same goes for Ritsura's group seeing as I don't think Yashagoro would let Ritsura's companions alone and able to come to Ritsura's help

\- finally we see little Zen. And isn't he a little mosquito?

All in all, thanks for reading and look forward to the following four chapies. They gonna be quite action-packed ;)

* * *

**Omakes and Comment Replies:**

* * *

**Citsimsan** : " _All in all, apart from it being a good chapter, I see that you are giving more depth to the Gyuki group. Now we have factions, people from different ages, internal affairs, etc. And now that Gen'ei you mentioned. How many members has the Gyuki group got? I think the manga or the extra material mentioned it somewhere..._ "

During canon, the Gyuki Group had manpower of 75 youkai. It is a tad bit bigger here due to Gyuki boosting the manpower a bit due to western clans becoming more powerful (restoration of Kyoto Clan, rise of Shikoku Clan, rise of Kyushu Clan, Chugoku Clans forming a federation and the Chubu Clans getting increasingly frustrated by not looking as strong as the other major clans... all consistent with the Manga mentioning how the new generations of youkai are revitalizing the youkai world).

And yes, I am trying to give them more depth ;) This is their arc after all and it would be a shame to let such an opportunity pass!

 **Guest** : " _Hey what would happen if Rikuo asked Shiori to help in taking out the Shin Sekai? I can't see rihan liking that too much_."

Rikuo: "That woman is responsible for way too many evils and deaths of innocent humans. As powerful as my enemies may be, I will never ally with such an evil, not will I ever forgive her."

Nurarihyon: "There he goes with his  _Warrior of Justice_  attitude again... even sounding wise and putting on a badass face can't dissuade that kid to ease up a bit..."

 **Dennou Reviewer** : " _Aw, I always get so happy seeing the babies I named appear! X3_ "

While we are at it, Benmaru is another of your babies, though you named him many months ago.

 **Anime Chick344034 (ch37)** : " _Ahhhh Another great chapter. Seeing things from Shiori/Midori point of view is pretty nice. Though O still find it selfish what she did to Rihan at the Pillar scene. That was pretty selfish. By the way...Im pretty lost. I know how both Rihan and Ristura youkai forms look. And Risturas human form. But I thought as a child Rihan had black hair for his human form...not blue._ "

Rihan Jr.'s Yuki Otoko Fear was stronger in the past but had weakened over the years. As a result, he used to have a few more physical characteristics resembling his mother's, but as his Yuki Otoko Fear weakened so did those characteristics become less prominent. They may return later though, depending on which path he walks.

 **Awesome D.T.:** " _Poor Niko . . . . if only she could've been purified . . . ._ "

Sometimes Nayrael shows kindness. Most of the time though, he is a merciless bastard :P


	43. Humanity and the Lack of It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wretched fear of Sanmoto Gorozaemon and Shoumen Kongo had corrupted the minds of humans living around Mount Nejireme, leading them into wretchedness. But where villains reside, always some kind of a hero rises…

 

**Chapter 43 –Humanity and the Lack of It**

By just looking at the Mirror, Shiori saw that someone had started to turn into Ao-Ju. Since the Tales born from human existences could be unpredictable, Shiori was not exactly sure how much of an effect it would have on the current situation in this dying village. However, she was certain that the newborn youkai would harass the cultists thus making the whole place a little bit safer than it would have otherwise been. In the best case scenario, Ao-Ju would keep his humanity and sense, thus becoming a viable ally.

But in case he did not retain his sense and, at worst, disappeared after fulfilling his original tale, she would be alone against the cultists.

While hiding behind the corner of a house, Shiori threw a quick glance at her hand. Sometimes, Midori would reply by showing her head, but this was not one of those cases. However, Shiori was not surprised at it: Midori did not appear unless she was certain that Shiori did NOT need her to survive. During the battle against the Nura Clan, few nights ago, Shiori was surrounded by allies, thus Midori appeared because she was certain that Shiori would not be endangered by her absence.

It was truly a special kind of relationship that Shiori had with the discarded part of her soul.

_Well, I should get moving before I end up being the only person left to attack._  Taking a gulp, Shiori continued moving with a fast pace, but still trying not to run lest she loses the awareness of her surrounding and alerts some of the cultists. She also kept a strong grasp on her gun, prepared to pull the trigger whenever it aimed itself at someone.

Her youkai umbrella, Karakasa, was not here, even though it would have been helpful in making Shiori feel safer. Instead, Shiori sent it to keep an eye on another place where the Golden Temple was supposed to be. She was certain that the Golden Temple was around here, but in case she was wrong she wanted to have someone at least check the next most suspected area.

So she continued moving, hoping to not attract anyone's attention. While moving, she also noticed that the Cultists were getting nervous, probably as a result of Ao-Ju's Fear. A human always feels when a youkai targets them and Ao-Ju was targeting all of them.

_Good, if I am quick enough, I will be able to- eh?_  Suddenly, she tripped and fell onto the ground.  _Iiik… how did this manage to happen?_ She turned her head around wondering if someone caught up to her, but then noticed that nobody was there.  _Ah good, it was just an accide… wait a moment…_

"Riha-chan, are you behind me?" Shiori asked.

"Hmph." was all that Rihan said. Shiori turned her head around and saw Rihan standing above her, with an angry look in his eyes and holding a tanto in his right hand, with his left hand stroking the blade.

"Say your prayers, Sanmoto Shiori." He said and took a step towards her. "I will not forgive you."

"Uhhh…" Shiori wanted to say something, but nothing came to her mind so she just rose up and took a few steps backwards.

"I can't forgive you for three reasons." He said and raised three fingers. "Reason No. 1…"

"Ugh…" As much as she wanted to stay and listen to him, rationally it would not have been a good idea. "It is time for a STRATEGIC RETREAT!" She shouted and ran past him.

"Ah… oi… I got ignored." He stood there for a moment but soon enough started running after her. "Hey, the play's already over! I thought that you at least were a person who would let the main character speak his lines!"

"Sorry, but I felt an unnatural need to start running after you said those words!" She replied and then noticed that Rihan was not behind her anymore. "Not again!" She made a sudden turn towards the main road and started running in that direction, barely evading Rihan's hand that tried to grab her.

"Reason No. 1…" He continued speaking while moving towards her. "You wreaked havoc in Tokyo, endangering the lives of many."

"I'd add  _kill_  if I were you!" She threw some oil into the fire and ran past two cultists.

"Reason No. 2…" Rihan continued, knocking the two cultists unconscious by hitting them into their stomachs. "You wage war against my clan, and have killed many of my fellow clan members."

_Shit, I still have no idea how to outrun him and- NOT AGAIN!_  She tripped once more, this time due to a stone being thrown between her legs.

"And the last reason…" Rihan was now standing in front of her again, only around five meters away. "You deceived your friends, and abused our trust and feelings."

_Ugh, this is getting baaaad…_  Strategic by nature, Shiori thought about various options on how to get herself out of the pinch she was in:

_1\. Get back up and continue with the strategic retreat_

_2\. Talk it over with him and persuade him to let me off_

_3\. Flirt and apologize_

_4\. Hold out until I think of a batter plan_

_5\. Use the Mirror of Condemnation to unleash my true power_

_6\. Increase breast size immediately_

_7\. Continue with the Hundred Tales_

_8\. Ask him if he is up for some tea_

_9\. Put an honorable end to myself_

_Option No. 1 it is!_  Shiori decided that the only viable option at the moment was to continue with the  _Strategic Retreat_.

"Oh no, you will not run from me this tim-" And then suddenly, a storm of Fear engulfed the place. Shiori, who felt that it belonged to Ao-Ju, had continued running as she considered this an opportunity made by a youkai she herself created. However, she did slow down and threw a glance backwards to see how Rihan would react.

He looked as if he intended to go after her, but then screams and gunshots came from the opposite direction and he stopped moving. He kept looking at her for a second, clicked his tongue and then started running towards the source of the commotion.

* * *

_Once again, I managed to lose him…_

_There they are,_

_Dancing and singing._

_While killing the good they are,_

_Dancing and singing._

_._

_Oh here Ao-Ju comes,_

_And they are singing._

_While blood from them comes,_

_They are screaming._

_._

_The evil has come,_

_And it brought a guest._

_To bring justice,_

_The evil is taught how to die._

_._

_To kill a bloodthirsty beast,_

_You need an even greater beast.  
_

* * *

_Curse them! Justice demands I kill them off._  Ao-Ju thought as he left the store.

They were there… the cultists dressed in red with red demoniacal masks stood in front of him. They were confused. After all, someone dressed in similar fashion to them, but wearing a blue mask and blue clothes, appeared before them. Was he their ally, or maybe some VIP from their little cult, they wondered.

But soon they realized that he was not one of them and they have started having different ideas about his nature. "You won't pass as one of us as you got your clothes wrong, you idiot!" One of them shouted and his comrades laughed. "You deserve to die, if only for that stupid plan of yours."

Ao-Ju did not say anything. There was no point in talking to an animal after all.

And their mocking laughter suddenly ended when his pistol shot one of them right into his forehead, after which he fell down onto the ground, somehow still alive. Ao-Ju remembered pulling the trigger while he was still a human, but he was certain that it did not feel the same way anymore… the two pistols he now carried felt not like tools, but like parts of his body. In other words, these guns were not his weapons, but his limbs.

The animals have started growling at him and rushed at him with their primitive weapons, most of which weer garden tools.

He aimed his other gun at them and started pulling the trigger. There were no bullets to be loaded. The ammunition was his very life-force. And those that his second pistol's bullets hit, started burning in blue flames and screamed as they died.

Finally aware that their enemy was not a mere human, the others stopped moving and looked at their comrades in horror.

And he could feel their Fear, in a way only a youkai could feel it. And it was such an intoxicating feeling and he felt as if he was becoming more powerful.

_Yes, this is perfect._  He prepared for another attack, and the animals felt it so they had started to run away from him.  _I exist to slaughter you all, so your fear being my nutrient is just perfect!_

He started firing at them in all directions, quicker than any human hand could possibly fire. The silver gun burnt everyone into ashes, while the white one just seemed to paralyze them, without afflicting any wounds.

But he did not mind the difference. The screams of the ones burning to death were music to his ears, but the fact that some did not die was not such a problem either.

When the other animals left his surrounding, Ao-Ju was finally able to focus on those left behind, laying down on the ground and unable to run.

"Please, don't…" A female cultist said when he walked up to her.

" _Never lose your way, Jin-san."_ Ao-Ju remembered the word of a chief of police under whom Isao Jin first worked when he just joined the police force.  _"No matter how wretched the criminals seems, do not-"_

But his words were deafened by the screams of Jin's wife as she was violated and killed by these wretched beasts. Isao Jin did not witness to such deeds himself, but his mind could easily imagine what happened to her, fueling the hate due to his former helplessness even more.

"Aaahhh…" The cultist started suffocating when Ao-Ju softly pressed his foot on her throat.

_No mercy for these animals is necessary._ He saw these cultists murder people he grew up with, and the fact that most of these cultists were his fellow villagers just fueled his hatred even more.

"Ph…. Ph… phle… no…" The cultists tried to speak as the foot started pressing with more force.

And they almost killed his son. When he arrived at the scene, for a moment there he saw the insane look in their eyes as they gazed upon his son… his precious child. He still remembered that look.

A cracking sound was heard when he pressed his foot with all force, crushing her neck.

_Now to deal with the others…_  He thought as he turned towards the other few cultists who were already shivering in Fear, and they shivered even more so when he turned his gaze at them.

* * *

Once again, Rihan had to let Shiori go in order to focus his attention on someone else. In this case however, he was not certain if this person was even one of Shiori's allies, but he didn't want to take the chances.

No, that would be wrong. A rational decision would have been to go after Shiori and only turn his attention to someone else if he were attacked. But something in him told him that he should first deal with whichever youkai started releasing his Fear around this place. On the other hand, some voices from outside told him to go after Shiori and put a swift end to her.

By rejecting those outside voices, he also somehow started being aware of his surroundings: this village had been turned into hell itself.

He wondered who was responsible for the chaos in this village and also wondered about why he had not asked Shiori about it while he had a chance.  _It doesn't matter. The very fact that she came here suggests that she is somehow related to this incident and was probably the one who caused it._  Indeed, it looked like she hid from these cultists, but that did not mean that she was not responsible. Indeed, she could have easily manipulated them into this.

And so he continued on, with the demons from within clouding his better judgment.

Soon, he saw a number of cultists run away from somewhere and towards the opposite direction from the one Rihan was taking. Although they were probably too afraid to even notice him, Rihan nevertheless strengthened his Fear and then jumped onto the roof, continuing on his way by jumping from one roof to another.

Finally, he noticed the  _culprit_. It was a youkai, clad in blue yukata and wearing what looked like a blue demon mask. Rihan also noticed two pistols in his hands, one being silver and the other one white.

The youkai was killing some of the cultists, most of whom seemed unable to move. Currently, he was throwing one of them around into walls of houses, breaking his body little by little until he finally died. Immediately after, he went after the last living cultist, who just managed to raise up and tried to run, but moved so slowly that anyone could have caught up to him.

The blue-clad youkai hit him from behind with his gun, making the cultist fall into a mud pool. Then he kept the cultist's head from rising, until the cultist was suffocated to death.

_Hm, I don't seem to be his target._  Rihan thought as he looked down on the scene.  _I should go and leave these cultists to him. Shiori is of a greater importance than this guy._  The youkai still had not noticed him and seemingly one of cultists was pretending to be dead so the youkai turned his attention to him and his back to Rihan.  _Might be better to leave before he notices me…_

Yet, Rihan's body didn't move even a little bit. He was not sure why, but he felt a weird sensation while watching this youkai.  _He is kinda… like me._  It was a weird feeling, to look down on someone who acted not so different from him.

Ironically, rather than feel approval or anything similar to it, Rihan felt like your average person who looked at a cruel wanna-be hero. In other words, he felt pity for him.

_This does not concern me._  Rihan decided.  _All this does not matter in slightest._  Thinking about that, Rihan jumped down.

"Who are you?" The blue demon immediately turned towards Rihan and aimed his lethal gun at him.

"Nura Rihan." Rihan introduced himself with a smile, imitating his father.  _Why did I jump in this direction?_  "And you are?"

"I am Isa… I am Ao-Ju I guess." The youkai introduced himself. "You don't seem to be one of these animals."

"No, I am not." Rihan said back to him.  _I can still leave…_

"In that case I have no qualms with you." Ao-Ju said, but still kept his attention at Rihan. He did not even budge when the cultist behind him rose up and ran away.

_And neither do I have any with you._  "Sorry, but I don't like what you are doing." Rihan said and took Nenekirimaru out of its scabbard.  _Now I did it…_

"I see." Ao-Ju said and aimed both of his guns at Rihan. "In that case, justice requires you to die."

"Bring it on." Rihan challenged him with a smile on his lips.  _I am an idiot.  
_

* * *

Even though the youth in front of him was obviously not one of the enemies, Ao-Ju still pulled the triggers. But the boy avoided them with speed and reflexes that were not human.  _A youkai… like me? No, I should not be surprised. It is ridiculous to think that I would have been the only inhuman existence in this world._ Still though, he did not expect to meet another youkai so soon.

The boy with the gourd hair did not have much trouble in getting closer to Ao-Ju, so Ao-Ju was forced to start moving backwards.

"You sound like a grown-up man, but your Fear is quite unrefined." The boy said as he got closer to him while avoiding the bullets.

After feeling so powerful just a few moments ago, Ao-Ju did not take well to feeling weak. So he put his rage into his fingers, and his attacks also became above human in speed, pulling the trigger faster than even a machine could.

Ao-Ju felt bittersweet when the bullets hit into the boy's body, but he did what he had to do. But just before he had let his guard down, he noticed that the boy did not start burning. Everyone who was hit with his lethal gun turned into fire.

He then felt something stab into his right palm. "Yo." The boy in front of him disappeared and he appeared just beside him, with his sword stabbed into Ao-Ju's palm.

"GHK!" Ao-Ju let a silent scream and the boy jumped backwards, cutting through his hand in the process. No longer being able to hold it, his gun disappeared.

Ao-Ju's surprise at the boy's sudden technique was replaced by his surprise at what was going on with his hand. Although it was no fatal cut, various kanji flew out of it and Ao-Ju felt his entire body weaken. _That sword of his… it is special, just like my guns._

The boy proved his experience once more, this time by mercilessly attacking Ao-Ju while he was still confused. The boy's face was calm, as if Ao-Ju was no threat at all.

What Ao-Ju was to those cultists, this boy was to him: he was a deadly predator.

_I can't lose now!_  While the boy's sword moved towards him, Ao-Ju instinctively moved his left hand as if intending to block the sword with his gun. Then the gun disappeared and a baton took its place, successfully deflecting the boy's sword.

With the boy surprised, it was Ao-Ju's time to make a counter-attack: he raised the button up and then swung it downwards, hitting the boy into his neck with inhuman force. He then used the baton to hit him into the abdomen, throwing him away.

An attack like this would have broken any human's bones, but Ao-Ju had a feeling that it did not happen to this boy. And indeed, the boy landed on his feet and looked at his nemesis with a sharp glance. Ao-Ju failed to even make the boy dizzy.

"What…" Ao-Ju was now fully horrified. "Just what are you?" He said and moved backwards until he touched the wall. There was no hope. This boy was far too strong for him. It was a short fight, but Ao-Ju was too weak to even tire the boy.

And somehow, he felt his body weaken the more afraid he was of this youth.

The boy in front of him disappeared and then appeared again right in front of him. Ao-Ju had lost the battle, there was no doubt about it anymore.

* * *

Rihan returned the Nenekirimaru back into its sheaths, for the simple reason that this young youkai was already way too terrified. However, he kept a strong grip on the sword, ready to take it out in case Ao-Ju proved to be more than he seemed.

"Why are you doing this?" Rihan asked him. In a way, he felt like this question was also directed to himself. Indeed, this was probably the first time that he met someone who might be like him.

"Why do you ask?" Ao-Ju tried to look confident, but Rihan felt that this youkai was terrified of him. "Are you going to lecture me? I assure you, I got quite a lot of it while I was a human."

"While you were a human? Did something that happened here turn you into a youkai?" Rihan asked and sat on the ground in front of him.

"A girl your age happened. She had red hair and some weird aura around her." Ao-Ju said and Rihan immediately knew who it was.

"Shiori…" Rihan whispered to himself.

"But I was the one who chose this."

"Why?"

"Become a demon to fight demons, I guess?" Ao-Ju shrugged. He seemed to have calmed down a bit. "Don't you see what these crazies did? Someone had to stop them."

"I agree." Rihan did not deny it. "As a matter of fact, I think they deserved what they got."

"Huh?" Ao-Ju seemed confused. "So why the hell did you attack me?"

"I didn't come here to help them." Rihan said and looked him into the eyes. "I think… I think I came to help you."

"Help me by killing me?"

"We are the same, you and I." Rihan averted his eyes a bit. "Something happened to make you hate them. And you hated them so much that you did not mind becoming a demon, right?"

Ao-Ju did not say anything, but his eyes told Rihan more than any words could.

"And what is more, we are both youkai. There is no greater pleasure than taste the terror that our victims feel toward us." Rihan spoke. "Humans can love such a feeling, but for a youkai… it is ecstatic, is it not? Their screams, their begging for mercy, the sound of their necks cracking… it is beautiful, isn't it?"

Ao-Ju seemed terrified again, but it was not the fear for his life this time. It seemed like he was terrified of himself now.

"Come on, admit it."

"No…" Ao-Ju had shaken his head. "It is not…"

"You are lying…" Rihan whispered to him. He could guess how his eyes looked to Ao-Ju. "I saw what you did to them and I saw the joy that you-"

"No!" Ao-Ju shouted. "I am… I am a policeman. I…"

"But you did. You did enjoy it and you are a murderer just like them!" Rihan rose up and he spoke those words. "You are a murderer… no, that word is too good for you." Rihan put his hands on his sword, ready to take it out again. "You are a monster that needs to be put down, or you'll become even worse than these cultists."

And after saying that, Rihan slashed it over his neck. Ao-Ju's eyes had shock and death in them… and regret for abandoning his humanity.

"And with this, you die." Rihan said and out the sword back into its sheaths. "The monster is dead."

Ao-Ju put his hand under his neck. There was no blood nor any other kind of wound there. No doubt, he was surprised that he was still alive.

"And thus, the youkai Ao-Ju is now sworn to give his best to retain his humanity and fight the demon inside of him." And after saying that, Rihan turned his back to Ao-Ju. "I feel scared humans coming here… scared, but resolved to end the source of their terrors. It seems like they have a plan for stopping you."

Ao-Ju said nothing, but Rihan was sure that he rose back onto his feet.

"If you fail to retain your humanity, find me so I can put a definite end to Ao-Ju. Otherwise, also come and find me…" Rihan turned his head towards Ao-Ju and gave him a smile. "I could use someone like you at my side." He was not sure why he said those last words. It just came out naturally. "Well then, see ya."

"Nura… Rihan, am I right?" Ao-Ju spoke. "You are kinda like that girl… a demonic aura, but your final words are telling me to retain my humanity."

"She said that? Well, maybe you should listen to them a bit." Rihan said and looked in front of himself again. He was not sure whom exactly he meant by  _you_.

"Why are you doing this?" Ao-Ju asked him.

Rihan started to walk away. "Because if you can't be saved, then someone like me can never be saved." Rihan said and disappeared from Ao-Ju's sight.

* * *

Ao-Ju looked around himself, hoping to catch another sight of this boy named Nura Rihan. Strangely, he did not feel glad that the boy, whom he fought to the death just a few minutes again, left him.

" _If you want a happier end, do try to retain as much humanity as you can."_ The girl told him, but he did not pay much attention to it at the time. Now he understood what she meant.

"There he is!" A voice came not too far from where Ao-Ju stood.

It was obvious who it was.  _Tz, I don't even get a chance to rest, do I?_ Ao-Ju looked at his right hand that still bore a wound from that strange sword.  _Hmph, it is time to start practicing my left hand I guess._

He stretched his left hand and his white, non-lethal gun, appeared in his hand.

" _Never lose your way, Jin-san."_ The voice of the old chief once again spoke in his head, but this time Ao-Ju listened to it.  _"No matter how wretched the criminals seem, do not let them turn you into one of their ilk. You are the protector of what is right, not an avenger."_

It was those words that left an impression on young Isao Jin, the human that Ao-Ju used to be. And once again, he hoped those words would define his person.

He aimed his gun at the four cultists who were running towards him. Two of them stopped and hesitated for a moment before resuming with their attack while the other two never stopped, probably never witnessing Ao-Ju's power.

Once again, he felt like killing them. He wanted to hear their sweet screams and look into the despair in their eyes… but the chief's words kept him from doing that.

And that boy's words also kept his sanity in check.  _"Because if you can't be saved, then someone like me can never be saved."_  Ao-Ju could feel the darkness in the boy while he talked to him. It was far deeper than Ao-Ju, and that made him even more staunch on following that boy's words. The boy knew how he felt and wanted to be saved, and Ao-Ju may have been one of hopes that would fuel it. And Ao-Ju had no intention to let that hope die.

Thus, he knocked out the three of the cultists with his non-lethal gun and then replaced the gun with a baton in order to deal with the one who came too close. Only one strike at his cheek was enough to break the mask and make him fall unconscious. "Orita, the traveling merchant huh? You always seemed a bit slimy." Ao-Ju commented to nobody in particular.

" _Show them why you are better than them, make them envy your chivalry!" C_ hief's words, from a different memory, came to Ao-Ju.

"This is the end of you!" More voices came from behind him. Ao-Ju once was a policeman and during those times he heard removal of gun's safety so many times that he could recognize it anywhere. At least four shotguns were now aimed at him.

But the gun and the baton were not his only weapons. He turned towards the cultists, all of whom stood on the roof, and looked into their guns.

" _Light is always stronger than darkness. Want proof? Have you ever seen darkness make a light-bulb ineffective? Of course not, it is the lack of light that strengthens the darkness, not the magnitude of darkness itself. Even a small spark will penetrate through the deepest darkness."_

"FIRE!" One of the cultists yelled and all of them pulled the trigger.

It was an interesting  _coincidence_  that all those guns jammed at the same time. Even Ao-Ju himself was surprised at how many abilities he had.

"You have to be kidding me!" The same cultist shouted. The cultists started hitting their weapons in hopes of making them work again.

"No, I am not kidding you." After saying that, the baton was replaced with the lethal gun and he started shooting at the house, making it burn. The cultists immediately jumped down and even more cultists appeared from behind the house.

Ao-Ju ran into their little group while they were still surprised. A few of them managed to look at him before he punched one of them into his face, kicked another one from his feet and made two fall unconscious by hitting their heads into one another. Then, it turned into a brawl, with them ganging on him. But a few punches and kicks were enough to render them all unconscious.

" _You are a policeman, not a soldier. Your job is not to kill people, but save them. And yes, that includes the pitiable criminals._ "

Indeed, just because he became a youkai did not mean that he should stop being a policeman, the guardian of law and order. He did not become a youkai to abandon everything that he valued, but to protect it. And these powers he had were perfect for the role that he desired.

" _And thus, the youkai Ao-Ju is now sworn to give his best to retain his humanity and fight the demon inside of him."_  That boy told him and saved his soul.

" _If you want a happier end, do try to retain as much humanity as you can."_  The girl told him, also helping him remember what he had to do.

He owed a debt to both of them. And once he dealt with these cultists, he would go and help them. He did not understand what was going on, but he felt that they may find themselves in danger.

* * *

_There they are,_

_Dancing and singing._

_While killing the good they are,_

_Dancing and singing._

_._

_Oh here Ao-Ju comes,_

_And they are singing no more._

_By showing them the light,_

_Suffering is there no more._

_._

_The evil has come,_

_But he came too._

_To bring justice,_

_The evil is taught how to live._

_._

_Taming a bloodthirsty beast,_

_Can only be done by a human.  
_

* * *

Rihan jumped from roof to roof, staying away from the sights of the cultists. Although he killed quite a number of them as he searched for Shiori, there was no end to them, nor was there a limit at how far they could go with their sadism.

_How could I ever even consider them being less of a threat than Shiori?_  He was not sure what an effect his words had on Ao-Ju, but he somehow managed to open his own eyes.  _These guys need to be stopped at all costs, and now that I think about it Shiori and Gorozaemon seem to be hostile to one another._ She was an enemy to them, just like he was.

Thinking it through, Rihan could guess what was going on: Sanmoto Gorozaemon finally released all the Fear he accumulated through worship from these cultists and used it to wreck havoc here, all while the Nura Clan fought on Nejireme. Of course, there was a reason for spending a part of his Fear on causing this incident: while the Nuras and their allies fight against youkai in the forest and thus weaken Sanmoto's fear, the terror and suffering that these humans cause creates enough Fear to strengthen the youkai on the mountain… and depending on how strong the Tale that Sanmoto used on Nejireme was, these humans could create more Fear than the Nuras could destroy by killing Gorozaemon's youkai.

So, Rihan not only had to minimize the damage that these freaks were causing, but also had to do his part in the battle that his sister and the rest of the clan present on Nejireme were waging: he had to end this whole chaos in order to increase the chances of Nura Clan's victory and lessen the losses that they may suffer.

But he was alone and the Gyuki Group spent years trying to find the source of Sanmoto's power in this place, but failed. It was impossible for Rihan to find it alone.

However, there was someone who understood the Hyaku Monogatari's techniques and probably had an idea where to look for the so-called Golden Shrine.

If someone knew how to put an end to this atrocity, it was Shiori.

* * *

Shiori was breathing heavily. Even though Rihan switched his focus to someone else, there was still a chance that he could turn around and go after her. For that reason alone, she ran with all her strength.

But that was a mistake. For one, she was afraid and if he went after her, the chances were good that he would find her simply because he felt her being afraid of him. Then there is also the fact that she got tired and in case she stumbled upon another threat, she would be in even more danger.

But her worst mistake was the fact that she just ran randomly. Granted, she still did not have an exact idea on where her final destination was supposed to be, but finding it would be even harder now that she had no idea where she was at all.

She took out her Cellphone and opened an image album on it. It was a number of photos from the book that Rihan bought yesterday, the one which had a collection of tales concerning Nejireme and Gyuki. Although she had no time to look through the entire book, she had taken photos of some of the chapters that might have clues she needed.

Of course, there were more places where the Golden Temple could have been hidden, but she strongly believed that it was this one, a belief that got stronger once she saw the magnitude of chaos that overwhelmed this village. Gorozaemon's Fear seemed especially strong in this place, which would be why so many people went insane.

She went one more time over the words from one of the tales, which hinted on where she would need to start looking.  _Hah, I have no idea where this is… doesn't help that over four hundred years have passed since the time in which this tale takes place._  Shiori sighed and put the cellphone back into her pocket.

Then something stabbed into her left leg.  _Eh?_  Only now did she realize that she forgot to hide. In a way, it was fascinating how easily exhaustion could make someone forget to do something extremely important.

Knowing that her life depended on it, Shiori immediately took out her pistol and turned around, allowing the Tsukumogami Pistol to aim itself. She shot a cultist who stabbed her leg with a hayfork and then another cultist beside him. But there was another cultist, who grabbed her hand before she could even aim it.

"Well, aren't you skilled, young lady?" A female voice came from the mask, mocking Shiori as the woman squeezed her arm. No longer able to endure the pain in her leg, Shiori lowered down and the additional pain in her hand made her let her only weapon go.

"A gun… now, why would a girl like you have a gun?" The woman continued while still squeezing Shiori's hand. She did not seem to care about her killed comrades. "You must have been one of us. But you changed your mind when the party started, just like that useless son of mine, am I right?" The woman made her own theory on who Shiori was. "Well, that useless brat sure squealed beautifully when I gauged his eyes out."

"I-" Shiori started, but the woman who caught her did not seem to care about what her prey had to say.

"Such a smooth hair and…" She sniffed at her. "And that beautiful perfume… smells like those super-expensive ones that I tried to steal from a mall a few times." And then the woman crossed her face with one of her fingers, making Shiori shiver in the process. "And such a pretty face with very little make-up… yes, yes, you must be one of those rich pests who joined our holy order just to get another form of entertainment, are you not?" The woman then threw Shiori onto the ground and then took the hayfork into her hands. "Squeals of the rich are so delicious kukuku!"

Shiori tried to grab the pistol that was on the ground, but the woman stabbed the hayfork into Shiori's right hand. "AAAAAHH!" Even though she knew that he enemy wanted this, Shiori still could not retain her scream.

"This is sure to leave a mark, isn't it?" The woman shouted and then turned the hayfork around, causing even more pain to Shiori. And while Shiori screamed in agony, the woman above her laughed. "Oh Sanmoto-sama, thank you for making this beautiful day possible!" And then she pulled away the hayfork and kicked Shiori into her cheek. "And there goes one beautiful face."

"Ghhhh…" Shiori tried to get up, even though the pain in her leg was unbearable.

"Oh, the kick did not make as much damage as I would have hoped?" The woman said, her mask hiding whatever grimace she had. "I had a niece like you, you know." The woman started walking towards Shiori, to which the girl responded by walking backwards, getting further and further away from her gun. Yes, her leg hurt like hell, but since her life was on line, she did not care. "Her mom… my sister… made a fortune by stealing my love, you know. Oh, he was such a handsome and rich hunk… and their little girl did not know anything about worry and effort. Oh, she sure was spoiled. AND THEN I TORE HER APART, ALL WHILE MY STUPID SISTER AND HER HUBBIE WERE WATCHING HAHAHAHA!"

"You sure are one rotten woman." Shiori spoke and started looking around for where she could run. "Enma might create a special place in Hell, just for you."

"You don't seem afraid, do you?" The woman seemed surprised. Well, it was to be expected: everyone else would have shivered in fear due to this psychopath standing just in front of them.

"I have met even crazier people than you." Shiori said while smirking. "I have seen skin and flesh being slowly torn up from a human until only the bone remained, and all while he was being kept awake. I have seen Middle-School kids being torn into pieces and their limbs being rolled up while they screamed in agony. All those were done by much more fucked up people than you, so really you do not impress me."

"You little…" The woman in front of her shouted and ran at Shiori, with the hayfork aimed towards Shiori's chest.

"And all of them met a gruesome end at my hand." Shiori said with a large, malicious smile on her face. The woman got terrified, albeit only a little.

But that little was enough to spell that woman's fate as she herself was not fearsome enough to get saved from the Fear that surrounded Shiori. Suddenly she sneezed and instinctively moved her hands towards her mouth, her hayfork falling down in the process. It was an accident by scientific standards, but anyone knowledgeable about fear, you knew that it was more than an accident. The woman was practically cursed.

Shiori took the hayfork into her hands and the woman said: "Ha, like you would-"

If she thought that Shiori would hesitate, she was wrong. Without wasting a single moments, Shiori thrust the hayfork into the woman's hips. "GAHHHH!" The woman shouted.

But her hate was stronger than her fear so rather than agonize about what happened, the woman took out a knife that she hid somewhere in her yukata and ran forwards, not minding the hayfork ripping her flesh apart and then she swung her dagger at Shiori.

"Ha?" Shiori was taken aback by this and the dagger slashed through Shiori's right shoulder with such brute force that it made a long line. "AAHHHH!"

And for the moment, Shiori was truly terrified of her. And that moment was enough to dispel the curse that was thrown onto this woman.

"You will not kill me here!" Shiori yelled at her. "Not some pathetic, piece of shit like you!" After saying that, Shiori pulled the dagger out of her shoulder. It caused agonizing pain, but the adrenaline that Shiori felt made her ignore it all.

She stabbed the dagger into the woman's face and then pulled it out. The woman screamed and fell from Shiori onto her back. The hayfork being stabbed into her probably made it all even more agonizing.

But Shiori already saw that this woman was resilient so she jumped onto her and stabbed the dagger into her chest and then into her abdomen and then into her shoulder, arm, another shoulder, the chest again, her face, her neck, until she finally realized that she had killed her.

So the girl rose up back onto her feet. "Haa… haa… ha…" Shiori had trouble breathing, both due to being tired out and because she had large wounds on her leg, hand and shoulder. She put the dagger under her belt and then walked up to her pistol and took it as well.

"We have another one here!" A male voice said and Shiori turned towards it. To her horror, a group of dozen cultists were there. "And such a pretty face… uff, I could use a woman after today's exercises."

"Fufufu, I like young girls." Another one said.

"I always wanted to try to do it with a gang haha!"

"Don't worry sweetie, we will take a good care of you." A fat one said and moved his hips back and forward.

Shiori was horrified, but still tried to keep her composure. But she failed.  _No, there is no hope… I can maybe take down two of them with this gun, but the rest…_

"Guys, am I the only one who smells alcohol in the air?"

"Huh, what are you… hey, there is a smell of alcohol in the air!"

"You should be thankful. It is rare that someone gets to feel even the smell of this sake." A voice said from behind Shiori. And then she felt someone embracing her, with one hand sitting on her wounded shoulder and another holding her wounded hand. She also felt the pain lessen in those places. "I am sure you guys are getting quite… fired up about it.  _Ougi Meikyou Shisui Sakura._ "

And as he said those words, the men burst into blue flames. "WAAAAAHHH!" They started screaming and running around, like anyone else would. One of them ran towards Shiori and her savior, but Shiori's gun aimed itself at him and Shiori pulled the trigger. The recoil from doing it with one hand only hurt her hand a bit, but it was nothing compared to other wounds she got on this day.

"Thank you, I am sensitive to heat." Rihan said to her.

"No problem." Shiori said.

"And sorry guys, I can't waste too much of the sake so I am afraid that you will need to make do with what you have. Yeah, it also means that the fire may last a bit longer, but what can you do?" Rihan said, seemingly having fun at playing around with his victims, like he often did.

Still, contrary to his words, it did not take long for the cultists to die, albeit in a very painful way.

"Riha-chan…" Shiori finally said. "Guess you finally caught me."

"Of course, it was only a matter of time." Rihan said and she could imagine him smiling. "Anyway, we have to talk."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Another chapter comes to an end, this one focused on Rihan's, Shiori's and Ao-JU's adventures in a zombie-apocalypse flick ;P Anyway, the topic of this chapter was retaining or abandoning humanity: Ao-Ju had to make a choice on what kind of youkai he wanted to be, Rihan had to listen to his own advice, Shiori met someone who abandoned it and Shiori herself also shows the lack of it in some areas

\- Some of you may have felt Déjà vu during the first scene, at least once Shiori made that mental list ;P The scene was directly based on the one from ch154 of the Manga, but with Rihan being replaced with his grandson and Gorozaemon with Shiori. Eah, there are some changes because their situations are different, but it is practically the same thing ;P

\- Lord Nayrael returns with his horrid poems! Shiori deserves better than my keyboard XD

\- Rihan Jr. may be the very opposite of his grampa in concept, but he still has the strongest Nurarihyon ability: to save others from themselves and make them extraordinarily impressed

\- Shiori also got her  _battle_ , and it was tougher than the ones from before. Not surprising, she made a few nasty mistakes and lacked some of the tools she usually had. Luckily, her boyfriend saved her from one of the worst fates that can happen to a woman

Next chapter is planned to be big. Maybe not in word count, but definitely big in events.


	44. The Nightmare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gyuki and his subordinates are getting closer to where they suspected the leader of the invasion was located, and certain that this would just another small task for the Gyuki Group

**Chapter 44 – The Nightmare**

_The Circle of Memories_ , which was how Gyuki called a certain part of Mount Nejireme where memories would assault whoever walked into it. It covered a large area around his mother's grave and Gyuki himself was not fully certain how this place came to be. Was it always here or did his strong emotions for his mother create this place? He could not truly remember as his memories from the days when he only became a youkai were cloudy at best and he never bothered to ask the older denizens of the mountain such a trivial question.

Be that as it would, it was sometimes a comforting place where he could remember his happy days while he still lived with his mother. He did not remember his father that well as he died while the boy was still only five years old, but what few memories he had were warm and pleasant.

But Gyuki never spent too much time thinking about those days as they brought him only grief and anger. He directed his mind at his Gyuki Group and the Nura Clan, his current families.

And both of those two families needed his protection now. Something rotten had assaulted Nejireme and it was Gyuki's duty, as the master of Nejireme, to put an end to these assaulters.

But the assaulters had become unusually tame since Gyuki and his subordinates entered the Circle, leaving them alone with their memories. But the youkai of the Gyuki Group travestied this area many times in order to test their resolve and mental strength, both of which were essential for a warrior's spirit to stay strong. So this Circle was no threat to them-

Gyuki was seemingly alone, but that was only an illusion. As long as they all continued walking forward without stopping, they would stay together. Not getting their attention stolen by the Circle's traps was the test of their resolve.

" _Why did you try to kill me?_ " Nura Rikuo appeared before Gyuki, his sword standing beside Gyuki's neck. " _What's the reason for this illogical move?_ " The boy whom Gyuki tried to kill asked.

"It was in the past, and you chose to forgive me." Gyuki simply said and continued walking.

" _Gyuki-sama!_ " Gozumaru shouted at him and Gyuki almost stopped… he almost forgot that this was only a memory speaking, not the real Gozumaru.

" _No way_!" Mezumaru also joined in. " _This is dangerous!_ "

It was memory from the day when he decided to sacrifice himself in order to see if Nura Rikuo was the worthy successor of the Nura Clan. It hurt him that he put these two boy's lives on the line, but they were the only ones whom he could trust to keep this secret, as many in the Gyuki Group would not take well to this suicidal action nor the betrayal of the Nuras. So he sent most of them to deal with some intruders in western Kantou, leaving Nejireme desolate enough for him to take care of Nura Rikuo without trouble.

" _I'll become your parent, Umewakamaru._ " Nurarihyon said, sitting on the ground as Gyuki passed him. " _Hey, come back, and drink some sake with me!_ "

"Forgive me, First Commander, but I have to protect your heirs." Gyuki said without slowing down and without turning back.

" _Heh_." Nurarihyon grinned and disappeared.

Then he saw a boy who looked like he was around nine years old, swinging his sword in all directions. " _Ah, Gyuki-sama!_ " The boy called Gozumaru turned towards him with a large smile. " _See how my swings are getting faster? I will make you so proud you will name me your heir, just you wait!_ "

" _Me too, Gyuki-sama!_ " Young Mezumaru appeared. " _Well, I don't think I want the clan, but I will make you proud as well._ "

"I am counting on you two." Gyuki said with a smile and passed the two boys. It was the two of them, who returned warmth to his almost dead heart, allowing a bloodthirsty beast to turn its life around and become a true, respectable warrior.

" _Umewakamaru._ " A raven-haired noble-woman with a straw hat said and appeared in front of him. If there was someone who could make Gyuki stop for a moment, it was this woman. " _You're a clever boy._ " She said, putting her hands on his shoulders. " _I'm sure you'll grow up to be a fine person._ " She said to him, with a sad facade of a smile.

"You are giving me too much credit, Mother." Gyuki said and started walking away with a quickened pace, trying to leave his past behind as quickly as possible.

" _Umewakamaru, where are you going? Oh no… UMEWAKAMARU!_ " She suddenly yelled and Gyuki almost turned around, but he clenched his teeth and just continued walking forward. " _Umewakamaru, help me! I am going to be eaten by this monstAAAAAHHHHH!_ " Gyuki could guess why she was screaming and who was killing her.

"Gyuki-sama, are you alright?" Mezumaru asked him and Gyuki realized that he was back in the real world.

"Ah yes, I am." Gyuki said and looked around. Everyone was sill walking behind him, even those whose eyes showed that they were still entranced, like Gozumaru, and caught in the world of their own memories. Mezumaru, and a few others looked at him with concern. "Come on, stay focused on your surroundings. We never know when the enemy might attack."

"Why are you crying?" Mezumaru asked another question.

"Huh?" Gyuki put his hand under his eyes and noticed something wet. "It is… nothing, just a sad memory." Gyuki said and wiped the memories away. "Just focus on the surroundings, I can take care of myself."

* * *

Gozumaru walked through his memories, giving his best to not get swept away by them.

He currently passed through the memory where he and Mezumaru were running through the forest while they were still little kids. An Onmyouji House had come to cleanse the mountain from youkai. Supposedly, the Onmyouji House in question had disgraced itself and the reigning Shogun, who lost some people he loved on this mountain, gave them another last chance to redeem their honor: destroy the youkai called Gyuki and all other youkai residing on Mount Nejireme.

As a result, the number of Onmyouji that attacked was unusually large, as was their resolve to see the cleansing being accomplished. In other words, they fought to the death with all the strength they could muster.

And they were merciless: they attacked anyone they saw, including the young ones like Gozumaru and Mezumaru. The boys knew the forest well, and knew a lot of places where they could hide… but the Onmyouji were relentless, and five of them quickly cornered the two young youkai. There was no sadism nor regret in the eyes of the Onmyouji, only a strong intent to fulfill their duty.

Of course, the two of them would die. And why would anyone have saved them? They were just two boys with little promise.

And then, the five Onmyouji in front of them got beheaded, their killer needing not more than one second. And there the killer stood… and he was none other than Gyuki himself, the very leader of Mount Nejireme and its most fearsome resident.

"I see you two are fine." Gyuki said and turned around. "Let us go, there are still Onmyouji to slay." He spoke, seemingly not minding that the two of them had been caught.

Real Gozumaru smiled as he watched the two kids nod in agreement and follow after Gyuki. Under that emotionless facade of his and behind the countless rumors, Gyuki was actually a caring person. Even though many were attacked by the Onmyouji, the ones he chose to save first were just these two kids, possibly the most useless youkai in the group. Both Gozumaru and Mezumaru then understood that this man cared about them like a father would.

With a smirk on his face, Gozumaru continued walking. And when he opened his eyes, he found himself inside a different memory.

"Uwaaaahh!" Gozumaru, a few years, ran at Tesshin with a sword in his hands. Tesshin just stood there, with his arms crossed and his own sword still in its sheaths. The last time he did that, he just went to evade Gozumaru's attacks.  _But that trick won't work on me twice!_

When Gozumaru got close enough to Tesshin, Gozumaru released his claws and surrounded Tesshin with them, thus cutting short any chance of evading him. at the time, Gozumaru thought that Tesshin had a surprised expression under that mask of his. All that was left was to hit Tesshin with his sword, a feat that Gozumaru had never achieved in the month that the two of them spent in training.

But before Gozumaru could even notice it, the seasoned warrior grabbed Gozumaru's arm with his left hand and squeezed it with such force that Gozumaru was forced to let his sword go. Then, Tesshin kicked him in the guts, ending their fight.

"You are improving Gozu, but the road in front of you is still quite long."

"Tell me… about it…" Gozumaru muttered while fighting to get up.

"Not this might sound demoralizing, but you are slower at mastering the fine skills of a warrior than anyone else I have trained." Tesshin said, never one to go easy on his trainees.

"Ha, you think this will depress me?" Gozumaru said with a grin. "I have gotten stronger than you are aware." In a way, that was true: after Gyuki-sama saved his life, Gozumaru out a lot more effort into his training. Only a year ago, the idea that he might get to train with Tesshin himself was unbelievable. "Give me some time, and I will-"

"Time is  _never_  on a warrior's side, boy." Tesshin did not seem impressed by Gozumaru's proclamation. "At any moment, a warrior could find himself fighting for his life and the lesser he has accomplished in his training, the larger is the chance that he will die. The more time a warrior takes to win a fight, the more exhausted he is, not to mention that the enemy may get some help. And the older he is, the weaker are his attacks."

"Says one of the oldest youkai in the clan."

"What, I never said I was stronger now than I used to be." Tesshin said as if he had anticipated Gozumaru's answer. "But I am still alive, and trust me the old days of the youkai world were much more dangerous than the current ones."

"If you say so." If it were anyone else, Gozumaru would have probably started arguing. But arguing with Tesshin was a worse idea than arguing with Gyuki-sama.

The next memory came in, this one happening a year or two later.

"Anyway, why are you trying like that?" Tesshin asked while Kurenai treated Gozumaru's wounds. The training became rougher as it went on so Gozumaru often found himself injured.

"What do you mean?" Gozumaru asked, although he could guess what he meant.

"Your growth may be slow, but at least it looks like there is no glass ceiling, so to speak." Tesshin explained and sat down in front of Gozumaru. "And effort, you sure are putting an unnatural amount of effort into your training."

"Ha, so you finally noticed." Gozumaru said and puffed with pride at Tesshin whose face was hidden under that mask of his.

"Hey, stop moving!" Kurenai hit Gozumaru onto his head and then continued treating his wounds.

"Don't fool yourself boy, with your pace it will take many, many years to just get close to the level the heir of the Gyuki-sama should aim for."

As annoyed as he was that Tesshin put him down again, him mentioning the fact that Gozumaru had been proclaimed the Group's heir made him stay silent. Gozumaru had mixed feelings about Gyuki's decision: on one hand, he was proud that Gyuki put so much trust into him, but on the other hand… he wondered what Gyuki was thinking and the pressure it caused for him just made him frustrated. Not to mention all those veterans being angry that he of all people became an heir.

However, the answer to Tesshin's question was far simpler than the answer to this dilemma. "I am trying so much because I want to meet Gyuki-sama's expectations!" Gozumaru said raising a fist and with a proud smile on his face. And once again, Kurenai hit him due to him moving too much again.

Gozumaru could not see Tesshin's expression, but he was certain that he smiled at his resolve. "Ha, you sure do care about Gyuki-sama a lot, don't you?"

"Of course! He is amazing!" Gozumaru said with stars in his eyes. "I want to be a strong and wise warrior, just like him!"

"Ha, next you will say that you would die for him." Tesshin spoke, certain that Gozumaru did not mean it.

But he did. There were many things Gozumaru was uncertain of, but his will to die for Gyuki-sama was not one of them. "Yes, I would." Gozumaru said with a tone that he could not use for anything else.

And while he could not see Tesshin's face, he could see his eyes moving in amazement. "Ha, I guess I underestimated you. I do not think that I ever saw someone speak with such certainty." Tesshin said, confirming that Gozumaru read him well. "Well then boy, keep training and be sure to stand with Gyuki-sama until death tears you apart." He said, rose up and put a hand on Gozumaru's head. "I look forward to your future endeavors."

"Yes!" Gozumaru said with a large smile and nodded. Tesshin had finally understood him. And since then, Tesshin's training became a little bit easier.

* * *

It was at this moment than Gozumaru felt himself waking up. "Huh, I feel like this is a bit sudden."

"Oh Gozu, you are back as well!" Mezumaru, who walked beside him, said. "It seems like everyone was suddenly freed from the  _Circle's Curse_! We are lucky!"

Gozumaru turned his head around and confirmed that everyone seemed to be focused on their real surrounding. "Lucky? This seems fishy to me."

"And it is fishy." Gen'ei agreed with him. "The only one who could do this is the enemy, but why would they try to help us?"

"They are planning something special, no doubt about it." Gyuki added his own opinion. He and his Hyaki were still moving while they spoke. "This is the Hyaku Monogatari we are talking about. They would do unwise things only to feed their egos."

"If you think this will make it easier for us, I disagree with you." Gen'ei argued. "The fact that they can afford to lift the Circle's curse means we should get more cautious."

"Hm, you are right." Gyuki nodded in approval, his face having the same grimaces that it has most of the time.

"Still, I wonder how they were able to lift the curse." Mezumaru decided to change the topic. "I mean, we couldn't do it!"

"Hmph, do not underestimate us, boy." Gen'ei admonished him with such an expression that Mezumaru stopped moving for a slight moment. "We could lift it ourselves, but we just had no reason to. Even this Circle is an asset to us as it traps unwanted intruders and serves as a good training ground."

Mezumaru opened his mouth to speak more, but Gozumaru cut in as he had questions of his own. "But I wonder if the invaders are affected by this… maybe they are lifting it because they are getting ensnared by it? Maybe that's why they are not attacking us?"

"No, they are not ensnared by it." Gyuki denied that possibility. "They have been seen hiding in the shadows around us, their minds clearly set on us."

"And there were way too many movements in the shadows." Gen'ei added. "I can buy that a few of them manage to resist the Circle's curse, but all of them? For whichever reason, they seem to be immune."

"Well, they are humans and youkai whom we have killed here on Nejireme, so I guess that their Fear is fueled by their memories." Gyuki continued to discuss the matter with Gen'ei. "It is possible that the Circle does the same that their own nature does better."

"Hm, but how did they lift it?" Gen'ei asked. "No wait, we did kill quite a few Exorcists, did we not?"

"Yes, and long time ago one of them  _did_  temporarily negate the effect that the  _Circle of Memories_  caused. It was that boy Onmyouji who led his entire house with him."

Gozumaru knew about whom Gyuki talked about: it was the leader of the Onmyouji who led the attack that almost killed him and Mezumaru, the same people who appeared in his memory a while ago.

"But still, why are they not attacking?" Gen'ei continued onto another topic. "Ever since we entered the  _Circle_ , they ceased their attacks."

"And they are, without a doubt, close by and keeping an eye on us." Gozumaru added, feeling their Fear from the shadows. "Maybe they are waiting until we walk into a trap?"

"In that case, attacking them now might prove to be a wise decision." Gyuki considered that option.

"I would advise against it." Gen'ei disagreed with the mentioned proposition. "They are scattered, meaning that we should scatter as well in order to fight them. Let us first deal with whatever is going on at your mother's grave."

The moment Gen'ei reminded him of whose grave it was, Gyuki's eyes narrowed. At that moment it became clear that he fully accepted the suggestion made by Gen'ei.

* * *

The gravestone belonging to Gyuki's mother was now in their sight.

Gozumaru had seen a lot of things on Nejireme, some more brutal than others. But this place still gave him chills. So many dark emotions have been created here over the centuries, all in honor to Gyuki's long dead mother, and still swirled in the air.

And today, it was even worse. Never mind the red sun and the threatening aura that came with the sunrise. Some powerful Fear had flowed around this place, making it all the more menacing.

"Who is hiding there?" Gyuki asked in a calm, yet loud, tone. "Show yourself!"

"Oh my, I hoped that I would record some kind of a warm moment before the main dish gets served." A masculine voice said and a man walked from behind the gravestone. "Glad to finally meet you Gyuki-dono, I think this is the first time we meet one another in person." The main said and bowed.

He had blond hair and an earring on his left ear. He wore a yukata, with papers glued onto it, and held something that looked like a notebook in his hand.

Gen'ei was the first one to recognize him. "Judging by the way you are dressed, I take it that you are Yanagida, one of the last two surviving lieutenants of the Edo Hyaku Monogatari Clan."

"Yes, only I and the  _Nose_  survived… but nevertheless, we have a new Nose now mind you." Yanagida said and pointed at his earring. "But forget about me, I am nothing more than a narrator who has the honor to start the new play in proper."

"As if we would let you start whatever you were planning to do." Gen'ei proclaimed and ran at Yanagida with a surprising speed, prepared to strike him down with his staff.

"You can't do that, old man." The moment those words left Yanagida's mouth, a large falcon flew down from the sky, hit Gen'ei and pushed him away. "It is rude to interrupt a man while he speaks."

"A Shikigami…" Gyuki muttered, his tone and expression calm as usual.

"Yes indeed, it was summoned by someone you slew many years ago." Yanagida added and the bird flew away. "And as so many others, he returned from Hell just to get a chance to meet you again."

"Stop fooling around you bastard!" Gozumaru finally lost his patience. "Get away from that grave or we will-" Before he could finish his sentence, a large wave of Fear came at them. The next moment, a hundred horrific youkai, all of them former victims of Gyuki's wrath, appeared around them. "What the…"

"The foreword cannot be interrupted, so do not even try that." Yanagida admonished them. "These good youkai can no longer attack until the foreword is spoken, but in return should you attack or keep interrupting me, they will assault you with ten times more power than they would once I am done." Yanagida spoke with a strict tone. "The play must start before it can reach any kind of conclusion."

"Why you…" Gozumaru wanted to say more, but Gyuki's hand fell on his shoulder.

"Let it go, Gozumaru." Gyuki told him. "Alright Yanagida-dono, say what you want."

"Why thank you for the common courtesy." Yanagida bowed down. "Now gentlemen, I am sure you all know what this place is." Yanagida started telling what he came to tell, and Gozumaru did not fail to notice that his eyes had been focused solely on Gyuki's. What he had to say was obviously for Gyuki only, not for the rest of them. "Oh, was it a sad day when Gyuki-dono's mother left him in a temple. The poor, poor boy… was lost without his mommy."

Once again, Gozumaru felt himself losing his temper. "WHY YOU-" But he was stopped by Gyuki squeezing his shoulder. Gozumaru wanted to ask why they should let him continue with his disgraceful words, but he was shocked by Gyuki's eyes.

There was a growing amount of malice in them... centuries had passed since the last time he saw such eyes.

"So after a while, the little boy goes to find his mother, only to find her ripped into pieces." And just like how Gyuki's eyes grew in malice, so did Yanagida's. "And failing to save his mommy, what does the little Gyuki do? Why, honor her memory with blood and sacrifice. He burned people to death, ripped them apart, minced them and played with their minds… all to give his little mommy, some serenity." Then Yanagida made a large, malicious grin. "What a pathetic, pitiable fool."

The sound of swords being taken out of their sheaths could be heard all around them. Gozumaru and Gyuki were amongst those who took out their weapons.

"That was enough." Gyuki, whose eyes shone with blood thirst, said and pointed his sword at Yanagida. "I will not tolerate your words anymore."

Yanagida said nothing back. He continued smiling, seemingly having expected this reaction.

" _Umewakamaru…_ " A feminine voice suddenly said. " _Youuuuuu…_ "

Gozumaru, and many others, looked around for its source but saw none of the enemies speak.

"… _stupid booyyy…_ " There was an enormous amount of malice in that tone.

Gozumaru started to feel worried, "Gyuki-sama, what is… Gyuki-sama?" When he looked toward Gyuki, he saw that there was no more malice in his eyes.

There was terror… he was so terrified that it was hard for Gozumaru to believe that it was Gyuki.

Gozumaru was afraid to turn his eyes towards what Gyuki watched. But he had to… he had to know what could possibly have shocked him like that.

A transparent woman was floating above the gravestone, becoming more transparent as the time went on. She had long raven hair and her head and arms hung down, as if she were dead. She wore what looked like ancient noble clothes, but torn apart. And as the ghost took form, Gozumaru noticed that there was blood coming out from her.

"…Mother?" a word finally left Gyuki's mouth.

"You burned people to death, ripped them apart, minced them and played with their minds." Yanagida started speaking again. "And by doing that…"

" _You burned HER to death!_ "

"AAAAHHH!" The woman screamed in agony. "ARHHHHHHHKKKKHHHHH!" There was smoke coming out of her, and her skin turned charred, as if she was being burnt alive but without the use of flames.

"A…." Gyuki's eyes shivered as he watched the scene before him. "A… a…"

" _You ripped HER apart!_ "

"NOOOOO!" As she screamed in agony, her limbs started to tear apart, slowly to make her suffer even more. "AAAAAHHHHKKKKKKK!" Even though her limbs and head have been torn apart from her chest, she still  _lived_  and her fingers moved, showing that she probably still felt pain in all of those limbs.

"No…" Gyuki started slowly shaking his head left and right. "No…"

" _You minced HER!_ "

" **UAAAAAAAA!** " And then her limbs started to be torn into pieces. Her hands acted as if someone halved them into two, and then pulled them until they were ripped into even smaller pieces.

" **AAAAAAAA!** " Her legs looked like some invisible, giant fist started squashing them slowly into a ball, and then put its fingers onto it and stabbed them.

" **UAAAAAHH!** " Her head also started getting torn apart, and everyone could hear her skull breaking. " **HHHHKKKKKK!** " Yet she still  _lived_.

And then her chest started to be pulled open and her organs and blood started falling down. " **Uuuu…** " As each of her organs fell down, her eyes shook in pain. But she could no longer scream: her tongue was now hanging from one half of her head, and it was being torn into tiny pieces, as if someone used scissors on it.

And then her very bones started to break and be minced… and no doubt, she felt even that pain.

" **AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!** "

This scream came from Gyuki himself, the youkai who also fell down onto his knees and from whose eyes tears started coming out.

" _YOU crushed her mind and soiled her soul._ "

"This all is something she goes through every day since she died, and it became worse with time." In all this, Yanagida was the only one who enjoyed. His grin had become so large and satisfied that it horrified the entire Gyuki Group. "All your sacrifices and tortures in her name… they all made her feel their suffering! With each suffering you added to her suffering. YOU, Umewakamaru, were far greater amonster toward her than even the one who killed her!" Yanagida said and pointed his finger at Gyuki. At the same time, the woman's remains flew up and started merging together. "But fear not, there is a way for her to be saved." Yanagida said that with a psychopathic expression on his face. "She will make everything you love and find precious suffer, just like how you made her suffer." Her body had now been restored, and her head and arms once again just hanged. "Even if they die, she will take their souls and bring justice!"

The woman landed on her feet and finally raised her head.

She was a demon through and through. Her eyes were red and shone with suffering and insanity. It was clear that no humanity had been left inside her. And as a youkai, the Fear sipping from her was enormous.

"What a pathetic, pitiable fool you were, Umewakamaru." Yanagida said and shook his head left and right. "After a thousand years, it is high time you got served your just deserts, and many of people you made suffer came to take their bite. If only you showed her more humane respect… it is solely your fault."

" _Stupid little boy…_ " The woman spoke again.

"Uuuu…" Gyuki did not look like he listened to him. He just lay on his knees, holding his head and squealing, all while rivers of tears poured from his eyes.

"Gyuki-sama, rise up!" Gozumaru ran to him and started pulling him. When the leader of a youkai parade lost his spirit and Fear, his entire parade could feel it. And the situation was so bad that Gozumaru felt literally powerless, and so were most of them…  _most of them_. "Please Gyuki-sama, we need you!" But it was not only Fear that Gozumaru needed... no, it pained him greatly to see a dignified person like Gyuki, whom he idolized so much, turn into this.

" _You…_ " The woman spoke and Gozumaru could feel her shadow fall unto him as she stood in front of the sunlight. " _…_ _seem to be very important to him._ " She spoke, her eyes having a limitless amount of malice in them… malice and Fear.

There was no doubt now: she was the leader of this undead Hyaki Yakou.

As the woman moved her hand up and got closer to the boy, terror veiled in Gozumaru.  _I must protect Gyuki-sama!_  But he let that terror disappear and went to take out his sword when two of his comrades jumped in front of him.

"Gozumaru, take Gyuki-sama to safety!" One of them shouted.

"You two must survive at all costs!" The other one said. "Go to the resort and help him get over this!"

Not waiting for Gozumaru's reply, the two of them charged at Gyuki's mother. But she continued walking forward, even when their weapons started moving right through her flesh, which immediately regenerated.

And when they were both beside her, she just slapped them with her hands.

One of them started letting out crushed noises, as if his bones were being broken. In a few moments, his limbs were so misplaced that they looked like weeds. He then started to be squashed by some invisible force.

The other one had his skin being ripped apart, and then his meat being torn away as if someone used a spoon.

And both of them were alive as it all happened. They were not saved from death and suffered just like she did a few moments ago.

"No… way…" Gozumaru finally understood what kind of monstrosity walked towards him. His eyes started moving left and right hoping there would be someone else to keep her away, but half of the group were fighting, most in their youkai forms, while the other half just stood, their weapons being held in a defensive manner.

" _I have a special gift for you, little boy._ " The woman spoke and Gozumaru turned his attention back at her. She was having a malicious grin on her face, and both of her hands were reads to grab him. It was clear that he would suffer more than anyone else would if she touched him. Obviously, he was the one about whom Gyuki cared so much.

Instinctively, Gozumaru grabbed Gyuki, released his claws and used them to jump away from her. But something went through him, possibly an arrow, while he was still in the air and both he and Gyuki fell onto the ground, few feet away from each other.

_It is alright… as long as we are away from her, we can somehow make it._  Gozumaru encouraged himself and tried to stand up.  _Where is Mezu… we need his help to get away._

He noticed that Gyuki rose up onto his feet, and for a slight moment Gozumaru felt hopeful, but he immediately realized that Gyuki was just looking at his faraway mother with grief and pain on his face.

_Dammed, we need more help!_ And while his eyes were looking around, he saw that reinforcements were coming: Tesshin, Kurenai, Eikichi and a few others have arrived.  _Yes, with Gen'ei-sama, Eikichi-sama and Tesshin-sama, we can make it!_  Gozumaru thought with a smile on his face.

Eikichi and Kurenai both split from Tesshin, each attacking another group of youkai, while Tesshin went after Gyuki. "Tesshin-sama, we must take Gyuki-sama to the resort!" Gozumaru shouted towards Tesshin.

And when Tesshin reached Gyuki...

_Huh? What… why…_ Everyone noticed what happened… most were shocked and horrified but some, including Gen'ei, grinned… the ones who grinned were, now Gozumaru noticed, ignored by the undead.

Gozumaru did not know why, but at this very moment he finally realized… only the members of the Gyuki Group knew how most of people perished by hands of Gyuki, and who they were. So how did Hyaku Monogatari find out enough details to create such a stable tale?

Gyuki puked blood, and even more started pouring from his abdomen, where Tesshin thrust his fist. "I have waited a thousand years for this day, Umewakamaru." Tesshin said in a menacing tone that shone with excitement and malice, all while Gyuki starred at him in shock. "Our thousand year old dream of revenge is finally coming to fruition, and what delight it is to see it come while you have such despair in your heart." Spoke Tesshin, the nephew of the former commander of the Gyuki Group. "Mizuchi of Kyushu sends his regards." And then he pulled his hand away and, bleeding from a large wound, Gyuki fell onto the ground.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- A lot of gore in this chapter… anyway, I am sure you all now understand why the chapter is called Gyuki's Nightmare. And this chapter being called  _The Nightmare_  symbolizes what exactly was meant by the arc's name

\- Originally, the chapter was planned to be shared between the Gyuki Group and Ritsura's Group. But I decided to split them for a few reasons

\- Although Yanagida said, in one of the omakes in the last volume, that his earring was the Nose, I am not sure if it really made much sense in context of the story. For one, why would Enchou, the acting commander who knew every last HM secret, not know about it and why would the earring be treated as one of the seven leaders? Even if the artifacts were able to get such a title, why wasn't the Maou's Hammer (which seems to be far more powerful and important) not one of the Commanders as well? To make up for that, the earring is a new Nose and the  _real Nose_  is no longer in league with Sanmoto

\- Gyuki's mom... It must have been quite horrific for Gyuki to witness this scene, curse Sanmoto for using her in this way

\- the hints of betrayal have been there for the last few chapters, but I don't think many of you expected Tesshin to be one of the traitors :P

\- it is like all of Gyuki's past have come to haunt him: at one is his mom and atrocities he did in her honor, and the other one are the youkai that still did not forget that the current Gyuki is an usurper

\- What better way to end a chapter about despair and treachery than with a Red Wedding Reference? ;D


	45. Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long time of preying, Yashagoro from the Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan has finally made his move and attacked the Nura Clan

 

**Chapter 45 – Despair**

The gates were standing there, not even closed. It would take only a few steps for Tsurara to reach them, go through them and be on her way to Nejireme, where her son and daughter were.

But she only stood in front of the mansion, starring at those gates that lead outside. While she was a mother who had a bad feeling that something bad was about to happen, and the dark clouds in the skies that blocked the sunlight did not make her feel any better, she was also the wife of the youkai yakuza boss Nura Rikuo, and as such it was her duty to lead the clan in his absence.

"You are worried, aren't you?" She heard Kurotabou's voice behind her. "If so, should I leave for Nejireme?"

"No, I'd rather not." Tsurara replied. "Right now everyone is either with Rikuo-sama or with the kids. In case someone attacks us, I'd prefer if you were here." She said, resisting her wish to accept his proposal and send another person to her children.

"I see…" Kurotabou said in a low tone. "Houkou just sent a message. It seems like the youkai of Chinatown are also feeling that something is amiss."

"So they feel it as well?" Tsurara finally turned her gaze away from the gates and onto Kurotabou, who was just standing in front of the house. "But he is not in Chinatown now, is he?" She remembered hearing about him visiting some of other vassal groups.

"No, and that brings to another thing he said: the youkai of Akiruno are also feeling traces of foreign Fears."

"Tz." Tsurara clicked her tongue. If not for these reports all the Nura Clan's territory, she could leave the house for a bit. True, only a few reports like these came, but she was certain that more would have come if the other youkai were as cautious. "Is that woman already making her move?"

"Shiori you mean? It is possible." Kurotabou said and fixed his hat. "But that is exactly why I think I should go to Nejireme. Shiori is sly and it is possible that this whole affair is only a distraction so she could attack Ojou and Waka on Nejireme."

"You are not going, Kurotabou." Tsurara said with a tone that left no space for arguing. "You are needed here and I need you to keep looking into the Hyaku Monogatari here."

"Still…"

"Besides…" Tsurara turned her back at him again. "I have already sent someone to Nejireme."

"Huh?"

"Yes, a clan executive and her strongest retainers. So don't worry, they will be safe." Tsurara said, her fingers gripping onto her kimono while she tried to re-assure herself.

* * *

"Ugh, all my bones hurt…" Kejorou muttered as she raised herself up from the ground. Even though it happened a few moments ago, she had no idea what was going on: a giant serpent fell from the sky, some black fog engulfed them all and then something hit her, throwing her away from the others. Kejorou was not sure what she was thrown into, but it caused pain in all parts of her body.

Finally, she opened her eyes and saw that she was no longer inside that black mist. She could see a giant black ball of mist in front of her, making the whole scenery even more alien.

"Is this another one of Sanmoto's zombies?" She wondered.

"No." The voice of an old man spoke from above her. "This is not done by one of Messiah's angels."

Instinctively, Kejorou jumped away. And just in the nick of time: something large fell onto the place where she stood.

"Come on nee-chan…" The voice spoke in a mocking tone. "A woman with such tits should always be happy to welcome a baby into her arms heh heh."

When the dust cleared, Kejorou saw a giant youkai with body of a baby and head of an old geezer.

"I am Konaki-jiji, a humble servant of… oh my, I can't say that, now can I?" While he spoke, his body grew further.

"You are not one of them…" It was clear that this youkai was a normal youkai, but it also seemed like they were in the league with them. "Did you say Messiah? You must be from Kyushu then!"

"Tz, I spoke too much after all…" The old man made an annoyed grin. "Well, doesn't matter. It is my task to end your life here after all."

Kejorou did not bother to ask him why he was here: the Kyushu youkai never hid their intent to wage war against the Nuras. They were no doubt here to either bring down the Gyuki Clan while they are most vulnerable or to attack the young masters… or even both.

Kejorou could only hope that both Ritsura and Rihan were alright… and while she had no idea where Rihan was, she knew that Ritsura was close by and might need her help. She had to deal with this nuisance as quickly as possible.

The giant baby-geezer took a step towards her and raised his fist, which then turned into stone. Then the black mist spread from behind them, but Kejorou resisted the urge to look behind: when the enemy was in front of you, there was no greater mistake then averting your gaze from them.

Once the black mist engulfed the entire area around her, she was no longer able to see anything. Still though, due to keeping an eye on him she was able to evade his attack, not too late and not too soon. Her hair grabbed a sharp piece of wood on the ground, which she noticed before the darkness appeared, and thrust it into her enemy, hoping to wound him.

But she felt the branch breaking. "Sorry nee-chan, but I can turn parts of my body into stone." Konaki-jiji said and tried to attack her with another arm, but that one she evaded as well.

_Tz, what should I do now?_  Other than knowing that she cannot let him hit her lest he breaks her bones with one attack, she had no idea how to deal with him. Her hair was good for strangling her enemies, but what use was that against someone who could turn his neck into stone?

_Well, Kubinashi would come up with something._  While their abilities were similar, Kubinashi's techniques were more refined, not to mention that at his heart he was still a youkai hunter so his string was deadly against all kinds of enemies.

However, that did not mean that she could not do something similar like he did. If she used her Fear in correct way, she was certain that she could defeat this enemy of hers.

But until she thinks of something, she had to evade his deadly attacks.

"How the hell do you keep doing that, you damn woman?" Konaki-jiji had obviously gotten frustrated. He probably expected that, due to not being able to see him, she would be easy prey. But no matter how much he attacked, he always missed. He punched the ground and, even more often, threw his entire body at her. But all of his attempts failed.

As for how she knew where he was coming from, the answer was… her hair. The fact that she could control her hair meant that they were like limbs to her: not only could she move it as she saw fit, but she felt whatever her hair touched.

With that in mind, she spread strands of her hair around in a large radius. The strands were too small for anyone to notice them, but they were sensitive enough for her to know when the enemy went to attack her.

"Die already!" Konaki-jiji's attacked became more hectic with each failure to hit her, and now he was focusing all his Fear into his attacks, sparing none for defense.

Thus, it was finally time to go into offensive.

This time, Kejorou did not immediately jump away the moment she felt him coming. The youkai threw his entire body, which was now two times the size of Aotabou, at her and she only evaded it when he came close to her. She used her hair to feel where his neck was and then immediately stabbed her nails into it.

"GAHHH!" Konaki-jiji screamed and tried to slap her with his hand, but Kejorou moved away before his hand reached her. "What the hell are you doing, you damn woman?"

"I am just killing you." Kejorou said in a cold tone and her hair attacked his neck. As expected, he turned his skin into stone… but it was only skin that he could turn into stone, not his flesh. So, Kejorou did something she never before did: she strengthened her hair with her Fear and stabbed it right into another youkai's body. If she could not strangle him from outside, she would strangle him from inside.

"Akhhhh…" The youkai cringed in pain due to her hair stabbing through his flesh. The pain was so immense that he should not have been able to muster enough strength to attack her.

"And before you ask: no I will not spare your life." She said to him and continued to force her strands into his flesh. There were way too many enemies and threats to make holding hostages affordable.

"It was a good thing that… we attacked… during the day…" Konaki-jiji muttered and put his hand into his diapers.

"What?" Kejorou became worried when she saw him grin in a way that implied that he did not lose just yet. She grabbed his hand with her hair, but the strength of his arm was stronger than that of her hair, even in this situation.  _This is bad! I must kill him immediately!_

"A youkai is… always weaker during the day… after all." He spoke and then Kejorou saw a syringe in his hand, with some black liquid in it. "Good thing that we have someone who… can make it possible to get… rid of that weakness." With a large grin, he stabbed that syringe into the other side of his neck before Kejorou's hair could break it, and then injected the liquid into his blood-flow. "To me, the next few hours will be like night-time!"

Kejorou then felt his Fear rise up and stabbing through his flesh became harder. What was more, his strength rose and he was able to attack again. He grabbed her hair with his two hands, pulling out the strands of her hair that connected into his throat.

Kejorou then tried to run backwards, but his fist came at her and punched her in her guts, throwing her away with much larger force than that serpent did earlier. She fell on the ground and was unable to move.

"You life ends here, whore." Konoki-Jiji spoke as he walked towards her. "You will pay for making me go through that!"

"No, don't kill her!" The mist spoke. At that moment, Kejorou realized that this very mist was a youkai.

"Huh? Why the heck would I not kill her? Killing Nuras is our task, remember that Akashita?"

"And what if something happens to Yashagoro and we need to save him?" Akashita replied. "This woman is an important member of the Nura Clan. She has a value as a hostage."

"Tz, guess you have a point." Konoki-Jiji said and grabbed Kejorou by her leg. "Good night, princess." And when he said that, he pulled her up into the air and then hit the ground with her backside faces to ground, forcing her to lose consciousness.

* * *

Ritsura's enemy did not waste time speaking, and that was not a good thing. It meant that there were no negotiations with him, that he was resolved on whatever was his goal, that he paid attention to his surroundings and, worst of all, dialogue could not be used to buy time until reinforcements came.

_That leaves me with no choice._  Ritsura thought and strengthened her grip on Nenekirimaru. The feeling of imminent death disappeared and she was able to get a hold of herself, although she still felt that the pale boy in front of her was dangerous.  _I will have to deal with him myself, without holding back._

In a way, that part excited her: there were not many occurrences where she could fight all out. For the same reason however, it made her nervous.

The gap between Orochimaru and her suddenly shortened but only once he was in front of her did her body react and she blocked his attack with her sword.  _What… how did he get here so quickly?_ But she could not afford to think too much about it so she immediately went to turn her defense into an attack by forcing her sword to go towards his throat while blocking his wazikashi. All that she did with one hand and while it hurt her to put so much force into one arm, it was for the best.

He did not use the wazikashi in his other hand to stop her attack, but instead tried to stab it into her hips. But she expected him to do something like that so her other hand, which she kept on the grip of her sword but did not actually use, she pointed downwards and created an ice shard that quickly grew into a spear, wounding the side of his hand. As a result, the wazikashi fell on the ground. She immediately moved her hand a bit so that the spear, that was being created, would freeze itself onto it, thus robbing her enemy of one of his weapons.

The sudden action made Orochimaru jump backwards, distancing himself from her. The look in his eyes changed: besides the resolve to kill her, there was now a realization that his enemy was a larger threat than he expected.  _But it isn't Fear just yet, only caution._

He started moving sideways, and in reply so did she. They were like two wolves, moving around and looking for an opening.

Now that she had time to think again, she thought about how quickly he reached her. _No, that's wrong, he wasn't THAT fast_. Indeed, in Toono and Tokyo alike she fought many enemies who moved faster than this youkai had. Kashima Reiko was probably twice as fast and agile as this youkai was.

_So, what is this whole thing about?_

Once again, he moved and her body was slow to react. She blocked his wazikashi that was pointed at her face, but he did not force himself into another contest of strength with her. Instead, he pulled back his wazikashi and went for her stomach, an attack which she also blocked. He then took a step left, pulled his wazikashi back again and went for another attack, this time at her shoulder. Hips. Face again. Chest. Legs. He moved around her, attacking with speed and strength, and she could only block his attacks with Nenekirimaru.

Once again, her reactions were slow at first, but she started to get the hang of it. But he was getting the hang of her defending as well, faster than she was getting a hang of his attacks.

_Damn it, I won't get anywhere by just defending!_  Nenekirimaru was too heavy to make an attack before him and her attempts to use her hand to produce ice were too risky: whenever she tried it, he would go for her hand. Breathing out cold air was also not an option seeing as she was fighting for her breath and using such an attack in this situation would have forced her to fight for her breath, and that would create a fatal opening that Orochimaru would be bound to make use of.

So she had to create an opening. She acted like she was about to use her left hand to perform another attack, and he slashed towards it. Her gamble, however, paid off: she managed to move her hand away so that she got only a scratch and then swung Nenekirimaru at him, forcing him to deflect her attack.

She then thrust Nenekirimaru into the ground with her left hand and created an ice wazikashi in her right. By the time he made another attempt to attack, she managed to successfully exchange her weapon. As powerful as Nenekirimaru was, against an opponent like him, it was unfitting.

With a wazikashi, however, she was able to block an attack for her face and immediately attempt to attack his abdomen. She was able to block an attack for her chest and attack towards his shoulder. And so on, the two of them were now on even ground. For an opponent relying on agility, the best counter-attack was agility itself, not strength.

Yet, she feigned that she was getting tired, moving backwards to where Nenekirimaru was. Orochimaru got so used on this kind of attack that he did not expect her to suddenly grab Nenekirimaru and slash at him, almost beheading him.

One again, he moved away from her to a safe distance.  _So I was right: he thought I would not return to my previous technique due to coming to an even ground with him. A shame he was able to dodge though._

Once again, he started moving sideways and the two of them circled around one another.

And she finally realized what the issue with his speed was: he was not fast, his movements were simply unexpected. Experienced warriors of her clan and Toono alike taught her to pay attention to an enemy's body language and use it to predict their next attack. After all, before every attack you must prepare your body. After many years of training, Ritsura taught herself to predict the upcoming attacks subconsciously, and her body started moving on its own.

It was a valuable technique, but this youkai turned it into an advantage. Most of his sudden attacks came without his body taking a position before an attack: he just attacked and somehow did all the work a moment before an attack.

And again he attacked, but this time he did not catch her off-guard. Due to knowing what to expect, she was able to force her mind to not be shocked at his sudden movements, but to react accordingly… and the _according reaction_  was to throw the wazikashi in the direction that he was taking.

He dodged it. By making an unnatural movement with his body, he dodged it… and the movement he made somehow made her think of a snake.  _Well, he is an Orochimaru._

But after so many surprises from him, she expected this one. So after using her mirror image to fool him into not noticing that she moved a few meters, she swung Nenekirimaru at him.

For the third time now, she made him bleed.

* * *

_Damn this woman…_  Yashagoro knew that his anger was that of a childish pride, but he was still annoyed by this girl that fought against him. The wound he suffered was just a scratch, but it made Fear sip out of him in form of floating letters. It was nothing major and it didn't last long, but he felt irritation on the place where he got scratched.  _It is an Onmyouji blade after all, even a scratch will feel more irritating than it should._

But he did not waste much time on thinking about the wound and instead turned his attention back at his nemesis. He looked on a few of her fights, and the conclusion he came with was that she was generally impulsive, preferring brute force over delicacy. Yes, there were hints that she was actually a skilled warrior, but he ignored them thinking that he was just over-thinking it.

But this girl was sharp. She saw through each of his techniques, one by one… and little by little, the fight became tougher for Yashagoro.

Naturally, he had many cards up his sleeve, each one of which could end her in one attack if he used it well.  _But I should not do it yet… if she sees that I can do more than single knife-fighting, she will go all out._ And he saw in Tokyo what happened when she went all out.

Suffice to say, the fight would be over. The only reason she is not doing it yet is because she either wants to conserve her energy or because she thought that it would leave an opening that Yashagoro could use. But even if it did create an opening, Yashagoro did not want to risk it.

Still though, he had to use some new cards, lest the next time she spills his blood it gets spilled from his very heart.

He walked sideways again, and so did she. But he did not intend to make basic attacks again… no, he just wanted to keep her attention away.

It was very fortunate that they were in a forest. Otherwise she would have probably noticed that there was something else in the surroundings.

But it was very unfortunate that his nervousness made him look at it, and she noticed it. Before the snake could bite her leg, she froze it.

_But it is still not over!_  He jumped towards her, and she deflected his attack with her sword. He thought of stealingw her attention with his barrage of attacks, but she did not fall for it: she kept deflecting his attacks, while her eyes looked on the ground around them every now and then.

By now, she definitely noticed that they were surrounded by a few dozens of snakes. She had no ways of knowing that each of them was poisonous enough to weaken her (and kill her in such numbers), but he was sure that she suspected it. Common sense of fear makes that the first thing that comes to one's mind after seeing such a scene.

But she did not seem scared. "Ugh…" She then looked him into the eyes, not with a look of caution or fear, but annoyance. "You are really starting to get on my nerves!"

After having said that, the girl kicked the ground and froze everything in a ten meters radius, including every snake around her. Yashagoro reacted before the ice reached him by jumping backwards, but the ice was so slippery that he needed a few moments to regain his stability.

But the girl did not use the opening. She just looked at him with narrowed eyes, standing in there and with her muscles relaxed. The fact that she was not prepared to attack of defend gave Yashagoro a bad feeling.

And the next moment, Yashagoro felt shivers go up his spine. Being a youkai, he knew the reason: the girl in front of him started releasing large quantities of her Fear… and that Fear was strong enough to paralyze him.

_Shit, I should not have held back!_  Had he released his own Fear, he would not have been overtaken by hers. But like this, he had no choice but to stare at the girl as her hair fluttered around, the teal parts of her hair turned white and a spiraling blizzard stormed around her.

But then, her eyes suddenly widened and her face took an expression of shock. Then, while her face was still in such a state, her Fear dissipated and the scene became normal again, save the frozen ground.

Yashagoro did not know what had just happened, but he had no intentions of letting such kind of questions stop him from using such an opening.

Without any care of technique or caution, he started sprinting towards her.

* * *

After defeating three youkai that attacked him, all of which seemed to have come from outside Nejireme rather than from inside, Ryuzan was able to rest a bit. He was still inside the dark mist so he could not see anything, but he still took the risk and rested. Getting exhausted itself would have been way too dangerous.

_I wonder how the others are doing._  He did now know anything about the youkai from the Nura Clan, but he Nura Clan was probably not so famous due to being made out of weak youkai. He knew about Sakura even less, but as a fellow exorcist he trusted her and she seemed quite certain of her chances.

He was worried about Ritsura, but he was certain that she could hold her ground without much trouble. So in the end, there was nothing to worry about.

And then something stormed through his nerves and he felt nauseous.  _What the… what is going on?_  Soon enough, even breathing became harder and he started sweating.

_Is it an enemy attack?_   _No, there is no Fear._  And it was not a consequence of his battle either: neither of the youkai seem to have possessed an ability to do something like this.

_The black mist? No, I am not feeling any effect from it on my body._

Then he thought of another theory which, as much as he did not want to believe it, seemed legitimate.

With that in mind, he put his hand into his coat and took out a bamboo flask which contained the liquid that his father used to summon his Shikigami. While Ryuzan failed to learn his technique fully, he was still able to control the liquid to a certain extent. He drank the flask's contents, gulped them and concentrated.

After a while, he felt contents from his stomach reach his throat and he started vomiting. While vomiting was one of his goals, it was not the only one and having to go through it made it much harder for him to concentrate, but he had no choice but to give his best. After a while, he managed to force the liquid right into his blood-flow and its healing properties should remove and unnatural poison created by Fear. He believed that this poison was not made by humans, but in case it was then he would be in trouble as the cure only works on the unnatural ones.

Once the agony of vomiting was over, he felt better. And he was certain that now that his suspicions were correct: he was poisoned. Even now there was some poison in his body, but hopefully he managed to remove enough for it to not be dangerous anymore.

_I don't know why, but food in Tesshin's place must have been poisoned._  Since they spent a good part of the day before and the morning at Tesshin's place and thus ate there, that was the only place where he could have been possibly poisoned.  _Well, Sakura did not eat anything due to some kind of Temperance boom or something but… oh no… RITSURA!  
_

* * *

Ritsura had no idea what was going on with her body, and she could not afford to think about it. She let Nenekirimaru fall to the ground and raised her hands so that they would get pierced by Orochimaru's wazikashi instead of her face. Moving her arms felt like she was ripping them apart, and it got worse once she felt the pain in her left arm after the wazikashi stabbed into it.

Her enemy then kicked her in the guts and she fell on the ground, the wazikashi of his getting pulled out of her. Like a while before, he did not waste time and went to slash her.

The survivor in her took control again, and she breathed out cold air right into his eyes. Seemingly, the chance of an easy kill made her enemy less cautious and more daring so her attack succeeded, and his hands immediately went for his eyes.

Ritsura immediately rose up and tried to run backwards, her survival instincts disobeying her body's pleas to stop moving. As a result, she felt like every part of her body was being minced.

But alas, she could barely walk, yet alone run. And her enemy did not need long to get a hold of himself and once again look at her with the eyes of a killer. He ran at her, intending to stab her into her chest.

Knowing that she could fight an opponent with a sword like this, she let him stab her, but moved so that the wazikashi would get stabbed into her sides. Immediately after, she grabbed it with her right hand while she used her left to create her own dagger and then stabbed it into Orochimaru's hand. Unsurprisingly, he let go of it and grabbed his hand to stop the bleeding while Ritsura froze the wazikashi into an ice cube and threw it away.

Her situation was far from good or optimistic, but it was still better than him still having that sword.  _But he is Orochimaru, sword fighting is unlikely to be his primary style of combat._

Moving became increasingly harder for Ritsura and she barely stood. At this point, she was certain that she could not move her arms as much anymore.  _What the hell… is going… on with me?_ It will most likely not even matter that she disarmed him: with her body like this, it will take only a minute or two for him to kill her.

And as usual, Orochimaru did not waste time. Even without a weapon in his hand, he ran at his enemy. She tried to create a weapon, but it only grew for twenty or so centimeters before it fell onto the ground.  _No, I can't use my Fear anymore!_ She thought in despair as her eyes and hair changed color and her skin became less pale.

A cracking sound could be heard, and pain electrocuted Ritsura as Orochimaru grabbed and swiftly broke her left arm.

While still holding her, he kicked her right leg with such force that it too broke. "GAAAAHHHH!" Neither her willpower nor her nausea could stop Ritsura from screaming in pain.

But her enemy was not done just yet. He made a fist and punched her into her guts that digestive fluids fly out of her mouth. He then punched her again and then again with such strength that he broke a few of her ribs and she vomited blood.

He finally let go of her, and she fell onto her knees. But letting her go did not mean that he was done: he raised his both arms and straightened his hands, as if he were doing karate. With a high speed, he lowered them onto her shoulders. Suffice to say, more of her bones had gotten broken.

Once again she screamed, but it was cut short by a kick of his that propelled her right into a giant rock, around ten meters away from where she kneeled.

Ritsura was unable to move now, both due to pain, broken bones and the nausea. But she did manage to open her eyes and saw him standing where he was, but prepared to strike at her and end her life.

She grinned, an action that surprised him. "Why are you grinning, woman?" The silent boy asked.

"Heh heh… I may have lost, but at least… I brought a serious and stuck-up bastard like you… on a level of someone who… tortures for pleasure."

His eyes widened in shock and anger. Indeed, until a minute ago, he fought with the sole intention to kill. There was no emotion in it and he just saw it as his duty. People like that took pride in their calm attitude.

But after her nausea kicked in or after she disarmed him, he changed his attitude and there was no aura of pride around him anymore, only anger. "You could… have killed me there… by just breaking my neck." She continued to mock him, trying to kill what little pride he still had left. "But there you go… torturing a girl… undoubtedly, taking sick pleasure in it."

To her satisfaction, his eyes showed that she hit where it hurt.

So she decided to make her final attack while she could still speak. "Orochimaru, sick and rotten like the legends say."

It hurt him, but she did not care. If she had to die, she wanted to do at least some kind of damage. And even that would not be enough to make him pay for the pain that he would bring to her beloved parents by killing her. _Mom…Dad… I'm sorry…_

"You damn…" Orochimaru's spoke, his face distorted in anger and humiliation.

But before he could finish what he started, something flew past him and the black mist that was near them dissipated. "Akashita?" He looked towards a demonic head as it flew away. Whatever threw this youkai called Akashita, it threw it with such force that he broke even the largest trees in his path.

"ORYAAAAAAAA!" Aotabou screamed as he ran towards them, all of his skulls released and himself ready to strike Orochimaru down with his fist.

Orochimaru immediately turned towards Ritsura and started running towards her. He no doubt intended to finish her before Aotabou reached them. And Aotabou was probably not fast enough to reach them in time.

But a Shikigami in form of a horse-sized dog was. Before Orochimaru could even see it, he was pushed onto the ground. And by the time he raised himself back onto his feet, Aotabou punched him with such strength that even Ritsura could hear his bones breaking at few meters away.

But Aotabou did not stop running: he ran for few more meters until he punched Orochimaru into the ground, creating an earthquake in the process. He then raised his fist and continued hitting Orochimaru into the ground. No matter who he was, he could not possibly survive such an avalanche of attacks.

"Ojou!" Aotabou suddenly turned towards her and ran to her.

"Ritsura!" She could also hear Ryuzan's voice and he too came to her. "Oh no, you were poisoned too!"

"Poisoned?" Aotabou immediately reacted. "What are you-"

"Shut up!" Ryuzan shouted at him and took out a bamboo flask. "Drink this, and try to not raise your Fear."

Ritsura just nodded and let the water flow into her throat.

"This may feel uncomfortable an maybe even painful, but keep it up." He raised his index and middle finger, and closed his eyes as if concentrating.

* * *

Yashagoro always knew that it would end like this someday.

It was only a matter of time until someone beat him up to such an extent that he would only be alive due to being Orochimaru, a youkai who could suffer all kinds of injuries and still survive. Even the Strongest of Kitsunes, with their divine nature, did not have such resilience. Indeed, even if someone destroyed his body, he would survive. That was the wretched nature of his Fear.

It was only a matter of time until he had to embrace his own nature to survive.

But he never thought that he would be so calm about it.

He moved his right hand and raised his middle and index fingers.

What he was about to do would tarnish his soul further, but if it meant victory, he would not mind it. "I will not… fight as Yashagoro now… but as… Orochimaru."

And thus he released his strongest Shikigami: his very soul.

* * *

"Damn it!" Ryuzan shouted, making both Aotabou and Ritsura nervous. "The poison spread too much… and it is not a human poison." Ryuzan clenched his teeth. "There is nothing I can do…"

"We must take her to Zen!" Aotabou immediately replied. "I am sure he has herbs that can help her… he must have!"

"Alright, let us-" Ryuzan started but froze.

And so did Aotabou.

An incredible amount of Fear enveloped all three of them. Neither Ryuzan nor Aotabou dared to turn around and look at its source.

But Ritsura turned her eyes towards it. "Orochimaru…" As she feared, her enemy was not done just yet.

Both Aotabou and Ryuzan turned around, and looked as the youkai whom Aotabou defeated raised himself up, his body moving in an unnatural fashion. In front of their eyes, the limbs that were broken displaced had regenerated and fixed themselves back into their place. His skin also became paler and paler, until he was white as snow while his eyes turned green.

"You still did not have enough beating, eh?" Aotabou raised himself up and released all of his skulls again. "Breaking your skull should do the trick! OYRAAAA!" Shouting a war-cry, he ran at Orochimaru.

His enemy on other hand just started walking, slashing the air with his hand. And as he did that, a giant serpent appeared above him and jumped at Aotabou.

"You think this is the first time I fought such a snake!" Aotabou shouted and grabbed the beast's mouth with his bare hands. "I defeated a Gokadoin's worm, you will not even be a-"

Orochimaru slashed through the air again and another giant serpent appeared. Aotabou could only look at it as it hit into him, pushing him away and biting its poisonous fangs into his body.

"Uncle Ao!" Ritsura shouted, ignoring the gruesome pain that came with it.

The viper let go of Aotabou and moved behind Orochimaru, and so did the other one. Meanwhile, Aotabou's skin started taking an unnatural, purplish color. It was obvious that he would die from the poison.

"ARGHHH!" But Aotabou raised himself up and punched his own chest. A flash of light occurred and his skin returned to normal… and then he lost consciousness and fell onto the ground.

"Ah yes, Buddhist spells are able to heal this poison of mine." Orochimaru spoke while he still walked towards Ritsura and Ryuzan. "But the shock from the poison can't be healed and his body could handle it enough for him to stay conscious." He said with a smirk.

The aura around the boy had completely changed, becoming more sinister than the Fear that engulfed the mountain. Ritsura could not even see the boy she fought against as Orochimaru. No, THIS was the real Orochimaru.

Ryuzan grabbed Ritsura and pointed his hand towards his enemy, summoning a boar in the process. Without looking back, Ryuzan started running with Ritsura in his arms.

"Pointless." Muttered Orochimaru and a raw Fear engulfed the ground. Soon after, there were snakes all around them. T

"Yoi have tobe kidding me..." Ryuzan mutteredd in a terrified voice and Ritsura could not blame him. hey were of normal size, but there were more than anyone could count… and Fear radiating from them was no joke either. Even if their poison was by some chance weaker than that of those large serpents, with these numbers it would be worse.

When Ritsura and Ryuzan turned their eyes towards Orochimaru, both of Ryuzan's Shikigami have just turned disappeared, killed by Orochimaru who dual-wielded two whips that resembled snake's skeletons.

"Why are-" Ryuzan tried to speak, probably intending to try out his luck with words.

But Ritsura knew that Orochimaru would not care about talking, and she was right. "Don't care, die." And at that moment the snakes jumped at them, both the small ones and the giant ones.

"Awwww yeaaaahhh!" Someone's voice yelled. "Roasted snakes, truly delicious!"

And then the whole area got engulfed by fire, and the snakes, both large and small, turned to ashes.

* * *

"What is going on?" Tsurara muttered while youkai were coming one after another into the hall, telling her the news. "What is going on?"

One of the executives decided to answer the rhetorical question "Well, obviously the Kyushu are-"

"I know!" Tsurara stopped him. "The question is why are they attacking us?"

"They are our enemies, obviously!"

"With so many clans turned against them, it is unlikely that they would attack without a reason." Tsurara put a hand onto her forehead. She was having a cold tea when suddenly youkai burst in, saying that one of the vassal clans had been attacked, many of their youkai killed.

Then came a similar report. And another. And then another. And another one. And so on, until it became clear that the entire western half of Kantou was filled with the hostile youkai.

And against their expectations, the enemy were not Shiori's thugs.

No, it was an invasion from the west. Usually, most of the invading Hyaki Yakous would be attracted onto Nejireme by that mountain's Fear, and those who were able to resist it would have been attacked by the members of the Gyuki Group. But the Gyuki Group was unable to protect the border at the moment.

So without anything to stop them, the youkai from the west have come into Kantou. They attacked many of the Nura Clan's vassals completely wiping out a few clans already.

In other words, the Nura Clan was now in state of war… with the Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan.

* * *

A woman was looking at corpses on a place of car accident on a rural road in western Kantou. And there were many strange things about the scene.

First, the corpses on the street and hanging from the three cars were not human. They were youkai of all kinds, although parts of their body had burns as if acid had been spilled onto them. There were also living youkai nearby, but in an untouched black Audi and a truck.

Second, the woman held a sword in her hand.

And third, the same woman had light blue hair and wore something that resembled a uniform from the Meiji period, but it was gray and the insignia on the hat was not the one that the Japanese army had used, but instead it was tree water droplets in circle, containing the kanji for Calamity, Apparition and Pride, which could also be read as  _Youkai Pride_.

It was the mon of the Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan.

Once she was done confirming that everyone was dead, the woman, called Suiren, turned around and entered the backseat of the Audi. Inside was a man wearing a similar uniform as her, more exactly the kind belonging to an officer above her. However, that was the only thing that made him look so: his black hair was disorderly and dirty, and a shave would do wonders to his face.

Still, it all fit perfectly with the face of a man who had stopped caring about anything. And he had such a face.

"Have you taken care of it?" The man asked her while he watched the rest of the youkai who were entering the truck.

"We have killed them all, Fumiaki-sama." Suiren answered and both their car and the truck behind them started moving. "The Nuras will not be able to help their allies at Nejireme."

"Good, good." Fumiaki replied with disinterest.

Not wanting the silence to take over, Suiren decided to ask a question. "Was that your father who called a while ago?" Just before they had stopped, Fumiaki got a call on his phone.

"Yes, father had called." Fumiaki said. His father was none other than Mizuchi himself, the great founder and leader of their clan. However, that title did not mean that much seeing as Mizuchi had many children, most of them stronger than Fumiaki.

Fumiaki himself was a half-youkai, but was infamous for being the weakest amongst Mizuchi's off-spring. Still, Fumiaki was well known in the clan, but unfortunately not due to his strength or accomplishments, but rather because he married into a famous and powerful clan and being the father of the heir to the Kyushu Clan… an heir who earned that title.

"It was nothing special though." Fumiaki continued. "He just told me that he ordered the others to attack the Nuras and remind me of my own mission."

"Attacking the Nuras, huh?" Suiren did not like this. Not because they were attacking the Nuras, but because of the reason they were using for doing so.

"Yes, have to avenge the death of my brother Umeji." Fumiaki sighed. "Damn those Nuras, how dare they murder my honorable brother in cold blood?"

Suiren did not say anything in return.

"What, no comment?" Fumiaki looked at her, his eyes telling her to state the obvious. He too was no satisfied with this.

"We know it was not the Nuras, but Shiori." Suiren said.

"What are you talking about?" He continued speaking with his usual disinterested tone. "Some servant of a lowly clan to kill the great Umeji? Pfh, you dishonor us by even suggesting such an option. Obviously, it was the Nura Clan. Now we can conveniently return them the favor by killing as many of them as possible."

"It is a lie… I don't like it." It was only due to coming at the scene of carnage at right time that Suiren knew what really happened. Other than the main family and a few officers like her, everyone thinks it was the Nura Clan who did this, not someone called Shiori.

"That's how my father rolls, Suiren-san." Fumiaki smirked. "But then again, nobody knows his character better than you, is that not right my dear niece?"

She turned her eyes aside. She did not like to think of those days.

"I hope this won't stand in way of your mission."

"No not worry, Fumiaki-sama." Suiren reassured him. "As long as Yashagoro-san stands with you, so do I."

* * *

This was the first time in Ritsura's life that she was happy to feel heat and see the fires… anything that shone with hope was beautiful. The fires disappeared as suddenly as they appeared, leaving behind a sea of ash. All of the snakes, both small and large, have been burned to death.

In front of Ryuzan and Ritsura stood a boy clothed in black, with a seven-pointed star drawn on his glove ad his back turned towards them.

"Kashaimaru?" Ryuzan muttered his name. "What are you doing here?"

"That is a strange question for an Onmyouji to ask another Onmyouji in this situation." Gokadoin Kashaimaru replied.

Orochimaru, however, had no intention of letting them speak with one another. He ran at them with speed three times faster than when he fought Ritsura, one of his whips attacking her.

If Kashaimaru had been surprised by his attack, he did not show it. He simply grabbed the skeletal whip and then grabbed his enemy's face. Orochimaru was put aflame and Kashaimaru kicked him away while Ryuzan and Ritsura just stared as Orochimaru burned to death.

"The hell are you two still doing here?" Kashaimaru turned his eyes at them. "In case you are not seeing it, he regenerates faster than my flames arm him… and that regeneration gets stronger with every passing moment." He said and started walking towards Orochimaru who had already raised himself back onto his feet. "Go, this guy seems more interested in attacking her than fighting us so you guys would just be a nuisance."

"Yes!" Ryuzan nodded, turned around and started running with Ritsura in his arms. He had to hurry, lest the poison killed her.

He summoned his rats in order to keep a surveillance on the surrounding in order to reduce the chance of someone ambushing them. And then he summoned the Bull as riding it would be faster than a human running.

* * *

"Oh, come on." A youkai called Atsushi stood on a branch far away, with a bow and arrow in his hands. "I hoped that the unknown assassin would do the dirty work for me."

As Ryuzan rode away with Ritsura in his arms, so did Atsushi jump from a branch to branch with an equal speed. With his bow and arrow ready for an attack, he did not let the two of them leave his field of vision.  _This Onmyouji called Ryuzan is a strong one._  He remembered Tesshin's message.  _If he joins the fight, our ambitions might be thwarted. I took the precaution of poisoning him, but the boy is so versatile that it may not affect him._

"And truly, the boy withstood the poison." Atsushi muttered to himself. _  
_

_In case of that, get rid of him. And in case your surprise attacks fails, be prepared for a fight to death._

The only question that remained was that of Nura Rikuo's girl as Tesshin never mentioned her. But seeing how he poisoned her as well, Atsushi concluded that he should kill her as well if possible.

And thus, he let his arrow fly.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- Sorry for not posting a chapter for so long. I am kinda on a hiatus…

\- For those interested, the mon of the Hashima Kyushu Clan can be found on my Profile!

\- For those nott remembering Atsushi, he appeared in ch41, is the part of the T Squad alongside Tesshin and Kurenai, left the Gyuki Group after Umewakamaru took over and was the one who killed Niko

\- Yashagoro waited a long time to make his attack, and once he did… well, I hope he did not disappoint ;P

\- But he is not the only youkai of note here: Konaki-Jiji defeated Kejorou and we find out that the Kyushu Clan had attacked the Nura Clan's territories., And no, Konaki-jiji is not an original youkai, but one from folklore

\- Fumiaki and Suiren may not be the first of Mizuchi's off-spring to be introduced, but they are the first that matter. Look forward to what these two have in store for you all!

\- Even though he did not appear in the chapter, Tesshin's treacherous hand could be felt far and wide...

\- It was fun to write the fight between Ritsura and Yashagoro. Yeah, it was mostly a simple sword-fight, but maybe that's what made it interesting. A shame what he did to Ritsura once the poison kicked in though... but then again, some people had to be reminded that Yashagoro is, at the end of the day, an antagonist

\- Where is Sakura? You will find out later :P

\- some of you may have noticed that the Dog should not have been summoned after the Horse. However, let me remind you guys that Ryuzan and Ritsura were training and let me confirm that during it he had summoned a number of Shikigami, this why the Dog was next in line

\- Also… Roasted snakes baby! ;P

* * *

**Replies to reviews:**

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**Guest** : " _OMGOMGOMGOMG i am so happy you update. Poor gyuki suffer from this same with gozu. I was wonder , were is Mezu when gozu needs him. Aren' t the pair is close?. Anyhow, i love it pleze update soon. Ja ne._ "

Mezu got kinda lost in all the commotion. But worry not, he will soon find his way back to his soulmate XD

* * *

**Citsimsan** : " _What I didn't expect was the betrayal at the end, though. Now I understand why you put so much effort in developing the Gyuki Clan, so that we could feel more hurt by that treason._ "

One of my sayings goes: if you wanna write a betrayal scene, take care that the reader feels betrayed. Nothing makes you as related to a character as shared emotions do ;P


	46. Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The corruption that Sanmoto Gorozaemon's fear brought onto defenseless humans in settlements surrounding Mount Nejireme had reached such a dark point that Rihan decided that the best course of action would be to cooperate with another enemy, both to find what exactly is going on and to gain an ally before making a move on them.

 

**Chapter 46 – Not Alone**

"Keitaku?" one of the cultists called for his comrade as he walked through a now abandoned house. "Keitaku, where are you? Have you found the blue-Agh!"

The evil man did not finish his sentence as Ao-Ju sneaked up to him and knocked him out with one swift strike. The youkai then caught his body and threw it out of the window, into the street where two other cultists kept an eye on the road.

While the two of them were looking at their comrade's flying body, Ao-Ju jumped through the window at one of them. His victim remembered that it would be better to look at the direction from where his comrade was thrown, but it was too late: Ao-Ju was already close enough to punch him into the stomach and, when the cultist's body lowered itself due to agony, Ao-Ju put his hands together and hit him onto his head, knocking him unconscious.

"NO!" The remaining cultist turned at him and aimed his shotgun at the blue-clad youkai. Ao-Ju ran at him and the man was so taken aback that he did not hold his weapon with enough strength when he pulled the trigger, resulting in the weapon firing into the air and the shotgun falling out of his hands due to recoil.

Ao-Ju turned around and kicked his feet, making his enemy lose his footing. Then, while the cultist was still in the air, he grabbed him by the collar and threw him into the wall of a house with a great deal of force, which led to the man spitting out blood as well as losing his consciousness.

"There he is!" Four more cultists appeared from twenty meters down the road from behind some vehicles, all of them armed with firearms. Ao-Ju took his lethal pistol and shot a vehicle close to them, but not too close, thus causing it to explode. He fired another one, at another vehicle, which caused them to lose even more composure. Then he ran at them, taking a shotgun from the ground by its barrel as he moved, and entered the smoke. Two of them were immediately taken out by hitting them into their guts with enough force to throw them far enough from the fiery hell and send them into dreamland.

The other two were already running away from him, screaming as they did so. Ao-Ju was actually disappointed at how little was needed to make them act like that.

He did not let them just run away though. He caught up to one of them and, as the cultist screamed for mercy, he raised him by his collar with his left hand and punched him into the stomach with his right. The last one fell onto his knees, also crying like a child, to which Ao-Ju replied with a strong kick onto his chin.

"Well, this should have been most of them," Ao-Ju muttered to himself as he took a breath. While the humans were not a threat to the youkai Ao-Ju, he dealt with so many of them in such little time that he started feeling fatigued. True, he could have dispatched them more easily if he just shot them with his stunning gun, but he felt like depending on one weapon only would not be such a good idea, so he wanted to practice his other skills… or more exactly, he wanted to see all that he was capable of doing in a youkai's body.

His eyes then fell onto window of a nearby car, where he saw a woman and two pre-teen boys with her. She looked at him with confusion and fear, but the boys had bright smiles as they gazed upon their new superhero.

"What are you still doing here?" Ao-Ju asked them. "Turn that engine on and leave! Do not worry. These guys will not have time to bother with you while I am still here."

The woman nodded, moved onto the driver's seat and quickly drove the car away. Ao-Ju laughed at himself because, for a moment, his old policeman instincts told him that he should make her pay a fine for driving too fast.

_So I managed to save more lives… I am so glad._  Ao-Ju smiled under that mask of his. Although he was not getting proper revenge, Ao-Ju felt satisfied at his actions more than he did before that boy saved him. And his Fear was no weaker: the cultists were not as afraid for their lives, but a hero who was able to take them out without bloodying his own hands was terrifying to evil people in its own way.

And the best part was that the cultists, naive and confident because they would not die, were now looking for him.

"You will pay for what you have done here, you blue bastard!" Another group of these freaks appeared and surrounded him. There were almost a dozen of them and Ao-Ju saw that more were running towards him.

"I see you guys have finally turned to proper tactics," Ao-Ju mentioned and then took out both of his pistols. "But I fear that it will not be enough," he explained while looking at each one of the masked freaks.

His eyes then fell onto another cultist, but this one was dressed in black yukata and a demonic mask with a hood over it, and he was standing atop a roof. What was more, Ao-Ju felt in his bones that this one was not a human.

_Good, I had started to wonder when this Gorozaemon fellow would send a youkai to deal with me._  After all, a  _deity_  who could cause all this chaos no doubt had inhuman servants as well.

* * *

"It seems like it may start raining soon," Rihan, in his human form, commented as he sat inside a store and gazed out of the window, but through closed shutters so that the cultists would not see them. Fortunately, the fact that Rihan was hiding here instead of fighting outside did not seem to endanger anyone: from what he could hear from occasional yelling from outside and their running around, Ao-Ju was doing a good job.

"So it will rain… ugh, just when I put on some light-colored clothes onto myself it had to start raining!" Shiori complained. "I will put on some dark clothes then, it will be less obvious if I get wet."

"Just get it over with already…" Rihan said and sighed.

Originally, the two of them entered the store so that he could heal Shiori's wounds in peace and so she could rest a bit, but she was so annoyed at the fact that her clothes got torn up on a few places, and smeared with blood on others that she decided to change herself.

"Which jacket do you think I should put on?" she asked him.

"Whatever," Rihan said without looking at her. The girl seemed to have lost all of her shame in front of him and even though he made himself no longer care about her as a girl, looking at her when she was not fully dressed forced him to remember what occurred last night and that made him consider being less harsh towards her. But he was certain that Shiori did not deserve anything but complete hostility.

"Hmph, what a tsundere you are," she muttered and, judging from what he heard behind, she started changing again. He wished he could put fingers into his ears so he could not hear the rustling of her clothes, as the sounds made him imagine what was going on there, but he felt like doing that would make him lose against her in some way. "You did not seem to mind who I was yesterday."

He felt his teeth clenching. "It was a date with Araya, not Shiori."

"I wonder about that…"

"When will you stop fooling around and talk about the important things?" Rihan wanted to change the topic as he could not allow her to continue on with this one.

"When I get myself changed, we will sit down and talk," she replied.

"And while we wait, innocent people and my comrades are dying."

"Even if we hurry and by some miracle finish early, it will, by the time we're done, already be too late. And that is without mentioning that defeating Gorozaemon will not magically stop everyone from doing what they are doing."

"Then what is the point of going after Gorozaemon's shrine?" Rihan asked and turned around. The sounds of footsteps made it clear that Shiori was done dressing and was walking towards him so he knew it was safe now.

"Because, my love, if Gorozaemon is not defeated before the Tale he started is done, no matter if it is finished by his victory or his defeat, all the Fear these  _horrifying events_  accumulated will be absorbed by him." Shiori sat down beside him but did not seem to have any interest on what was going on outside. She was wearing a short black skirt and a shirt with a red grim reaper, which looked like a cover of some  _Heavy Metal_  band, drawn on it. This was also the first time that the shirt she wore had short sleeves, thus the tattoo on her arm was now visible.

Also, her hair was once again in a ponytail style.

"In other words, the very kind and loving  _Kami-sama_  who is responsible for all this that you see outside, will have so much Fear that it will be easier for him to do something of an even greater magnitude."

"Explain it in more detail, please," Rihan inquired. "I really have NO idea what is going on here."

"Alright, I will start from the beginning then," Shiori said and made a sigh as if she found that tiring, but the serenity on her face told him that she found it all but tiring. "To start with, aren't you wondering why Gorozaemon is spending his Fear on two places rather than spend it all on the Tale he released on Mount Nejireme?" She started while her freely released hair fell onto her shoulders.

"He did it simply because he could do it?" Rihan said while putting a finger under his chin, "…or that was what my first answer would be… but forcing all these cultists into doing this must require great quantities of Fear."

"Yes, and it does require great quantities of Fear," Shiori said and jumped back onto her feet, her hair jumping in all directions. "And even though the amount of Fear he had accumulated is enormous, he is not someone who likes spending his precious Fear unless absolutely needed," she continued while walking around and only then she realized something. "Hey, did you remove my hair band again?"

"So this all actually serves some purpose?" Rihan ignored her question and just tore up the hair band with his fingers. "That is, he would get some profit?"

"Do not ignore my question, Rihan!"

"That is, he would get some profit?" He repeated, although he himself was not sure why he felt the need to remove the hair band.

"Ugh…" Realizing that Rihan refused to admit the reality in front of him, Shiori decided to let the matter pass. "Yes, he intends to get some profit back, no matter what happens."

"No matter what happens… from what you said earlier, I guess that means, no matter if he wins or loses?"

"Exactly!" For some reason she seemed happy that he got it right. "Knowing well enough that you Nuras are hard to beat, he decided to make a Tale that would result in profit no matter if the Nuras won or lost."

"So while my comrades are fighting on the Mountain, he collects Fear by terrorizing the human settlements? Is that right?"

She smiled again at his reply. "Yep, the Nuras will be focused on stopping his Tale from spreading out of Nejireme. Normally, reinforcements would come but…"

For some reason, the words she spoke made him worried. "But…?"

"I don't know…" She answered and looked at her phone. "I am sure something was supposed to happen to keep the Nura Clan preoccupied, but due to lack of signal I can't know what it is. Granted, it is only a guess that he will do something in Kantou, but I am certain that I am correct."

"Lack of signal? But Gyuki's interference should have only happened on the mountain."

Shiori did not say anything back but just looked at him with an expression of pity and disappointment. Even though he knew that there was no reason for it, Rihan felt annoyed at himself for making her feel like that.

"…the enemy is blocking the signal…" He made a guess he was sure was correct. He felt embarrassed for not thinking of that immediately. "If mom found out about how large the threat was, she would order the entire clan to come here and finish Sanmoto's little ambition."

"Correct," Shiori said and sat on the store's counter. "Gorozaemon, or one of his allies, is interfering with the signal."

"Ally? Which ally?"

Shiori sighed. "Rihan, have you heard what happened a few nights ago when my subordinate tried to reveal something to Kubinashi-san and Kejorou-san?"

Rihan gulped. He heard about how countless dolls brought a brutal end to the famous  _Headless Rider_. "So even you are affected by it… but this current situation isn't about the Shin Sekai!"

"The Dolls will attack whoever tries to talk about the Shin Sekai or about the Hyaku Monogatari game to outsiders."

"…how are these two factions related? And what do you know about the Shin Sekai?"

"Rihan, let's not go off-topic." She looked at him with stern eyes. It was now clear that she would not let him continue with this topic.

And she was in the right: there were more important matters that needed to be discussed. "Alright, go on…"

"So now that the main force of the Nura Clan and the Gyuki Group are dealing with the tales on Nejireme, what can they do about the surrounding settlements?"

"…first let me ask: how many settlements are affected by this?" Part of him still hoped that the number was low, but he knew what she would say.

"Ten I guess? Really, I don't know how many exactly, but…"

"…but so many that the Nura Clan would need to be in full force to save them," Rihan said and put his hand on his face. "And judging by how fast all went to hell in this place, by the time even that full force arrived it would be too late for them to save even half of humans… too late now to save anyone but a small few…"

"Yes." She gave a short but complete answer.

"Damn it…" His comrades in the Nura Clan always spoke about how dangerous and vicious Sanmoto Gorozaemon's attacks could be, but only now did he realize the full extent of that youkai's wickedness. "So, the only thing we can do is punch him in the face and stop the transaction to his Bank Account from happening?"

"Ha, I like how you worded it!" Shiori grinned. "Punch him in the face and interfere with a bank transaction! That's exactly what we have to do!"

"…I have a feeling that you are less annoyed at not being able to save these humans and more due to him doing something you wished you did…"

"Maybe… but at least I'd try to be more delicate," She said with a casual face, reminding him once again that she was just another villain.  _Makes sense, his blood flows through her after all._

But there was no point in thinking about it. He already decided to make a ceasefire with her in order to deal with their common enemy. "But isn't he absorbing that Fear the moment it gets created? In that case, isn't it too late for this as well?"

"Yes, but only small amounts. Most of it he immediately uses to create Tales that will be born amongst all this chaos."

"What… aren't the Tales attacking the Mountain and the Cultists the settlements?"

"No, the Tale he created there is powerful enough that he does not need to spend any more on it," Shiori continued with her explanations. "Well, this is actually just a guess of mine, but knowing the way he thinks, there is little doubt that he will create at least one youkai per town and village to  _reward_ his loyal subjects." She said word  _reward_  with a tone of disgust.

" _Reward_?" He repeated it in a similar tone. "You don't mean that he intends to…"

"Gorozaemon values neither his own creations nor those who love and serve him… nor does he value his own blood." Shiori's eyes narrowed and a cruel grin appeared on her mouth, as if she was imagining the worst torture being done to her greatest enemy. It was clear now that she held nothing but deepest resentment for her ancestor.

Rihan found it both ironic and strange that she followed the same path in that case, but he did not comment on it.

"Their joy and trust will turn into despair and terror, and exactly that change will produce even more Fear. And then…" She clenched her teeth. "…and then… he will probably devour those very youkai that see him as their father, ending their lives and making them just another part of him… hogging fame that belongs to them for himself."

"And just what happens with all that Fear if we destroy the Golden Shrine?" It was time to ask the most important thing… the thing that will explain the true intentions of this woman.

"Oh…" Shiori looked as if she just now remembered what they were talking about. "It depends." The face that held resentment a few moments ago now held entertainment. "If a great hero slays the guardian of the shrine and then destroys that shrine, then the hero's own Fear will grow while the evil Fear dissipates… well, unless the hero is of a wrong kind."

"And I presume that the hero is me?" He wanted to know what exactly she meant, but was afraid to ask. She was a person who saw the Rihan as someone who succumbed to his inner darkness after all. "What is the other possible outcome?"

Shiori then spoke: "If another villain outsmarts you, the Fear will be stolen by that villain." And then, she made a sadistic grin. "And you will be unable to tell your clan about my secret… In other words, we are playing a game where you and I contend for our own desired outcome." Her eyes narrowed and her grin grew, reflecting pleasure that she seemed to feel as she said those words.

"You really are a wicked woman…" Rihan commented to which she smiled. "But how do you know that I did not already tell someone about you?"

"If you did…" Shiori put a hand under her collar and took out what looked like a lock. She did not open it, but just held it as if showing it to him.

Shivers stormed through all parts of Rihan's body the moment his eyes saw the large locket. It was a simple locket, with scratches that showed its old age, but such Fear radiated from it that even a blind human could feel the terror of it.

And the terror was grand… Rihan did not have a rational way of knowing it, but his heart told him that this was a mirror. And, in this mirror, countless kinds of horrors have been reflected… horrors that forever stood engraved into it. Rihan was glad that she did not open the locket. Rihan was certain that his father, if he ever saw the locket, would immediately slash it with as much Fear as possible, all in order to erase that wicked thing from this world.

After she let him look at it for a few moments, she continued talking, "If you revealed my secret to someone, then this little thing will enforce the rules of our current game by making that person unable to speak… if you win, nothing will happen but if you lose, it will bring a fate more horrifying than anything a human mind can imagine to that person."

"You are bluffing…" he guessed, but the Fear he felt from that locket changed in a way that was hard to explain, but suffice to say, Rihan felt like the locket confirmed that what Shiori said was true.

"If you want, I can open the locket and show you what it is capable of," she replied back at him with such confidence that made him aware that there was no bluffing in her words: had he actually told someone about it, the locket would have made Rihan responsible for whatever happened to that person.

As she put her fingers onto it in such a way that she could open it, Rihan immediately waved his hand in order to tell her that it was not necessary. "The hell is that thing anyway?"

"Maybe I will show you someday?" she said and winked. "The only thing you need to know is that it likes games and it likes upholding the rules of the said games. Once I announced this game, and we both are accepting of its conditions, it becomes a rule." She jumped down from the counter and walked up to him.

"I never agreed to any game." He said to her.

"So, what did you think we would do while dealing with a Sanmoto? Hold hands and not become enemies again the moment we no longer need this truce?" she said as she stood in front of him. "It may not have been a game to you, but the same rules of the game are the future you expected and were fine with."

"You sure are one wicked woman…" Rihan said and, not wanting to look at her from below, rose up from his seat. "Well, that's enough talking. Let's get on our way then."

"Yes, let us go on our second date," she said with such a smile that he actually feared she would grab his hand or something. "I always wanted to go with a boy of my dreams on a grand adventure to bring down a great evil… the fact that I am evil as well is, of course, to be ignored," she added and offered him her hand. "It is a bit unusual for dating, but let's shake hands if you accept going with me on this quest."

Rihan sighed but accepted her hand meekly. "Let's go deal with this."  _And after that is taken care of, let us deal with one another…  
_

* * *

_Something is not right here._  Ao-Ju tried to kick one of the cultists into his abdomen, but the human stopped his kick with the metal pipe that he carried with him as a weapon. Immediately after, another cultist tried to slash Ao-Ju with a wood-cutting axe, but Ao-Ju grabbed his arm and punched him below his chin.

Yet, the cultist did not get taken out and instead just pulled himself backwards and, once he was at three meters of distance from Ao-Ju, stopped and gazed upon his blue enemy, as if Ao-Ju's punch did nothing to him.

_Something is definitely not right here._  Ao-Ju thought as he barely evaded an attack with a dagger.  _But what is it?_

Ao-Ju managed to take out seven of thirteen cultists which had surrounded him a while ago, but it took a lot of effort and time. This was unusual as the humans usually could not stand one of his attacks, not to mention that they tended to be too terrified to make any proper attack. But these humans… they were resilient and competent… inhumanly so.

_There is only one explanation that comes to my mind._  Ao-Ju looked towards the roof where he saw the black-clad cultist.  _He is not there?_

"Good to see you finally remembered me,  _fake_ ," A voice came from another roof, behind Ao-Ju. The blue-clad youkai turned towards it, avoiding an attack from the cultist with the metal pipe, and looked at the black-clad youkai.

"Fake?" Ao-Ju muttered as a reply.

"Yes, fake," The youkai said and spread his arms. "Gorozaemon-sama sent me and my brethren to be born in these attacks… we are the true angels, sent by our lord and master."

One of the cultists shouted a war cry and attacked Ao-Ju's back with his dagger, but Ao-Ju grabbed his knife without even turning around and crushed it with his bare hands.

"And then there are you, an existence born from the same Fear but by the will of a heretic… a mere devil, desecrating Gorozaemon-sama's beautiful canvas."

"Why thank you, I am honored to know that I am annoyance to that wretched lord of yours," Ao-Ju said as he danced around avoiding the many attacks, but not once moving his eyes away from the black-clad youkai.

"In any case, your very existence steals my Lord's Fear." The black cultist raised his hand and a black fork materialized, which he then pointed downwards towards Ao-Ju. "But just killing you is not enough. If you are so keen on sparing these lives, then I will force you to break that rule of yours."

And then black mist was released from the fork, sleeves and holes on his mask, and the mist engulfed large parts of the village in close proximity, and then disappeared as suddenly as it appeared.

The next moment, the fallen cultists rose up.  _What? But I hit them with enough force to… ah, I see._  A few of the cultists no longer had those masks on their faces, so Ao-Ju was able to see that they did not regain consciousness… no, some dark power forced them to rise up and move and their faces looked like they were in some sort of trance. Even those with broken limbs moved as if nothing was wrong with them… or more exactly, they were forced to move as if nothing was wrong with them.

"So here is the new rule, Ao-Ju," the black cultist spoke and jumped onto the ground, his fork still in his hand. "My Fear makes them strong enough to make it impossible to deal with them all without killing them… and if you take too much time, the strain my Fear puts on their bodies and minds will cause the end of their lives… lives which you could not save." The black, hooded cultist span the fork in his hand and pointed it at Ao-Ju again. "Would it not be simpler to just kill them? They are not worthy of sparing, are they now?"

"I see…" Ao-Ju spoke, without being worried about the numerous enemies that surrounded him. "…so that lord of your does not even care about them." He took out his guns and spoke the last words before the new battle began: "I can absolutely not let you win."

* * *

"I know I should have asked this before but… where exactly are we going?" Rihan spoke to the red-haired girl that walked beside him. They were still in the village, although in what looked like the least populated part.

"We were  _there_  the whole time." The girl said with a smile. "We are just looking for the exact address."

"Huh? The shrine is in this village?" Rihan asked and looked around. There were not as many houses in this part of the village, and most of those that were here were old, many of them now being mere ruins. What was also specific about these parts were the fields of crops, each one of them taken care of, even the ones behind the abandoned houses.  _Well, even if the houses were abandoned, the fields are valuable even to those who moved away._

"Not exactly," Shiori said. "If it were, your friends would have found it long ago."

"You are confusing me again, Shiori."

"Well, this one is hard to explain…" Shiori slowed her pace. "You see, your friends looked for two things while searching for the Golden Shrine: a physical place, which they did not find, and a world of Fear whose entrance might have been around here… which they also did not find. After all, the Shrine was neither in here nor in its own World of Fear."

_World of Fear_  was a term used for pocket worlds created by youkai or other phenomena that used Fear as their source. Rihan fought a few youkai with such abilities, and they were no pushovers: once the youkai transferred you to a world that they had created, the battle would become more dangerous for its victim.

Luckily, Shiori claimed that this was not the case. "So, where exactly is it?"

"Now how should I explain this?" Shiori scratched her head and took a few moments to think about her answer. "It is in memories."

"…what?"

"You know how a person can get caught in his own memories when in trance or plain drunk, right?" Shiori tried to explain it. "And you know how there are ghost-type youkai who can force their victim to live through their memories, or just show them parts of their lives?"

"I think I have heard about such phenomena… as a matter of fact, I have been caught in one thanks to Gyuki."

"Good." Shiori nodded. "Technically, any person's memories can be entered, right? But you see, it is not only humans and youkai who can have memories… things that don't even live can have them as well."

"What do you mean by that?"

"The land Rihan… it is possible for the land to remember what occurred on it." Shiori spread her arms. "Imagine that this very place could force you to see what happened in the past by just passing through it."

"Yes, I am imagining it…" He thought of Gyuki's trap again, but that land forced its victim to go through its own memories, not the land's memories. Still, the fact remains that the land was able to cause it.

"Now imagine that you can get trapped in it." Shiori stopped moving. "And then imagine someone turning that curse into a blessing."

"You mean… the Hyaku Monogatari trapped themselves in the land's memories and reside there?"

"Yes, it's exactly like that!" Shiori nodded with a large smile. "The cultists forced the land to remember what occurred in it, make it able to  _trap_  someone in it and the trapped cultists built a shrine inside those memories. It is a good plan, probably something that the Shin Sekai came up with rather than my benevolent ancestor."

"And just how can you be sure that you are right?" Rihan ignored the part about Shin Sekai as he knew from earlier that she would not talk about it. So he just looked around, hoping to feel some Fear trying to trap them.

"I already dealt with shrines in such places. The chances are that if you can't find a shrine, they are using this method to hide it."

"I see… so how are we going to get caught?"

"It is near impossible to learn about conditions that can trigger the  _trap_. If I were alone, I'd need to use this locket of mine to force it to capture me," Shiori said and put her hand on top of her shirt, where the locket was supposed to be. "But you being here and him using this land in particular makes it easy."

"What do you mean? What do I have to do with it?"

"Basically, it is because the land likes showing certain memories to those who deserve to see them." Shiori turned towards him and looked him in the eyes, the smile on her face revealing that she was expecting to have fun. "Riha-chan, did you know that your great-grandfather passed through here when he was on his way to conquer Nejireme?"

"Huh?" The moment Rihan realized what she talked about, a swirl of Fear engulfed them and the surrounding changed in a mere moment: the houses were now older, but not ruined, and it was nighttime.

And a Hyaki Yakou was walking in their direction.

"Well then, my love…" Shiori span around and turned her back to Rihan. "Guess it is time to meet your ancestor while he was still a handsome and ambitious young youkai."

* * *

"FOR SANMOTO-SAMAAAA!" A cultist woman screamed as she charged at Ao-Ju with a baseball bat. Ao-Ju barely avoided her swing, not because he was caught by surprise but rather because her speed was inhuman.

Another cultist, with kitchen knives in his hands, attacked immediately after but Ao-Ju managed to kick him away. Another cultist, who held what looked like a wooden table leg, attacked Ao-Ju from behind but the blue youkai blocked his attack with his own hands. The leg broke, but Ao-Ju's bones almost broke as well.  _They are getting stronger with each passing minute!_

Unfortunately, not all fought with close ranged weapons: there were some with firearms. Ao-Ju managed to destroy most of them during this unfair battle, but seemingly at least one more firearm eluded him and its bullet almost found its way into Ao-Ju's forehead. Ao-Ju immediately aimed his lethal gun at it, pulled the trigger and the weapon burned into ashes while it was still in the cultist's hands.

_Where the hell is that black youkai?_  Knocking cultists unconscious or even breaking their legs and feet did not help: that black youkai's Fear just forced them back onto their feet, obviously not caring about the fact that those humans should not move in such condition.

And then there was the fact that it was only a matter of time until this Fear killed these people, and some of the cultists already fell onto the ground and had seizures. Ao-Ju hated them from the depth of his soul, but he resolved to not kill any humans and as such wanted to spare their lives if nothing else.

In other words, the only way to end this fight was to kill the source of this atrocity: that black-clad youkai. But since the battle started, that youkai disappeared from Ao-Ju's sight.

And then something stabbed into Ao-Ju's back. For half a moment he thought that one of the cultists managed to score a hit, but when he saw himself flying through the air he knew that this was beyond a human's strength… a youkai threw something at Ao-Ju and made him fly.

And Ao-Ju flew until he hit a wooden stable's wall, with the weapon stabbing even more into Ao-Ju's flesh.  _This feels like a fork… it is that black bastard!_

"There, loyal servants of Sanmoto-sama!" The black's youkai's voice could be heard from afar. Ao-Ju guessed that he had thrown the fork at him rather than pushed it. "I put him down, so now go and feast upon him!"

_Damn it!_  Ao-Ju tried to move away before the cultists, all of whom were still far away from where he now was, reached him. But the fork did not move and thus Ao-Ju could not move either.

Fortunately, he could still move his hands. Not wasting any time, he conjured his lethal gun, which could blow up anything it hit if Ao-Ju willed so, and blew up the stable's wall. Once he freed himself, he pulled the fork out and jumped onto a roof, his eyes immediately finding the black-clad youkai who stood on another roof.

The black youkai moved his fingers and Ao-Ju immediately turned around, in time noticing that the pitch-black fork was flying by itself and was charging at him. Ao-Ju fired at it, but even a fiery explosion could not do anything to it. The fork just continued flying, without stopping even a little bit.

_I am really getting frustrated here!_  He evaded it, but the fork immediately turned around and thrust at him again but Ao-Ju managed to avoid that strike as well.  _Enough with the fork, I have to put down that youkai first._

Ao-Ju turned at his nemesis and fired bullets at him. But just like him, the enemy was good at evasion so none of the bullets hit their target.  _I will have to get closer._  He then evaded another thrust by the fork. _This damn thing does not make it any easier though!_

"You are just wasting your time, fake." The black youkai admonished him as he jumped into the crowd of cultists. "By now, it should have been clear to you that…" And then, the voice suddenly appeared from behind Ao-Ju. "…you stand no chance against me!"

_What?_  Ao-Ju immediately turned around and grabbed the fork with both of his hands just before it stabbed through his brain.

"Just give up and die already," the black youkai suggested.

"No, I will not." Ao-Ju removed one of his hands and while it made it harder to keep the fork at bay, he was now able to conjure his lethal gun and fire at his nemesis. The black youkai exploded in flames and the force pushing the fork disappeared.

But Ao-Ju did not stop pushing it away, and that was a good decision because the fork immediately resumed its action. And once the smoke cleared, Ao-Ju saw that his enemy was still there, unscratched. _What the…_

"I forgot to mention something important to you, fake." The black youkai started speaking and then added more strength into pushing, forcing both of them to fall from the roof onto the ground. Ao-Ju was now lying down, trying to keep the fork away from his throat with both of his hands while his enemy was above him, trying to kill him. "While I can only temporarily control the humans before they break, while I do I gain Fear for each human I control. A dozen of them are enough to make me immortal, and there are several dozens of them here." The fork came even closer to Ao-Ju's throat, and the cultists too came dangerously close to them. "In other words, this is the end of you, fake. Go to Hell, where Sanmoto-sama awa-"

The black cultist suddenly went silent and stopped pushing the fork. Ao-Ju could see horror in the eyes under his mask. And then Ao-Ju too felt an extraordinary Fear engulf the place.

The moment after, a giant black monkey appeared above the black cultist. Ao-Ju did not know if it was an ally or an enemy, but he knew for sure that this was not an ordinary youkai… but one fueled by prayers and hopes of men.

" _When the law of arising and ceasing comes to an end…_ " The black ape spoke and slapped his hands as if in prayer. Ao-Ju then saw all of the cultists fall onto the ground, freed from the Fear that had possessed them.

"Such is the will of the Koshin," the ape said and then raised his fist. The masked youkai did not even try defending or evading as he was no doubt aware that this ape's Fear was way too powerful for that to work. Thus, he was punched into his sides and thrown into a two-story house, resulting in the house itself collapsing into rubble.

"I am Shoumetsu Metsui, a servant of the Koshin." The ape then turned towards Ao-Ju, but there was no hostility in his eyes. "You wear similar clothes as these sinners and that youkai, but I feel chivalry in your soul." Shoumetsu then looked at the ruined house. "I will let you finish that youkai, in case you two have history with one another. I myself have to go in haste and spread Koshin's protection on these suffering lands." Without waiting for Ao-Ju's reply, the black ape jumped away as suddenly as he had appeared.

Yet, Ao-Ju could feel a kind of serenity… as if something finally arrived to stop these horrors.  _In other words, once I destroy that youkai clothed in black I will be allowed to go help those teenagers without having to worry about these freaks._  Thus, with a fast pace Ao-Ju walked to the ruined house and there he found his nemesis trying to stand up using his fork that was stabbed into ground, but he was unable to do so. "It seems like I was saved by an unfair occurrence," Ao-Ju said as he aimed his pistol at his enemy. "It is a shame for you, truly." Although Ao-Ju resolved to not kill humans needlessly, the same oath did not stand for youkai he deemed as evil.

"This could not be happening…" the black youkai spoke. "…this is not how it was foretold."

"What is your name?" Ao-Ju asked him.

"Eh?" The youkai looked at Ao-Ju as if he said something shocking.

"What is your name? You must have one, right?"

"What is my name? No…" The youkai shook his head. "I was not given one. I… am just a hand of Sanmoto Gorozaemon-sama, a shadow of his will." He spoke like he had the answer memorized beforehand. "I need no name."

"What…" Ao-Ju's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean you have no name?"

"I don't need something like that. I was not given one because I do not need it."

"Tz." Ao-Ju felt annoyed. He wanted to know the name in order to remember the youkai who had bested him. "Then tell me something about you that I can remember you by… like your purpose or dreams."

"I serve Sanmoto-sama."

"Yes, but for what purpose?"

"I serve Sanmoto-sama, that is all I have." The youkai tried to rise again. "I have to serve him. I have to paint the canvas as he envisioned it. I have to…"

"Do you have anything of yours…  _anything_?" Ao-Ju continued pushing for an acceptable answer. "What do you like or hate? Whom do you care about? What are your  _own_  wishes?"

"I…" The youkai did not have an proper answer. "…Sanmoto-sama." Was all he could say.

"I see…" Only now, that Ao-Ju could take a good look at him, did he notice that this youkai's eyes were… empty. "I thought we were alike, but now I see that our parents are of a completely different kind and thus are we." Ao-Ju removed the safety form his gun. "You were never given a soul. How pitiful…" And then he pulled the trigger, killing the youkai who will go to neither Hells nor Heavens.

Ao-Ju continued looking down at his fallen enemy, who disappeared after only a few moments, leaving emptiness equal to what was inside of that nameless youkai.

"I thought that giving in to my inner beast would have been the worst fate for me but…" No longer having anything to look at, Ao-Ju turned around and started walking. "Still though, I am too weak…" He was fortunate that Shoumetsu Metsui appeared, but he was not naive enough to think that he will ever again get so lucky. "I will have to get stronger if I am to survive in this world… but for now, I should hope that it will be enough to help that boy and girl."

* * *

The Nura Clan during the age of Nurarihyon, especially before he gained fame by defeating the former Lord of Pandemonium, was supposed to be at its weakest. Yet still, the Hyaki Yakou consisting of the Nura Clan's first members radiated with strength and dignity. True, there were some small, weak youkai amongst them, but the warriors held strength and authority than only founders of something great could hold.

Shiori was impressed, and she could see in Rihan's eyes that he too was fascinated as he gazed upon the hundred demons that walked in their direction, led by a youkai who looked similar to Rihan in his youkai form, although his hair was golden white and he was an adult.

That youkai was Nurarihyon himself and even though he was not trying to impress anyone, he smiled and walked like someone who just conquered the world… or more exactly, like someone who was on his way to conquer the world, while the youkai following him were ready to die in order to see something like that happen.

And then the parade reached the entertained girl and an awed boy. Shiori did not know if the memories in the land were that strong or a greater force intervened, but Nurarihyon noticed them and stopped walking for a moment as his eyes fell on his great-grandson who was now in his youkai form.

"Hm, you remind me of myself, boy," Nurarihyon spoke after taking a good look on the boy. Rihan was taken aback, but did not say anything back. "Tell me, what do you think when you see me and my Hyakki?"

"I…" Although Rihan spoke many times with Nurarihyon, this was probably the first time he saw him like this. Actually, Shiori herself did not know what exactly awed the boy as he was more taken aback then she expected. "I find it amazing…"

"Ha, that is an honest response if I have heard one." Nurarihyon grinned, obviously proud by what the boy said. "I'd like to stay and talk about what I accomplished with them, but I fear that I need to go and make it bigger." Nurarihyon spoke and aimed his sword at Mount Nejireme. "You see, I heard that a powerful and old Ayakashi lives there so now I am on my way to show him where he belongs."

"What did he do to you?" Rihan asked.

"Do to me?" Nurarihyon seemed puzzled by that question. "Nothing, I just felt like making him join me."

"And if he rejects and attacks you?" Shiori felt like asking a question as well.

"If he doesn't do that, I will be severely disappointed." Nurarihyon made a nasty grin. "Me and him, as well as our comrades, will have a little fight and then we will become like family."

"That's all?" Rihan inquired. "Why do you want to conquer him anyway?"

"Why? Because why not?" Nurarihyon shrugged. "I decided that I would like to build a Hyakki, then a clan and then become the Master of all youkai!"

"That says a man who claimed that a loner's life was the best." Rihan's grandmother joined the conversation.

"Shut up Yuki Onna, that was a long time ago!" Nurarihyon seemed embarrassed by those words but quickly got a hold of himself. "Now tell me boy, what is it that  _you_  desire?"

"I…" Rihan tried to answer, but for some reason he did not say anything.

"What about following my footsteps and building your own Hyakki Yakou? You look like me, so I am sure you'd enjoy that as well." Nurarihyon said and took a step forward, passing his descendant.

"I…" Rihan had a strange expression on his face, but it was clear that he himself was unsure what to say. "I would betray my own if I followed such a wish." He said something that Shiori considered strange.

"So what?" was all that Nurarihyon said before continuing to walk, leaving words as both a question and a farewell.

"Let's go…" Rihan spoke, took Shiori's hand and started pulling her in the direction from which the parade was coming.

"Rihan…" Shiori started speaking as he pulled her, intentionally using his full name. "How did this make you feel?"

"I don't know…" Rihan spoke to her, "…but I envy him…"

"Envy him for what exactly?"

"For being able to create all this… to be strong enough to challenge ancient and experienced youkai, to make youkai follow him into death and to make a clan that will become Japan's most powerful youkai clan in history." His eyes narrowed as he spoke those words. "It is something… I don't think I can ever accomplish."

"But you are strong." Shiori tried to soothe him.

"Only so-so… and even if I am, I am a lone wolf."

"And so was he, if we are to believe your grandmother." Shiori smiled. "Yet that loner managed to make hundreds of youkai follow his every step."

"What I wanted to say is, I do not have the ability to inspire like he did… or like dad and sis do. No youkai will ever follow my steps."

As irony wanted it, at this exact moment someone landed behind them. When both of the teens turned around, they saw Ao-Ju who was fighting for his breath. "After all the insanities that occurred today, I will not ask why the night fell and houses changed." Ao-Ju, whose base was a human that used to live in here, said as he reached them. "In any case, the cultists here have been dealt with and we have an ally who will help in keeping the whole region safe."

"What ally?" Shiori inquired.

"I don't know, he claims he is servant of some Koshin." He replied to her.

For a moment Shiori thought of Shoumen Kongo that was in Hell, but soon after remembered the younger Koshin and then all became clear to her. She was glad that there was another ally in the sea of enemies that were storming through Nejireme and its surroundings. "So, why are you here and not helping him?"

"I thought you two would need my assistance." Ao-Ju said.

Rihan was the next to ask a question. "Shouldn't you be protecting your own people rather than us?" But as he said that, Rihan looked at Shiori. "Or did she order you to come here?"

"Hey now, I turned him into a youkai, but I don't give them orders unless they decide to serve me by their own free will." Shiori immediately excused herself. Although it was nothing new for him to have negative thoughts about her, it still irked her.

"I owe the two of you, not to mention that I feel uncomfortable about leaving you two alone. As someone who used to be a policeman, I feel a need to keep you two safe." Ao-Ju explained to them and then looked directly at Rihan, thus it was clear to whom the following words were. "Unless you have different orders for me, that is."

"Huh? Orders? Why would I give orders?" Rihan was taken aback by it, while Shiori had a satisfied smile on her face.

"Once this is all done, I have nowhere to go so if you don't mind, I would like to follow after you." Ao-Ju explained his intentions to the surprised boy.

"Hey now, why follow after me? Why not after her, she is the one who made you into a youkai in the first place!" Rihan asked while pointing at Shiori. The girl found his confused face to be hilarious.

"She did create me, and no matter what occurs I will never aim my weapon at her. Still though, I would prefer to swear my loyalty and life to you."

"But… I…"

Ao-Ju then kneeled down. "Please, allow me to follow after you."

"I… I…" Rihan muttered, but then turned his back to him and said. "Bah, do what you want. Once you change your mind, feel free to go on your own way."

"Thank you." Ao-Ju said, rose up and followed behind the boy.

"Tsundere…" Shiori whispered to herself and ran to Rihan's side. "See? You are not alone~"

* * *

**Author Notes**

**-** I don't know about you. But I find it quite ironic that Rihan Jr. has it easier than Gyuki and Ritsura ;P But, for now at least, the only trouble he has is dealing with his  _girlfriend's_  playfulness and lack of common sense

\- The exposition was probably boring to some of you, but I felt it was proper to explain the things that are currently going on

\- Ao-Ju did not win this one and had to be saved, but such is life: you can't always survive by just winning

\- The black ape is one of the four servants of the second Koshin (the good one) who came to Nejireme to help the Nuras and Gyuki. For those who don't remember, that Koshin ordered his four servants to spread around and use their Fear to quell Sanmoto's and first Koshin's curse

\- The title of the chapter refers to neither Rihan nor Shiori fighting their battle against Gorozaemon alone but together, the enemy not being alone, Ao-Ju not being alone in his wishes to protect the village, a former lone wolf Nurarihyon creating a large clan and Rihan not being a lone wolf anymore

* * *

**Replies to Reviews**

* * *

**Citsimsan** : " _So Mizuchi's family life looks... complicated. I guess that you will dedicate a future chapter to explain it in depth, won't you?_ "

Yep, there will actually be several chapters and arcs focused on the Hashima Kyushu Clan

* * *

**Dorothea** : " _Yashagoro, WHERE THE FUCK IS THE KINDNESS YOU USED TO SHOW TO SAKURA?! WHERE THE FUCK IS THE BOY WHO USED TO GET INTIMIDATED BY AZURU?! WHERE THE FUCK IS THE REAL YASHAGORO?!_ "

Yashagoro: "First and foremost, I am a shinobi of the Orochimaru Clan. I don't take any pleasure in killing, but when I have to I do what I must. Granted, this woman did make me lose my temper one too many times…"

**Dorothea** : " _Isn't there any possible way Yashagoro can join the Nuras . . . . . .?_ "

Yashagoro: "Why would I join them and betray my own comrades and friends? "

* * *

**Helen** : " _But I do wonder, if Yashagoro cares about his soul that much to not use his best cards right then, why is he the one even doing this?_ "

Yashagoro: "While I understand that a normal person would consider my actions evil, what I do is part of my own nature. What I fear is… well, there are even worse things a person can become…

**Helen** : " _He should have studied this self proclaimed underboss a lot more._ "

Yashagoro: "I studied her a lot, but she is kind of a person who seems to prefer not showing her  _cards_  unnecessarily. I fear that even a year of spying would not have made much of a difference with her… I hate to admit it, but the heiress of the Nura Clan is not just some spoiled little lady."


	47. Resolve in Front of Despair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The true identity of Sanmoto's tale, dedicated to Gyuki, has been revealed: not only was Sanmoto sending to Nejireme souls of the ones murdered by Gyuki in his earlier days, but the leading character of the tale was revealed to be Gyuki's own mother, driven insane due to sacrifices done by her son in her name. What's more, the Gyuki Group had been betrayed by some of its older members, led by the charismatic Tesshin…

**Chapter 47 – Resolve in Front of Despair**

Even though the surrounding was filled with numerous youkai, some looking like humans but most like either mindless gory zombies or giant spiders with an ox's head, the whole surrounding was eerily silent. Nobody spoke a word nor moved, they all looked at one person.

And then the object of their attention, Gyuki, fell on the ground. Gozumaru, who also gazed at the scene with his mouth wide open, did not know if Gyuki was alive or dead.

And then an explosion of voices commenced as the zombies and the traitors shouted in approval. Then another explosion of sound came, this time from the loyalists, as they attacked the enemy. Almost everyone turned into their youkai form and released all the Fear they could. Some went into mindless rage and attacked the traitors, while the others tried to reach Gyuki but were stopped by the invaders.

Gozumaru just stood there, unable to move. He was furious as well, more than anyone here actually, but he was also more devastated than anyone else. And it was due to that devastation that his mind just went blank, with Gozumaru unable to decide on what to do or which exact emotions to feel.

Kurenai seemed to be in the same situation: she just stood there amidst the chaos, as if unsure on what to do.

"TESSSHIIIIN!" Eikichi was the loudest, and Gozumaru saw a person run towards Tesshin. Tesshin prepared to defend himself, but then Gen'ei jumped onto Eikichi's path and the two crossed their weapons: Gen'ei with his staff of steel and Eikichi with his sword that had a chain on its handle, going all the way into Eikichi's sleeve. "You too Gen'ei? You too joined this rubble?" Eikichi asked through his teeth.

"I did not join them,  _outsider_." Gen'ei said with disgust and pushed Eikichi a feet away before thrusting his steel staff at him, which Eikichi blocked and the two started contending with their weapons once again, while around them the loyalists continued fighting against the traitors and the invaders. "I was always loyal to the old, real Gyuki Group, not the imitation created by the usurper. But I do not expect an outsider like you to understand!"

"Oh, I understand all that is needed!" Eikichi managed to push his spear away and then tried to slash at the old youkai, but Gen'ei moved backwards, thus avoiding Eikichi's attack. "I understand what it means to swear your allegiance and then betray that sworn oath. You could have just left, but you dishonored yourself with betrayal!"

Gen'ei looked at him with a cold look as he spoke, but then grinned. "Oh, is that so brat?" And then he released his Fear. Wind started storming from Gen'ei's armor and weapon. "If dishonor feels this good, then I regret nothing."

"So you want to fight with all our Fear released, eh?" Eikichi spoke and started releasing his own Fear. "Gozu, go! I will keep everyone preoccupied."

"Eh?" Gozumaru was surprised that someone spoke to him, but he could not ask him anything as he immediately ran at Gen'ei, pushing him away into the mess that was the battlefield around them.

Although still in state of shock, Eikichi's words confirmed to Gozumaru that his task was not vengeance or to fight, but to reach Gyuki and confirm his safety.  _What if he is dead though?_  That thought made Gozumaru hesitate again. There was no greater terror for him than to find his beloved Gyuki-sama dead.

Then he heard Tesshin speak. "M'lady…" The traitor turned towards the bloody woman who was standing a bit further away. "…I was said to let you have the honor of slaying him."

 _He is alive?_  Even though Tesshin's words were unforgivable, they confirmed that Gyuki was still alive.

But then the woman smiled and Gozumaru realized that, if she reached her son, a death worse than death would befall Gyuki. "No!" His hesitation dispersed, Gozumaru started running. "I will not allow you to make him suffer any more!"

"Someone stop the little fool," Tesshin said in a low tone, as if Gozumaru was nothing but a mere annoyance. And as ordered, two ox-headed spiders jumped onto Gozumaru's path.

But Gozumaru was too furious and too resolved to let them stop him. "Get out of my way, you traitors!" Gozumaru released his claws and, without even trying, they stabbed right through their necks, killing them on spot. They may have once been his comrades, but they were now mere traitors for whom death was too good of a fate.

"This is cheesy," Tesshin spoke in annoyance and started walking towards Gozumaru. He did not even bother to take out his sword.

"Get out of my waaaaay!" Gozumaru yelled and continued running, intending to slash him with both his sword and claws.

But then something forced him to stop just before a giant claw drenched in fire appeared and stabbed right onto the spot where Gozumaru would have stood if he were not stopped.

"Calm down, Gozu!" He heard another boy's voice from behind him. It took him a few moments to realize that it was Mezumaru. "You know how crazy powerful he is! You can't just-"

But Mezumaru did not finish his sentence. Instead, he made Gozumaru jumped to where he was, which was atop one of the gyukis. Gozumaru could not complain as his eyes watched one more giant flaming claw appear from Tesshin… and then both raised themselves up and grew even more.

Gozumaru knew how strong Tesshin was… everyone knew that… but he now understood that Tesshin no doubt hid his true potential from others. After all, nobody would have thought that it would be possible for him to defeat all of his enemies right now. But as those claws grew and their temperature jumped up, Gozumaru and everyone else realized: Tesshin would be able to kill at least half of them if he was not stopped.

"No you won't!" Eikichi shouted and attacked Tesshin from his rear, forcing him to take out his weapon and focus on his one enemy. No doubt intent on stealing all of his attention, Eikichi put all his energy into speed and chain manipulation, attacking Tesshin with swift strikes and from all sides. Gen'ei immediately arrived to offer reinforcement, but Eikichi practically danced with the two of them.

But Gozumaru could not afford the leisure of staring at them. He saw that Gyuki's mother was walking, albeit slowly, towards her son and had already passed half of the path. "Mezumaru, let's go before that bitch remembers that she can run!"

"Hai!" Mezumaru nodded. "Uwajima, go as fast as you can!"

But of course, the enemy would not let them do as please and, unsurprisingly, they were attacked by someone. Gozumaru did not look at the attacker. "Mezu, keep them busy." He said and jumped, landing just in front of Gyuki.

He gave a short glance at his master and saw him with his eyes closed, but breathing. Relieved that Gyuki was still alive, he turned his sword and claws at the bloody woman in the straw hat that was now standing in front of him, with a sadistic smile on her face.

* * *

It was only for a moment.

Only for a single moment did Ryuzan feel something, but it was soon enough to stop whatever was coming at him, and in extension, at the girl in his arms, hitting a spiritual projectile into it and turning it into dust.  _It was an arrow._ If he were not worried for Ritsura, he would have probably smiled at the fact that a youkai's arrow being what it was saved him: although it was faster and more destructive, it could be stopped by a spiritual barrier and, more importantly, he could feel it coming as a youkai always needs to release some of his Fear before making any kind of attacks.

 _But where is he?_  Ryuzan was able to feel his enemy's Fear the moment he made an attack, but it disappeared soon after. Riding on a bull Shikigami with half-conscious Ritsura in his arms, Ryuzan turned to thinking.  _He must be a stealth type._

His father taught him about many youkai classifications, and in one of them there was the so called  _Stealth Type_  of youkai. Unlike youkai who, once they revealed themselves, simply attacked their victim, the  _Stealth Types_  were weaker but in return able to hide their Fear. To an Onmyouji, it meant that finding and killing them was harder.

Still, Ryuzan was well prepared for fighting such types of youkai… but the problem was that it was hard to concentrate and focus in the current situation, not to mention that his worry for Ritsura made him too nervous.  _I have no choice then: I will have to improvise… somehow._

But before he could think of anything, he felt a release of Fear and immediately prepared a hand gesture. His barrier would be stronger than the one before, but the fact that the youkai is not immediately making his attack hinted that his arrow would also be deadlier.

And then the youkai let the arrow fly and Ryuzan realized that he was underestimating it. The attack came from fifty meters of distance, countless trees standing between Ryuzan and his enemy, but it mattered not: the arrow was fast and destroyed everything in the way. The Fear coming from it was, Ryuzan understood, so strong that Ryuzan could not make a strong enough barrier before it reached him.

So he jumped from the Bull and continued running by himself while his Shikigami, aware of the situation just like his master, turned around and ran towards the arrow, with even more speed and power than the youkai's attack.

Ryuzan could feel as the Bull's divine energy and the youkai's demonic one clashed, and the damage that the Bull suffered took a toll on him due to the fact that a Shikigami uses his summoner's spiritual energy as well. The nausea hit the boy for a moment, but he was experienced enough to not let it bother him.

The good news was that the Shikigami survived and the arrow destroyed, even though he suffered damage.  _"What now? Should I go after him?"_  Ryuzan could hear the Shikigami ask him.

" _Yes, if we don't get rid of him then riding on you would be pointless."_  Ryuzan gave his order without opening his mouth.

" _Understood."_ The Shikigami replied and Ryuzan knew that he went after the youkai. Once again, the boy could no longer feel the youkai's aura, but a Shikigami was a spirit summoned to combat youkai and as such he was no doubt able to feel where the youkai was.

Ryuzan could hear trees being torn up from afar. No doubt, the celestial bull was destroying everything in his way as did the demonic archer's arrows.

" _Surveillance is meaningless."_  Ryuzan spoke to his Rats.  _"Turn into Guardian Manifestation!"_

The Shikigami that an Onmyouji summoned had different kinds of manifestations: some would manifest in physical form, like the Bull and the Rats right now. Another type of manifestation was an event or an attack… and there also was the type of manifestation, which some called Guardian Manifestation, where a Shikigami uses all of its energy to bless its summoner. Most Shikigami could manifest as any of these, and the Rat was one of them.

The Rat is the first of the zodiac, and one of the stories about why says that the Rat represents diligence and effort. Thus, the Rats that Ryuzan summoned had a lot of spiritual energy which they could not use for combat but could use to strengthen their Onmyouji summoner in different ways.

In this case, it made Ryuzan faster… but later on he would pay the price with exhaustion.  _But I should be able to reach the resort by then._

He could feel that the celestial Bull had been defeated, and the enemy youkai would no doubt focus on Ryuzan once again.

And the enemy did not waste his time: Ryuzan could feel his Fear again, as well as the fact that it split into multiple parts.  _He is using a barrage of arrows, huh? I wonder if he thinks that focusing on speed would be better or he got exhausted by his fight with my Shikigami._

Ryuzan actually envied this youkai's agility: there really was a barrage of arrows, but not from the same place. Instead, he ran and jumped around and released two arrows per second. Due to that, Ryuzan was attacked from countless angles.

But Ryuzan, who was blessed by the Rat, did not even slow down. He moved his head to the left in order to avoid the arrow coming from behind him.

He jumped a bit as he ran to avoid the arrow that would otherwise stab through both of his legs. And he had jumped in such a way that he would make a 360 degree turn, thus evading the arrow that came in front of him with intention of stabbing into his heart.

When he landed, he ducked, evading three more arrows that came from his front, all while moving his left arm up to create a barrier and destroy the arrow that came from his left side.

His enemy had become irritated, as seen by the fact that he was no longer keeping his distance from Ryuzan and the boy could see him now. "Just what the hell are you?" The archer demanded an answer.

But Ryuzan did not feel like talking to him, and instead focused his attention on how to defeat him. Nothing came to his mind as he was already near his limit and he was not in a situation where he could allow that to happen. If he fell unconscious or became unable to move, Ritsura's life would be in danger.

Then, the archer stopped firing arrows at him and ran forward.  _What is he planning now?_

Soon, Ryuzan found himself in a large clearing, and the youkai stood in front of him, with an arrow engulfed in pitch-black Fear prepared. Ryuzan knew that it was one of those destructive arrows.

"Atsushi," The youkai said. "Remember it, as this is the name that killed you before you could become a threat to all youkai." And then he released the arrow.

"You think this would stop me?" Ryuzan avoided the arrow by moving slightly left, and used a barrier to deflect the destructive energy surrounding it.

But then, from a corner of his eye, he saw an arrow falling vertically onto the point where he would have been if he had gone right. He immediately looked above him and moved the hand accordingly, blocking the arrow from above him.

Too late did he realize the youkai's plan: the destructive arrow was never supposed to hit him. Instead, Atsushi had earlier shot two or more arrows into the air so they could fall at the points where Ryuzan would be if he avoided the destructive arrow.

And what was worse, Atsushi took it into consideration that those arrows too would not hit their target. That was clear the moment Ryuzan returned his eyes to Atsushi, who was now standing in front of him, prepared to shoot the arrow right into Ryuzan's face from just a meter of distance. There was no way to avoid it and his hand would not move in time to create a strong enough barrier in front of him.

Ryuzan was literally staring into death's eyes.

But both Ryuzan and Atsushi forgot about someone.

"Go to Hell," The girl in Ryuzan's arms said and moved her hand vertically, from downwards to upwards, slashing Atsushi across his body with a sword of ice that she had made. "And… don't…" The girl continued talking even if it obviously hurt her. "…bring a bow… to a sword fight…"

And then she fell unconscious and Atsushi fell onto the ground.

* * *

Gozumaru could barely breathe. He could barely stand. He could barely stand.

The woman, who was supposed to be Gyuki's mother, stood just in front of him. She had a motherly smile on her lips… but there was a twisted aura coming from it. As he gazed upon her, Gozumaru understood: she was not fueled only by her own grudge. No, she held the grudges of all these invaders as well, and probably the grudges of all people who were, directly or indirectly, hurt by Gyuki, making her Fear all that more terrifying.

"What is it boy?" She asked him in a soft tone, all while traces of bloody tears coming from her eyes stood on her face. "Are you afraid?"

Her words and posture made it clear to Gozumaru: her intelligence grew since she was summoned, and it would probably continue to grow for a while longer. But he also felt that the Fear radiating from her was becoming more sinister and brutal.

And worst of all, she was a predator for all of the gyukis, Gozumaru included. Summed with her Fear, that made Gozumaru want to turn around and run away, leaving Gyuki behind.

But that sensation just made his resolve stronger. There were no limits to his loyalty for Gyuki, and as such, these dark thoughts fueled his resolve. The more his body wanted to do the opposite, the more was Gozumaru certain that this was the right thing to do.

He would not move, even if it meant that he would suffer the worst tortures that this woman could come up with.

But, he did not prepare for a fight. He did not even release his Fear. He knew that it would be meaningless and he would only die earlier. And the sooner he dies, the less time he had bought for Gyuki. He would keep standing, hoping that it buys just another second more.

The woman stretched her hand and went to touch him, a motherly smile still present on her face. Every moment now, Gozumaru would suffer and die, with there being no way to avert such a fate. Yet still, the boy stood there, his eyes looking in front of him without even a blink.

This was the end of the Gyuki Group, but he would stand undeterred and die with pride.

Then, Gyuki's cold, yet kind, face appeared before him. Gyuki, the man he adored, gave Gozumaru the most important duty out there: to become his very heir. He too, ordered him to become a leader.

And then the face of that yukinko's girl appeared before him, looking at him with that judgmental look of hers. He now realized… She did not punish him for being weak, but for being a warrior and stripped him from being a leader and then told him that he would need to earn the title of a  _leader_  back. In a way, she ordered him to become a leader.

A warrior would die with pride, but a leader would not. A leader would forget about honor and pride and focus solely on protecting his own, even when there is no hope.

So even though it was useless, he swung his sword horizontally and one of his claws vertically, all with his eyes closed. He could feel both slash through her flesh. His enemy did not immediately retaliate.

He returned his claw back and swung his sword in the air to clean the blood from it and then opened his eyes, looking at the woman with a cold, calculated look… just like Gyuki would have done.

The woman in front was looking at him in surprise and shock. Her left arm was holding her guts where he cut her with his sword while her right hand was on her head, where he broke a part of her skull. Both were regenerating, but the fact that he cut through her Fear surprised everyone around them to the point that, for a slight moment, everyone stopped fighting.

And then they continued fighting, the Gyuki Group fighting with a zeal that was missing since their leader was taken down.

"You little rascal…" She muttered and moved her hands away from the parts of her body where she suffered wounds that would normally be fatal. And with her hate grew her Fear.

But Gozumaru just took a fighting position, resolved to fight her for as long as needed. He knew he could not win, but he could buy enough time for a miracle to happen. He could do it: Gyuki must have trusted him for a reason.

Gozumaru, the Warrior of the Gyuki Group, could not even stand a minute against her.

But Gozumaru, the Underboss of the Gyuki Group and the vassal of the Nura Clan, could keep this enemy at bay. For he was not fighting for himself, but for others… and above all, he had to inspire everyone else to give their best.

In order to earn his future boss's respect and justify Gyuki's belief in him, he had to grow up and do his duty for everyone. And thus, without a word or even a war cry, he ran at the demonic woman.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

This was one of the shortest, if not  _The_  shortest, chapters yet. Still, I think that enough happened in it for it to not feel too short… well, at least I hope so :P

\- The first scene was a hell to plan and write due to way too many things happening there and too many characters fighting in a relatively small area

\- Ryuzan, versatile as always

\- Just because Ritsura is a  _Damsel in Distress_  right now does not mean that she is not dangerous ;P

\- This is a turning point for Gozumaru, the boy who until now only fought as a warrior without much interest or understanding of the actual duty that Gyuki had meant for him. Natural, after all Gozumaru would never have believed that a time might come when he could no longer depend on him (nor on Tesshin and Gen'ei for obvious reasons). But now that his boss was down and the Gyuki Group was on the verge of destruction, he had to change

\- what I tried to accomplish with Gozumaru's character at the end was to have him be a mix of both Gozumaru we all know and love, and Gyuki, who was his ideal. Thus why he was so silent at the end and without doing or thinking about anything unnecessarily: that's how he believed Gyuki would have acted

* * *

**Review Replies:**

* * *

**Dorothea** : " _Ao-Ju . . . . LET'S GET MARRIED! :)_ "

"Oh no, you are too young for me." Ao-Ju rejected your offer. "As a Policeman, I could never allow myself to fall for a jailbait!"

* * *

 **Dorothea** : " _Sanmoto . . . . . I can never understand that twisted mind of yours. But still . . . . YOU'RE THE BEST VILLAIN EVER._ "

Time stops in the entire world.

"What? Huh?" Even Sanmoto Gorozaemon was shocked. "This is… this is the first time someone said something so nice about me TAT"

"I say it all the time, Sanmoto-sama!" Yanagida said, hoping for approval.

"You don't count, Yanagida."

* * *

 **Dorothea** : " _XD I wonder how Ritsura will feel when she realizes that Rihan's Hyaki Yakou rivals hers?_ "

I guess that she would feel a need to start a Hyaki Vs. Hyaki fight for fun :P

* * *

 **Dorothea** : " _0_0 That reminds me . . . . . HOW ARE RITSURA AND RYUZAN?! Well, Kasahaimaru is with them so I'm not very worried but still . . . . ._  "

"Actually, I am with this Orochimaru dude." Kashaimaru commented. "Look forward to our fight in the next chapter!"

* * *

 **Guest** : " _And yea your still in love with Shiori no getting around that. To bad you can't tell anyone. What if Ritsura found out?!_ "

"Forget about Nee-san!" Rihan said while shivering. "What if dad finds out about it? The Hell will get real…"

* * *

 **Citsimsan** : " _Ao-Ju has become yokai Batman. That's good._ "

Trivia: he has a large collection of Batman comics somewhere in his (old) home

* * *

 **Citsimsan** : " _Wait, did I misunderstand or Rihan disapproves of ponytails? Why? I'm sure Shiori looks good with a ponytail._ "

"By the way Shiori…" Before they even reached their destination, Rihan started speaking to the girl beside him. "Why do you always put your hair in a ponytail?"

"Did you just…" Shiori immediately moved her hand behind her. "…again? What do you have against ponytails? Do I look so bad with it?"

"You overused it for three years." He said and took out something from his pocket. "I found this woman's fashion magazine in the shop. What do you think about this?" He asked while pointing at one page.

"I'd look ridiculous with that." She said and then he moved to another page. "Are you kidding me? That's Way too childish." Then he moved to another page. "What do you think I am, an stereotypical old, strict teacher? Oh, that one looks nice."

"It does, but it would take a while for your hair to grow again."

"…wait, why are we discussing this? Do you think I am your Barbie or something?" She said and pointed her finger at him. "I swear, if you do something to my hair without my permission, I will cut off that hair of yours to a normal size."

"What? Why?"

"I don't like it."

And so they continued to argue about hairstyles for a while longer.

Then they changed the topic to clothes.

* * *

 **Citsimsan** : " _Ok, I was wondering when Koshin (the good Koshin) would appear again. Well, it was one of his servants, but the cavalry arrived! Another element Shiori didn't take into account. But wait, she later remembers that there is indeed a younger Koshin. Was it mentioned before that she had such knowledge?_  "

Well, he isn't exactly leading a secret cult or anything. The Koshin faith had its following, so it is not strange that Shiori knows about him. The real enigma is the one in Hell as most youkai think he should no longer be able to do anything due to being dead and all.

Still, she did not expect him to appear here.


	48. Saviors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the Gyuki Group faces its darkest day and their leader Gyuki became unable to fight and lead, Gozumaru realized that he had no choice but to take matters into his own hands, fighting against a being that exists solely to destroy the Gyuki Group and in hopes that some kind of miracle happens and saves them. In meantime, two Onmyouji are battling one another and Ryuzan has to give his best to keep Ritsura safe and sound, but his time is running out

 

**Chapter 48 – Saviors**

The battle between Orochimaru and the mysterious Onmyouji was heating up… it was literally heating up because their surrounding was in flames, although it disappeared when it expanded too far from the Onmyouji, while the fire that the Onmyouji and his foxes created was growing in temperature. And Orochimaru, whose element was inborn water and who was aligned with Snakes (who are reptiles), did not take well to Fire-based Onmyoudo.  _Where the hell is Crocer when you need him? He could extinguish all this fire by himself._

"You know, we should really not be fighting like this." The Fire Onmyouji started speaking, but that did not stop him from interlining his fingers and starting to create a new flame. "You and me, we used to have the same relative you know. Abe no Orochi, I am sure you heard of her."

"Sorry, my grandfather made me cautious of anyone related to me," Orochimaru said and swung his whip-shaped sword, made of a snake's spine, in order to hit the two-tailed fox Shikigami which tried to sneak up to him.

"Haha, maybe we are even blood-related. I too have relatives I'd prefer not to have." And then the Onmyouji pointed his fingers at Orochimaru and started shooting fire orbs. Orochimaru already saw what they were capable of so he started running around while the orbs followed after him.

Destroying those orbs was not too hard though: he grabbed a few stones from the ground and threw them right into the orbs. Although the orbs were able to follow him, they were seemingly not able to avoid whatever was in their way and for that reason the orbs exploded before even getting close to Orochimaru.

But that was not to say that he was safe: the Fire Onmyouji somehow managed to get close to him and tried to grab Orochimaru by his hand, but Orochimaru's reflexes were better so instead the Onmyouji got a kick into the guts, which Orochimaru immediately followed by trying to hit him with his whip. But one of the foxes bit into it and by doing so saved its summoner who immediately moved two dozens of meters away from Orochimaru.

 _Good, I managed to make him where I wanted him._  Orochimaru put two of his fingers together and summoned a Shikigami from a Paper Talisman that he hid on a tree close to where that Onmyouji now stood. The summoned Shikigami was another snake, large as an anaconda.

Not surprisingly, the Onmyouji noticed the snake and tried to burn it, but Orochimaru create a Water elemental Barrier around the Shikigami and put in energy into it as this entire fight went on, thus making it immune to simpler attacks landed by this Onmyouji. Unfortunately, the Onmyouji was cautious enough to not let his guard down so he avoided the snake biting into him. But that should have been of little consequence: the remaining foxes were too far and it was unlikely that the Onmyouji would have enough time to use a stronger attack.

But fortune must have smiled at the Onmyouji because he noticed that spiritual sword, which was formerly used by Nura Ritsura, and then he took the sword and used it to cut through the snake. Unfortunately, only the strongest spiritual barriers had a chance to resist that sword's destructive abilities.

"Ha, who would have thought that I would be saved by a weapon so important to the Keikains and the Nuras!" The Onmyouji said as he swung the sword to clean it from the snake's blood. "Anyway, time to end this with one final attack…" The Onmyouji said and raised his free left hand into the air. Orochimaru could feel spiritual energy gather onto it and prepared to defend himself for whatever was to come.

And then the Onmyouji punched the ground and fire exploded everywhere. Orochimaru predicted something like this to be a possible occurrence, but not to such an extent that he was practically blinded by all the light that came from it. Naturally, he immediately protected himself with barriers, and he himself was surprised at how easy it was: he did not even feel a thing.

 _Wait a second…_  He then realized his mistake: it was not a surprising amount of fire, but a large amount of illusionary fire. As long as it did not have destructive properties, a Fire Onmyouji could summon it with more ease than a destructive one.

Orochimaru released the barrier, and not long after the fire disappeared… as did the Onmyouji.

"Is it safe to come out now?" A woman's voice asked and Orochimaru immediately recognized it as the voice of Yama-Uba, one of his comrades.

Orochimaru looked at the blonde woman in a tattered kimono and asked: "Why didn't you help me?"

"Are you kidding me?" She looked at Orochimaru with angry look. "That Onmyouji was way too powerful for me. I would have been of no help to you."

As annoyed as Orochimaru was that one of his own was nearby but did not help him, he could understand it… especially since it was Yashagoro himself who ordered them to not take unnecessary risks.

"Anyway, are you fine with letting him go like that?" She asked him. "Should we not kill him while he is still alone? Or at least take that sword from him."

"He is not our target and Ritsura has probably already reached the resort. We should regroup and think of another plan."

"I see…" And then Yama-Uba turned her attention to a person who was trying to raise himself from the ground. "It seems like the Onmyouji left this one alone."

"Indeed." Orochimaru turned his attention at the youkai called Aotabou. Although that youkai managed to purify himself of Orochimaru's poison, he was still having trouble breathing and moving. Orochimaru wondered if he was even fully conscious. "Well, at least let us kill one of the Nura Clan's Strike Captains."

"You think… you will take me down that easily?" The youkai tried to smile, but it was obvious on his face that he was exhausted.

"Yes," Orochimaru said in a cold tone and moved his whip which expanded in size. One he swung it down, it would kill him, or at least poison him. Orochimaru doubted that this youkai monk had enough strength left for another purification technique.

And then some alien words resonated from within his soul and Orochimaru's body stopped moving.

"Yashagoro-sama, what is going on?" Yama-Uba was worried.

He knew this sensation… he felt it a few times in Kyushu, when he battled a certain group. He also recognized the language of the words: Latin. "Kiri… shitan…" He muttered the words, both as an answer to himself and to warn Yama-Uba that there was a Christian Exorcist somewhere close to them.

And then Orochimaru's spirit was temporarily sealed and Yashagoro fell onto his knees, exhausted due to what happened. He immediately looked around for the source and was surprised to see a certain girl holding a rosary, looking at him with worry. He now understood why only Orochimaru's Fear got sealed, but Yashaogro himself was not harmed.

Yama-Uba noticed her as well. He could feel bloodlust grow in her, as the Kyushu Youkai held a lot of hatred for this group of Exorcists. Before Yashagoro could say anything to stop her, Yama-Uba ran at the girl who called herself Kibiki Sakura, intent on killing her as soon as possible. "Die, damn you!"

"Eh?" The girl's eyes widened in fear, proving that she was obviously not used at battling youkai.

"OYRAAAAAA!" But Yama-Uba forgot about Aotaobu, who punched the ground close to her, forcing her to retreat a bit. And then the youkai monk ran in opposite direction from her, grabbed Sakura from the ground and ran away.

Yama-Uba looked at Yashagoro, waiting for him to decide on their next course of action.

"Unless you suddenly got stronger, let them go," Yashagoro replied and raised himself up. "Let us retreat as well, no telling when the Nuras and Gyukis will turn to offensive."  _Not to mention that we have to find out what the hell is going on here… Sanmoto, Ritsura getting poisoned by Gyukis, that Fire Onmyouji and the Kirishitan… there are way too many things going on here!  
_

* * *

_Ushigai, Ushigai!_

_I was a man, of little importance._

_At day, I made spears, spears and spears,_

_For the good soldiers who keep us safe._

 

_Ushigai, Ushigai!_

_A loving wife and beautiful daughter were there._

_They made this man's heart happy and loving._

_And they made his cloudiest days bright and shiny._

 

_Ushigai, Ushigai!_

_Move to a new village we did._

_It is beautiful place, blessed by gods without doubt._

_And with bulls and spiders too!_

_And Bull Spiders! Can't forget the Bull Spiders!_

 

_Ushigai, Ushigai!_

_The man, me, lost his leg and eye._

_Wife no more, daughter no more._

_Yes, I lost them too!_

_To fangs and claws._

 

_Ushigai, Ushigai!_

_So a spear I make, of the humblest wood and the humblest iron._

_But poisoned with my lost love, now hatred it turned into._

_My son this is now._

_To kill the wretched Bull-spiders and break their lies._

_The name I have given it, before to eternal sleep I went._

_The Ox Slayer! Ushi Satsugai! Ushi-gai!_

_My dear Ushigai, make your father proud!  
_

* * *

Gozumaru's resolve was at its finest, there was no doubt to it. He was able to keep calm in front of a monster. Even though the battle raged everywhere around them, Gozumaru could hear none of it. The only things he could hear were his own breathing and heart's beating, as well as any sound that the woman in front of him created.

But he was not naive. Even though his Fear proved stronger than he expected, he knew what the situation was: it was impossible to defeat this woman. It was not only due to the great amount of Fear coming from her, but also due to the fact that she was someone who was so deeply connected to Gyuki that it was impossible to imagine anyone else but him defeating her. That is not to say that Gozumaru would not kill her if given a chance, but in his heart he felt that he was not the one fated to end her life.

But it did not shake his determination in slightest. He had to fight and buy as much time as possible. He did not know what could possibly change in such a short amount of time, but that hope was the only thing they had. Right now, this Hyakki Yakou was too demoralized to fight properly against such powerful and terrifying opponents.

The woman finally moved, but not her legs. Instead, she raised her hand in the air and a long spear appeared in it. Gozumaru recognized that weapon.

 _Ushigai._  Gozumaru's lips shivered when he realized that it was the real deal.  _A spear created a thousand years ago by someone with grudge against Gyuki-sama. The legends say that it always found its way to those who had a good chance to kill or hurt him._  It was a spiritual weapon which was able to strip away any deception or illusion created by a Gyuki's Fear and its blade was toxic towards them. Even though it never managed to kill Gyuki himself, it still was a weapon that had killed many strong youkai of the Gyuki Group.

_This is bad… I don't know how she made it appear there, but if she is the one to wield it… this is bad._

Holding the spear in one hand, the woman quickly stabbed it onto the place where Gozumaru stood, but he evaded her attack in time. He tried to counterattack at her with his claws, but the moment he tried to release his claws, a sensation of being touched by some weak electricity went through his back. There was no doubt that this was  _Ushigai_  and that it, in her hands, was able to seal its prey's Fear to such an extent.

It was a good thing that Gozumaru ended up being the one to fight her rather than the likes of Eikichi or Mezumaru. They used their Fear all the time, but Gozumaru and Gyuki were able to depend on their combat skills alone if the need arose. This was one of the reasons why the spear was never a direct threat to Gyuki himself in the first place: even if it could negate his illusions, it could not negate the fact that he was a true warrior.

The woman tried to stab Gozumaru into his chest, but Gozumaru managed to avoid it without much difficulty.  _This woman…_  She then tried to swing it at him horizontally, but Gozumaru easily took care of it by swinging his sword upwards and deflecting it with the blade's blunt side. He then used the momentum to take a step closer to her and slashed it downwards and thus making a vertical cut through the upper half of her body before jumping backwards. Normally, this would have meant his victory, but he already saw her suffer from worse than this.

… _she is definitely not a warrior!_  Even though there were many things that made this woman terrifying, her skills as a warrior were not one of those. Even all that extraordinary Fear, her ability to kill with a mere touch and the weapon she used meant little if she could not even reach her opponent.

Once her flesh and bones fully re-attached themselves, she gazed upon Gozumaru with even more blood-lust than before. And just when Gozumaru thought that it did not matter how angry she was, some Fear came out of her and took a blood-red color. To be exact, there was now a thick red fog surrounding her and just looking at it made Gozumaru feel horror.  _Shit, I must not get caught by that!_

At least, the mist was thicker the closer it was to her body, so as long as he stayed at a safe distance, he might be able to avoid dealing with it.

Of course, staying away from it was  _the_  problem. His enemy ran at him and he ran backwards. Naturally, she tried to stab the spear into his stomach again, but he instinctively moved his sword to deflect it.

Only then did he notice that the spear too was engulfed by the mist, which made the weapon all the more dangerous.

And dangerous it was: Gozumaru's sword turned black as charcoal and crumbled into dust. And what was more, some of that red mist touched his finger and he felt his body freeze for a moment due to horror. It was then that he realized just how toxic that mist was, and if it touched him anywhere else it would have spelled his demise.

And then Gen'ei spoke from behind him. "This is the end of you, boy."

When Gozumaru looked behind from the corner of his eye, the time had stopped for him: it was impossible to dodge this blow that would shatter his skull into a hundred pieces.

But then the weapon suddenly moved away, and Gen'ei had to fight to not have the staff taken away from him by a chain. "Of all people to attack, you choose a boy? Loooow…" Eikichi, who had his left eye closed and blood smeared across it, said with a belittling smirk. He also saw Tesshin starting to charge at Eikichi, but Gozumaru could not afford to watch them as he had his own enemy to deal with.

To his horror, the demonic woman remembered her son and had started running towards him. "Mezumaru!" Understanding that he would not reach them in time, and noticing that Mezumaru was close by, he called for his partner. Mezumaru turned his head at him and saw him pointing at Gyuki. Without wasting any time thinking about it, he had the youkai that was under him grab Gyuki's body with its claw and jump away, far from the demonic woman.

 _And look, she is annoyed at me… again._  Gozumaru smirked as he looked at his enemy again. At the corner of his eye, he also noticed that he was surrounded by that undead army of hers and even though some of his comrades tried to force them away, there were just far too many of them. Gozumaru also looked at the trees in hope that he could climb up there, but a few of them were already sitting on the trees and Gozumaru had a bad feeling that they would move faster through the trees than he could.

In other words, although he managed to move Gyuki away from her, it came at the price of his own life.  _Well, it is not bad to die for-_

But then, anger was replaced by concern on the woman's face and she turned her attention in another direction, as did all the other zombies. And then, the miracle they were waiting for arrived: a giant blue youkai with multiple hands stormed in, destroying all the invaders in his path, and punched the woman, throwing her far away from everyone's field of vision.

The traitors, realizing that they gained an unexpected enemy, moved away a bit and prepared for an attack.

Gozumaru recognized the youkai in question as he saw him visit Gyuki a few times: it was Shoumen Kongo, a powerful youkai and Kami… and a bad person to have as your enemy.

"What are you waiting for?" He shouted with enough force to make the ground shake. "Get up and move away already! I will keep these pitiful souls away for as long as I can," he spoke as Gyuki's mother flew up from the forest and floated in the red skies.

Gozumaru wanted to stay and fight, but he knew that securing their leader's safety, and taking care he survived, was of the higher priority.

"Gozu!" Mezumaru knew that as well so he called for him.

Giving one last look at Shoumen Kongo's back, he ordered: "Retreat to the resort!" And then he jumped at Uwajima, one of the Gyukis that were loyal to Mezumaru. Eikichi landed beside him. Although he earned wounds everywhere, he seemed to be safe. Kurenai also jumped up, but seemingly not with intent to fight them.

Gozumaru then looked at Tesshin, and Gen'ei who stood beside him. They did not follow after them, but instead faced Shoumen Kongo.

"You did well, boy." Eikichi put a hand on Gozumaru's shoulder.

"We almost failed though… and only have hope because that person showed up."

"Does not matter. What is important is that Gyuki is alive and that we were not taken down while outnumbered and surprised. Now let us regroup and show those invaders and traitors what the Gyuki Group is made of!"

* * *

Ryuzan greatly underestimated the distance he had to pass in order to reach the resort, as well as how long he could withstand the Rat's blessing before he gave in to the exhaustion that was to come with it. Only his willpower was keeping him from falling to the ground, with Ritsura still in his arms.

To be perfectly honest, he hoped that he would meet someone from the Gyuki Group by now, but seemingly that was not to be. He knew that most of them went to fight alongside their leader, but he still hoped a few would be keeping watch on the other areas.

But truth be told, the fact that Tesshin, or someone in his household, poisoned them made him weary. In the worst case scenario, there was a conspiracy inside the Gyuki Group and the conspirators decided to betray their boss during this incident. If that was the case, meeting a member of the Gyuki Group might prove to be fatal.

If nothing else, at least he could be grateful that he did not stumble upon any enemies by now. Although that was largely due to these invaders not being able to suppress their Fear, so he was able to avoid meeting them as long as he kept his concentration up. But avoiding them also meant taking a longer path and even if those delays were not long by themselves, the sum of them was too large for Ryuzan's liking.  _But still, worse than delays that would occur if I ended up having to fight just one of them, no matter how weak his enemy might have ended up being._

"Yo." To Ryuzan's horror, someone said  _Yo_  to him and that someone's voice came from above him. Not daring to waste time by stopping, Ryuzan looked into the skies while still running with the youkai girl in his arms.

 _Shit, I was so focused on what might be hiding behind trees and bushes that I forgot about the fact that some youkai can fly!_  Ryuzan realized his error when he noticed an Angel-like man floating in the skies, wearing a white kimono and with white feather wings… although the wings looked like they were made of water.

Then he started moving his wings, and Ryuzan realized that he intended to fly down at him.  _Shit, shit, shit!_  He tried running faster, but that made his chest hurt so much that he felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer. And unfortunately, no willpower could save him anymore: he already brought his body over the limits.

As such, the Angel had no troubles flying down, with his arms crossed, and stopping Ryuzan from going on. "Well now, good Exorcist, no need to be in such haste," the Angel spoke with a belittling smirk. "You and me, all three of us are aligned with the Water Element. We should get along!"

Ryuzan did not say anything and instead just tried to guess which kind of youkai was this person. Besides the fact that a man wore a kimono, which was rare in this day and age, Ryuzan also noticed that the feathers of his wings looked like they were made of water. Neither the Keikain family's archives nor the Urban Legends held information about a youkai who looked like this.

"Get along you say? Well, that sure sounds intriguing," As usual, Ryuzan had no problem putting on a fake smile onto his face. "I am Ryuzan of the Keikain House of the Onmyouji. And who might you be?"

"I am Crocer, a humble servant of the Kyushu clan."

Ryuzan did not expect to get his answer so quickly. This person was not a youkai who resembled an Angel, but an actual Angel.

"Crocer? It is true that we Japanese have trouble pronouncing certain letters, but a foreigner like you should not have that problem." As Ryuzan commented on the fact that the Japanese had trouble pronouncing letter L, the Angel's face seemed to be interested. Ryuzan tried his best to pronounce his name properly. "Shouldn't it be Crocell, a fallen angel turned demon from the Ars Goetia, a Duke of Hell and commander of the 48 Demonic Legions?"

"Well now…" The Angel smiled in satisfaction. "Not many on this backwater island are able to recognize me for who I am."

"Wow, I am so excited to meet someone like you!" Ryuzan said with a large smile on his face, a fake gesture as usual. Rather than excited, he was worried. Crocell may not have been the strongest amongst the 72 demons of Ars Goetia, but none of those Demons was to be taken lightly.

It was also worth noting that these Demons were all sealed throughout history and the only way for them to appear was to have a sorcerer summon them. "Who was your summoner? It must have been some amazing sorcerer!" Ryuzan tried to get as much information as he could, and if he were to survive this day, it would be worth finding whoever summoned him into the world of the living and deal with that person… which would no doubt be easier than sending this Demon back to Hell by killing him.

However, something felt off about him…

"You are getting desperate, Exorcist." The Angel put on a vicious smile. "That acting of yours is not very good."

"Well, I had a rough day." Ryuzan tried keeping up his facade of confidence, even though he was well aware that he would be killed without being able to put up any proper resistance.

"Anyway, I have to kill that girl because that's what I and Orochimaru were sent to do." Crocell pointed at Ritsura and then at Ryuzan. "And I have to kill you… well, for personal dislike for Exorcists of all ki-"

But he could not finish his sentence because something hit into his back and sent him flying right into a tree. After he saw Crocell hitting the tree with his face, Ryuzan turned his attention to the person who appeared and saved them.

"From what I understood, you are some hot stuff amongst the western demons." An old man with a gourd-shaped head spoke as a number of youkai appeared behind him. "If you don't mind, I would like to feel how it is to fight someone of your level again." The old man said in a jesting tone while taking out the sword from its sheaths. His face then took a wrathful expression. "But due to trying to kill my great-granddaughter, do not expect mercy from me."

Even though he was not the target of the old man's hate, Ryuzan felt like all color was lost from the world when the old man, who was obviously Nurarihyon himself, released his Fear.

Due to not facing him, Ryuzan did not see Crocell's face, but he heard the sound of the wings and he quickly realized that Crocell flew into the air. "I would prefer not to, old man, as I am not at my full strength. But I am sure that we shall meet again. Now please excuse me, I have to see how my dear friend is doing." And then Ryuzan heard the sound of the wings becoming more distant, which he could not have confirmed even if he turned in his direction as it became progressively harder to keep his eyes open… and he fell onto his knees due to no longer possessing enough strength to stand.

"Just from where does Mizuchi get these people? Ebay?"

"Are you sure we should not go after him?" A dragon-like youkai asked Nurarihyon. "With my help, you should be able to catch him."

"Forget about that fool. Ritsura's safety takes priority!" Nurarihyon said and put his sword back into its sheaths. "You are a Keikain, are you not? Ha, seems like our two families just can't stay away from one another." Ryuzan felt like Nurarihyon spoke to him, but Ryuzan was already only half-conscious. "But I see you are tired. Rest now boy, I shall take from here."

"Thank… you…" Ryuzan muttered and let himself fall into sleep.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- Yes, Kashaimaru left Aotabou to die. Do remember that he is not ally to the Nuras so he would not help them if it threatened to be an inconvenience for him

\- I know some were hoping that Gozumaru would defeat okaa-san, but let's face it: she is Gyuki's enemy, not his. Thus, my divine will would never allow it to happen :P

\- for those who don't remember Crocer, he is a youkai from Yashagoro's Group who made his appearance soon after the battle between the Nuras and Shiori ended (chapter 12 to be exact)

\- Yep, Crocer is actually Engrish for Crocell, a demon from  _Ars Goetia_. I don't intend to use non-Asian mythos much, but due to certain circumstances decided to include this guy. In summary, Kyushu Clan sure has many cards to play in this game

\- For those interested, Crocell holds the 49th place, and the title of a Duke, amongst the 72 demons of Ars Goetia

\- sorry, had to use the ebay meme :P

* * *

**Review Replies**

* * *

**Helen** :  _"-_- Ritsura yukihime, why aren't you dead yet? Ugh, die die die! I want Ryuzan to fight this one properly without carrying you around. Drop her Ryuzan!_ "

"Because this Yukihime is the main character here." Ritsura said and put out her tongue.

* * *

 **Dennou** : " _Hm... do I feel Gozu-chan becoming more prominent..._ "

Because he is ;) Gozumaru is a major character in this arc after all.

* * *

 **Dennou** : " _Oh, he really DOES seem more prominent... please make him win. I feel it'd be the first time. OAO_ "

He won in a way… not a full victory, but what aer you gonna do when the Mother has plot Armor ^^;

* * *

 **DigitalWriter92** : " _Wow Gozumaru is getting competent. Hard to believe that at first. Maybe he'll express his love towards Tsurara soon. Anyone worried?_ "

Confessing to a married woman, eh? That is not gonna end well XD

* * *

 **Dorothea** : " _And Eikichi . . . . . oh Eikichi . . . . how long can you hold off Tesshin and Gen'ei?_ "

Eikichi: "Whew, somehow I managed to hold them for as long as it was needed."


	49. The Last Resort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Kiyotsugu Summer Resort, a place built with a mere intention to attract tourists and youkai enthusiasts, had been changed into a makeshift HQ for the Nura Clan and the Gyuki Group. However, it is not a secret place and the enemy never delayed trying to destroy this place…

**Reminder #1:**  The nameless Undead Warlord was introduced in ch40. He has the ability to summon the spirits of soldiers who used to serve him

 **Reminder #2:**  Benmaru, who appears in this chapter, was introduced in ch42. He is a member of the Gyuki Group who prefers muskets over swords and is, alongside Eikichi, Tesshin and Gen'ei, one of the big four of the Gyuki Group

* * *

**Chapter 49 – The Last Resort**

To most, word  _home_  meant a house or place where one could feel comfortable and at leisure. It could be a house where they grew, a home that a married couple built, a monastery where monks spent most of their lives, a ship where a sailor traversed the weaves… for this Undead Warlord, home was wherever a real battle or siege was going on and he could just sit on a stool made by his soldiers as he gazed upon the battle.

Unfortunately, the place that his army was currently besieging was no castle, but a mere mansion. It was larger than the one where Gyuki lived and had more than one building, but it lacked that aura of nobility around it. Even to a person from the distant past, it was clear that even in this age no noble or warlord resides in this place. It had an aura of leisure, not an aura of authority or elegance.

Yet, he was not displeased, for this place had the aura of hope. Indeed, while the hell raged through the mountain and its surrounding, this was a place that any defender would choose as their last bastion of resistance against the invaders.

And the few defenders that were inside proved that this truly was a bastion of hope. The Northern part was protected by some headless youkai who used the strings and strangled to death any soldiers that tried to attack… although that was of little consequence as the Warlord could just revive them in his make-up camp after some time had passed.

The western part was protected by something less visible. Someone shot down any soldier that tried to get close, and nobody managed to see who the musket-user was. But then again, it was not like it mattered how the hopeless defender looked.

The south and east though were protected by what looked like a shadowy army. But the Warlord already fell for that trick and now he was certain: a single youkai was creating soldiers just like the Undead Warlord was. If he could somehow convince that youkai to join him, their army could create a new country that would rule above both youkai and humans, the Warlord was sure of it.

His siege had started quite a while ago, but these three defenders had managed to keep the Warlord's army at bay, even if the soldiers did manage to push into inner parts of whatever this place was supposed to be.

Still, the Undead Warlock did not worry, for he was waiting for his allies to arrive.

" _The Shinobi have come._ " A voice spoke in the Warlord's head. His mind was connected to all of his soldiers so they could communicate with thoughts alone.

As soon as he heard it, the Warlord turned around. He saw a woman dressed in red clothes of a Shinobi and a man dressed in black clothes of one. Both were primarily specialized in arts of assassination.

Unlike the others who were summoned here, the Warlord was not like the other youkai that were summoned. He reincarnated in the living world several times already, although each time he was defeated by Gyuki or someone else. However, Sanmoto did make him stronger so his reincarnations from now on would not be as weak.

These Shinobi were also victims of Gyuki, but they were people whom the Warlord used to know while he was still alive. It was an irony that they died by the same hands as he did, but also convenient in more ways than one.

"You sure took your time." The Warlord said and rose from his seat. As usual, the assassin duo did not say anything. He did not remember if they EVER spoke. "I will attack from south with my full force. The rest, I will leave to your own discretion."

It was an army against an army and individual killers versus individual killers. It was ironic how fair it was.

And the fairer it was, the sweeter would be the feeling of crushing this last bastion of hope for Gyuki and his allies.

* * *

It was a sudden change. For more than an hour, undead soldiers tried storming into the resort from the north without much care about getting killed by Kubinashi, and then they suddenly stopped coming.

So Kubinashi just stood in what was literally a park with a fountain, ready for another assault and another mass kill by his hands. Strings around his fingers and some in his floating head's mouth lay ready to kill, but nothing came. He would have said it was silent, but there were still sounds of the battle in the distance.

_But only that Kage Onna seems to be fighting. I have not heard any gunshots for a while so I guess that Benmaru too is no longer being attacked… or he had been defeated maybe?_

Kubinashi would have most rather gone to check up on them, but he could not afford to leave the northern part of the resort undefended. As far as he knew, the enemy might have been hoping for him to do that.  _I will just have to trust into Benmaru and that girl._

Still though, he could not just stand there either, especially not if the enemy tried sneaking past him. For that reason, he released his strings and made them as small as possible, so that an enemy could not notice them. If someone really thought that they could sneak past him, they would learn the same lesson that Tamasaburo learned during the Tokyo Tag twenty years ago.

But nobody was moving through the park that made up the entire northern part of the complex. Technically, it would be possible to just move between the ropes, but Kubinashi trusted in his skill: most youkai should not be able to move past them, especially not an army of those clumsy youkai.

And then Kubinashi heard someone landing behind him. But by the time he had turned around, the person in question disappeared and Kubinashi could hear a small noise coming from one of the larger trees. By the time his eyes moved up, the enemy had again moved somewhere else.

Whoever it was, that youkai was incredibly agile… and what was more, this person cut through all of the strings in his way, meaning that he also had eyesight of an eagle.

And then someone landed behind Kubinashi, but he expected such an action so he immediately turned his head. Lack of neck made this action quite fast and he in time saw a woman dressed in red clothes of a Shinobi, with only her eyes visible, try to slash him with a black knife.

But both the head and the body moved in time to avoid the vertical slash, and she immediately thrust the knife towards him.

 _As fast as you may be, such a naive attack won't work on me._  Kubinashi's strings laced up around both of her hands, making it impossible for her to move her hands and use that weapon. "This was not even a challenge." Kubinashi mocked his opponent.

But the woman did not show any worry or shock on her face… no, her eyes told him that she expected something like this or that it was not an issue.  _Is there someone else here?_  Kubinashi looked around expecting another assassin.

But the solution to her problem did not come from any comrades or whatsoever. No, the knife that she still held between her hands moved in an unnatural way, as if it did not even need the hand, cutting the strings and freeing her. And the part of the string that was on it turned to ash.

"What the…" Kubinashi jumped backwards, but she made a sprint at him with intention of slashing him. Now that he gave the knife in her hand more attention, he realized that it was not an ordinary weapon, but part of her youkai nature, just like how strings were part of Kubinashi's nature.

And his intuition told him that he should not let that knife touch any part of his body.

But in case avoiding the attack was absolutely necessary, he was at a disadvantage as she would reach him before he landed.

Again, he was lucky to have a floating head so it flew away and pulled the body with it using the strings just before she slashed him. The moment that she did not spend on moving was enough for Kubinashi to put himself on a safer distance.  _I will have to remember that jumping won't be a good idea in this fight._

It was also fortunate that he could immediately move into a dense part of the forest, as it was directly connected to the park. True, this was the entrance he was guarding, but as long as he did not go too far, it would be alright. Amongst the dense woods, a string user like Kubinashi would be at a great advantage while the knife wielder would have many obstacles in her way.

But Kubinashi did not even have time to create a network of strings around him before he realized that this knife had another special ability: it could cut through a tree as if it was butter and she was agile enough to move around them.

 _So this won't work either, huh?_  Once again, Kubinashi tried to use the strings against her, but no matter what he did to her, the knife would cut the strings even if it needed movements that should have been impossible. Indeed, even tangling up her feet did not slow her down too much and tangling up every part of her body also resulted in failure, although it did slow her more than the simpler moves. But as long as she got out of it alive and able to fight, it was of little value to Kubinashi.

"During my life…" The red woman started speaking once they ended up returning to the park. "…I was such a successful assassin that some people believed that my weapon could cut through everything. Well, it was bullshit mostly, but seemingly the naive beliefs ended up being beneficial to this second life of mine. In short…" She swung her knife at the fountain, effortlessly cutting it in half. "…now there is nothing I can't cut if it is close enough."

"Well, you still have not cut me." Kubinashi challenged her and created a new network of strings in front of him.  _I guess she started talking because she is no longer seeing me as a threat? Heh._

"You are very misfortunate that you ended up meeting me." She said and prepared to sprint at him. "After all, I am your natural enemy."

"Indeed, I was always worried that I would someday meet someone who could burn my strings or something." Kubinashi replied, but stood in the place even when she started sprinting. "But I am actually quite fortunate." As expected, she cut through the strings, but his head moved and tangled her up again. "I am quite fortunate that someone like you appeared while I was prepared that is." Before her knife had time to cut the strings, Kubinashi pressed a button on a certain remote controller that he hid in his pocket.

"AHHHHHHH!" The woman started screaming the moment he pressed it and the knife fell from her hand.

"A shame you are not from this time period so you probably don't even know what I just did to you." Kubinashi teased her. Even though he was not certain if he would need it, he connected a few strings to a generator that could be activated remotely.

"Agh…" She stopped screaming when he turned the generator off and then took the knife into his hand. From what he heard, the only way to kill these zombies was to kill them via a method that would mean something to them. "So, you believe that this would kill anyone it cut?" He spoke and stabbed it into her heart. "In that case, you should not return back to life, right?"

"D… damn it…" She muttered as blood came from her mouth and then her head hung down and then her body and clothes turned to dust.

"Maybe you were not a bad assassin, but I am a better and more experienced assassin, and an expert in killing youkai."

* * *

 _To go help the girl or to not help the girl…_  Benmaru thought as he sat and took a smoke from his favorite smoking pipe.  _Trust the girl or save the girl, the question it is now._  He took another smoke and then raised his musket and shot at someone moving on the roof.  _I guess I have no choice but to trust._

Knowing that he missed the target that was still sneaking around the rooftops, Benmaru rose up, emptied his pipe and then put it into his pocket. He then released his claws and used them to jump into the air.

It took him a moment to see the wannabe ninja and shoot him into the head. While he was in the air, he saw those soldiers run towards where the Kage Onna was and used the opportunity to snipe a few of them before he landed on the ground.

"Come on, show yourself~" Benmaru shouted into the air. "If that self-proclaimed Warlord trusted you enough to recall all of those losers, then I am sure you are not someone to die so easily."

From one of the buildings beside him, someone threw a kunai. But Benmaru did not avoid it and instead just hit it with its musket and shot whoever was hiding inside.

"Please don't tell me that you are using one of those cheesy cloning ninja techniques." Benmaru spoke to the enemy he could still not see.

Not long after, four black-clothed ninjas jumped at him from the roof.

"Are you serious, dude?" Benmaru sighed and put one hand on his straw hat while his right hand pointed the musket at them. But he decided not to shoot. "It would be lame to spend my precious ammo on mere illusions." So instead, he just impaled them with his claws once they got close enough. "Oh look, you even have a fancy cliché effect when you die! Yuck!"

"But this cliché has an original touch." A male voice spoke. "This ironically would not have affected you if you kept to shooting."

"Oh really, and what is-" Benmaru wanted to ask what was so special, but then he started coughing blood. "Ah I see, so you used poison."

"Indeed. That what you called a fancy effect was actually thick poison." The voice spoke. "So then, what will you do now?"

The hidden ninja did not need to tell him that the poison also numbed his senses. Noise in his ears and his vision becoming misty made that one clear.

Still though, he spent a few moments too long on getting a hang of his current state of mind, as proven by the fact that not one but two sharp objects got stabbed into his left leg and right shoulder. Were he standing straight and not swung around, those two attacks might have been more fatal.

But of course, it would be impossible to last long in this state, especially if the poison continued spreading through his body.

Once again he coughed and he put his hand on his mouth. And once again, a kunai came from the same direction and missed his head by a hair. "You should be more careful." The old ninja mocked him.

"And you should have moved." Benmaru replied and the moment he saw a ninja rise from a window and prepare to throw a kunai, Benmaru shot at him.

"What…" The bullet hit right into his chest. How could you have… moved… and seen me… my pride should have condemned you…" Those were his last words before he died. Seemingly, the failure of his pride to kill his target was what spelled the end of him.

Although there was no longer anyone who could hear him, Benmaru still gave an answer. "Unfortunately for you, we currently have a master herbalist and expert in poisons stay here. You would be surprised of what a few herbal mixes can do. I did not raise my hand to my mouth to check how pretty my blood is, you know."

* * *

The Undead Warlord walked into the resort's courtyard and found himself amidst a raging battle between his undead soldiers and what looked like humans. The undead used swords, spears and muskets, while the fabricated humans stayed inside the building, all of them use what looked like muskets.

The Warlord wondered what those pacifist monks would think if they saw this scene where war seemed to be never-ending and pointless as both the Undead Warlord and the enemy youkai created soldiers.

But of course, the things were about to change. No matter how well the Shinobi did against the guardians in North and West, they should keep their attention long enough for the Warlord to send his entire army on this spot and invade by himself, hopefully slaying the enemy youkai or forcing him into submission.

As expected, the  _humans_  noticed the arrival of a warlord dressed in proper armor and most of them shot at him. But more than mere illusionary bullets would be needed to scratch the Warlord. In other words, the bullets did not even tickle him.

 _Alright, we wasted enough time!_  The Warlord put his hands on his sword and slowly took it out. And during that whole procedure, dust rose from around him and two dozen undead soldiers appeared behind him. of course, he could have conjured more, but quantity always came at the cost of quality, so he focused on conjuring only the very best.

And then he pointed his sword at the entrance of the largest building, which e would call a mansion in lack of a better word. "CHARGE!"

Alongside the warcry, all of his Fear was released, destroying most of the illusionary humans and wrecking the gates of the mansion. Immediately after, his soldiers shouted their own warcries and stormed into the building, the Undead Warlord following them with a walking pace.

It did not take very long for the sounds of battle to be heard again, but the Warlord expected it. However, he also felt that the Fear inside that building was slowly getting weaker.  _No surprise there, the enemy would start running out of Fear sooner or later._

 _And unfortunately for my enemy, I cannot run out of Fear by summoning my own soldiers._ The Undead Warlord grinned at that fact, even though he was not naive to think that his victory was guaranteed. After all, the only thing the enemy had to do in order to win was to kill only him.

However, the Warlord was no weak warrior so an illusion was unlikely to kill him.

The Warlord finally entered the mansion himself. The first thing he noticed were the humans in front of him, blocking the path through a hallway across some large room. There were four of them, wearing some white helmets and blue modern clothes, and holding large transparent shields with some foreign words saying " E" inscribed onto the shields.

As any other general would, the next thing he looked at was his own men. Two seemed to have fallen while the rest took shelter in the large room, away from the eyes and muskets of the enemy levies.

And then, while the knights showered him with harmless bullets, he looked around the hall.  _It looks like a haunted house, even though it seemed well maintained from outside._ He then swung his sword at the air beside him, imbuing a good portion of his Fear into the swing. For a few moments, the area at which he slashed did not look like part of a haunted house but as a part of a clean, nice mansion. "I see, so your ability is to create a haunted house or something." He grinned due to realizing what his enemy's technique was. "I knew something was wrong when Gyuki's illusion weakened after I damaged his home, as well as when I realized that your illusions preferred to stay inside. Indeed, your true ability is not creating soldiers, but creating a haunted house which then fills it with ghosts one would expect to find inside of it."

Unfortunately, no response came.  _How boring._

"Ha, guess I will have to do some good old fashioned exorcism." He prepared to sprint at the soldiers blocking the hallway. And then he made a sprint at them, intending to kill all of them with one swing of his sword.

But this being a haunted house, it was to be expected that it would not go that easy: when he got close to them, the humans turned into black smoke and a giant ox-headed spider appeared.

 _A Gyuki, huh? Yes, just make my blood boil, that will surely help you!_  Seeing an object of his hate in front of him, the Warlord moved with even more fury. He evaded the claws that tried to stab into him, and cut through the two on the spider's right side, and then cut through the beast's body as he moved past it. He tried not to kill it as he wanted to prolong its suffering, even though he knew that an illusion probably felt nothing.

When he found himself behind the creature, he turned around and cut with so much speed and fury that the creature's innards started falling out of it. But he did not stop until he literally cut a hole through it and found himself facing the hall again, and the creature disappeared in black smoke.

And then his eyes saw Gyuki, a white-haired girl in white kimono holding a sword of ice and some boy with a gourd-shaped hair. All three disappeared, leaving behind the bodies of his soldiers.

He realized that the ox-headed spider was not supposed to fight him, but keep him preoccupied while other illusions killed his men.  _Tz, she played me well._  It would take a little while for him to become able to revive those soldiers again. Although, he doubted that it would be very useful to be surrounded by soldiers in this situation.

 _Still though, this had put a strain on the conjurer's Fear._  It was not a theory, but a fact seeing as the Haunted House became a bit cleaner and the Fear inside it was less thick than a few moments ago.

"In that case, I will not waste any more time." He took a deep breath and concentrated. Now that the Fear was not as thick, it was easy to find the location of the source of this Fear… and he truly was able to feel in which direction his enemy was likely to be located.

Without any warning, the Undead Warlord started running through the haunted house. Numerous youkai, from gorillas to turtles, found themselves in his way, but he either ran past them or cut them down without stopping.

He also saw Gyuki, but he would not fall for the same trick thrice.

Finally, he reached the area where his enemy was hiding: it was a place which he did not recognize, but a human would call a gym.

Much to his surprise, the enemy that seemed to have caused so much trouble for him was a young girl with a mirror in her hands.  _Nice, she is even good for the eye. She would be useful in both the army and in the bed._

Before any words could be exchanged, the girl waved her mirror and then ox-headed spiders appeared all around them. He too moved his sword, creating an equal number of undead soldiers.

Both of them had determination in their eyes, although she also had sweat on her face.

"You are one lucky girl, you know that?" The Warlord spoke while his enemy took a step backwards. A few ox-headed spiders tried to attack him, but most were stopped by his soldiers and the only one that managed to attack him with its claw caused zero damage. "Not only do I not want you dead, but I can defeat you without even fighting myself." Indeed, she was obviously close to her limit and would collapse before she killed all of his men, not to mention that none of her illusions could harm him.

Again, the girl said nothing, making him wonder if she were mute.

And then some kind of rope grabbed his arm and slightly pulled him backwards.  _What? Did that neck-less guy I heard about come to her aid?_  Thinking that, he turned around and saw a neck less youkai using strings against him. He also felt the string slightly burning him. It was not much, but it had more Fear than any of the illusions had. "Take care of that nuisance!" He shouted the order to attack the only non-illusionary ally of this girl.

Without delay, two undead soldiers attacked, but were immobilized by the strings. "I see, so I will first have to deal with you." He started raising his sword, but then an enormous monk appeared beside him and hit his hand. Again, it made no damage, but the surprise made him lessen the grip on his weapon and, coupled with the timing of the strike, the sword fell from his hand.

But he did not feel it falling to the floor. Instinctively, he realized that the true danger lay behind him, but by the time he turned around the girl already stabbed his own sword into his guts. "You…" He managed to mutter just before the girl weaved her hand and everyone, including the neck-less bastard, disappeared from the hall.

"The string itself was real and belonged to actual Kubinashi. That was one of your mistake, mister." The girl spoke and then weaved her hand again, creating the giant monk again. But this time, there was a larger amount of Fear coming from it. "Another one was thinking that I could not create a stronger illusion." The giant monk raised his fist and large skulls started floating around it, and his Fear grew exponentially. "Now…" The girl continued speaking, but keeping up this stronger illusion was obviously exhausting for her. "…allow the good monk to purify you of your grudge and rest in peace." She said and moved away, leaving the sword stabbed in his guts.

And then the monk slashed at him. The force of the punch did not only make him fly through the air and out of the resort complex, but also tore his body into pieces… and it truly did purify his spirit from the dark hate that he held towards Gyuki.

* * *

Now that the hard battle was finally over, Heiko allowed herself to fall onto her knees. Never before did she overextend her abilities to such an extent that she would fight an army for a long period of time. She was surprised that she and this mirror of hers were able to keep it up.

"That means… I have finally become stronger, right?" She said to herself and smiled. "Nee-san, I may actually be able to…"

She was not certain what she just said, nor was she aware of how malicious her smile looked.

* * *

It was a while since the sounds of battle stopped coming from the other parts of the resort, and the fact that nobody was burning the place down made it clear: the defenders had won.

Zen made a sigh of relief and looked at his wife who too held a relaxed face on her face again. Their little son was just sleeping in her lap, ignorant of the dark fate that almost befell them.

 _In the end, I did not have a reason to use that woman's curse syringe._  He looked at the red sky. Had an enemy reached them, he would have used the cursed syringe as it would have been his last hope.  _True, the danger had no yet passed, but the Nura Clan had been through worse._

He lay back down and relaxed his muscles.  _Ha, I am an idiot._  He smiled.  _I may as well just relax and enjoy my last days._  And then he closed his eyes, ready to accept his fate.

And then someone landed in front of him. Zen quickly opened his eyes, expecting an enemy.

He was relieved to see Nurarihyon, but then his eyes fell on the person in his arms… it was Rikuo's daughter herself.

"Zen, we have no time to waste." Nurarihyon gently put the girl on the floor. "She is poisoned and hurt. Do you think you could-"

"Yes!" He did not need to think about it: the moment he saw her, he also remembered the agony Rikuo had to go through eight years ago when his son almost died. Zen made himself move, no matter how nauseous and painful it was.

"Good." Nurarihyon nodded with his face still serious. "Gyuki Group will also come soon. Seems like something very bad happened so I have to go." Without waiting for a reply, Nurarihyon left. Judging by how quick he was even though his great-granddaughter was in bad shape, it must have been very bad.

And she truly was in a bad shape: if she did not get proper treatment as soon as possible, she would die. But, it was impossible to save her in the state he was in… but he had to, there was nobody else to do it.

"Darling…" His wife started, but Zen cut her off.

"Please leave, I may need to use something dangerous…" He said and, without question, she left with their son in her arms. "And close the doors…"

The moment she left, he took one of the syringes and, without thinking twice about it, stabbed it into his heart and used it. He would sacrifice his own soul if it meant saving his sworn brother's child.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- do you see the pun in the title? Do you?! ;P

\- this was one of harder chapters to write. Also, most of it was supposed to come much earlier…

\- damn it Kubinashi, you are a pre-Meiji era youkai so don't use modern technology in fights!

\- seems like Benmaru likes word Ninja more than Shinobi

\- Benmaru's fight was very short unfortunately...

\- the Undead Warlord got most of Heiko's ability right: what she did was turn the part of the resort complex into a haunted area and then used it to create illusions. Of course, she could do it outside and she did, but this is how her Fear is supposed to be used

\- aaaand he used it!

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**Review Replies:**

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**Helen** : " _What is Shoumen Kongo doing here?! Why is he stepping in himself and to help his enemy? What's happening, I'm confused?_ "

Let's remember: there are two Koshins, the father and the son. Evil daddy is in Hell, good sonny is alive and kicking. The one who saved them was the son, who was introduced a few chapters ago.


	50. Whose Dead?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the youkai of Nejireme are focused on defending themselves, the Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan had used the opportunity and sent skirmish parties into Kantou to wreak havoc on the Nura clan territories. In meantime, Onieda Mayuri is trying to learn more about the organization that her family owns…

**Note #1:** All events in this chapter happen before ch49's end but during the same day. However, the scenes do not necessarily follow in the chronological order

* * *

**Chapter 50 – Whose dead?**

"Hnnnggg…" Mayuri stretched her arms as she woke up. It was not an alarm clock or a person that woke her up, but sunrays. "Where am I again…" She wondered when she noticed that she woke up in an unfamiliar room.

_Ah yes, this is a hotel._  When Junji told her that they would go to a different prefecture, she did not expect to go all the way to somewhere in Chubu. She did not remember where exactly she was as she stopped paying attention before half of the journey was done, but she knew that they were in some city or town somewhere in Chubu and that they arrived at midnight.

Junji, her bodyguard who took her here, did not talk much during their journey and it became clear to her that he was annoyed. The only important things he had told her were that she would see a facility where the Shin Sekai operated and, when they came to this city, that it was late so she had to rent a room at a hotel.

Naturally, it was a luxurious hotel as Junji would not even want to hear about the  _Onieda Ojou-sama_  staying anywhere else. Well, not that she would want to stay anywhere else to begin with.

What time is it? She was not sure if she felt exhausted because she slept too little or because she slept too much. Ah, it is late in the afternoon why didn't Junji-san wake me up? Why didn't I set up an alarm clock?

She took out her phone to call him, but then noticed that she had received a mail from Junji a few hours ago. "When the sleeping princess awakes, go to the Computer Servicer's shop called 'Makishuba Services'. It is close to the hotel, so just ask the hotel staff for instructions about how to reach it."

_So I have to go there alone, huh?_  She sighed. For a moment she was annoyed that he did not wait for her, but thinking about it a bit more she understood why he did not wait. After all, it was unlikely that she would be in danger.

She put her phone back on the table and took a deep sigh. She was to learn something important about her family, and that naturally made her feel anxious.

She did not know what the truth was, but she felt like it might be something scary. Yet, she would go on and find out what it was all about.

* * *

_I hope Ritsura and Rihan are alright…_  Tsurara thought while putting on some make-up.

She was finally done with the make-up, after which she took a haori with the Nura Clan insignia and put it on top of a different kimono than the one she usually wore, this one being dark blue in color. She also too ka paper fan into her hand.  _I hope my children are alright…_ As the wife of the Nura Clan's Commander and the one who led the clan in his stead while he was still absent, always tried to look the role. And now that a crisis had occurred and she had to take care of it, she put more effort into her appearance.  _Good gods, please keep my children safe from harm._

"Yosh!" Certain that she got it all right, she turned around and started walking with a less leisure step, trying to look even more like a yakuza lady.  _I just want to get this over with and call my kids…_

After passing a few hallways, she finally reached the closed doors to the meeting chamber, but she did not need to open them: the servants did it for her so that she would not even need to slow down her pace of walking.

The meeting room was, as expected, noisy. But the moment they heard her walk in, everyone stopped talking and lowered their head as it was customary. Only once Tsurara sat down on the podium, the place on which the Commander was supposed to sit, did everyone raise their heads. However, they did not raise their voices just yet.

_Now that I think about it, this is the first time that I am leading a meeting alone…_  In most meetings when Rikuo was not present, she was aided by Karasu Tengu, Daruma or even Nurarihyon. But this time she was alone, with neither her grandfather-in-law nor the advisors present: Daruma was with her husband, Karasu Tengu was doing some negotiations in the west while Nurarihyon did what he did best: disappeared.  _Ritsura… Rihan…_

Still, she did not intend to let it bother her. She would lead the meeting appropriately.

She hit the palm of her left hand with the fan. "So Kyushu has finally attacked." She said in a cold, rough tone. Appearance was important, but the attitude was even more so as the yakuza prefer their leaders having a proper attitude. Due to severity of the situation, she had to take no chanes. "Are there any news on the situation?" She said in a tone that she rarely used, but forced herself to do it now.

She knew how they would react to this question, but it was not something that could have been easily avoided: everyone started talking at the same time. Nothing revealed how much of a crisis a situation was as the behavior of Clan Executives did.

Tsurara hit the palm of her hand with her fan again, this time with more force. It hurt her hand and might even leave a bruise, but she had to make a strong enough sound in order to silence them. "Houkou, give me a summary of the situation." She demanded from the dog-like boss of the Chinatown youkai.  _Rihan… Ritsura…_

"Yes, my lady." Houkou nodded and then spoke. "A few dozen groups of Kyushu youkai have entered Kantou and are wracking havoc in western prefectures. Three smaller clans have been completely obliterated before the stronger clans were able to react and upper their guard."

_What about Nejireme? What about my children?_ "Did you order your own clans to move in?" She asked the executives.

"Those of us, who could afford the manpower, did so." Houkou answered her question. "However, we need to keep a portion of strength here in case the enemy attacks Ukiyoe itself. Due to Rikuo-sama's earlier orders, our forces are already thin."

"The priority should be our western territories." Tsurara said.  _The priority should be my children._  "Even if our forces here are stretched thin, we should be able to defend against a raiding party." Her words did not seem to sit well with everyone. "Or are you suggesting that a proper Hyaki Yakou could sneak up all the way here without anyone noticing?"

"Of course not." Houkou said. "But still-"

"Please take care that proper numbers of reinforcements have been sent, Kurotabou." He was the only one whom she could trust with absolute certainty that he would not have ulterior motive for compromising her orders.

"I will do so." The monk rose up and left the room.

_They should all go to Nejireme._ "Now let us move onto the next question." Tsurara hit her palm again. "How did this happen?"

One of the other youkai answered this one. "It is obviously because something is going on at Nejireme. We-"

"I know that the youkai of Nejireme were unable to keep guard!" She tried to keep her tone as low as she could, but her right hand reflexively hit the palm of the other hand again. No doubt, there would be a bruise. "I… Know that." She clenched her teeth as her children appeared in front of her eyes. "And we all knew that the defenses could be lowered and that Mount Nejireme might not being able to attract hostile youkai onto it. They all knew. You all knew. So why were the other clans not making up for it by taking care of the intruders themselves?" She gave her coldest gaze to the Executives who represented the western clans.

Nobody said anything as everyone knew the answer: everyone was so used to Nejireme keeping them safe that they did not expect any threat to occur from it. Yet, someone dared to speak up. "The enemy should not have known that Nejireme youkai could not do their duties. I mean, they are all the way west in Kyushu. Even if they found out about it, it would take-"

"Well, they knew better than us when Sanmoto or whoever might invade Nejireme! And it makes sense if you consider that they might be behind it!"  _Gyuki, why did you not send my kids back?_  She hit the palm of her hand again. "What some of you here do not seem to understand is that we are at war. Not formally yet, but we are already at war with Kyushu, the Hyaku Monogatari and the Shin Sekai. And at least one of our enemies has, as we have found out several days ago, forces in midst of our territory. Are we expecting them to not attack either?"

Everyone stayed silent.

"Let me remind you all that you are not only responsible for governing those territories, but also for keeping them safe."  _Are my children safe?_  "Everyone who did not put proper effort into keeping ANY potential enemies away is  **dishonoring**  himself and had out the entire clan in danger."  _Just how can my children be safe if the rest of the clan isn't safe?_

Again, nobody raised their voice.

"All of you who are able to put up a proper fight will take Takarabune and help in cleaning every last one of our enemies from there. And if they start retreating, do not let them. Do not try to take prisoners. Unless they lay down and surrender, kill everyone you see." She still remembered how they just sat here during Shikoku and Hyaku Monogatari invasions twenty years ago. She never minded it as this was their privilege, but since not securing those territories would endanger her children, she had no intention of letting it go. And their forces being thinned down were a good reason to make them move. "And once you are certain that you have taken care of everyone, immediately send everyone to Nejireme and secure the safety of the clan's heirs. Anyone have any objections?"  _I dare you all to speak up. I dare you!_

Again, nobody said anything. Her pointing out the fact that they dishonored themselves by not being cautious enough must have done the trick.

"The meeting is dismissed!" She hit her palm one last time. I want to go… I want to go… I want to go… I want to see you two… your mom is worried.

* * *

_Is that guy screwing with me?_  Mayuri wondered as she stood in the front of the Service Shop. There was no way in hell that this small shop could possibly have anything to do with the mysterious  _Shin Sekai_. _If I enter here, I will make a fool of myself and Junji-san will have something to laugh at for the rest of his life._

Mayuri turned around with the full intention to walk away and not give Junji a reason to laugh, but then she sighed and turned back.  _Aaahhh… even if it is a bit, I must take it if I wish to continue going on"_

In order to not leaver herself time to change her mind, Mayuri immediately walked into the shop. There would be no turning back now.

The shop looked disappointingly average from outside, but from the inside… it looked even more average. Mayuri was certain that she even saw spider webs behind one of the products that was on the sale.

Indeed, I was made a fool out of.

"Mayuri-sama?" The shopkeeper somehow knew who she were. He was a non-slender man who reminded her of an average otaku. "I did not expect that you would ever come here, at least not alone. Do you want to visit the facility?"

"Eh?" Mayuri was surprised to not get an average answer. "Uh, I mean… yes, I would love to." She said and put her hands behind her, as if trying to look professional.

"I see, I see… so the boss finally allowed his daughter to participate. Well, jus t go through that door and you will find someone to show oyu around the lab. Just let me unlock it first…" The man opened Solitaire on his PC, did some pointless moves and then said. "Alright, go on."

"I see… thank you." She said and walked up to the wooden door.  _THIS IS DEFINITELY A PRANK!_

~)(~

No, this isn't a prank. Mayuri had to admit. A dream is what it is.

She saw the building from the outside. The door should have, by laws of physics, led to the backyard or, even more likely, into a wall.

Yet she found herself in a large hallway that reminded her of a hospital, with the exception that there was not even one window which made the whole place have a creepy aura.  _Well, at least there are lights here._ She thought as she slowly walked through the hallway, passing a door on her right.

"Wondering how this all is possible, Ojou-sama?" And suddenly, Junji appeared behind her, or more exactly he came from the room that she had just passed by.

"Ah, here you are!"

"Sorry Ojou, I did not know how long you would be sleeping so I came to visit a few colleagues." The boy said and scratched his head. "Anyway, want me to take you around?"

"Shouldn't you first finish what you started?" Mayuri asked even though she finally realized that she disliked this person. Something about him was off. "How is this even possible?"

"Sorry, I don't understand all that technically mumbo-jumbo either." Junji just shrugged his shoulders and started walking. "I am just a bodyguard, not a researcher."

Mayuri sighed and followed after him. "Alright, so what is this place?"

"This is a research facility." Junji gave her a simple answer but continued before she could throw a tantrum. "It is specialized in two areas of research, both of which the mere mortals like you and me can find relatively understandable."

* * *

And suddenly, there was sound.

It shrieked into the ears, but it was impossible to recognize what it was. Was someone using chalks on a blackboard and magnified its volume? Or were the sounds coming from three dozen cars in the traffic? No it were tigers, growling at the elephants that honked back at them.

Chalks, traffic, lions and elephants all created radically different kinds of sounds that could usually not be confused for one another, yet this horrible noise resembled all of those, and more.

Was the frequency coming from the movements of atoms that reacted to world's will and divine hysteria that replicated the law of chaos and order in symmetry with hazardous will of the-

The eyes opened, and a blurry image was shown, but then the colors invaded and made the eyes scream and scream and scream in pain.

The mind did not work properly, that was for certain yet no will or meditation could save this soul that did the  **forbidden art**  that was forbidden by his own blood in the past of this linear timelapse.

And then finally the nightmare all ended and Onieda Masato's senses returned back to normal. But it would take a few seconds more for the rest of the body to get the hold of itself. But until then, the feeling of suffocation would haunt his mind.

And then he took his breath and was fine again, although he was sweating from every part of his body.

This was not the first time that Onieda Masato went through such a painful sensation though. Even if he managed to find a way to use his Onmyoudo, he could only delay the effects of the curse… and the curse made him pay the interest by making it extra painful for him.

Indeed, the Tsuchimikado bloodline had been cursed and the curse was strong enough that even the  _Shin Sekai_  could not find a way of getting around it. And in his encounter with Nura Rikuo, he used his Onmyoudo to an unhealthy extent.

So, where am I now? He looked around and noticed that it was the airplane, and he was in his luxury suit. Ah yes, I did tell Akihito to help me move here before I let the curse sweep in.

Masato took a cane that sat beside his table and hit the floor with it two times. After half a minute, Gokadoin Akihito walked in. "Ah, so you are awake." The man who looked younger than Masato spoke. "It was a stupid thing you did there. Abe no Seimei's Onmyoudo is not something you should be using."

"I don't care for the lectures." Masato used his cane to rise himself up and stand on his feet. His feet were often the last to heal and this time was no exception. "Where are the rest?"

Rather than say anything back, Akihito only shook his head in the direction of the door to the other luxury suit and then walked through them. Although with much slower pace, Masato followed after him while trying to not fall onto his nose.

When he entered the other suite, he found Akihito there standing and looking through the small window. Keikain Akira, the young woman of black hair and wearing glasses, sat on a sofa alongside her tan-skinned cousin Kazuma.

On a sofa in front of them, there was another woman. She was a pretty brunette with a pointy nose and wearing a lab coat. She was Makiri Shizuka, the head scientist of the Shin Sekai and its  _Third Pillar_. Almost every scientific enterprise conducted by the  _Shin Sekai_  was to some degree influenced by her.

And there was someone missing. "Where is LeX?" Masato asked and accepted the seat that Kazuma offered him.

"That Dhampyr said he had some preparations to do." Shizuka answered. "Not that he would do anything here but sleep anyway…"

As true as it was, Masato was annoyed by that Dhampyr's laid back attitude. On other hand, his skill was not to be underestimated, no matter how much of a fool he pretended to be.

"So…" Shizuka started the topic. "I heard Nura Rikuo… now knows too much."

"Yes, that is true." Akihito answered instead of Masato and moved to the other part of the plane so that Masato's eyes were now on him. "Old man, was this really unavoidable?"

"It could have been easily avoided." Masato answered in his usual tone that lacked any emotion or care. "But I decided not to."

"And why is that?" Akira asked him with an angry tone.

"I did it because Shiori had started making her own moves." Masato chose which one of his explanations he would use. "Hiding in the shadows is good only as long as there is not someone in public waging war against us. Now that Nuras know about us, we can be less discrete, and this efficient, in handling our enemies." When he saw both Shizuka and Akihito open their mouth, he hit the floor with his cane. "Either way, what is done is done. There's no point in discussing this further."

"I agree with Masato-dono." Kazuma supported him before the others could complain. "Let us rather discuss how this affects our duties."

"Nothing changes for me I hope." Shizuka asked while her fingers moved as if she was typing something on the keyboard. Although she hid it well, she was so used to her work that her body forgot how to stay calm. "After all, I am just a scientist."

"Wrong, a lot changes for you." Masato shattered her hopes. "Certain experiments will now take priority and I expect you to finish them as early as possible, with no straying unless  _you_  bound it absolutely necessary."

"A shame, but I guess it doesn't matter." Shizuka put her hands together. "Just as long as I can continue once this pointless war with the youkai is done."

"And no skipping sleep for even two days in a row." Masato added an order that obviously annoyed her. "I know you fancy yourself a genius who does not need to sleep, but I guarantee you that your work becomes messier the more sleep-deprived you are."

"Uh… but…" And then Shizuka sighed. "It will be as you say,  _daddy_. But why do I need to move to Japan? Did you not order me to do my work overseas as it was safer than in Japan? And I am pretty sure Japan is not getting any safer now that Nura Rikuo knows about us."

Gokadoin Akihito was the one to answer this question. "Our facilities in Latin America, as well as some allied universities in Europe, are getting into trouble one by one and a few in the States have suddenly gone bankrupt. Soon enough, we predict that all our facilities outside of Asia will need to be closed."

"All in Latin America and a few in Europe…" Shizuka's eyes narrowed. "So those damn Exorcists have finally found out what we were doing?"

"We don't know if it is them, but the probability is high." Masato confirmed. "In case it really is them, we should expect a more forceful attack soon. I'd like to move all the important personnel and projects to Japan where the Vatican holds little to no influence." _Although they will no doubt tell the Kakure Kirishitan Exorcists to cause trouble for us, that group should be more focused on the Kyushu Clan._   _Thus, they should be of little issue for us._

"In any case, it shall soon get bloody." Akira sighed.

"As for you, Akira…" Masato looked at the woman who sat beside him. "I am sure you have realized that we can no longer waste any more time. Take care of the Keikains before the things escalate further."

"I won't have to hurry as preparations are already close to done."

"Good." Masato nodded.

"And I can finally stop wasting time on trivial issues, right?" Of the three present Pillars, Akihito was the only one who seemed pleased with the current situation.

"Yes, you can go into the offensive now." Masato confirmed, dooming many lives without any hesitation. "And now, let us move onto other issues…"

* * *

"Weapons?" Mayuri gulped when she saw what stood on the podiums of the room where Junji took her. "We manufacture weapons?"

"Yes, but not here." Junji reassured her while he took a shotgun into his hands. "We do it overseas. These things here are just models… although in right hands, they could be used as weapons."

"…these can't be just normal weapons though… there is more to it, isn't there?"

"No, they are weapons alright." He said, removed the safety and shot at part of the wall and then a vase beside it. All Mayuri knew about weapons was from TV, but she was certain that it should have produced the sound and left the marks on where it hit. But the broken vase was the only sign that it was used. "This one, for example, is perfect for those who want silence and force. It makes no sound and only destroys the desired target."

"This is atrocious…"

"Is it now?" Junji smirked, pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger before she could even react.

But nothing happened to her.

"So Ojou-sama, why do you think nothing happened to you?"

"Because you did not desire to kill me?" Mayuri answered while trying to stay calm and composed. Having a working weapon pointed at you and the trigger pulled was horrifying. If it also made a sound, she might have even ost consciousness.

"Correct, but not fully." Junji span the shotgun, returned the safety and put it back on the podium. "My desired target was any serial killer so it accepts even such general orders."

"How would it possibly recognize something like that from a person?"

"Oh? That's what first comes to your mind? I and everyone else would not care." Junji smirked. "So you really are a closet nerd just like your fa-"

"Boy, I would not finish that sentence if I were you. Masato-sama is our boss, and boss needs to be respected." Junji's dialogue and Mayuri's growth of temper were both stopped by another person joining them. The fact that this bald man worse a lab coat suggested that he was a scientist. "Glad to meet you, Mayuri-dono. I am Tariu Shinichi, one of the researchers in this facility." The man made a small bow with his head. "But I would like to ask what you are doing here?"

"I asked Junji-san to show me around." Mayuri explained.

"And who is this boy exactly?"

"I am her bodyguard, Tariu-san." Junji said in a more respectful tone.

"A bodyguard should mind his place." The scientist said and, before Junji could reply back, he turned to Mayuri. "Mayuri-dono, if you don't mind I'd like to show you around. I will probably also be better source of information than this young brute."

"Please do." Mayuri nodded and grinned in herself as she knew that Junji would be annoyed by this. Even Onieda Mayuri's tolerance had limits.

* * *

Tsurara sat on the porch outside while drinking cold tea and looking at the Takarabune, and the smaller floating ships accompanying it, go on their way.  _My children better be safe._

With the small youkai calmly worrying about what would happen now that the Kyushu Clan attacked and with the rest leaving to protect their clans or help in kicking the Kyushu youkai out of the western territories, the mansion had become unusually silent.

And few things were as depressing as the silence in this household. Also, nothing made one so sensitive to a sound that they would immediately turn around to see who was passing by. "Ah, Kurotabou."

"Tsurara-sama." Kurotabou stopped when she called up to him. "I gave my best to send as many reinforcements as I could in the little time we had."

"I guessed you would." Tsurara said as she returned to watching the cloudy sky. "Please keep me company for a while."

"Alright, I could use a break." Kurotabou accepted her offer but remained standing. After a few moments of silence, he started a conversation. "Rikuo-sama misses you and young masters."

"I know he does, and I miss him too."  _Come back soon, Rikuo-sama._  "And I know that he would not have gone if he did not think it was absolutely necessary."

"Still, a lot has escalated since he left." Kurotabou added. "The Shin Sekai seems to become more daring, the Hyaku Monogatari have started building forces just right under our noses, Mount Nejireme seems to have been attacked and the Kyushu have finally made their own move."

"And we thoughts that we would not have to fear anything after defeat of Abe no Seimei." Tsurara took another sip of her tea. "But a big number of smaller threats can become very much overwhelming."

"We will get through this, like usual." Kurotabou re-assured her. "And we will save the young masters as well."

"I wish I could go to Nejireme." Tsurara confessed the obvious. "I wish I could just go there, freeze everyone and return back by holding my children's hands."

"You can go, you know. I and the remaining executives can take care of the mansion in your absence."

Her motherly instincts wanted her to say yes. How sweet it would be to see her children again and ensure that they were alright. "I am grateful for your consideration, but I cannot do that. The morale is already low enough and if I leave as well, the youkai might become too insecure." Even more so then the humans, the youkai highly depended on strong leadership. "As long as I am here and look confident, the rest too should feel more confident."

"That's true I suppose." Kurotabou nodded. "In that case, let us pray that the day ends on a bright note."

"Yes, let us pray." Tsurara took another sip of her tea just before someone broke the mansion's gates.

The five youkai who stormed in were dressed in the Kyushu Clan's military uniforms, confirming their allegiance. Tsurara could feel the Fears of at least a dozen more from outside the mansion. "So you really did send everyone away, you naive woman." The one who seemed the leader spoke. "Well, you should have known better! Come with us and there will be no unnecessary bloodshed, Rikuo's woman."

"The Kyushu…" Kurotabou whispered. "So some of them really did sneak into Ukiyoe."

"Of course we did!" The arrogant enemy confirmed his suspicions. "I would have thought that you guys had taught a lesson from Tamazuki, but obviously you did not. Even though Mizuchi-sama ordered us to not attack Ukiyoe, this had proved to be-"

"You should have listened to your boss." Tsurara finished her tea and raised herself up. "We know with which ship you arrived, which train lines you used to come to the nearby town and even which streets you have taken since I got my last report." Indeed, Tsurara had known that some Kyushu youkai had entered Tokyo, but decided to not mention that detail at the meeting.

"Huh?" The enemy was now sweating.

"But that's good for you. You seen, we do need prisoners… and I really, really need to vent my frustration on somebody so I hope you dressed yourself well."

Disappointingly, the battle did not last even two full minutes.

* * *

"The weapons themselves are actually based on the Tsukumogami legends." The bald scientist went on explaining as he, Mayuri and Junji sat in an empty cafeteria and drank some coffee. "While many Tsukumogami turn into youkai with arms and legs, most however remain in their weapon form, but are sentient. These weapons don't have a high level of sentience, but we managed to develop a way to transfer Fear of mind-reading youkai and have it adapted to… well, we have a written report on the whole theory that would explain it better than I can. Just ask your honorable father to give you access to our Databases and you can just read it on a tablet. To be honest, the working prototype was developed only a month ago and there is still much testing to be done to ensure that everything works as theorized."

"I see…" Although the weaponry made her feel uncomfortable, she was curious enough to consider checking up on it. "But Tariu-san, why is father developing weapons anyway?"

"No doubt he wants to use them and for the last few months more resources started to be invested in the weapon research." Tariu Shinichi did not beat around the bush. "But don't get it wrong, Mayuri-dono. The organization researched many things, including transportation, clean energy sources, new ways to reduce crime rates, cloning that might save endangered and extinct animal species and, of course, medicine. As a matter of fact, the whole  _Onieda Revolution_  is actually the result of our researches."

She had to admit, unlike the weapons research the other things he mentioned were more noble endeavors.  _If only weapons and such were gone…_

"As a matter of fact, the weapons research in this facility is only supportive to large facilities, the main one being located somewhere in the United States." Tariu threw his now empty plastic cup into the trash bin and started leaving the cafeteria, with Mayuri and the now silent Junji following after him. "This very facility is actually focused on researching the Goryo."

"The Goryo?" Mayuri was certain she heard the term somewhere before but was not sure where.  _I think Araya-san talked about it once…_

"Goryo are a species of youkai." Junji finally said something again. "When some noble gets killed but rejects to die due to desiring vengeance, he may turn into a youkai… a Goryo. They are powerful youkai that can cause earthquakes and doom the crops, but fortunately they became rare since Emperor Meiji practically ended the age of aristocracy."

"Indeed, that is what Goryo are." Tairu spoke while the three of them started walking down some stairs. "Well, we are not that interested in what Goryo could do, that is the specialty of other facilities. We were mainly interested in their ways of cheating death and how it could be used in medicine."

"In translation…" Junji put his hand on Mayuri's shoulders and said into her: "…they are researching zombies here."

"Get away from me!" Mayuri pushed the boy away, and he just gave her a mocking smile.

"As you say, I was getting bored of this man's lectures anyway." Junji shrugged and turned around. "I will be waiting for you outside. Have fun looking at the zombies!"

"You should really find a more decent bodyguard, Mayuri-dono." Tairu suggested and continued walking through the upper hallway. Mayuri agreed that she would be better of finding someone else than that creep. "Well, not that I fully disagree with what he said: our early experiments did result in zombies."

"Wait, you-"

He cut in before she could finish her sentence. "Early experiments were done on artificial spirits that had little to no sentience so no. Human lives were not abused in these experiments and neither am I a person who would allow such things to happen in facilities I oversee."

"Aha… but doesn't someone need to be a noble to become a Goryo?"

"No, it is not necessary for someone to be a noble to become a Goryo." Tairu continued explaining. "Or more exactly, the Goryo is nothing different than any other undead returned to life in order to extract vengeance."

"But aren't youkai Fears based on the myths? After all, it is the myths that give birth to them."

"I am glad to see that you understand the nature of youkai so well." Tairu seemed quite impressed, but Mayuri wondered how he would feel if he found out that she was taught that by an eccentric schoolgirl. "Well, the actual myth is that vengeful people return to life. What actually sets one vengeful undead apart from another is how feared they were during the life. Do you understand the concept of Fear, Mayuri-dono?" He stopped walking when they reached some white doors and then turned towards her.

"The more feared a youkai is, the stronger he is…" She remembered what Ritsura and Araya mentioned a few times and then she realized what he meant. "Ah! A Goryo inherits the Fear from his human self!"

"Exactly! A Goryo inherits his human self's Fear but, now being a youkai, he can now make full use of it and his hatred makes the Fear all the stronger. So the nobles turned Goryos are stronger than some peasant turned Goryo." After saying that, Tairu turned around and put his hand on the doors. "Now, if you would follow me."

Not sure what to expect, Mayuri gulped and followed after him.

But unlike the weapon museum below, this place did not have a gloomy aura. No, it was the exact opposite… it was a place of life, not death.

To be exact, it was a hospital room, filled with children's laughter. Around eight children bellow the age of twelve were playing around with various toys and with one another. It was a large room, almost as large as a school's cafeteria. But it had enough goodness for children to have fun in.

"Uncle Tairu!" One of the boys ran to them with a paper in his hands. "Look, I drew you!"

"Haha, is that so? Let me see it." The old man smiled and lowered himself down to see a childish scribble. "Oh my, you sure made me look more handsome than in real life."

The boy seemed happy by his reply. And then he turned to Mayuri and showed her what he drew. "You are a real talent." Mayuri replied like any proper adult would.

"HAHA!" The child was happy and then he ran back to others to tell them how he was praised.

"Are they…" Mayuri started speaking in a low tone so the children would not hear her. "…Goryos?"

"No, they are not… but they are related to the research." Tairu answered while looking at the kids with a comforting smile on his face. "You know,  _Fear_  is a misleading word. It makes you think of something evil and dark, but it also includes the positive emotions like respect and love. The same way, legends also misguidedly focus on darker versions."

"Aha… I think I heard about it." It was another lesson from her club that proved to be useful.

"An old philanthropist, wealthy woman, who was loved by many, demanded that we use her soul in these experiments so that even after her death, she could continue to save those in need." Tairu's words shone with admiration. "A Goryo can manifest as either a physical entity or as a spiritual. We took care that her soul turned into a spiritual Goryo and by extracting her bone marrow and implanting it into human children, we were able to heal them of various afflictions… and if the body was well conserved, even return them to life."

"And these children are the ones she had saved?"

"There are many more, and most of them have left the facility and returned to normal life. However, it only works on children as that woman's love for youth was stronger than for adults."

"I see…" Mayru was relieved to see that her family was responsible for some good as well. "And who exactly was this woman?"

"The woman who sacrificed her afterlife for others was Mayuri-dono's own grandmother."

* * *

"So they say that the Kyushu bastards came this deep into Saitama?" Houkou commented as the ship he was in floated above the town in the mentioned prefecture.

"Yes, they indeed did." A crow-like youkai confirmed. "It seems that the main force hid in the town below, causing havoc and attacking the youkai under our protection. Another raiding group will soon arrive to reinforce them."

"Hmh, so they are smart enough to know that we would answer in full force. Well, they were a bit too late. Let us first deal with reinforcements." Houkou said and then jumped down from the Takarabune, with some youkai following after him.

The Kyushu reinforcements made a huge mistake: they were moving through an area with many trees around. And Houkous, or Penghous how they were known in their native China, are spirits of the trees. If the trees can see the Kyushu youkai, than the head of the Houkou Clan will be able to find out where they are and how many of them there are.

So Houkou took a deep breath and concentrated, and soon after found out all he needed to know. "The reinforcements are split into three groups. You four go south and hit the youkai you see. You there go northeast and kill the youkai in the closed supermarket. I will take care of the main force. "

"Alone, Houkou-sama?"

"Yes, alone. But one of you follow me and hide. If you see that things go bad for me, surprise them."

Confirming that they all understood their orders, Houkou lowered himself on all fours and ran at his prey. From the group of six youkai, he managed to take down two, before they even noticed him, by grabbing their necks and crushing them. As per orders, and a yakuza's commonsense, he killed on sight.

He then took out his katana and slashed a rat-like youkai who turned to attack him.  _Half of them are down. Hopefully, the others are not having hard time either._

The remaining three youkai jumped away, and released their Fear. But they obviously were not aware that they were facing a Houkou otherwise they would have stayed away from the trees.

Houkou howled, which took the enemies by surprise, resulting in them preparing for something to happen. But when they saw nothing was happening, they started preparing for an attack again.

Until the tree branches grabbed two of them and started strangling them. The third managed to avoid the branches, but made the mistake of starring at his companions which Houkou used. Before the enemy could even decide on his course of actions, Houkou had stabbed his heart. The moment after, Houkou heard the necks of the other two getting broken.

"So that's the Houkou's Fear…" The one-eyed youkai who followed after him commented. "No wonder you and your predecessors got to be executives."

_Yet it was not enough to keep father alive._

"I did not pay attention to it before, but where are all the humans?" It was still daytime, so it was surprising to see the street empty. It was convenient, but very much unusual.

"Maybe the Kyushu used something to keep them away?" The tengu appeared. "In any case, the group that went south dealt with the enemy and is now heading to you." And then more flying youkai appeared. "We will get rid of the corpses before the humans appear."

"Good, do that." Houkou nodded and then put his hands together, as if in prayer. " _O spirits of the trees, please aid me in this battle against the most wicked enemy._ " Due to the other two groups of Kyushu youkai hiding in more urbanized parts of the town, Houkou could use his Fear in the same way. However, his Fear was more versatile than that and once his prayer was done, black dog spirits appeared from the trees and awaited his command.

When he saw his comrades, who left to deal with the southern group, arrive he turned around and started running towards the third and last group of reinforcements.

It took less time to reach the supermarket than enter it however. "Something… is amiss, Houkou-dono." One of his comrades said as they all gazed at the supermarket that was closed for renovation.

"There is indeed something wrong in here…" Houkou was no cowards, but the malicious Fear from the inside was way too strong for a small group of Kyushu youkai that were supposed to enter it. As a matter of fact, it was this Fear that seemingly made the humans instinctively avoid the whole area. "Let's go, prepare yourself for a serious fight."

Houkou kicked the door open and was the first to walk in. The malicious stench was stronger than ever.

"WAAAAAAAHHHHKKK!" And they were immediately welcomed by a maniacal scream. Houkou and the rest prepared to strike at the silhouette that was running towards them but…

"STOP!" Houkou ordered the rest to hold back as he recognized the youkai running at them as a member of his clan and one of the youkai who went after the reinforcements hiding in this place.

Noticing that his comrade was not attacking but was trying to run away, Houkou walked forward and grabbed him. "What is going on?"

"Let me goooo!" He screamed, trying to force himself out of Houkou's grasp. "GO GO GO, LET ME GO!"

"What is going-OUCH!" Houkou got bitten into his shoulder, but did not let himself ease his grasp. "What had gotten into you?"

"I WILL KILL YOU! LET ME GOOOOO!" When Houkou saw the bloodlust in his eye, he got shocked for a moment. But that shock was enough for his old comrade to push himself away from Houkou and continue running toward the exit. "DIEEEE!" Thinking that they would be in his way, his comrade prepared to attack. And they, most of whom were part of the Houkou Group, prepared to fight.

But Houkou did not want to have them carry such burden so he ran at his old comrade and gave him a quick death.

"Houkou-sama…" The rest were shocked, but he could see in their eyes that they were not shocked due to what Houkou did but due to what happened to their comrade. Indeed, it was clear that he was no longer the person he used to be.

"Everyone who is uncertain of whatever did this, turn around and leave. If you are horrified already, you are more likely to die or get in the way." And after saying that, Houkou continued on. The number of footsteps behind him suggested that a few decided to stay behind.  _I can't blame them, even I am getting anxious._

Indeed, it was clear that this was not the work of a Kyushu youkai. It smelled just like the…

"Is that… someone hanging in there?" One of the youkai noticed something in one of the shops whose doors were open.

Houkou looked inside and saw that some female youkai was hanged, and her body was bleeding from various scratches. "Not one of ours." Houkou confirmed. "It is probably someone from Kyushu. Judging by blood under her nails, she scratched herself… and judging by the scene, she hanged herself."

"So it was suicide?"

"Yes, something probably drove her insane like our dear friend there." Houkou's eyes narrowed. "Let's continue on, and keep your will as strong as you can." No longer feeling like being in front of everyone, Houkou asked the spirits to walk in front of him.

"This whole place… it has turned into a  _Haunted House_." The one-eyed youkai commented as they passed more corpses. They saw two youkai who killed one another, but the their fight was obviously more brutal than it should have been. Then they saw someone who seemed to have cut his throat, but seemingly not before he killed and mutilated some of the corpses on the ground. If one had to describe it, he had tried to make flower of their innards.

And soon, they stumbled upon the corpses of their comrades. There were four of them, not counting the one Houko had killed. There was another corpse, belonging to a Kyushu youkai who had his eyeballs pulled out.

"Houkou… dono…" One of the corpses spoke and Houkou immediately ran up to him. But the multiple stab wounds on his chest made it clear that there was no way to save him. "We… have failed…"

"What happened here? Who did this?"

"It is… a nightmare…" The youkai's eyes shivered. "He turns… everyone insane… we were sparred because another group of the Kyushu youkai appeared and he went after them, but we all were killed by one of the Kyushu youkai whose mind ad been twisted by it… but I managed to finish him."

"You did well, my honorable friend." In the moment of his comrade's death, this was what Houkou had to say.

"Please leave… this enemy… seems to be interested in killing… the Kyushu, not us… but if you do follow, he will… agh…" And thus, he had passed away.

Houkou closed his eyelids and put his body down. "Thank you for the warning but…" Houkou raised himself up, with resolve shining in his eyes. "But we have to find out who did this!"

"Houkou-dono! There are sounds of a fight coming from that direction."

"Then that is where we are going!" Feeling his aggression, the spirit dogs ran in the direction he took. It was only a moment later that he saw a number of corpses and two youkai battling one another.

One of them was dressed as an officer of the Kyushu Clan, looking like a soldier from the Taisho Era. He looked like a Bakeneko and fought by using his claws.

His enemy… was something that resembled nothing specific. He had a large, slender body. His hands and legs were all large, and so thin that they literally looked like bones with a bit of gray skin over them. He too had claws, but much larger ones.

And his face looked like a mask made of porcelain, with a monstrous grin on it. He also wore a torn up clown's hat and his nose was red as blood.

Just by looking at it, Houkou knew what it was: it was the youkai that Sanmoto Shiori created with intention of killing Onieda Masato.

By the time Houkou came up with the idea to help the Kyushu Officer, the battle had been decided: Shiori's lackey grabbed the Kyushu Youkai and tore it into two halves. And then he just threw both parts of its body away, just like it was trash.

And then the youkai turned his attention at Houkou and his group, gazing at them with his eyes black as void. Houkou and the rest prepared to fight, and then Houkou realized that they were not alone: a dozen Urban Legends appeared from all around them, each one looking like he came straight from a horror story.

"So,  _the Nura_  Clan's  _lackeys have_  arrived." The enemy turned at them. "Do you  _want to fight_  me?"

"Who… what are you?"

" _Kyoki Dokeshi_  (Crazy Clown) is my name." The youkai made a mocking bow. "I am nothing  _but mere servant_  of the  _Mother_ , sent to hunt down the  _Kyushu intruders_."

"And why would you guys be interested in that?"

"Do you  _know what_  justification the Kyushu  _are using for this attack_ , puppy?" Dokeshi crossed his arms. "Mother had  _sent someone to_  assassinate Umeji, one  _of Mizuchi's countless_  sons, and had him leave a signature. But the Kyushu youkai told  _everyone that the Nuras, not_  mother, did  _the deed. In_  other  _words… they denied us_  our glory, alongside entering the territory where we live."

"And you killed our comrades while you were at it."

"Of  _course, why_  would we not?  _We are enem_ ies after all." Dokeshi spread his arms. "But  _fortunately for_  the rest, the  _prominent Houkou_  is here. Having  _someone important as_  you die now  _might spoil the_ Grand Festival." And after saying that, he and the other Urban Legends started walking away. "Well,  _not that_  I would  _mind if you gave me a reason_  to fig _ht_ he he…"

A minute after the enemy had left, someone said: "Are you sure that we should have let them go."

"Yes… as much as I want to fight the wretched Hyaku Monogatari, the rest of the clan needs to know about him." Houkou clenched his teeth as he thought about it. He really wanted to just kill one of those bastards.

He just turned around to leave when his cellphone rang. "Yes, what is it?"

"Houkou-san…" The tengu was the one who called him. "I went to scout into the town for the enemy and…"

"What happened?"

"The Urban Legends killed everyone… in a very brutal fashion."

"I see… so he was not the only one they sent to hunt. Call Tsurara-san and inform her that Shiori's lackeys have joined the  _game_."

* * *

"Minors should not be smoking, Junji-san." Mayuri greeted her bodyguard when she left the building.

"I can't talk, I can't annoy you out and now I can't even smoke." Junji took another puff and then threw the cigarette into a nearby trash bin. "Well, are you satisfied with seeing zombies?"

"They are not zombies, Junji-san."

"They are returned from life, aren't they?" Junji gave her a mocking grin. "So, how do you feel about it?"

"Well, I am happy to see that-"

"Oh, so you don't know." Junji cut her off and then started moving. "In that case, come with me hime-sama. There is another place which I have to show you."

Mayuri sighed and went after him. She did not expect to see anything nice, but she had resolved herself onto seeing as much of the organization as she could.

"Do not worry. It is not far away from here so we won't have too much to walk." Junji started talking. "By the way, do you know that your father spent more resources on these zombies than on any other projects?"

"He did? That's nice…"

"Oh, it is not for the poor patients who had to be saved, don't misunderstand. He was interested in saving one, only person you see."

"Who is that person?" Mayuri asked, but Junji did not say anything. "Hey, I asked-" She wanted to ask again, but then something got stuck in her throat.

No, nothing was actually stuck in her throat. The road ahead… she felt some kind of Deja-Vu from it, and it made her terrified.  _Why… I was never here… I was never in this town before…_  Yes, she was certain that she was here once.

_I have to go… I have to run away…_  She started moving backwards, but then Junji grabbed her. "Let me go…" She demanded, but he just smiled and started pulling her. "Please, let me go!" He did not comply however. "I said, let me go!" again, he did not comply.

_No… I must not…_

And then they reached a crossing and her eyes moved right.

_She did not know what happened, but suddenly there was a loud noise and the car turned upside-down while she was still inside._

Mayur's body started shivering. Junji finally let go of her arm, but it was too late now.

_She cried for help, but the driver did not move. Some red liquid was coming from his body and his head and arms were twisted around._

Mayuri fell onto her knees.

_And then the fire… it burned into her skin and bones, and no matter how much she screamed nothing happened._

And Mayuri started crying. She would have screamed, but shefelt like something got stuck in her throat again.

_Someone finally saved her. It was her father… but he looked much younger… he screamed her name and begged her to live. But even to a young girl like her, it was already obvious that she would die._

Indeed, this was the place where Onieda Mayuri had died many, many years ago.

"Mahiro-sama." Junji greeted the man who appeared behind Mayuri. Junji still had that mocking smile on his face.

"How does it feel to learn you are dead, little sister?" Onieda Mahiro knelled beside her, looking at her with those sadistic eyes of his. "Oh my, where are my manners… I should be saying Onee-chan, should I not?"

And then he pushed something on his phone and Mayuri started losing consciousness. This was the second time that it happened in this week, and now she knew… this was not a narcoleptic attack, but her body remembering that she was dead.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- And we finally return to Mayuri-chan who has been absent for the entire arc. BTW, is it just me or did the final chapter of every arc end up becoming a Shin Sekai focused chapter?

\- We also got some Tsurara in  _Yakuza Lady Mode_! And she grew more irritated with each passing sentence… or at least I hope that I presented that one well. Her worry for her children made her quite a bit angry I guess :P

\- We had Orochimaru, so none should have been surprised to see that someone called Jiraiya serves the Kyushu Clan as well. And yes, he is the son of the Kyushu youkai who was introduced a few chapters ago

\- Don't try to understand Masato's condition at the start of his scene

\- And we meet another member of the  _Pillars_ : Makiri Shizuka (for those who don't remember, which is probably most of you, the other introduced pillars are LeX (6th), Akira (4th) and Akihito (1st))

\- Yes, the Goryo are a part of Japanese mythology and I kinda added NuraMago lore and mechanics onto it

\- And finally we see that not the entire Shin Sekai is made of evil scientists, but that there are also good men and women there

\- Yes, Houkou's Fear was inspired by the actual mythology (the black hounds he summoned are actual descriptions of these youkai)

\- And we actually meet the youkai whom Shiori created all the way in the second arc… and I hope Houkou did not disappoint

\- Mayuri being dead was actually foreshadowed long time ago, but I can't blame you if you don't remember: in ch4, Mahiro did the same thing to her that he did at the end of this chapter (in order to scare Mamoru) and in ch4 Mamoru described her state as that of a corpse

In any case, next chapter we officially start the new arc where our heroes will counter attack the invaders! Look forward to it!


	51. (War for Nejireme) - The Defenders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Ritsura's and Gyuki's group were forced to retreat by their three enemies. Fortunately, both groups managed to reach the Kiyotsugu Resort and preparation for a counter-attack have begun…

 

**-Arc VII: War for Mount Nejireme-**

**Chapter 51 – The Defenders**

_The battle had gone for an hour._

_Ritsura swung her sword and Orochimaru swung his. They danced around, trying to slash one another. But it was not an exciting battle, for they both just repeated their actions over and over again._

_Normally, the one who repeated his moves was making a fatal mistake as it gave his opponent a way to efficiently counter-attack. And normally, Ritsura would have slain him._

_But somehow, Ritsura was unable to change her actions. It all felt like a prison where she could do only two things: continue fighting like this or give up and die. The second one was, obviously, unacceptable._

_A monotone hour had passed._

_And yes, she did indeed get tired. But the physical actions were not as exhausting as the monotone repetition. For hours she did not have to force her body to keep on fighting, but her mind had to be kept healthy._

_She had to keep remembering her father, her mother, her clan, her friends… she had to keep her memoires stream through her head without a stop, least the battle killed them._

_Another hour had passed, and the fight still went on._

_Now even her body was getting tired, and that made her mental state even more unstable. She had to keep her body moving, as she had to keep her mind active._

_But whenever she felt like her body had reached a limit, some cherry petals would suddenly fly past her and she would feel a bit better, as if those petals had healed her._

_Another hour passed, and she had gotten tired. Her body still moved at the same speed and efficiency as it did since the eternal battle had started, but in her mind she saw herself become slower and clumsier, while the poison in front of her kept on trying to kill her._

_Yet, she kept on fighting. She could not allow it to kill her just yet._

_Another hour… and feathers of various colors had started falling around them, evading Ritsura but trying to fall on Orochimaru. The venomous youkai tried to evade them as he danced around, but some of the feathers managed to fall onto him._

_As for Ritsura, the feathers tried to avoid her but some of them failed. To Ritsura it felt like they were hot as magma. But she knew that there was no choice: if the feathers wanted to fall onto the poison, some were bound to fall onto her. It was a risk she understood had to be taken._

_Another hour had passed, and Ritsura's enemy had gotten slower and clumsier. Any moment now, she would be able to kill him._

_And then she had slain him.  
_

* * *

"Ah…" Ritsura woke up, but opening her eyelids was an action that required an unusually high amount of effort. She also wanted to move her body up, but right now it felt impossible.

"Do not force yourself," A voice said when her eyes opened and a she saw a ceiling. "The enemy's poison should have been cleaned, but some of my poison is still swimming through your veins."

"Zen…?" Ritsura moved her head to her right, an action that was also unusually hard. The old man Zen was there, sitting beside her and looking at her with his nostalgically strict expression.

"You are lucky, Ritsura," Zen told her. "Had that Keikain boy not protected you and moved as fast as he did, you might have been dead by now." His mouth opened as if he wanted to say more, but then they closed and his eyes narrowed, as if he were regretting something.

"What happened, Zen?"

"You were poisoned by an enemy youkai and-" He started, but she remembered Orochimaru and her battle with clearly.

"No, I mean what happened while I was unconscious." She closed her eyes and had forced her body into a sitting position.

"Hey, your body is still not healthy! Do not overexert yourself!"

The moment Ritsura raised herself up, she noticed that she was in one of the VIP rooms in the resort and that Zen's tools were everywhere. Her ears could also hear what was happening in a nearby room, and the sounds reminded her of nurses and patients bickering in a hospital.

"What the hell happened?" Ritsura asked. "Did Gyuki lose?"

Zen sighed and then said: "That's putting it mildly. That bastard Sanmoto had revived Gyuki's own mother and turned her against him."

"Huh?"

"And if that wasn't enough, a third of the Gyuki Group had risen in rebellion, and joined up with the zombies."

"That's…"  _'That's impossible!'_  was what Ritsura wanted to say, but then the image of Tesshin came to her mind. "Tesshin…"

"Huh, so you already know?"

"I was poisoned before I even met Orochimaru." Ritsura remembered how her body started acting strangely during their fight. "Tesshin was the only one who could have poisoned me."

"Ah yes… that Keikain boy came to the same conclusion," Zen said and started coughing. "But yes, Tesshin and Gen'ei are the leaders of the rebellion. And to make it worse, a few members of the group that were exiled when the current Gyuki took over came to join up with them."

"As if Sanmoto and the Kyushu were not enough…"  _So Ryuzan came to the same conclusion, huh?_ She then remembered waking up and at one point and noticing that Ryuzan was fighting while holding her. She lost her consciousness again once she struck their enemy, but the rest was cloudy. "Wait, how is Ryuzan?"

"You mean that Keikain boy?" Zen shrugged with his shoulders. "He was exhausted but had not suffered any serious wounds. He himself actually woke up ten minutes ago."

"Ah, that's good to hear." Ritsura sighed in relief.

"I understand that he is your friend, but should you not be worried about Gyuki as well?"

"Huh? Did something happen to him?" She looked around again but did not see him.  _Ah, I'm stupid! If he was wounded, he would be in his own room and under protection. Hell, if his mother is fighting him then…_

"No, he is not. Tesshin almost killed him from what I hear." Zen's eyes narrowed. "His wounds are still major, but I am more worried about his mind. Mezumaru and the others said that he was unable to move properly when he saw… things happening to his mother."

"Was it that bad? Actually, what is the deal with his mother? Is she real or just a-"

"Don't ask me about what happened out there nor ask me about this youkai who resembled his mother as I know nothing about it. I don't know much about Gyuki's past either but it seems his mother was extremely important to him." Zen turned his eyes to another direction. "Even I am surprised to hear that the mind of the usually calm and rational Gyuki broke, but that's how it is." And then Zen started raising himself up. "In any case, I have to check up how he is doing so give your other questions to others."

"Zen…" Only now she noticed that something was off about him. "You can walk again?" When she said that, he froze. His movements were clumsy, but he still walked even though his body was supposed to have weakened to an extent that he could not even move from his bed.

Zen did not immediately answer, but Ritsura saw his fingers dig into his palm. Even though he was looking healthier, it did not seem to be a thing he was happy about.

But he never gave her an answer. He just walked out of the room without a word.

_Zen… the best healers could not help you yet… what happened?_

While thinking about it, Ritsura turned her head towards the window and noticed that the sun had started to set.  _Most of the day had already passed huh?_   _Gah, I can't waste any more time by laying here and doing nothing!_

Ritsura raised herself up and after stretching her arms and legs a bit, left the room. The pain was already gone and at the point that she would call it tickling. It did not surprise her though: from what she understood, her great-grandmother's blood somehow made her wounds, and even broken bones, heal quicker. Still, she felt a bit nauseous but even that feeling was rapidly disappearing.

She forgot to ask Zen where Kubinashi, Kejorou and the rest were, but she did not need to search for long: after she took only a few steps, she heard Kubinashi yell at someone.

"No, I am not saying that  _we_  should go look for her!" The voice of the neck-less youkai spoke. "I am saying that  _I_  should go look for her!"

"Don't be stupid Kubinashi!" Aotabou's voice replied to him. "Where would you even look? We have no idea where she could be or even if she is-" Aotabou suddenly stopped talking.

"Why did you stop?" There was malice in Kubinashi's voice. "Say it: we don't know if she is alive or dead."

Ritsura stopped moving for a moment.  _Who is missing… Kejorou, she is usually the one to argue with him or the one to calm him down… that she is not saying anything means…_

"But you know what else we don't know? We don't know if she is being killed at this very moment!" Kubinashi spoke in a tone Ritsura was not used to hearing. "If I go and squeeze the information out of one of those Kyushu bastards, I will-"

Ritsura finally entered the room where they were arguing. "You will find out that they are not the ones to betray their comrades even under torture, Kubinashi. The Kyushu youkai are dishonorable in many areas, but not in terms of loyalty."

"Ojou-sama! You are fine!" Everyone turned towards her.

"Naturally." That everyone consisted of: Kubinashi, Aotabou, Sasami and Tosakamaru. "Kejorou is not here I see."

"Kejorou is MIA…" Kubinashi informed her. The rage from his voice and his face had disappeared when he saw Ritsura. "But… she is not the one you should be worrying just yet, Ojou-sama." His eyes trembled as he said that.

"What do you mean?"

"Rihan-sama is also missing… as is the  _Smartass Girl_."

"Rihan and Araya are missing?"

"Yes, none of us had seen them this entire day," Sasami continued explaining, freeing Kubinashi of the chore, "But unlike Kejorou, we know at least something."

"You know something? But none of you saw them for the entire day…"

"Well, Rihan-sama did leave a note behind, saying that there was something he had to deal with." Sasami continued explaining. "He did not say anything else, other than that we should not worry about him."

"Also, someone did see him," Tosakamaru added in. "Not one of us, but an Onmyouji."

"Ryuzan?"

"No, another one came to Nejireme. He said he was called Kashaimaru."

"Ah yes, he did save me and Ryuzan." If she were not worried for Kejorou, she would have been delighted about this. "What did he say?"

"He said that, while he was travelling to Nejireme, he met with Rihan-sama." Tosakamaru continued. "However, he says that he was in a hurry to see what on Nejireme made the sky turn crimson so he did not stay and chat with Rihan-sama."

"In other words, for some reason Waka left Nejireme even though Sanmoto started his Tale," Aotabou commented. "He also said that he saw a red-haired girl and that she was fine at the time."

"I see…" Ritsura let out a sigh of relief. "So both of them seem to be fine, for now at least."

"Ojou? Should we not go after Rihan-sama and-"

"No, my brother would not leave unless he thought that it was necessary. I will trust his judgment in this matter."  _If I complained, I would be just like father… little brother, return safely… Araya too, you will have a lot of explaining to do._  "In any case, can you guys give me a detailed report on what the hell happened around here?"

* * *

_So basically: Gyuki's mother, and people whom Gyuki killed, turned into youkai and were sent to Nejireme where they are to kill Gyuki. As a result, Gyuki suffered an emotional breakdown. What is more, Sanmoto had done something to human settlements around Nejireme._

_Also, Tesshin and Gen'ei rebelled and almost a third of the Gyuki Group supports them, with many who served the former Gyuki returning to Nejireme to support their uprising. They managed to wound Gyuki and almost killed him and the rest of the loyalists, but the Koshin arrived which allowed Gozumaru to lead the retreat. What happened to Koshin is unknown, but, from what we have heard from gramps, his four servants are doing their best to protect the humans in Nejireme's vicinity. So that makes two debts that we owe him._

_And then there are the assassins from Kyushu who attacked me and seem to also be in the league with the zombies. Fortunately, Kashaimaru and gramps arrived so most of us fared well, although Kejorou remains missing._

_And then there are my little brother and Araya, doing gods know what, and we are uncertain about their whereabouts and plans. But whatever it is, Rihan thought that it held priority over coming to our aid… did he maybe find out where the golden shrine is? It would fit his character to go deal with whoever threatens the humans than to help our clan._

"Alright, so I understand that most of us retreated to safety," Ritsura spoke out as she was leaning against a wall. "Have any plans been made on what we are going to do next?"

"The  _First_  said that we would hold a meeting later on today, but has not ordered one to start yet," Sasami answered this one. "Other than that, Kubinashi wants to go after Kejorou."

"I see…"

"Ojou, sorry for forcing this question but…" After being silent for so long, Kubinashi spoke. "…what are we going to do about Kejorou?" He inquired, his fingers stabbing into his crossed arms.

"We will find her and rescue her, of course. But first, we have to decide on other matters." Ritsura pushed herself away from the wall and went to give her first order. "Tell everyone that we will hold a meeting in an hour. Also tell them to prepare for a sortie as we have been resting for long enough."

Light returned to Kubinashi's eyes. "Yes!"

"I will go and speak with the others. See you guys later. "

* * *

_You have to be kidding me. ANOTHER argument?_

Although it was not loud, Ritsura's ears could recognize the hostility coming from afar as the Onmyouji, Ryuzan and Kashaimaru, argued about something. However, Ritsura was unable to hear the exact words. Since Ritsura did not want to eavesdrop, she just opened the door and entered the room where she found the two Onmyouji as well as Kibiki Sakura who just sat in the corner, petting a fox that sat in her lap.

"Ara ara ara!" Ritsura started before the boys, who stood a meter apart from one another, even got a chance to turn towards her. "Two handsome boys, looking like they came out of a Shoujo Manga, are standing in such a small place and their hearts are filled with passion." She hung her head to the left. "Is it my Birthday?"

"Ritsura!" Kashaimaru did not waste time in joining her pace. "I didn't see you since you were an unimpressive loli! And now look at you, I would not even feel ashamed to make you my darling wife!" He said words that made Sakura blush and then he went to give Ritsura a hug.

"And you have not aged at all, you shameless lolicon." She gave him a small punch into the guts, not much to hurt but enough to stop him from outright hugging her. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"You know me, just traveling around on my bike and with Firefox, looking for damsels to save and Ryuzans to lecture and annoy. Speaking of damsels to save, I am still waiting for a reward."

"And just what would you want?" Ritsura asked as she put her hands on her hips. "You want a kiss to the cheek maybe?"

"Today's ladies sure are stingy. But alright, I will be satisfied with a kiss on the cheek."

"Okay." Ritsura kissed her fingers and gave him a small slap on the check as she passed past him. Ryuzan was obviously annoyed by the gesture.

"Well that was extra stingy, you ex-loli." Kashaimaru remained playful as usual.

"Tough luck, old geezer." Ritsura waved with her hand. Then she grabbed Ryuzan, pulled him down and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "And thank you for keeping me safe."

"Hey, that's not fair. He actually got a proper kiss on the cheek." Kashaimaru grinned while Ryuzan slightly blushed.

"Well, I don't complain." Ryuzan smirked.

"Why you…"

"At least I know his age and have no risks of kissing an ancient geezer." Ritsura grinned at Kashaimaru. She knew he was not  _that_  old, but it was still a fun joke.

"You will live for centuries. Whom will you be open to kissing two centuries later, hm?" Kashaimaru demanded to know.

"I might be more open, but seducing poor young boys might be more fun fufufu."

"You definitely are a Yuki Onna," Ryuzan commented with a smile.

Kashaimaru did not give up. "What matters is that grandma Ritsura will be open to idea of dating Grandpa Kashaimaru one day. So even if I lose the war for her heart, I will be able to get her whenever her hubbie passes away."

"Who knows, maybe I will decide that I can't ever love again and will reject any idea of getting new husbands," Ritsura shrugged.

"Ha, I can already see the scene in my head:  _Sorry my handsome Kashaimaru-sama, but I will become a nun starting today for my love for Hubbie-san is eternal._ " Kashaimaru started but Ryuzan finished: "A year later she calls Kashaimaru and says  _Hey, about that offer you made a year ago…_ "

"Wait, are you both turning against me now?" Ritsura feigned disappointment. "That's not a way to get on a lady's good side you know."

"You guys sure do get along, don't you?" Sakura commented and walked to them with Firefox in her arms.

"Ah yes, there is the cute and loli-like Sakura-chan!" Kashaimaru spoke and started walking towards her. Seemingly, even he had accepted the lolicon joke for himself. "Why wait for Ritsura to get free when I can-" He went to put an arm around her, but she immediately hit it from below. He tried again, but she did the same. "Come on now, don't be so- OUCH!" And then she poked him into the forehead.

"Please do not come to me with such impure thoughts, Kashaimaru-san," Sakura said and Firefox growled at him.

"You too Firefox? Why did you abandon me?"

"She is cuter than you," Ryuzan shrugged and Ritsura nodded in approval. "Yeah, she is way more adorable than this secret geezer," She added.

"Damn it, that fox must have caught some of my perversion! But he has good taste, I have to give him that."

"Please do not try to make an animal look impure, Kashaimaru-san," Sakura commented and the fox growled in approval.

"That fox has you around its finger… or its paw to be exact," Kashaimaru sighed and then grabbed something that sat on a cupboard. "I almost forgot: Ritsura, catch."

"Ah!" Ritsura caught a sword that he threw to her. "Oh, Nenekirimaru!"

"Yes, you seem to have let it fall while you fought against Orochimaru," Kashaimaru explained. "Took me quite some effort to take it without Orochimaru noticing that you forgot it, otherwise maybe he would have taken it home."

"True, it would be bad for us if this sword ended in enemy's hands," Ritsura took the sword out of its sheath to check it out and then immediately sheathed it again. "I must thank you again, Kashaimaru."

"Oh, another kiss maybe? A real one this time?"

"Ask Ao whom you left behind," Ritsura replied back. "This just makes me not beat you senseless."

"Ah, I wondered when you would come to that," Kashaimaru commented with a tone that showed no signs of regret. "Sorry, but I had no reason to risk my life protecting him."

"His pragmatism did not decrease since the last time I saw him," Ryuzan commented. "I guess we can be thankful that he did not keep the sword for himself."

"The atmosphere is getting heated again…" Sakura complained, and Ritsura had to agree. Yet, she could not cool it down just like that again, especially since she became an assailant.

"Kashaimaru, may I ask a question?" Ritsura had many questions for him, but there was one thing she had to confirm. "I heard that you saw my brother not long ago."

"If he is the guy with the unnatural hairstyle, than yes I did," Kashaimaru confirmed. "We did not exchange any words though, nor did I exchange any words with that red-haired girl your clan was also interested in."

"Araya…" Ritsura muttered. "And did you see the two of them together or separate?"

"They were together." Kashaimaru answered.

"Do you have any idea where they were going?"

"Nope, it is not like I know this area that well. Actually, I just know its main roads." Kashaimaru shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe I should have stopped and asked, but I was kinda in a hurry to see what was going on here."

_That makes sense… yet I still feel as if he is hiding something._  Ritsura threw a glance towards Ryuzan and their eyes met. The boy nodded, which confirmed that he too felt like something was off.  _But there is one thing that might connect Kashaimaru with Araya: their possible acquaintance._

"Another question if I may." Ritsura went to ask something that was bothering her for days. "A few nights ago, my clan fought against a certain person called Shiori. Do you know of her?"

"Well, that's not exactly an unknown name." Once again, he gave her a non-definite answer.

"What is interesting is that she used some very strong Onmyoudo talismans to keep humans away… and she even summoned a Kitsune."

"Oh…" Kashaimaru smirked. "Are you suggesting that I have something to do with this person?"

_Tz, this kind of tone would be a confirmation that he is in cahoots with her if not for the fact that he always speaks like that._  "Oh no, I just suspect that someone from House Gokadoin might have something to do with her."

Ryuzan asked the rest: "Someone who can summon Kitsune type Shikigami and someone who can make a talisman that can keep a large area of humans away. That is quite impressive of a spell to cast for an Onmyouji, let alone for a talisman that is used by someone else. And I do remember you using a similar spell on a smaller area."

"Why do you beat around the bush like that?" Kashaimaru crossed his arms. "You could have just asked if I gave them to her or not, you know. And yes, I did give them to her if that's what you were wondering."

Ritsura's teeth clenched at his outright confession. This was not a revelation she wanted to hear. "Just what is your relationship with her?"

"We are business partners so to say." He spoke as if Shiori was not one of Ritsura's prime enemies. "She aids me, so I aid her, and so on."

"And you sure have a nerve to confess something like that to me."

"Not nerve, just respect," Kashaimaru said with a business smile. "Would it have been better if I deceived you?" And then his eye turned towards Ryuzan, who looked like he was ready to fight. "I'd suggest not attacking me. My Onmyoudo is helping protect this resort from outside, but I can easily turn it against the inhabitants. And I don't think you guys will stand a chance against the zombies, traitors and snakes if you waste your energy on me."

"I'll ask again, Kashaimaru," Ritsura spoke to him again. " _Why_  are you here?"

"As I said, I was passing through…" He gave the same answer again. "Then I felt Sanmoto threaten humans and came to help in thwarting his plans."

"You came to help the humans?" Ryuzan confronted him on that one part. "Or did you come to deal with one of Shiori's enemies?"

"Shiori would have preferred if I found and destroyed his Golden Shrine so he doesn't get any profits from all this. However, for me the safety of humans takes priority over Shiori's profits." After saying that, he turned his back at them. "Anyway, you two have become annoying with your hostility so I will let you to cool your heads a bit and then hopefully we can have more lighthearted conversations again."

"Wait for Firefox!" Sakura immediately put his pet down. The little fox licked her hand before running towards its owner. "This was tragic," Sakura muttered after Kashaimaru left the room.

"There's nothing that can be done about it." Ryuzan replied to her.

"He did not seem to me like a bad person." Sakura added.

"And he isn't," Ritsura said and crossed her arms. "I don't know why he is cooperating with the likes of Shiori, but he does have a good heart." And then Ritsura put her finger on her forehead. "Granted, the talismans he gave to Shiori did save many human lives that might have been lost otherwise."

"And she cared enough to use them," Sakura added.

_True, but unfortunately that doesn't change anything._  However, she did not say that aloud. "By the way Sakura, I heard you saved Aotabou from Orochimaru." Ritsura went to change the topic with a large smile. "I am indebted to you." Aotabou did not say it outright, probably in order to protect her secret, but Ritsura understood that she did more than cause a diversion.

"Ah, it was nothing. No need to thank me," She spoke that, but her blushing and the smile said otherwise. "By the way, I am getting an impression that you know Ya… Orochimaru?"

"Did this particular youkai catch your interest or something?" Ryuzan asked. "You did not inquire about our other enemies."

Sakura seemed to have winked twice when Ryuzan spoke the word  _enemy_. "Well, I think I may know him…"

"Huh? How could you…" Ritsura started but then remembered that Sakura once or twice spoke the name  _Yashagoro_ , which was the original name of the first Orochimaru. "Wait a second, is this the Yashagoro you mentioned once…"

"Yes…" Sakura admitted. "He is a boy I met a few times while walking to or from school and we got acquainted. But I had no idea that he was a… youkai."

"Umm… and when did you first meet this person?" Ritsura asked, afraid of what she might learn.

"I met him a few weeks ago for the first time."

"A FEW WEEKS AGO? Just for how long was he spying on me?" Ritsura put her hand over her face. "I can't believe that nobody noticed him…"

"The Orochi Clan is a clan of highly skilled assassins." Ryuzan spoke. "It is not such a surprise that he could pass without anyone noticing him."

"Yeah! For example, I and my family have kept our secret safe for centuries!" Sakura added and then turned depressed. "But in just a few days, so many people learned about it… ah, I am a disgrace…" Sakura whispered with dead eyes.

_Ugh, I have better things to do then whine about how long he was tailing us._  "Anyway…" She started, but Ryuzan cut in:

"It would be too long to tell you the whole story, so I will summarize it: Orochimaru, or Yashagoro how you call him, is the member of the infamous Orochi Clan from Kyushu. You can think of them as assassins who abuse Onmyoudo for their own ambitions."

"And this one in particular is a member of the Hashima Kyushu Clan and also the heir to that infamous Orochi Clan," Ritsura added, but did not comment on how the Orochi Clan itself rejected to join the Hashima Kyushu Clan. "In short, he is a very dangerous person."

"Actually, I think he is like Kashaimaru." Sakura scratched her head as she said that.

"It does not matter. Anyway, what do you intend to do about it, Sakura?" Ritsura asked her the important question. "You do understand that he is an enemy who tried to kill me and that he holds a subordinate of mine captive… or that he had killed her, right?"

"I do…" Sakura sighed and made an expression that made Ritsura tremble. "And I know there is nothing that I can do other than pray that it doesn't end tragically," Sakura said with such a sad face that it stabbed into Ritsura's heart. "After all, both you and he are precious friends to me." Another stab into Ritsura's heart occurred. "I just hope that if you get a chance to decide, you will not take the extreme choice." Her eyes trembled and each tremble was another stab into Ritsura.

However, Ryuzan was untouched by it. "Look Sakura, she can't-"

"Alright I will give my best Sakura-chan, I promise!" Ritsura, however, was weak against everything that was adorable. And Ryuzan could do nothing but facepalm.

* * *

"It won't work Ritsura," Ryuzan said to Ritsura as the two of them walked through the resort.

"I know."

"He will be more cautious and harder to beat next time."

"I know."

"If we want to defeat that guy, we have to fight him with an intention to murder." Ryuzan continued. "Not kill, but outright murder."

"I know! I promised to spare him if there is a chance, and that is unlikely to happen!"

"You are bluffing~"

"No, I am certain of it myself~"

"You are bluffing to yourself~" Ryuzan just did not want to give in. "You will fight, and then you will decide you should not use some kind of attack. And then the battle will turn to his side and we will return to zero."

"You sure lack faith in me!"

"No, I am worried because I have too  _much_  faith in how nice you are!"

"Well stop having faith in me then!"

"What is going on Aneki?" And then Heiko appeared, "Why are you two arguing?"

"We are arguing because I am an idiot who makes stupid promises!" Ritsura admitted it. "A promise I am definitely going to regret!"

"Eh?" Heiko looked at Ritsura and then turned her eyes towards Ryuzan. "Hmmm…" And she seemed to have suspected that Ryuzan was behind this. "Pervert…"

"I won't deny that I have certain tastes but… I am not the one to whom she made a promise!"

""And what are your tastes, Ryuzan?"" Both girls asked in unison.

"Girls. I won't go into other details."

"Tz." One of them clicked her tongue.

"By the way Heiko, you look kind of tired?" Ryuzan noticed that the Kage Onna could barely stand and keep her eyes open.

"Do you have any idea how many youkai I had to keep away from this resort?" Heiko said and yawned. "I'd love to sleep for a few days straight, but I don't think I have that luxury."

"Just take another rest, Heiko," Ritsura said to her subordinate. "You did great protecting this place, others will-"

"If I can fight, I will!" Heiko raised her fist. "I can't fight in the open, but I will at least keep this place safe so more of you guys can go out and fight, Aneki!"

"I appreciate it, but-"

"I will stay and fight!" Heiko turned her back to Ritsura and started walking away. "Fight Heiko! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Go and get a rest damn it!" Ritsura shouted after her. "The others will wake you up if you are needed!"

However, Heiko did not show any signs that she heard, let alone considered, Ritsura's suggestion.

"Oh Nura-san, you woke up," Voice of Shima Ryu said from behind.

Ritsura turned around and when she saw Shima, she said: "Shima, you look horrible. Do you also need some rest?"  _Heh, he probably can't sleep from all this anxiety._

"I am bored, Nura-san." Shima shook his head and looked at her with dead eyes. "I am horribly, horribly bored."

"Shima, you might get killed today and all you can think of is that you are bored?"

"I trust you guys will keep me safe, there is absolutely no lack of faith from your Shima-sama!" He clapped his hands. "It is just that I have nothing to do here, especially since I am the only normal person left… well, there is Sakura-chan but she always disappears after I find her. She probably isn't normal either." And then he sighed, unaware of just how right he was. "I really should have gone with Mayuri-chan. Imagine if something happened and the two of us ended up in a grand adventure!"

"Well, I can make you into a temporary butler if you want," Ritsura jested. "Someone does need to bring food around and keep the place clean."

"Oh!" But Shima seemed like he actually considered that idea.

"…you don't intend to do it, do you?" Ryuzan took it the wrong way.

"I am bored, I will do anything," Shima revealed that Ryuzan took his reaction the right way. "Besides, as a butler I can use the  _Butler Humor_. This will be a good day!" And then he turned around and started leaving. "Thank you Nura-san, you are a life-saver!"

"…anyway, let us continue." Ritsura sighed and continued walking, with Ryuzan still accompanying her.

"By the way, where are we going?" Ryuzan asked her.

"Here." Ritsura stopped in front of what was a room where the tourists would normally sit down and watch TV or talk with one another. She then entered the room. "Grandpa!"

"Oh, Ritsura!" A short youkai, with a gourd-like head and a pipe in his mouth, smiled when he saw his off-spring. He sat on one of those bubble-like sofas. "I see that you have already gotten better."

"Of course she did." Hitotsume was also there, sitting on another bubble-sofa and also smoking a pipe. "It is not easy to harm Ojou-sama."

"Come here gramps!" Ritsura walked up to the old man and hugged him. She had to resist her urge to start carrying him around. "How come you are here?" She asked once she let him go.

"The same thing that made me decide to marry your great-grandmother: instinct." Nurarihyon said and released a puff of smoke. "So I took the youkai who were with me to Nejireme."

"And good you did," Ryuzan joined the conversation. "If you came a second later, Ritsura and I might have turned into dead meat."

"A hero always comes at the last moment they say. Even I am surprised that it was not intentional," Nurarihyon grinned and then added: "A good man you have found yourself there, not many would have run around without stopping while fighting a youkai archer."

Ritsura could not see Ryuzan's reaction, but she was certain that she at least blushed from embarrassment due to the way he worded it. "I… uh…" Rather than try to come up with a safe way to reply, she decided to ignore the issue by turning towards Hitotsume and asking him: "By the way, they told me that you ran away and would not return."

"Ran away? Who told you that? It must have been someone from the Third's gang!" Hitotsume took an angry puff with his own pipe. "I am pretty sure I left a message that I would go look for reinforcements from nearby clans. And I returned fifteen minutes ago with a few."

_Well, they thought that it was just an excuse to get away… and you did build a certain kind of reputation for yourself._ She did not say that aloud though. "With only a few?"

"Yes, that brings us to another issue." Hitotsume's and Nurarihyon's faces took a darker expression, which told her that he was not bringing good news. "The Kyushu Youkai have used the opportunity while the Gyuki Group is busy and have invaded our western territories."

"Say what?"

Hitotsume continued: "They don't seem to have enough force to invade Tokyo, so they are focused on attacking the subordinate clans. Due to the element of surprise, a few clans have been devastated by the attacks."

"This gets worse by the second…"

"Forces from the Main House have come and are now battling the Kyushu Youkai, but it will take a while for the battles to end." Then he released another puff of smoke. "And then there are Shiori's youkai. They have attacked the Kyushu as well, and they also attack the Nura Clan youkai if they get close to them."

_Shiori again…_  "So while we are both getting exhausted by fighting one another, her youkai are using the opportunity to fight us, huh?"

"It would probably be more exact to say that they are keeping a mutual enemy at bay and defending against us," Nurarihyon mentioned. "Really, we should not be fighting one another if we have mutual enemies. We already have way too many enemies right now."

"Are you kidding me gramps? Do you know what kind of youkai they are?" Ritsura was irked by that suggestion.

"We are youkai, not warriors of justice. I said this to Rikuo a hundred times, and annoyingly it seems you follow your father's path as well. This will bite you both back one of these days," Nurarihyon sighed. "But it is a path you have chosen, so you better not regret it."

"We won't." Ritsura crossed her arms. "Besides, they are active on our territory and that at least makes them a threat no matter what they are."

"That's true!" Hitotsume agreed with her. "This is our territory and that alone makes her more dangerous than the rest."

"The most dangerous one here is Mizuchi. And any help against him would be beneficial," Nurarihyon disagreed with his assessment. "You at least should remember that Mizuchi is not someone to be underestimated."

"You two know this Mizuchi?" Ryuzan asked the question that was also on Ritsura's mind.

"Of course we do." Nurarihyon took another smoke. "After all, he used to be a member of my parade once."

"Huh?" Ritsura did not know this. "He used to be a part of our clan?"

"Well, part of my parade to be exact… and even that is pushing it." Nurarihyon started explaining. "He was the only of my followers whom I never managed to defeat. The battle between the two of us lasted for hours and we settled it on my victory only because I did better for most of it, even though I honestly don't think my victory was guaranteed. After that we made a 50:50 sakazuki pledge and he would from time to time join in me on my endeavors… although for the most part, he would just travel around, as he was never someone to stay in one place."

"Hmph, even though he made such a large exchange of sakazuki with the Supreme Commander, he rarely showed interest in the clan affairs. He could have had gotten a larger turf than anyone to govern, but he rejected it." Hitotsume released a puff as he said that. "We thought he was just not interested in such stuff, but now we know that his ambitions ran further."

"So what happened to have him leave the Nura Clan?" Ryuzan asked.

"He disagreed with my heir," Nurarihyon explained. "The day when I stepped down was the day he declared that he no longer had anything to do with the clan."

Hitotsume clenched his teeth. "Still, his honor binds him to the Supreme Commander! To send assassins at Supreme Commander's great-granddaughter and use such lo methods to fight us is just another dishonor on the pledge he made!"

"So I guess he did not take well to Grandfather's wish to have humans and youkai live alongside one another?" Ritsura made a guess. Quite a number of youkai from the first generation did not have must respect for Nura Rihan's and Nura Rikuo's ideals.

"If you mean that he hated the humans, you are completely wrong." Nurarihyon replied. "It is the opposite: he held humans in very high esteem, possibly higher than even Rihan did."

"Say what again?"

"He did not see humanity as something that needed protection, but rivals," Nurarihyon continued with his lecture on an enemy he perceived as the most dangerous one. "You see, most old youkai see humans as weaklings, but he saw them as superior to youkai. Maybe that's why he joined me: we both liked humans and, when I was young, I fancied the idea of conquering the entire youkai world and becoming so fearsome that both humans and youkai would be in awe before me. He wanted to see me reach that level, but Hagoromo Gitsune caused my rule to end prematurely." Nurarihyon took another smoke. "He had even higher expectations of Rihan, but Rihan preferred the idea of the youkai living in the shadows and protecting the humans, while he preferred the idea of one person ruling over humans and youkai equally, and both species living together without hiding from one another. Rihan did not agree with his ideas."

"Huh? What did grandfather dislike about them? They don't seem so bad to me."

"Think about it, Ojou." Hitotsume was the one to answer this. "There is a reason why all of us youkai, and that includes the arrogant Hagoromo Gitsune, prefer to live in the shadows rather than in open."

"Or how my son would have said it…" Nurarihyon added. "Even though a true coexistence is the ideal, in reality humans and youkai alike have too many bad apples that would ruin it. For example, evil youkai might become bolder while humans might get terrified and start indiscriminately attacking youkai. Living in shadows is a lifestyle we are all accustomed to and all that needs to be done is to keep the life of both sides good. And with time, the world might change and both sides might become more open." Nurarihyon made a pause to take another smoke. "Mizuchi however wanted to force that change, no matter the risks or casualties. And so, they fell apart and he eventually left the clan when Rihan became the Commander. It took him over a hundred years to find a perfect candidate."

"So, it was not himself that he wanted to rule over humans and youkai?"

"Maybe he fancied the idea, but never got the chance to put it into motion." Nurarihyon answered.

"So what youkai did he support?" Ryuzan asked.

"Who said he found a youkai?" Nurarihyon smirked. "He found a perfect human to accomplish that dream of his."

"A human you say?" Ritsura did not expect that one.

"Yes, he found the man who is today known as Emperor Meiji," Nurarihyon revealed. "And as Meiji's servant, he forced numerous youkai to kneel in front of his human master."

"A shame that due to Meiji's death he never got a chance to attack any big names so most of the youkai world has no idea that he tried to force the youkai to serve a human dynasty," Hitotsume added. "If that were the case, nobody would idolize him now and he would not have become a problem."

"And now he wants to make himself into that ruler?" Ritsura asked her ancestor.

"Yes, the Gokadoin Cleansing made the youkai of Kyushu want a more active leader than the  _Big Spider Clan_ , which allowed him to form a clan of powerful youkai. The island of Kyushu is, after all, filled with many ancient clans and powerful youkai." Nurarihyon said to his offspring. "On the other hand, the  _Tokyo Tag_  had made more humans believe in existence of youkai, which also worked in his favor. Thanks to him, the humans of Kyushu never returned to believing that youkai are just a myth and now it is public knowledge that youkai exist. As a matter of fact, I had to hide from every policeman while I was in Kyushu because they all work for the Hashima Kyushu Clan."

"The Police… works for him?" Ritsura found that idea to be ridiculous.

"The Police, the local government, various human organizations he himself formed… you say it. They all secretly answer to him now." Nurarihyon span his pipe around his fingers. "On the outside, nothing looks as if it had changed. Humans lead normal lives like anywhere else… but if you look deep enough, you will quickly find out that Kyushu is now unlike any other part of Japan." And then Nurarihyon looked Ritsura in the eyes. "This person is capable of making such a change and you have heard how far he is ready to go to see it happen. Remember this, as this whole scandal we have here is also caused by him."

"It is caused by him?" Ritsura was surprised once again. "What do you mean?"

"Were you not told already? Well, I guess they forgot to mention it…" Nurarihyon took another smoke and then continued speaking. "We now know that Tesshin is the one who made it possible for Sanmoto Gorozaemon to revive Gyuki's mother and all of his victims by giving him the necessary information, and possibly a shelter as well. And then, when he stabbed Gyuki, he said that Mizuchi sends his regards."

"In other words…" Ryuzan was quicker to connect the dots than Ritsura. "You are suggesting that Mizuchi is the one who convinced Tesshin to rebel against Gyuki and make it possible for Sanmoto Gorozaemon to do his dirty work?"

"And he had his youkai ready to invade western Kantou just when the battle started…" Ritsura clenched her teeth. "So this all is just part of our feud with the Kyushu Clan, huh?"

"And it is possible that he has even more cards to play." Ryuzan suggested. "We need to put an end to this as soon as possible."

Ritsura nodded. "I agree. Gramps, I have called for a meeting." Ritsura addressed her predecessor again. "Will you lead it or…"

"You want to force a retired man to work?" Nurarihyon weaved his hand and then smiled. "This is your job, is it not?"

Ritsura returned the smile. "Yes, I guess it is." Ritsura then turned around and started leaving. "See you later gramps."

* * *

"How do you feel about it?" Ryuzan asked Ritsura soon after the two of them left the lounge.

"How do I feel about what exactly?"

"The Kyushu are not like Sanmoto's bunch. They seem to have more respectable goals than terrorizing or whatnot… actually, in the core they aren't that much different from you guys."

"You think that this, alongside the promise I made to Sakura, will dull my blade?" Ritsura asked to which Ryuzan nodded. "Honestly, I don't care about their motivations, goals, dreams or whatever, not after what they have done to my clan. They can be the last hope for mankind, and I would still freeze them all to death for it. As long as they are our enemies, all that I know about them I will use against them." She smiled at Ryuzan and added: "So fear not Ryu, I will not go easy on them. I am a yakuza girl, and we yakuza are not famous for our softness."

"Glad to hear that." Ryuzan returned the smile. "Well, I will leave you now. I will go check the state of barriers that I and Kashaimaru created."

"Do so." Ritsura nodded and then they each took a different turn at a forking in the hallway.

_Still though, you do have a right to be worried._  Ritsura sighed once they were no longer together.  _It is easier to kill those whom you can only hate._  Ritsura spread the fingers on her hand and then clenched them together, as if she were holding a sword in her hand.  _But I have long ago resolved myself to not care about such trivialities. If the Kyushu youkai do not intend to negotiate, I really shall not go easy on them._

Seeing Zen and Chitsuri leave the VIP room, which was just beside the one where she woke up, changed the thoughts that passed through her head. _(A/N: this is that Blood Tree girl from the LNs but since that name irks me I used one of translations that sounds like a name. If someone knows how she is called in original Japanese text, please PM me)_.

"Zen," Ritsura called up to him.

"Oh, Ritsura." The old man replied. He was leaning against Chitsuri, presumably because he had trouble walking, but even that was above what he should have been able to do.

However, Ritsura decided to not inquire about it just yet. _I should be happy that he is able to move again, bad feeling be damned!_  "How is Gyuki?"

"The wounds have mostly healed, but he is still unconscious and seems to have nightmares. If you have come to talk to him, you may as well turn around and leave."

"I guessed so, but I still wish to see him."

"I am not sure how much good that will do you, but do as you please." Zen shrugged. "Let's go, Chitsuri."

"Hai," His wife said with a smile and helped him walk away.  _Well, no doubt she is happy to see that Zen is faring better._

After seeing the two off, Ritsura entered the room. Eikichi, Benmaru and the old man Kanmaru kept vigilant. "Good to see you are still alive, old man," She greeted Kanmaru, the old-looking youkai who supervised Ritsura's test.

"Good to see are you alright as well, Ojou." Kanmaru greeted her. "Especially since we heard that you were poisoned by that traitor Tesshin."

"A host poisons someone who trusted them enough to eat under their roof," Benmaru joined the conversation. "It is a horrifying thought."

"Be as it may, we shall make him pay. You can rest assured of that." Eikichi added. "But I guess you have come to see the boss? Let me warn you, he is not very talkative right now."

"Yes, I have already been told that." Ritsura nodded. "Who is substituting him as the leader?" Ritsura asked, although she guessed that the answer would be Gozumaru seeing as he took initiative after Gyuki was taken down.

"We are chicks with no hen at the moment," Eikichi shrugged. "Gozumaru should be in charge, but he lost his energy once the eminent threat had passed. After him in line are Tesshin and Gen'ei but, as you may know, they are not an option."

"Next are I and Eikichi," Benmaru added. "But we are not leader types nor were we prepared for something like this and neither are we popular enough amongst the clan members."

"I see… well, I will talk to Gozumaru then," Ritsura said. "Where is he now?"

"He and Mezu are with Gyuki. The two boys are very close to him, you see." Kanmaru answered.

"Perfect! Well, see you later guys," Ritsura said and went past them. "And sharpen your blades, we will counter attack soon."

"Perfect!" Eikichi was more than satisfied to hear that he would soon get a chance to fight the invaders and the traitors.

* * *

Mezumaru was the first to notice her. "Oh, Ritsura has come!" He said with his usual cheerful demeanor. Gozumaru, on other hand, continued to silently sit and gaze at unconscious Gyuki.

"Hi, Mezu." Ritsura greeted the boy wearing the skull of a cow.

Ritsura looked down on Gyuki's body. His skin was pale and his upper half of the body was revealed, so Ritsura could see bandages on him… and even bloodier bandages were thrown into a trash can nearby.

Gyuki's face showed that he was having a nightmare: his eyelids trembled and his mouth made various grimaces, and sometimes he even bit his lower lip.

"We will sortie soon." Seeing as the moody atmosphere let no space for delicacies, Ritsura immediately went to the point. Mezumaru himself did not say anything and instead just looked at Gozumaru who, it seemed, either did not hear her or he did not care about what she had told him.

"Hey, Gozu…" Mezumaru tried to make his friend talk.

"Do what you want," Gozumaru finally answered to Ritsura. "We will stay here and guard Gyuki-sama."

"I wish I could say  _fine_  but…"

"You have enough youkai, we won't be missed."

"We don't need a warrior at the moment." Ritsura did not have any intentions of giving in.

"Give me a break already… I thought that you at least would not try to force me into it." Gozumaru shook his head. "What is wrong with Eikichi and Benmaru? Hell, why don't you lead them yourself? I just want to..." Gozumaru complained with a shivering tone. It was at this moment that Ritsura realized how much he and Mezumaru cared about Gyuki. "...I want to stay here, beside him."

"I understand that, but you are needed elsewhere." Ritsura tried the soft method of persuading. "And I am sure you know that as well. So, will you do it or not?"

After a half of minute of silence had passed, Gozumaru finally gave his answer. "I will. But under the condition that you leave the traitors to me."

"I thought you would say that," Ritsura accepted his demand. "I will deal with Orochimaru then. What about Gyuki's mother?"

Gozumaru gave an unexpected answer. "Gyuki-sama is the only one who has the right to deal with her."

"Are you kidding me? Even if he suddenly woke up, he would not be in condition for something like that."

"He will be," Gozumaru raised himself up and looked right into her eyes. "I am sure of it."

"And if he does not wake in time and that woman walks into this place? She will kill him while he sleeps."

"He  _has_  to do it!" Gozumaru did not back down.

"I will  _not_  allow a plan that depends on something so uncertain!"

Ritsura wanted to continue with the discussion, but then something loud could be heard from outside.  _Is it an enemy?_

Fortunately, it was not. "Koshin-san has come!"

* * *

Ritsura and Gozumaru both went to the courtyard, where a large blue-skinned demon with six hands stood. This youkai, who already looked terrifying, seemed even more so now that he was filled with numerous wounds, some of which seemed major.

"A Yuki Onna with white and teal hair… you must be the young heiress of the Nuras." The Koshin immediately recognized her, even though the two of them never met. "I kept that woman at bay for as long as I could, but I have reached my limit."

"You fought that monster all this time?" Gozumaru was astonished. "It was hours since you came to our help!"

"And it felt to me like it only lasted ten minutes." The large youkai wiped some blood from his chest. "She is truly a fearsome demon."

"But at least you have weakened her, right?" Gozumaru said and Ritsura guessed that he was hopeful that the fight against her would not be as hard if they struck immediately. To be honest, Ritsura thought the same thing.

However, the Koshin's face already hinted that it would not be so easy. "No, it is impossible for me, or any of you, to damage that demon."

"What do you mean?" Ritsura asked.

"You people are bright. I am sure that by now you have realized that the only way to kill these spirits send by the Maou Sanmoto is to do something related to their grudge, their way of death or something like that. Otherwise, they just regenerate. And this woman is the strongest of those spirits. There is only one person who can slay her…"

"Gyuki-sama…" Gozumaru replied and looked at Ritsura.

"He is still unable to move, Gozu."

"Is he still wounded?" Koshin asked them.

"Yes, although he is no longer in critical condition." Gozumaru turned back to the Koshin. "But his spirit is still broken."

"Speaking of wounds, you should get your own wounds treated, Koshin-san." Ritsura felt guilty for not saying this sooner. "Come on, we can talk later."

"Do not worry girl, I suffered worse in the past." The Koshin rejected her offer. "Gyuki is the one who needs treatment. Take me to him, I will heal his spirit."

"You can do that?" Gozumaru cut in before Ritsura could say anything.

"Yes, I am the Koshin after all." As the Koshin spoke, his size started shrinking until he was of just above average height. "However, it will take time and I suggest that the rest of you clean the  _other problems_."

Gozumaru turned towards Ritsura. He did not say anything, but his puppy eyes told her what he meant. "Geez, alright! I accept your demand!" Ritsura looked at one of the youkai who came to Nejireme with Hitotsume or Nurarihyon. "Show the Koshin-san to Gyuki's room. And send someone to check Koshin-san's wounds while you are at it!"

"Yes, Ojou!" The youkai answered and the Koshin started following him.

"Good luck girl, this will be a long day for you people." The Koshin said before moving in.

"Wait for me!" Gozumaru started following the Koshin, no doubt intending to look at him healing Gyuki, but Ritsura grabbed him by his collar. "What are you doing? Let me go!"

"Ahem! The meeting will start in twenty minutes in the dining hall." Ritsura said to him. "So go collect the members of the high-ranking members Gyuki Group and, once the meeting is over and we have agreed on a strategy, we are leaving immediately."

"Ah… yes. Sorry, I forgot." Gozumaru replied.

_Huh, did this guy just apologize?_  Ritsura was so astonished that she let him go and he immediately started walking in a different direction than he intended to take before Ritsura stopped him.  _Did HE just apologize willingly for something trivial? Ah, stop thinking about stupid things!_

And then there was another visitor: the punk crow Tosakamaru. "Ojou, we have found Tesshin and Gyuki's mother."

"They are together?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Tesshin is leading her to his manor, and the other traitors are following them."

"What about the undead?"

"They have dispersed across Nejireme, but most are going in this direction."

"Alright, go and look for Kejorou." Ritsura said and Tosakamaru immediately flew up.  _So, we know where two of our enemies are._

Ritsura took a deep breath and then prepared for the next step.  _Alright, now to come up with a plan…  
_

* * *

Everyone of note, save Sakura, Gyuki and the Koshin, were now in the dining hall, where the meeting was to take place. Representatives of the Gyuki Group, with Gozumaru and Eikichi in charge, have assembled together on the left side of the hall while the members of the Nura Clan assembled on the right, save Heiko who was leaning against the wall close to Ritsura, with Ryuzan leaning just beside her. Kashaimaru was also in the hall, but in the far back.

But Kashaimaru was not the only outsider here: Kurenai was standing beside the Gyuki Group, but it was clear that she was treated more as a prisoner than as an ally.  _No surprise there, she was Tesshin's right hand… hm, it might be a good idea to first decide what to do with her._

However, Ritsura could not be too direct with it. "What is the matter with Kurenai?" She asked while looking in Gozumaru's and Eikichi's direction.

"Good thing you ask, Ojou!" Eikichi replied to this one. "We could not decide what to do with the good guy Tesshin's right hand."

"I came with you, didn't I?" Kurenai seemed angry. "You think I am so stupid as to come with you if I was on Tesshin's side?"

"Sorry Kurenai, but after what occurred with Tesshin and Gen'ei, we are not too fond of trusting you." Eikichi spoke, the disdain obvious on his face. "If we leave you alone, you may end up cutting a throat or two."

"I will not!" She yelled at him and rose what used to be her right hand. Lacking a hand, with blood still visible on her clothes and with a bandana around her eyes, Kurenai looked like she came from a torture chamber. "You think I'd lose my right hand if I was a part of this plot?"

"You were the damn traitor's right hand. The hell will we take the risk?"

"And for that reason I feel more betrayed than any of you!" She pointed her hand at him. "Nobody wants to see that traitor dead more than I do!"

"Well, isn't that-"

"Now now friends, calm down." Ryuzan walked up to Ritsura's side and tried to calm the situation. "I understand that you guys have trust issues after what happened, but we can't spend the entire night arguing about if we are to trust her or not."

_Oh, I see…_ Ritsura smirked for a moment and then, with her arms crossed, spoke: "And neither will I allow you to do anything to her, especially since the quantity of evidence is zero."

"Can't we just lock her into a room or something?" Hitotsume suggested. "That way she wouldn't be a threat to anyone."

"The hell, you one-eyed ape?" Gozumaru shouted in his usual behavior. "What if she is guilty, breaks out of her room and kills Gyuki while he is defenseless?"

"How dare you, you darn brat!" Hitotsume was not one to take such attitude lightly. "You think that mere woman will be able to deal with the guards we leave behind?"

"She is a woman who can trap you all in illusions." Eikichi joined Gozumaru. "Even if you free yourself from her illusions in a second, you may be half a second too late to stop her!"

"Me, kill Gyuki-sama?" Kurenai also became more frantic. "How dare you even suggest something like that?"

Ritsura sighed, took a deep breath and shouted: "SILENCE!" And as she ordered, everyone went silent, although more due to surprise than obedience. "As Ryu said, we don't have time for this."

"Also, she is a capable war asset." Ryuzan added. "She should join the battle, not sit here and knit scarves."

Benmaru spoke this time. "No offense boy, but I trust her more than I should, but even I would not feel safe about turning my back to her." Eikichi and many other youkai, including some from the Nura Clan, nodded in approval.

"Well then I won't walk with you!" Kurenai said and then turned towards Ryuzan. "Seeing as you are the only one who trusts me, would you, Ryuzan, let me fight alongside you and help me prove my honor?"

"Hmm…" Ryuzan smirked. "Sure, I will."

"Boy, that is-" Hitotsume started, but Ritsura cut in.

"Enough about this, she will be partnered with Ryu! We have already wasted enough time that the enemy is no doubt using to prepare for another assault." After saying that, she turned around and walked up to a blackboard that the youkai brought into the hall. "Let's us start the strategy meeting."

She took a chalk into her hand and started drawing. "There are at least five enemies we have to deal with."

"Five?" Someone said from behind her. "Isn't that two too many?"

"I will explain in a moment," Ritsura said and drew a chibi face of a woman with a straw hat and large teeth. "First, we have Gyuki's mother and her legion of undead." Then she drew the face of a bull beside her. "Second, we have Tesshin. From what the crows have found out, they are both located in the same place: Tesshin's manor."

"This is bad," Kanmaru spoke out. "That whole place is haunted by Tesshin's Fear. He will be nowhere as strong as he is there."

"Thank you for the information, Kanmaru," Ritsura said and then turned back to the blackboard. "Then, we have Orochimaru and the Kyushu assassins." She drew a chibi face with snake eyes and a bunch of stereotypical ninjas around him. "We don't know yet where he is, but he will probably come after us."

"And who are the other two enemies?" Gozumaru asked.

Further away from the former characters, Ritsura drew a skull with a fat body eating a ham. "Sanmoto Gorozaemon and his golden shrine. While we are fighting here, he has caused havoc in many human settlements where his Fear touches. Fortunately, Koshin-san's four servants have restored some order. Still, he probably has a few minions hiding somewhere so be prepared for an attack from them."

Then Ritsura drew a circle of three water drops further away. "And then there are Kyushu youkai raiding western Kantou. For now they are focused on fighting the Nura clan…" she drew the symbol of Fear, the mon of the Nura clan, and a sword between the two mons. "…but I will not be surprised if a few decide to make their way here. After all, evidence suggests that they planned this whole incident in the first place."

"So we have to worry about possibility of an attack from outside as well, huh?" Kanmaru stated.

"Yes, we indeed do." Ritsura drew a house that represented the resort and then several faces. "That is why Hitotsume, Aotabou, gramps, Heiko and most members of the Nura Clan will stay here. They will defend this make-shift stronghold and serve as reinforcements in case more enemies appear. If everyone is exhausted, it will be trouble." She would have liked if Koshin was on the list, but he would probably just do as he did in the past, from what she heard; staying away from most clan feuds.  _Well, gramps will probably try to convince him to give us some aid._

"Hmph, good idea." Hitotsume agreed with her decision. "Not only will the reserves be rested, but the reserve itself is a formidable force in its own right and should be able to keep more enemies at bay."

"Still, would it not be better if they fought?" Kanmaru noted. "I mean, we are a bit short in power."

"It is the very fact that we have so many enemies, summed with the fact that the zombies can't be easily killed, that we must not engage in a real battle." She drew circles around Gyuki's mother and Tesshin. "We will have to focus on killing these two. If Tesshin dies, the Hyaki Yakou consisting of the traitors will collapse."  _Because a Hykai Yakou is too dependent on its leader._ "And if Gyuki's mother dies, the other zombies will probably disappear as well. She is, after all, the heart of this Tale."

"I see… so we are assassinating rather than waging war," Eikichi said.

"Indeed we are." Then Ritsura started drawing the rest of the plan. "The Gyuki Group will assault Tesshin and his mother. The details about how you will do that will be decided by Gozumaru." She threw a glance at him and when their eyes met, he nodded. "Me, Ryu, Kurenai and Kubinashi will deal with the Kyushu assassins and save Kejorou. Once we are done with them, we will join the assault on Tesshin."

"What will I do?" Kashaimaru asked.

_So you want me to give you something to do, huh? Good, that makes it easier._ "Someone needs to keep the zombies occupied. Would you be able to take care of that?"

"Oh, I get the most fun part!" Kashaimaru clapped his hands. "Sure, leave it to me."

"You can't do this alone though." Ryuzan complained.

"Oh don't you worry about it, I already have a plan ready,." Kashaimaru stated and his pet fox made a dramatic nod.

"In meantime, my brother should be dealing with the Golden Shrine." This was only a guess of hers, but she was certain that this was the only thing that would make Rihan not come to their aid. She still had no idea why he went alone, but she hoped for the best. "Sanmoto will probably not expect an attack on his very shrine."

"Wait, how do you know that this is what Waka is doing?" Kubinashi asked.

"I know my little brother well enough." She said.

"If Rihan-sama is dealing with Sanmoto, that is one worry less!" One of the youkai from the Nura Group commented and many others also looked relieved.  _I am not sure if this is what brother is doing, but it should boost the morale a little._

"Well guys, we are done!" Ritsura raised the chalk and then threw it at the ground. "Now let's go show these bastards what the Nura Clan is made of!"

And everyone shouted in approval.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- Alright folks, a new arc had started! After the  _Gyuki's Nighmare_  arc where the villains held the higher ground, we start a new round! let us see how our heroes fare now that the night had fallen!

\- I wonder if anyone had noticed Youhime in this chapter? ;P

\- RyuRitsuKasha scene was quite fun to write… a shame I couldn't stop it from turning cold soon after :(

\- And more info had been revealed about Mizuchi, as well as how he is also related to Meiji, just like the Shin Sekai is. The pieces are slowly falling into place…


	52. The Attackers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Having spent several hours resting, the defenders of Nejireme had finally turned to offensive, starting the second round of the war for Nejireme

**Chapter 52 – The Attackers**

"What do you think?" Hitotsume asked Aotabou. The strain of his eye suggested that he was thinking through something.

"You already asked me that, Hitotsume," Aotabou replied. Neither he, nor Hitotsume, moved their eyes from a set of books that sat on a small table in front of the.

It was a collection of folk tales called  _The Three Hundred Tales of Nejireme_. Like most such collections, much of it was nonsense, but true stories could still be found in them, if only in fragments.

And this collection was quite accurate: most of the  _zombies_  that the Nura Clan and the Gyuki Group fought against on Nejireme were, as the two of them plus Nurarihyon (who had gone somewhere) quickly found out, mentioned in one of the books.

"Rationally, we should try to find some use for it…" Hitotsume spoke.

"Yes, but still…" One of the problems was that they were owned by the  _Annoying Smartass Girl_ , aka Ichinoe Araya. And she left a note saying that, judging by the zombie she met, this might have a chance to be useful. "…if we do find a use for this, she will never give us a break."

" _Hohohohoho!"_  They could imagine her mocking them, holding her hand under her mouth like one of those stereotypical annoying 'Ojou-sama's in Anime.  _"The mighty Nura Clan had to depend on my help. Hohohoho!"_

"But rationally, we must use any help we can get," Aotabou spoke, although it pained him.

"Wait a second… how could we possibly put it to use?" Hitotsume finally realized something they were missing. "It is not like more than one person could use this! And even that person can't just tell one of them to wait until they read the story of their life!"

"Yes, that's right." Aotabou understood what he meant. "It is actually impossible to use it. Hahaha!"

"We were wasting time with useless thoughts! Hahaha!"

They were still laughing at themselves when the door slid open and a youkai girl who joined Ritsura's parade entered. "Sorry, I hope I am not bothering."

"Yes, you are! We are having a strategy meeting." Hitotsume yelled at her.

"And we are done discussing," Aotabou said. "Did you want something from one of us two?" Seeing as this girl was in charge of defense just like the two of them, this was a natural conclusion.

"Yes…" She still did not seem to have gotten used to speaking with big-wigs like Hitotsume and Aotabou. "May I have those books?"

"Huh? Why?" Hitotsume eyeball got bigger.

"The old man… I mean Nurarihyon-sama… told me about it and I thought I could put it to use."

"Unless you are a fast reader, they won't be of much use in a fight," Hitotsume immediately warned her.

"I am not the one doing the fighting anyway, my  _Shadows_  are." The girl weaved her hand, rejecting the very suggestion that she would personally fight. "Also, there are several youkai here who are too wounded to fight, but would like to be of use." The girl seemed to have started to get more confident. "And honestly, I am too exhausted to create Shadows strong enough so I thought I would instead just use my Shadows to communicate with the fighters while I and the wounded ones try to find the use for these books."

"In other words, you want to create a communication network and use it to make these books usable?" Hitotsume noted while nodding.

"Ah, that's a great idea." Aotabou smiled, took the books and handed them to his new comrade. "Here, have them."

"Thank you… what was your name again, sir?" The girl asked.

"I am Aotabou, and this is Hitotsume."

"And I am Heiko." The girl nodded. "Well, gotta go! The enemy will soon be here!"

Aotabou saw her out with a smile while Hitotsume had his trademark, disgruntled look his face.

"So we found use for them after all," Hitotsume noted.

"Ha, we sure did!" Aotabou shouted, convincing himself that he was fully happy about it.

For some reason they could hear the voice of the  _red-haired, annoying, smartass girl_  laughing all around them.

* * *

Gozumaru stood above Gyuki while the six-handed youkai, the Koshin, sat on the ground on the other side. One of the Koshin's hands was on Gyuki's head, another on his heart, with one he held his index finger in front of his face, another was on his own heart and the remaining two were put together as if he were in prayer.

However, Gyuki did not seem to have been getting better. As a matter of fact, he moved and moaned like the nightmares have gotten worse. "Will this really help him?"

"Worry not boy, he will heal soon enough," the Koshin replied with his eyes closed. "But in order to heal him, I have to force his spirit to face its inner demons. Naturally, this is not a painless medicine."

"Yes, I guess that makes sense." Gozumaru wondered how he himself was able to keep his composure while his own spirit was screaming for Gyuki's safety. But even in the moments when he felt like just venting his pain by shouting, something in him made him stop.

But he did not only surprise himself, but some of the others as well: Kanmaru even complimented him that he was growing up.  _But is that really it?_

He took a deep breath and forced his thoughts in another direction.  _The war is not over yet. Think about the war…_  "Koshin-san, you fought his mother, didn't you?"

"Yes, I did," the Koshin answered without showing any signs of annoyance due to the triviality of the question.

"Is she really that strong that even you were not able to defeat her? I mean, even I heard that you are not a weak god."

"She is strong, but I have ended worse ones than her," the Koshin answered without moving anything but his lips. "However, you people are not me so she might be above you in raw power… but that won't matter if this man fought her."

"Wait, the way you worded it… are you suggesting that you could have killed her?"

"Yes, I could have destroyed her with one swift strike if I desired it." He spoke without changing his tone throughout the whole conversation.

This was enough to make Gozumaru lose some of his composure. "So why didn't you kill her then? Do you know how much suffering she will bring to us and Gyuki-sama?!"

"She exists because of him. These souls haunt Nejireme because of your entire clan. Thus, they are your responsibility, not mine. I will only end them personally if everyone else is unable to."

"You mean… you will only fight her properly if our entire clan dies?" Gozumaru spoke through clenched teeth. This battle would no doubt take even more lives of the youkai from the Gyuki Group and the Nura clan, all which could have been avoided if the Koshin did not fool around.

"I feel anger coming from you, and I can understand it. But you need to understand, young man, that I am neither a Hero nor do I seek to be one. The Koshin is merely there to help men and women get freed from chains of their own sins." The Koshin opened one of his eyes and looked at Gozumaru. "Besides, young man, do you really wish for an outsider to solve  _your_  problems? If you look at me and say, with all honesty, that you do not want to deal with this yourself, I will raise myself up, kill them all and return to heal your master." He then closed his eye. "You have my word on that."

"That…" Gozumaru could not do as the Koshin asked him to. Although it was a rationally the best choice, Gozumaru could not force himself to accept it. And he knew that nobody else in the Gyuki Group would want to accept such an offer, no matter how beneficial it would have been. Their warrior spirits would not allow it. "That… won't be necessary," Gozumaru said, closed his eyes and even his entire body calmed down. As the Koshin said, everything that was happening, from Gyuki's mother becoming a monster, their victims returning back to life, Tesshin's betrayal and even the threat to the lives of the humans around Nejireme and the Nura heirs… it was all one way or another a result of their clan's actions throughout centuries.

Their very honor had demanded from them to take care of this issue themselves.

"I apologize for my earlier rudeness," Gozumaru said and turned his back to his master and the Koshin. "I will put my faith in your ability to save my master."

"Fear not, your father will be alright."

"He is not my father…"

"Maybe he is and maybe he is not, that is something I cannot know," The Koshin spoke with his usual wise-man attitude. "But I do know that few have such a strong parental bond that you two have. You care for him as if he was your father and you and that other boy are constantly in his dreams, and you two are probably the only reason why he has hope for getting out of this with his spirit intact."

"Ah…" Gozumaru muttered. To hear that he and Mezumaru had such an effect on their beloved master was no small thing for him. "Is that… true?"

"It is true, young man." The Koshin gave a simple response.

"I… thank you." Gozumaru said and continued walking, while a tear of joy ran across his face. It was a pleasant feeling to know that he was actually able to help Gyuki.  _However, there is still more that has to be done!_

"Gozumaru-nii-chan." A low-pitched voice could be heard from a corner of the hall. Gozumaru looked in the voice' direction to see a two boys and a girl from the Gyuki Group who were too young to fight.

"What are you doing here, brats?" Gozumaru asked them. "You should be staying in your rooms and not be getting in the way of the warriors."

"But..."

"No buts! Everyone here will have their hands full, they should not be worrying about you!" Gozumaru shouted and turned his back to them. "Now run back to where you belong."

"But... but..." The kids could not say anything, but that alone was informative: they were afraid.

Gozumaru stopped walking for a moment and sighed. "Worry not, me and the others will take care of these enemies and tomorrow you will be able to return to your regular prancing around the forest and whatever other shit you brats do." Gozumaru started walking again and raised his index finger. "And you kids just stay brave! Consider it a part of your warrior training. A warrior always has to stay brave, no matter what."

"Hai!" The kids replied with more energy than before and Gozumaru could hear them run off.  _Yes, these brats too are those we fight for. I can absolutely not fail!  
_

* * *

"So, that's it huh?" Rihan commented as he, Ao-Ju and Shiori stood in middle of a village and gazed at a temple in the distance. "It is quite a big temple." The temple was Buddhist in style and a hundred stores tall, but it also had a large wall and more buildings around it, making it also look like a castle.

"Maybe the owner is compensating for something." Shiori smirked. "In any case, that is where the Golden Shrine is located, no doubt about it."

"How can you be so sure?" Ao-Ju asked her. "It is possible that this is just a bait and the real shrine is hidden somewhere less noticeable. When you go to this length to hide something, may as well go further, right?"

"Ha, that's something a smart person might come up with." Shiori rejected his suggestion. "But Sanmoto Gorozaemon is no such person. He wants a glamorous temple to properly represent his non-existent glory." Shiori's eyes narrowed as she gazed at the temple. "It is there, no doubt about it. And we must go there, destroy the shrine and, if needed, run away before we get outnumbered."

"So there are guards?" Rihan inquired.

"You don't build such a huge building and leave it unmanned, Rihan-sama," Ao-Ju answered this question. "There will be many guards, but the question is how many and how strong they are." After saying that, Ao-Ju started walking. "I will go take a look at what awaits us there. You two wait for me in this village. If I don't return in half an hour, go." He did not say that he meant by  _go_ , but he probably meant they should decide to  _attack_  of  _retreat_.

"Don't die, Ao-Ju," Shiori said to which Ao-Ju answered with a nod before he started to run towards the temple. "Alright then, let us find somewhere to rest."

"Was it fine to let him go alone alike that?" Rihan asked as he followed after her.

"He is your subordinate so you are the one who let him go," Shiori reminded him as the two of them walked through the deserted village. "But it should be fine as long as he does not enter the temple proper."

"How can you be so sure?"

"From my experience, they always knew when someone entered a place like this." Shiori said something unexpected while she looked through the windows of the huts, as if looking for something. "And seeing as nobody ambushed us on our way here, I take it that they are waiting for us to come to them. Makes sense, they would have more chances inside the temple, where the Golden shrine can aid them."

"But he is alone now." Rihan's eyes narrowed. "They would find it beneficial to get rid of us one by one rather than attack us while we are in groups."

"You are right, and I admit I failed to think about it." But although she said that, she did not seem too concerned. "You should have thought about that before you let him go."

_Ah yes, he is my responsibility…_  Rihan still did not get used to the fact that he had someone he was responsible for. For someone who was always alone, this was a strange feeling.  _No wonder sis always takes her time._  "Anyway, what are we now looking for?"

" _I_ am looking for a teapot… and I just found one~"

* * *

"We have found out where the assassins from Kyushu are hiding." Sasami spoke to Ritsura and her group, consisting of Ryuzan, Kubinashi and Kurenai. They were out in the open, looking for the assassins or waiting to be found by them. "It is in a cave, not too far east of the resort."

"Makes sense, it is a large cave where the former commander used to call his habitat." Kurenai seemed to have knows what cave it was. "Even though most of it had collapsed over the centuries, it should still be spacious enough for a small group to make themselves at home."

"What about Kejorou? Have you seen her?" Kubinashi asked the most important question.

"Sorry, but we did not manage to see what was inside the cave. The crows I have sent had all been killed."

"So they know we had found them," Ritsura commented and clenched her sword. "In that case, let's not waste any more time and get on our way." Ritsura looked at Sasami again. "Sasami, you and your crows keep an eye on the Kyushu youkai. If they start moving, I want to know it immediately."

"Hai!" Sasami then flew away, the numerous crows following after her.

"Now, I suggest we split," Ryuzan voiced his opinion immediately after the group started running, "Seeing as the enemy awaits an attack, it might be beneficial to surprise them by attacking from different directions."

"But it is risky," Kubinashi did not agree with it, "Our group is already too small, if we divide it further, then we put ourselves at risk." Kubinashi looked at Ritsura when he said that. Obviously, he was mostly worried about her safety.

"I think splitting would be a good idea. The element of surprise would be worth a temporary risk." On other hand, Kurenai agreed with Ryuzan's suggestion.

Having heard all the opinions, Ritsura voiced her decision. "Ryu and Kurenai, you two take a different route."

""Hai!"" Both of them said and split away.

"I hope we don't get to regret this." Kubinashi noted.

"Well, worse news for you is coming, judging by the number of snakes we have passed." Ritsura replied in an ominous manner.

"Snakes?" Now that she mentioned it, Kubinashi looked around and saw that every few steps, there was a snake hiding in the bushes. "This means that…" And then both of them heard something from atop the trees and moved away, avoiding blades that almost pierced into them.

Ritsura recognized one of them from memory and another one from Ryuzan's descriptions. "Orochimaru and Crocell, huh?" Ritsura commented as her eyes fell on their opponents: a pale boy who had eyes of a snake with indifference on his face and a man clad in a white yukata with a smirk on his face. "I admit that I hoped to meet Orochimaru again, but I fear that I am not really into threesomes."

"Ojou, dirty jokes are beneath you," Kubinashi admonished her while biting his strings and preparing for a fight.

"If Kejorou was here, she would say that you are not the one to talk."

"But she is not here…" Kubinashi looked at the enemies and his eyes narrowed. "Kejorou, the woman you people had abducted! Where is she?"

"She is alive," Orochimaru said and then looked at Crocell, "Crocell, go and strangle her."

"As you say, Yashagoro," Crocell nodded and started running eastwards.

"Wait what…?" Kubinashi was shocked to hear this, but did not move even though his heart tried to.

"So, what will you do now, neckless one," Orochimaru asked while looking at him, "I understand you are loyal, but if you don't hurry, your lover will get killed."

"You…" Kubinashi clenched his teeth while he looked at Orochimaru with eyes filled with hate.

"Kubinashi, go save Kino," Ritsura ordered him.

"But, then you will-"

"This is an order." Ritsura said and took a step towards Orochimaru. "Do not worry. I am already used to fighting this guy, not to mention aid will be coming to me." Then she threw him a smile. "Kino needs you more right now."

Kubinashi closed his eyelids for a moment. "Thank you… and be careful." After he said that, Kubinashi started running in Crocell's direction.

"Well now pretty boy, we are alone again," Ritsura said with a smirk. "I am looking forward to more making out." Mocking him made her feel a bit more confident about facing him again.

"You sure seem laid back." Yashagoro took out his wazikashi and prepared for the fight.

"Oh, I am not laid back," Ritsura said and pointed her sword at him, "I am just so pissed that I want to kick your ass into space."

* * *

_It is a hard thing to do, making decisions that is._  Gozumaru thought while sounds of battles could be heard in many directions in the distance.

When one's comrades fought, it was natural to go and aid them. But Gozumaru could not do that, and neither could Mezumaru, Eikichi and Benmaru. The three of them had to sneak past the zombies and the traitors, while the rest of the Gyuki Group attracted attention and engaged in battles, thus allowing these four to move with less worry. Gozumaru was the one who decided to follow this strategy, and had to accept the responsibilities that came with it.

Gozumaru could see on their faces that they felt just like he did: they too wanted to take a detour and help, but knew well enough that they had to keep going towards the leaders of the traitor faction and eliminate them so that the rest of Gyuki Group's and Nura clan's forces could focus on the other enemies.

"Gozu, can we really do this?" Mezumaru asked him.

"We must," Gozumaru gave a simple answer, "Don't falter now Mezu."

"I know, but…" Mezumaru sighed, "I mean, Tesshin and Gen'ei are both strong… and what if that woman comes to help them?"

"If she comes, I will fight her." He was the only one who managed to keep fighting against her, so obviously he would be the one to keep her away from others. "But Tesshin and Gen'ei come first. Got it?" He said that to all three of them.

"Yes." Everyone nodded.

It did not take long for them to reach Tesshin's mansion, but they were surprised to see that there was nobody guarding it.

That is, there was nobody but Gen'ei, the old man who sat on the ground and smirked when he saw them. "So you have finally come. I already started thinking the old age would reach me before one of you guys did."

"Are you the only one here, Gen'ei?" Eikichi asked the old man.

"Yes, the others didn't feel like staying close to this woman so they all chose to fight somewhere else," Gen'ei shrugged, "Besides Tesshin, he went to  _his little graveyard_."

Everyone in the Gyuki Group knew what place he was talking about. "Why are you telling us this?" Gozumaru asked him.

"He told me that he will await Gyuki or Gozumaru there," Gen'ei said and raised himself up, "So, will it be four versus one?"

Gozumaru did not give his answer to him, but instead turned to give it to the rest of his group. "You three stay here and deal with him. If the woman comes, Eikichi is to deal with her." He then looked in a different direction. "I will go and kill Tesshin."

"This will be a trap, Gozu." Eikichi disagreed with his offer. "He probably has a small army waiting for you there."

Eikichi made a good point, but Gozumaru did not want to leave Tesshin to anyone else. He wanted to deal with his old mentor himself. "If it comes to that, I shall sneak past them."

"Well, that's a way to ruin this old man's excitement." Gen'ei raised his silver staff which then turned into a battleaxe that he was able to hold with one hand. "Well, boy, get away before I decide that four on one would be more fun."

"Be careful, Gozu!" Mezumaru muttered.

"You too, Mezu. I am counting on you guys!" Gozumaru said and left more of his comrades to fight without him.

* * *

"This looks like a good place as any." Kashaimaru noted once he reached a large clearing. "Not only is there no place where they could hide, but I can feel that they are intending to pass this place on their way to the resort." It took him a few moments to remember that he left Firefox at the resort so he practically spoke to the air.

"Well, no matter." Kashaimaru shrugged and put his fingers together. "Now, to imitate a Gyuki's Fear and throw it around." Some of the Kitsune youkai had the ability to disguise as whatever they wanted, and that included youkai. As someone who had Kitsune blood in his vein and whose Onmyoudo used that blood as its primary source, he could use that technique to some extent. Granted, he could not transform himself, but he could disguise his Fear as someone else's. This seemingly useless technique had already found its uses, and this was no exception.

After only five minutes, a number of zombies had found their way to him, misguidedly thinking that he was a gyuki type youkai.

"Well then..." Kashaiamaru broke his fingers and prepared for a fight. "Let's start kicking ass!"

* * *

"Was this alright?" Kurenai asked Ryuzan while the two walked with a fast pace through the forest. Being a human, Ryuzan could not keep running for a long time, especially since his coat was quite heavy. Summoning a Shikigami would have been a waste so that was also out of question.

"I trust this plan," Ryuzan said to the woman walking right behind him, "Sometimes, everyone being together is risky."

"If they get attacked, they will be at a disadvantage."

"If we all get attacked, the hostage might get killed."

"True, but I am still surprised that you were alright with the idea to come with me and not stay with her. I mean, you seem to care quite a bit about her."

"She is a dear friend to me."

"Are you sure that's all you think of her? From what I heard, you were quite desperate about protecting her from Atsushi," she said without changing the tone of her voice, "Are you sure you are not in love with her?"

_So he was called Atsushi?_ "I admit that I might be a bit smitten by her, but I would not call it love. Love is not something you develop just like that."

"Being smitten is enough to want to stay with her, no?" Kurenai continued. "Especially seeing as I am Tesshin's and Atsushi's friend."

Ryuzan looked back at her and smiled. "I trust you." And then he turned back to looking where he was walking. "I was disgusted at how your own comrades were so quick to mark you as a traitor and I intend to help you prove your loyalty."

"Thank you, boy." For the first time since they moved out, her voice had changed its tone. "I truly appreciate it."

Ryuzan ducked and turned around, dodging the spear that was being thrust at his heart. While Kurenai was still gasping in surprise, he punched her in the guts, then when she lowered herself in reaction to pain he punched her in the head and ended it with a kick to the stomach, pushing her away. _An Onmyouji has to stay strong both mentally and physically. Mom's stereotypes finally paid of!_  Kurenai used the situation to increase the space between them.

" _I trust you…_ " Ryuzan said in a mocking, masculine tone. " _I truly appreciate it, hihihi_!" He then said in a mocking type of girlish tone while giggling. "I think I should be the one appreciating  _your_  trust instead, idiot." If anyone from the club heard him talk they would probably be surprised at Ryuzan's change of attitude... besides Ritsura who already knew about this part of him.

"How…" Kurenai raised her head and looked at him with the blindfold on her head. "How did you know that I am…"

"I am the son of Keikain Ryuji, the master of deception. And he taught me the art of lying well." Ryuzan did not bother trying to keep his charming facade at the moment. He was sure that, if she ever met his father, she would recognize him in Ryuzan's smile. After all, everyone did it once Ryuzan stopped bothering to be graceful. "Your lying was horrible from the beginning, but three mistakes were the worst."

Ryuzan raised three fingers. "Let us start from the last: if you are preparing yourself to backstab someone, for heaven's sake do not talk like you are going to be shot, no matter how guilty your consciousness felt. You might as well have mentioned  _'Hey bro, Imma gonna pierce your heart any moment now!We cool?'_ " He mocked her in a low-pitched tone again. "And as if that wasn't bad enough, you suddenly change your tone. I swear, from that itself I could pinpoint the exact moment when you raised your spear."

"Before that, you were way too happy to go with me and Ritsura instead of going after Tesshin. Everyone from the Gyuki Group was dying to make the traitors pay, but the one who should have felt most betrayed by Tesshin and should have wanted to clear things up with him offered to come with  _us_  who were not to fight the traitors. I mean, I can't imagine that you would not want to be there when he dies or whatever." Ryuzan's eyes narrowed. "So, that made me aware that you probably wanted to assassinate Ritsura, just like Atsushi did. No doubt, if you were with her you would have attacked her while she was fighting Orochimaru and then you would immediately switch sides." Ryuzan gave her a vicious smirk. "A shame I saw through it and Ritsura understood my signals."

"So she suspected me as well…"

"Yes, that's why she ordered us to split. You see, my actual mission is to kill you and return to her whereas Kubinashi will go to help Kejorou in case someone attacked her."

"So what was the third mistake I did?" Kurenai was standing straight again.

"Your biggest mistake, the one that made it clear that there was no doubt in your intentions, was the fact that you tried too much.  _'Nobody wants to see that traitor dead more than I do!'_ You said that with so much resolve that it sounded like you were repeating it for hours in front of a mirror. You did not stutter, your eyes did not show any signs of hesitation and your voice as you condemned him never faltered." Ryuzan clapped his hands. "Your hate for him was perfect! You fit so well with everyone else." And then he spread his arms. "And that's the problem for Kurenai's love for Tesshin was too stong to speak about him like he was just some comrade and she cared about Atsushi too much to not show a grudge against the one who killed him."  _Well, it was Ritsura who did it, but she does not know that._

"Haha… HAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kurenai started laughing after he was done. "Keikain Ryuzan… you are quite something. Truly, the illusions you create are better than anything anyone in history of our clan could do." And then she stopped laughing. "Now I understand… why Tesshin feared you…" She raised her head towards him and the red eyes drawn on her blindfold started shining. "But you misunderstood something… the one I am supposed to kill is not Ritsura-ojou-sama." She pointed her staff at Ryuzan. "It is you whom Tesshin fears. So it is you whom I wanted to assassinate."

"I see…" Ryuzan took out a paper talisman from his pocket. "It seems like even after my long explanation, you still don't understand what kind of a birdbrain you are. But I won't complain." Ryuzan closed his eyes and remembered Ritsura as she was on verge of dying. Something about that image angered him like nothing else ever did. "After all, I really, really need someone to vent on. So a low-minded traitor like you is more than welcome."

* * *

_Tesshin's Little Graveyard_  was a name they used for this place. Originally it was used to mock Tesshin, but since he accepted the name it had become kind of an actual name for this place.

It was a small cave, with water flowing out in some parts of it.

And the cave itself was filled with many lanterns. Gozumaru knew that each of these lanterns represented a human life lost on Nejireme.

The one who created this place sat in silence in middle of the cave, praying to the lost souls and not paying heed to his new guest. Tesshin created this place to honor the humans killed by the Gyuki and he was the only one who ever entered it. Nobody else from the Gyuki Group liked it, and Gozumaru was no exception even though he felt less uncomfortable than others did. After all, each of these lanterns radiated the same aura as those zombies: they hated the gyukis and thus they were not welcome in this place.

"No wonder you got messed up." Gozumaru spoke, notifying his enemy of his presence just in case. "Being surrounded by this much malice would drive anyone mad."

"So malice is what you feel from this place, Gozu? To me, this place is what allowed me to keep sane over centuries." Tesshin spoke without moving or looking at him. "But I admit, you are not completely wrong either. This place always reminded me of our family's sins."

By  _family_ , he no doubt meant the Gyuki Group and that did not sit well with Gozumaru. "You have no right to use that word anymore, Tesshin!" Gozumaru complained while pointing his sword at him. "If we are a family, then you are an unforgivable kinslayer!"

"Good, for I do not seek redemption from you guys." Tesshin raised himself up and turned towards Gozumaru. Gozumaru could not see what kind of face he made thanks to his mask. "What I want is something else."

"And just what is that you want, huh? What is it that made you betray us... to cause this invasion in the first place?"

"Maybe I will tell you if you defeat me. Now, let us go outside. This is no place to fight."

"You think I care about-" But before he could finish the sentence, Gozumaru felt a murderous aura and froze for a moment. By the time his wits returned to him, Tesshin was already in front of him, his fist on his way towards his guts. The next moment, Gozumaru flew through the air and hit into a large tree, coughing blood.

However, the damage was not so bad so he quickly raised himself back up.

"Do not dare to dishonor the dead, boy." Tesshin walked out of the cave and then giant, flaming claws grew out of his back. "You better fight with all you got, lest you die a pathetic death."

* * *

_That place is bad._  Rihan thought as he stood in the desolate village and gazed at the temple in the distance. After seeing what this place had done to all those humans, he knew that the place he was going to would be unusual and dangerous.

But now he understood that something more was amiss: he felt the monster inside himself roar, as if that temple was its master. That is, the more he looked at the temple, the stronger were his feelings to act like a Vigilante and to punish any evil he could find, including the one that had brought him here. The only thing that made it possible for him to keep his cool was the thought of him harming Shiori. He was still too hesitant to move against her, especially now that they had an alliance and his honor bound him to not betray her.

He also did not want to become the person who could kill an ally in cold blood. He could still remember slaying the youkai from his clan who came to help him and he feared the part of him that made him act like that.

But what would happen once he entered this place that tried to awaken the beast within him?

"Are you scared?" Shiori asked him from within the hut, where she still sat on the floor and brewed tea.

Rihan walked up to the window that looked into the room where she was sitting and then he leaned against the hut's wall. "Back at the resort, you mentioned that I would have to face my inner demons at the Golden Shrine." He looked at the girl as she sat in front of the teapot on which she had inscribed, with a knife, something that resembled an artistic representation of a Hyakki Yakou. "Does Sanmoto Gorozaemon have something to do with…" Rihan closed his eyes. "…with me going berserk and killing a comrade."

She stayed silent for a while and then spoke: "What do  _you_  think?"

"I think that the sensation I felt that night and the sensation I feel by looking at the temple are similar… and your silence speaks more than words could," he said and looked at the temple in the distance, "But the Fear from that night was not the same as the one that possessed the humans in that town… but here, I can sense both of the two Fears."

"I never said that Sanmoto Gorozaemon was alone in this."

"I see…" Rihan's eyes narrowed. "So there is someone else too," he muttered and felt annoyed that she did not give him any details, even if he understood that the dolls would not allow her, "So what if I go berserk and try to kill you again?"

"As your girlfriend, it is my duty to trust in you," she said to which Rihan was not sure if she were honest or just mocking him. "Well, as a girlfriend it is also my duty to help my boy achieve his dreams," she put her hand with the tattoo atop the teapot. As a part-youkai, Rihan could feel that part of her Fear entered the teapot. "But mind you that's all I can do: help. My life will be in your hands, both as my protector and my potential killer."

"You are quite calm for someone whose chances of dying are high," Rihan noted.

"Ever since I was born, my chances of dying were high," Shiori spoke as she continued working on her tea, "When I decided to become Sanmoto Shiori, my lifespan became short. Since then, I did something that probably reduced my lifespan further," she continued speaking as if dying was a trivial matter, "I don't think I will ever reach thirties. Hell, I can count myself lucky if I don't die a teenager." Then she smiled. "At some point, I just stopped caring about it."

_That explains your nonchalant attitude about everything._ "You chose that life yourself."

"And that's why I have no regrets," she said in a tone that radiated honesty.

_As I thought, she doesn't care about her own safety._  Rihan felt quite a bit annoyed by that for some reason.

Once again, he looked inside the room. Rihan did not witness many Tea Ceremonies himself, but he could recognize that she moved her hands and body like she was a master at it. He felt a bit of regret that this was not a real Tea Ceremony where the room, the atmosphere and everything else was set up for the occasion. Even the western clothes she was wearing at the moment, a red T-shirt with a grim reaper and black jeans, did not fit in and ruined the image.

"So, why are you brewing tea?" he asked her. He knew already that this was not normal tea she was making, seeing as every now and then she would use her tattoo to channel Fear into it, but he was unable to understand the reasoning. "Or more exactly, what do you intend to do with it? Drink it and turn into something?"

She put some of the tea into her mouth and nodded. Then she replied to his question. "There is no point in me drinking it," she said and took out a small plastic bottle from her purse. By the looks of it, she was done. "If the need arises, I will have you do it." She spoke while using a tea scoop to move the crimson tea into the bottle.

He did not like the sound of it. "I am  _not_  drinking that."

"If the need arises, we may have no choice."

"What need? Is it me falling under control of that Fear again?" Rihan's eyes narrowed. "From what I heard, Sanmoto's tea makes the ones who drink it fall under their control."

"I am not a control freak like Gorozaemon. My Fear would not turn you into my puppet nor rob you of your identity," Shiori's smile disappeared and her eyes narrowed, "Either way, even when the time comes I will not bother forcing you. What you do, will be your own responsibility." She put the filled bottle into her purse and then put the said purse around her shoulder. "After all, you do have a good reason to be distrustful of me."

_Ugh, she may say that but I definitely made her cranky…_  Rihan sighed at her behavior, but he could not be blamed: at the end of the day, she was a manipulative enemy. "So, what  _is_  the catch then?" Rihan did not let himself turn soft towards her. "If I remember right, you mentioned several times that you don't want me to tell others about your secret." He asked the girl who had just left the hut and stood beside him. "Will it kill me or something?"

She smiled at that part. "Well of course there is a catch, but it won't kill you! For my aid, you will have to make an unbreakable oath to stay silent on the issue." She leaned against the wall just beside him. "At least for a certain amount of time."

"So it is a devil's contract then."

"Oh yes! I  _am_  a Devil after all." Shiori smirked at his comment. "Of course, I am more merciful to you than I should be."

"Because  _girlfriend_  again?"

"It looks like we are at the point when you can read my thoughts."

"When will you stop talking like that?"

"I will stop when you break up with me of course."

_That demand again…_ Rihan sighed and decided to move to a new topic. "So, what kinds of things awaits us at that temple?"

"I have no idea," Shiori said with a shrug, "Usually it is some kind of Tale created by Gorozaemon or some youkai who, for whichever reason, helps him. Seeing as there is no tale on the Internet about a youkai on Nejireme, I take it that it is the later," she turned her eyes at him, "Either way, it is bound to be someone strong. They would not allow all of the Fear collected here to go to waste due to lack of proper guardians. Of course, that guardian will no doubt be accompanied by some weaker youkai."

"That makes sense," Rihan raised his sword and looked at it, "So I guess I will have to deal with it." He found himself smiling at the prospect of fighting a strong enemy. "However, is it alright if you come with us? Even if I keep my cool and don't do something stupid, there are these enemies. I and Ao-Ju can manage, but as far as I know, you are unable to fight."

"How can I help you if I am not there?"

"You'd be more of a bother seeing as we would need to keep  _you_  safe."

Her lips widened into a smile. "So you are worried about me~" As she said those words, Rihan realized he may have just gave her a bone. "If an evil youkai comes to behead me, will you be there to save me then?"

He wanted to ignore her comment, but the vision of someone beheading her made his eyes narrow and his teeth clench. No doubt, he had made a grimace.

And she liked it. "Ohohoho!" She moved from the wall and moved so she would stand right in front of him and look up at his face. "You truly are worried about me, darling!"

Rihan felt his face heat up. "No, I am just worried someone else would kill you." He was painfully aware that he looked and sounded like a tsundere.

"Huhuhuhu…" But she did not reply to those words. Instead, she got closer to him and put her hands around his shoulders. "Is that really so?"

He knew well enough where she wanted to go with this. "Oi oi, what do you think you are doing?"

"Come on now, we did more than this at the lakeside," she said with an alluring smile. Her mentioning this event, which he tried to forget, forced him to remember it vividly. And with that, he remembered how much he enjoyed looking at her, her smell, her skin... everything he tried to not think about.

And he remembered how even back then he did not mind who she was. The same excuse started taking over his mind again, and that was not good.  _No, I can't allow myself to do this again!_

As such, he resisted her attempts to lower his face. "I think it would be better if we stopped this."

"In that case, I shall repeat it: break up with me," she stopped pulling him down, but did not move her hands away, "I will stop flirting, calling myself your girlfriend, calling you darling and all other related things." She tilted her head sideways. "It is just a few words. Say them, and we can put this behind us." Something in her eyes and voice told him that she actually desired for one of them to put an end to it.

_Damn it… you can't make yourself say it, so you want me to say it?_  But she was right: those were easy words to say. And seeing how she was now his enemy and he swore to bring her down, he should find it easy to say it.

Yet, he could not do it. He could not say it, not while his heart still loved and desired her. Even this whole cooperation was nothing more than just an excuse to delay dealing with her, he was well aware of it.

_I should just end this, push her away and go back to Nejireme and then lead others to this place if needed… All this is just a waste of time!_ But even those thoughts were not enough to make him do it.

Seeing that he was not saying anything for over a minute, Shiori started to raise herself onto her toes which reminded him of what was going on.

_Damn it, not again…_  Rihan thought as he closed his eyes, opened his mouth and put his arms around her.  _Once was bad enough, but twice?_

But just when he lowered his head enough that he could feel her breath on his own lips, a loud sound in front of him made both of them turn around.

"I told you, Awashima!" Two people seemed to have dropped from the air and landed in front of them. "There really was a world of Fear here!"

"Yes, yes you were right… all our drinks for this week are on me." Now that the smoke cleared, Rihan and Shiori could see female Awashima and Dohiko. Naturally, it did not take long for those two to notice the couple and grin. "What are you two doing there?"

_You must be kidding me… it is like the gods themselves are trying to stop us._  Rihan felt more annoyed than embarrassed or grateful for being seen and interrupted.

"Tz." Shiori clicked her tongue in the annoyance. But just when she tried to move away, he turned her head away and pushed her lips onto his. "Uhm?" He had his eyes closed but he was certain that she was surprised. But it did not take too long for her to return the kiss.

After getting to feel that sweet, nostalgic sensation for several moments, he let go of her and opened his eyes. Shiori's red face revealed that kissing in public was not something she was confident about.

Then he turned his eyes at the Toono youkai who were rendered speechless. "You… sure do not hold back, do you?" Awashima commented.

"I am not about to let some bad luck stop me," Rihan said and walked to them.

"Hahaha, we know that now!" Awashima and Dohiko both laughed and gave him thumbs up. "But what are you two doing here?" Awashima asked and then looked towards the temple in the distance. "And what the heck is that?" She then pointed at it.

"We were looking for that place," Rihan started explaining with his arms crossed, "If you are here, I am sure you have seen what happened to the humans. Well, the source is inside."

"That's a big temple," Dohiko said while scratching his chin. "Is the owner compensating for something?" He was the second one to make that comment.

"Now it's my turn: what are the two of you doing here?"

"We  _really_  wanted to know where this place was so we searched for it until we found a spot at which it was at its strongest," Awashima explained to him, "And then we cut the Fear like we were entering our village. But we did not expect to see you two making out, that's for sure." Awashima grinned again.

"Friends?" And then Ao-Ju appeared.

"Whoa, another crazy cultist!" Dohiko prepared his fists for a brawl.

_Did you also try to stop us?_  "Calm down, that's Ao-Ju, a youkai born to fight those cultists," Rihan explained before a meaningless fight erupted. "He is an ally."

"Oh, that is convenient." Rihan's guarantee seemed to be enough to both Awashima and Dohiko. "So why is he here and not fighting those guys?"

"I am expanding my business," Ao-Ju said with spread out arms. He and the Toono youkai were quick to accept one another. "A man can't live from just beating up those pitiable fools." Ao-Ju then turned to Rihan and went onto the important topic. "I have seen as much as I could without entering that place."

"I hope you have learned something useful."

"I have not learned much, unfortunately. There are many humans inside, but they all look like they are hypnotized to pray all the time. I have also seen some youkai, but they all look the same." Ao-Ju put his hand under his chin. "I think I have seen them in a book when I was still a human… They look like Yashas I think."

Rihan did not recognize those youkai, but Shiori seemingly had. "Did you say Yashas?"

"Well, I  _think_  they are Yashas."

"They are Yashas…" Shiori seemed concerned. "I know one of those was protecting a shrine but… This is bad…"

"What the hell are you talking about, girl?" Awashima asked the question that was on Rihan's mind.

"One of the  _Shima_  is guarding the shrine." Shiori bit her lip. "There is no doubt about it! I heard they were guarding some of them, so this must be one of them! There is no other reason for Yashas to be here!"

" _Shima_?" Rihan did not understand what she talked about.

"One of the  _Shima_  you say?!" However, Dohiko had a more vivid reaction. "Are you sure about that?"

Awashima also recognized the term. "Oi oi oi, how the hell would you know that?"

Shiori did not reply but just bit a nail on her hand while thinking about something.

"What are the  _Shima_?" Ao-Ju asked them.

"They are the servants of the Koshin," Dohiko explained.

"Servants of the Koshin? But isn't he on our side?"

"Ah yes… sorry, I meant the  _old_  Koshin." Dohiko scratched his head. "The  _Old_  Koshin was an evil and powerful youkai who came from India and proclaimed himself a god and many humans had worshiped him."

"You know that the current one is helping the humans here so I take it you met one of his servants," Awashima joined the explanation, "The four servants of the new Koshin are the  _Shikumon Setsuki_. Well, the  _Shima_  are the same thing, but not as nice and they serve the old Koshin."

"And they are extremely strong," Dohiko spoke again. "And we from Toono do not use this word lightly, mind you. I have not met one, but my father and many others in Toono spoke a lot about them."

"So they are at least as strong as that guy…" Now Ao-Ju had also gotten worried, leaving Rihan alone to his confusion. "So boss…" Ao-Ju looked at him. "Shall we assault the temple or...?"

Shiori turned her head at them, but did not say anything.  _So even she has started hesitating._  "I can't conceive how powerful these  _Shima_  are but looking at you four, I take it they are not to be taken lightly." Rihan voiced his opinion and then turned towards the two youkai from Toono. "It depends: will you two help us?"

When he asked them that, Dohiko and Awashima went from surprised to excited. "Hey now, don't think that, just because we are surprised, that we would turn into cowards," Awashima said to him.

"I for one look forward to seeing if one of the  _Shima_  is worthy of his reputation." Dohiko punched palm of his left hand with his right hand. "If it gets bad, just leave it to me and Awashima. We can handle it ourselves!"

"However…" Dohiko looked at Shiori. "What about this girl… Araya, was it? I hope you are not planning to take a puny human with us. Actually, why is she even here?"

"This occult fan helped me find this place." Rihan tried to explain the situation without revealing her secret. "I don't know how dangerous it will be inside the temple, but I can't just leave her here. So I'd prefer to have her stay close to me."

Awashima smirked. "Oh I am sure you want to keep your woman close to you, but what if she dies?"

_Who knows what Sanmoto Shiori has in her pockets?_  However, he could not say that and had to make an excuse. True, he'd have preferred if she stayed here, but he knew that she would just go to the temple herself. In that case, it was preferable that she was close enough to keep an eye on. "Oh, I am very good at protecting my women. Have no doubt in that." Rihan said while copying Ritsura's and father's trademark smirks. "I don't care if it is a Shima or a Tsuchigumo, anything that tries to touch a friend of mine will get crushed."  _I can't believe I actually said this. And why the hell are you blushing at this?!_

It was a highly embarrassing thing to say, but it had the desired effect on them: "Ooooo…" Dohiko and Awashima said in union. "All of you Nuras sure get all hot stuff when someone tries to touch a girl. I still remember when your father went to attack Hagoromo Gitsune herself for one. And then he went to attack Tsuchigumo for another!" Awashima said and nodded.

"Hm hm…" Dohiko nodded. "This will be good! You Nuras always make a good show in front of the women. I wish I brought popcorn!"

"So, let's go onto the important question," Ao-Ju started, no doubt going to return them back to the more serious topic. "So when are you two going to get marr-"

"NOT YOU AS WELL YOU DAMN, BLUE BASTARD! DON'T YOU DARE FINISH THAT SENTENCE!" While those three were laughing and Shiori was being embarrassed, Rihan took a breath to calm himself down and they announced: "If you have time to crack jokes, let us go and attack this place already and then go aid sis!"

* * *

In middle of the Temple, there stood a large golden skull, the shrine of Sanmoto Gorozaemon. Great amount of Fear, so large that even a human eye could see it as black mist, circled around it.

And there was a ten meters large, blue, demonic statue in front of it, the demon itself resembling an ape and holding a huge mace. The numerous faithful, and even the head priest, shivered whenever their eyes fell on it. They never got used to it so they just gave their best to avoid looking at it.

But only now, that it moved, did the faithful who were in the hall realize that this was no statue: it was a living demon that just never bothered to move and never cared about the insects around him. The horrific aura that radiated from him made everyone scream and run away, and some of them turned insane. At the same time, countless black monkeys and Yashas appeared around him, celebrating his awakening.

His name was Klesa-Mara, although in these lands he was called Bounnoma. He was one of the  _Shima_ , and he was an expert in torturing one's body and mind.

"As you command, Koshin-san! I will crush his body and mind over and over, until he realizes where his only hope lies!" He spoke with a voice that made the entire temple tremble.

He spread his arms, as if praying to his lord and master. "Today is the day when Nura Rihan becomes your Champion, the herald of your glory!"

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- We start the chapter with some light comedy… and putting that collection of books Rihan Jr. bought for Araya to some proper and planned use :P

\- Koshin sure tries to sound like a wise, old man...

\- I can't believe that it was six chapters since the last time we saw Rihan Jr. XD

\- Everyone looking forward to Ritsura Vs. Orochimaru round 2? Well that's a shame because you may need to wait a few chapters to see it :/

\- Three warriors ganging on an old man… is Gen'ei really worth that much attention? Find out in a few chapters!

\- So, everyone who trusted Kurenai raise their hands! I don't know how many fell for it and her betrayal may have had happened too soon since the claims she made, but I still enjoyed subverting the trope where characters in her situation were, without a doubt, innocent while everyone else was a distrustful a-hole

\- Everyone who thought that Ryuzan was not  _Ryuji enough_  raise your hands! Oh, that's quite a few hands, judging by reviews! Here we, for the first time, see Ryuzan lose his cool and turn into a mocking, lying Onmyouji resembling his father. Ryuji was at least honest with his opinions and personality, but Ryuzan hides even those

\- Rihan Jr. continued jumping around from "I want to do X" to "I want to do -X" and back again, that is jumping between what he perceives to be his duty and what he wants to do at a given moment. In this arc, we will explore his psyche deeper while also trying to get an exciting fight

\- And the Toono youkai, who came to Nejireme, make their appearance again

\- We had already seen the four servants of the young Koshin, and this chapter we see the main villain of Rihan's and Shiori's part of the arc: Bounnoma, the first introduced servant of the Old Koshin… and the strongest antagonist in this arc

* * *

**Omakes**

* * *

**Dorothea** : " _RyuRitsuKasha scene was sure very fun too read! XD But Kashaimaru darling, DON'T YOU DARE COME BETWEEN MY RITSURYU!_ "

"Sorry ,sorry…" Ryuzan smiled while apologizing, "In order to apologize, let me read you a RyuRitsu fic I wrote a while ago myself! Now this happens a few weeks in the future… Oh, and it is lemon!"

" _Ryuzan, what are you doing…" Ritsura asked after Ryuzan pulled her into a dark room._

" _Isn't it obvious?" He closed his face to hers. "We finally get some time alone now that your father had gone parading with almost every youkai in this mansion. Now that no small youkai will bother us…"_

" _No…" Ritsura turned her head sideways, breathing heavily. "I am not ready for something like that… I will melt!"_

" _Oh, you will melt in more ways than one…" He softly pushed her downwards onto the floor. "I can't wait anymore…"_

" _Ryuzan…" She spoke while closing her eyes._

" _Ritsura…" He spoke while putting his lips onto hers and his hand onto her-_

"Stop that!" Ryuzan pulled the papers out of Kashaimaru's hands. "What the hell is this anyway?!"

"Oh, that's a Birthday present I wrote for my virgin friend in order to motivate him to make a move on the girl he loves."

"Who the hell writes lemons as Birthday gifts?! Wait, these are not our names..."

"Well, I intended to change the names to you two." Kashaimaru shrugged. "And then send them to both of you. Really, you both need some motivating!"

"You intended to send this to her as well?" It was bad enough that he would have to get it, but if she got and read it... there would be no end to his embarrassment.  _There is only one thing left to do._

"Hey, what are you doing? Stop burning my masterpiece, I have not yet made a copy of that!"

_Good thing this idiot isn't used to writing on computers._

* * *

**Dorothea** : " _Mizuchi and Nurarihyon make such a good yaoi pair. Pity Mizuchi had to be such a confusing bastard with such extravagant ideals . . . . ._  "

" _Oh Mizuchi…" Old man Nurarihyon spoke._

" _Oh Nurarihyon-dono…" Mizuchi spoke as he-_

While he was still there, Ryuzan grabbed papers from Kashaimaru's sister's hands and had torn them apart so she could not continue on.

* * *

**Dorothea** : " _Rikuo - WHERE ARE YOU?!_ "

"You look worried, Rikuo." Shouei commented to Rikuo as the two of them rode on a airplane whose only passengers were the youkai of the Nura Clan.

"Of course I am…" Rikuo replied. "Something is going on Nejireme while my children are there and from what Tsurara says, we can't send anyone to check." Rikuo's teeth clenched. "Damn those Kyushu bastards… their attacks must be quite something to make Tsurara not send anyone to Nejireme." He completely forgot everything about the Shin Sekai after he heard what was going on in Kantou.

"It is not a true attack. By the time we arrive, Tsurara nee-san should have-"

"I know…" Rikuo's eyes narrowed. "I should have listened to Tamazuki. Trying to sort things out with these bastards was a mistake!" Rikuo had fire in his eyes that Shouei only saw eight years ago, when his son got assaulted by Gagoze. "Once I return, I will make Mizuchi regret not accepting my kind offer."


	53. Cleansing the Wicked

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The counterattack had begun. While Ritsura is facing against the assassin from the Hashima Kyushu Clan, Kubinashi is racing against time to save Kejorou. In meantime, Keikain Ryuzan is dealing with one of the traitors of the Gyuki Group…

 

**Chapter 53 – Cleansing the Wicked**

"Ugh…" Kejorou woke up, feeling pain along every part of her body, "What happened?"

When she opened her eyes, she saw that she was in a cave, with several youkai sitting around and looking anxious.

 _Kyushu youkai!_  Kejorou soon realized who they must have been and tried to raise herself up. However, her arms and legs were bound and it felt like something was sapping her Fear, making it hard to move her hair. She looked down and saw that she was inside something that looked like a magic circle.

"Ugh…" She let her chin fall on the ground. "This is terribly humiliating." She was not even worried, just annoyed.

* * *

Ryuzan did not feel nervous at having to face Kurenai. Although she was one of the elite in the Gyuki Group, he already faced her once.

Granted, that did not mean that she showed him all she was capable of. As a matter of fact, since she knew that she would be fighting against Gyuki and his allies, it was unlikely that she fought without holding back.  _Still, just knowing what_   _kind of techniques she uses makes it easier to guess what is coming,_

Kurenai started the technique with more flair than the last time: she held the staff with one hand and turned it around while her other hand's palm faced the staff. The crimson eyes on her blindfold shone, while the Fear around became more malicious.

When the world around him changed, Ryuzan put his hands together, with the index fingers lying on one another and facing forward. He tried dispelling the Fear around him and while there was a small reaction, it was still not enough.  _Of course it wouldn't be anything simple._  He could only watch as the forest around him turned into a deadly swamp with deadly quagmires.

Normally, Ryuzan would play around, if only to practice his skills, but time was of essence and he still did not restore all of the spirit energy he lost in the earlier fights. So he raised one of his gloves and intended to summon a Shikigami when he felt another youkai get close.

Ryuzan immediately turned in the direction where the youkai was, but he saw nothing due to thick mist around the swamp.  _Shit, Kurenai is probably masking his presence._  As if being invisible inside this fog was not enough for the newcomer, this youkai now masked his Fear so it also became harder to pinpoint the youkai's position. Ryuzan now only knew that he was somewhere around him.  _It is a mixed blessing: on one hand I am now aware that I have more than one enemy to deal with, but on the other hand my worry fuels the youkai's Fear._

Ryuzan took a deep breath and concentrated, trying to discard as much of his worry and fear as he could. Even though he was not that good at it, it was something.

 _In any case, I better summon a Shikigami._  Ryuzan raised his hand, and the kanji on his glove started shining.

" _Thy honor, my enemy."_  A voice of a young boy echoed around Ryuzan.  _"Stars shall not stand with you tonight."_  And just like that, the glove became useless.

"What the…" Ryuzan could only look in shock as he realized that he could not summon his Shikigami.

" _It pains me to slay a fellow Onmyouji, it really does,"_  The voice of a boy spoke.  _"But you are aiding the wretched Gyuki whose sword took many lives. I don't know for your reasons, but they do not matter. Anyone cooperating with such wretchedness deserves no mercy."_

Ryuzan tried to protect his body with a barrier rejecting the cold, and he felt his body get warmer.  _Good, only the techniques related to the constellations have become useless._  Having confirmed that he was not powerless, Ryuzan turned his attention to that boy. _An Onmyouji, huh? We should have expected something like that seeing as countless Onmyouji lost their lives on this mountain._

It was a bittersweet feeling for Ryuzan. On one hand, he too did not like the idea of fighting a fellow Onmyouji, especially if there was a chance that his enemy was once a proud soul. But it was an Onmyouji's duty to send all wretched and fallen spirits to the Underworld so he would not hesitate to slay him.

On other hand, he also felt such satisfaction that his mouth widened into a tiny smile.  _I wonder how old he is, and what techniques he is using._   _Watching an old master at work might come in handy._

And with that resolve, Ryuzan prepared for a fight.

* * *

"Why are you here?" Kurenai asked while walking backwards, trying to put as much distance between herself and Ryuzan as she could.

"Are you sure about it?" The one she talked with was a boy, twelve years of age, who sat on a large paper crane that floated in the air. He was albino with no pigments in his skin and with pure, white hair. Even his eyes were unnaturally white. "Would it not be better to just walk up to him and stab him?" His clothes were those of an Onmyouji: white with a long, black hat.

"That would not work." She decided to first answer his question before repeating her own. "My body needs to be relaxed for the technique to work. And even if I could do this, I would not: this boy is sharp and might cut or crush my throat if I get too close." She threw her eyes at the albino Onmyouji once again. "I repeat: why are you here, Asahi?"

This Onmyouji, now a youkai like her, used to be a genius young Onmyouji whose House fell in disfavor with the Imperial Court. In order to clear his honor, he and the rest of his house came to Nejireme, trying to clear it of youkai. Although he and his clan lost, many strong members of the Gyuki Group lost their lives.

"That large, masked youkai asked me to come and aid a youkai lady with a blindfold." The boy did not hide the hatred in his eyes as he gazed upon her. "As much as I hate to answer a request of a youkai who once served Gyuki and as much as I hate to aid a youkai who served Gyuki, I will put that aside until Gyuki and the ones loyal to him are dealt with."

"Well your help is not needed." Kurenai returned her eyes to Ryuzan who moved slowly around, not letting his guard down for even a moment. Kurenai too had to keep her guard up: her technique only masked the landscape and while she could create an illusion of a thick fog, it was no perfect cover. "I have my ways of slaying a target without getting close to them."  _But to do that, I need to terrify him enough to make him lose consciousness._

"Yet your face tells a different story." Asahi stretched his arms. "If a child like me can let go of my pride, so can you." From inside the large sleeves of his robe, many crane-like origamis started flying out. "It is even more so when your eyes fear him more than they feared me when you and I fought centuries ago."

* * *

 _Kino…_  Kubinashi rushed through the forest, running after that youkai in the white yukata.  _Kino…_  He was a youkai of the Nura Clan and a member of Nura Rikuo's Hyaki Yakou. It was his duty to protect Ritsura, he knew that.  _Kino…_  But he still felt like he would have done the same thing over and over again: for some reason he just could not let anything happen to Kejorou. _KINO!_

The youkai in the white yukata was now only around ten meters away from him. Immediately, Kubinashi put some of his strings between his teeth and had his head fly forward. Just like all others who fell victims to Kubinashi's Fear, this youkai also failed to get caught between the strings that Kubinashi set up in little time.

No matter how much Kubinashi wanted to ensure Kejorou's safety, he knew that he should not waste an opportunity to slay one of the clan's enemies. And due to both experience and the fact that this person wanted to murder Kejorou, Kubinashi felt nothing as he watched the enemy get strangled to death.

Then wings, whose feathers seemed to have been made of steam, popped out from his back. The wings started sounding as if they were boiling water. The wings touched one another and an orb of boiling water started forming from them. Realizing what the enemy had planned, Kubinashi let go of his strings and jumped away, barely avoiding the orb of boiling water that flew at him.

 _So he is Crocer._  Kubinashi thought as he gazed upon the enemy who rubbed his neck and coughed. Kubinashi remembered the Keikain Onmyouji describe him as an ancient, foreign and powerful demon.

"So you the infamous Kubinashi about whom Yashagoro talked…" Crocer got to his feet and smirked. "You almost defeated me there so I will commend your strength."

"Should someone who almost died smile like that?" Kubinashi asked while putting another string between his teeth. "Next time I will crush your throat."

"Do as you please," Crocer shrugged, "You will just send me back to Hell after which my summoner will just conjure me again… I take it that the Exorcist told you that you need to slay a certain Sorcerer to get rid of me, right?"

"He did mention something like that, yes." Still, Kubinashi did not pay much attention to the Onmyouji's warnings as his mind was elsewhere at the time.  _So basically he has no reason to fear death. Such enemies are a bother._

"In that case, is it really worth wasting your time with me?" Crocer stretched, "Shouldn't you be hurrying to that woman while I try to hunt you down?"

"You are the one who was supposed to kill her."

"Of course I am, Yashagoro definitely did not order others to kill her just in case. He is too honorable for that," Crocer spoke words that may have confirmed some of Kubinashi's suspicions, "Or maybe he is not. Maybe she is already rotting somewhere in the mud… or maybe she is drowning in the mud, who knows."

"Where is she…" Kubinashi considered torture, but also understood that time might be of essence. However, he was not sure if turning his back on this demon would be a good idea.

Crocer did not reply in any way other than giving him a mysterious smile.

 _I should kill him first._  But just when Kubinashi's head prepared to fly at him, Crocer's wings spread behind him, steam coming out of them.

"If you prioritize your woman's safety over my death, I suggest you to run." Crocer made a dignified, yet wicked, smile. "Fighting an Angel takes a large toll you know." And then the water douched from his wings, but not before Kubinashi used his strings to move himself away and hide behind a large stone. He could hear the ground boil where the water hit. "And let me tell you, if my water burns your feet and arms, you will have trouble moving around. Will you make it, I wonder?"

_He is trying to bait me. If I do start running, you will just attack me!_

"By the way, she sure was gorgeous, and had nice ass and breasts," Crocer spoke again, "Are you sure the ones Yashagoro left behind could resist her feminity? It helps that Yashagoro used his sorcery to seal most of her Fear so she is powerless," Crocer continued speaking while Kubinashi's eyes widened and his fingers stabbed into his palms, "Just imagine her… tears flowing out of her eyes while her throat no longer holds the strength to scream, all while she begs for you to come and save her."

There was no doubt anymore: he had to kill him now and then go and kill everyone else near Kejorou. "YOU BASTARD-" But when he jumped onto the rock, he stared right into Crocer's grinning face.

Crocer immediately grabbed Kubinashi's chin with his left hand and both of Kubinashi's arms with his right. "I lied, the Kyushu are too honorable to even consider doing something like that." Crocer's boiling wings spread in such a manner that they made a dome around them, blocking any hope of escape. "But I am Duke Crocell of the  _Ars Goetia_ , not some lowly follower of a Japanese demon. And I do enjoy boiling people alive and throwing their dying bodies in front of their loved ones." Steam started coming out from Crocell's hands, burning Kubinashi with every passing moment while drops of boiling water started falling onto Kubinashi's body from Crocell's wings. "It is a sick hobby of mine, but what else can a demon do than accept his own wicked nature." And during all that time, Crocell kept up his kind smile.

" _Princeps gloriosissime exercituum, Sancte Michael Archangele._ " A girl's voice echoed around them, speaking words which Kubinashi could not understand. " _Defende nos in proelio adversus principes et potestates._ " Crocell's expression turned from a smile to horror. " _Adversus mundi rectores tenebrarum harum._ " Crocell let go of Kubinashi and flew into the air, turning his attention onto an iron cross, which looked like it was made by an amateur, hurled at him. " _Contra spiritualia nequitiae, in caelestibus!_ "

"Damn ExorciIIIAAAAHHHH!" Crocell burst into flames and started hitting himself with his aquatic wings.

"It worked?!" Whoever the female exorcist was, she was surprised. "Run and save her, leave him to me!"

 _Who is that, the Keikain Onmyouji?_ Kubinashi considered staying and helping, but the graphical words that Crocell gave him made him hesitant of that idea. "Thank you!" Kubinashi said and started running again, leaving another enemy to someone else.

* * *

"Come on now, you two!" Ryuzan shouted into the air while he walked through the illusion of a swamp. "We don't have the whole night, you know!" The fog was no longer thick, suggesting that Kurenai had hidden somewhere and no longer had to rally on it.

 _Of course, it is possible that they are stalling for time… but if I accept that as a fact and try to focus on dispelling the illusion, they would attack when my guard is down._   _But if I let myself get stalled, it might threaten me or Ritsura…_

However, Ryuzan did not need to make a decision, which he realized when he heard the sounds of wings being flapped. He immediately looked around himself and upwards, after which he saw crows flying around, with their entrails and skeleton bones sticking out of them.  _Now we have Zombie Birds as well, huh?_

The birds then flew down at him.  _Somehow I don't think I should let them touch me._  Ryuzan tried to run, but the deadly quagmires, which probably would not result in anything good happening to him even if they were just illusions, made it hard to outrun the birds… not that he would have had much more hope in a normal forest either.

Ryuzan had no choice but to depend on physical barriers, which were more exhausting to make than the other kinds of barriers as the Onmyouji were experts in spiritual barriers, not the ones that protected from physical attacks.

Fortunately, the gloves he used were made so that they could create a barrier around them, so he could use them to hit a bird even if it tried stabbing its beak or claws into him as the physical barrier rejected their attacks.

The problem, however, was that there were too many of them and there was a limit to how much a mere human could do. So eventually, one the birds managed to grab onto his left leg. Ryuzan immediately punched her from himself, but before the bird even fell to the ground, she exploded.

It was far enough that Ryuzan was left unscratched, but he nevertheless understood the true danger around him. He let go of the physical barrier and then put his hands together, as if in prayer.  _Hurry… HURRY!_

Soon, the birds which flew around him exploded, but he managed to create a fire barrier in time, so the spiritual fire did not let much harm come to him. However, the fire was strong and the stronger an attack was, the more spiritual energy was wasted by his barrier.

"I see, so you are a barrier expert, huh?" A voice came from somewhere above Ryuzan. He turned towards the source and saw a boy, dressed in Onmyouji attire, sitting atop a large origami crane which floated in the sky. "That woman said that your Shikigami are dangerous, but I am starting to wonder…"

"And you sure have some ugly Shikigami, kid." Ryuzan wondered what kind of Shikigami they even were. Most summoned Shikigami were based on constellations, a guardian deity or some other celestial spirit, but these crows did not remind him of anything.  _It is possible to turn youkai into Shikigami as well, but these crows lack the darkness that is present in every youkai._  "But they are quite unique." He hoped that showing interest would awaken the enemy's snobbish side.

However, the boy did not fall for his trick. "Yes, they are." He pointed his hand at Ryuzan and then more zombie crows start coming out of it. But they did not do anything else but fly around the boy.

 _Shit, just what am I supposed to do here? Defending won't keep me alive forever!_  Ryuzan took a step backwards, not noticing that one of the vines from a nearby tree moved towards him and grabbed his throat while he was not looking.  _Kurenai! I completely forgot about her!_

He was not sure how far her illusions went, but he intuitively knew that letting the vine, be it real or not, strangle him would not end well for him. If nothing else, he was unable to concentrate and keep his barrier up while his body was trying to reflexively save itself. And once it became clear that Ryuzan was defenseless, the crows started flying towards him.

 _This is just an illusion!_  Ryuzan closed his eyes and concentrated. He was unable to expel the whole area, but dispelling this small part of the illusion might be doable. _Remember body, you are not really being strangled!_

As hard as it was to concentrate in a situation like this, he somehow managed to put in enough effort to make the vine disappear. Without even looking at them, Ryuzan jumped away and evaded another explosion.

But Kurenai was not about to let him take a break: a quagmire appeared in his path and by the time he had stopped, his right leg had stepped into it.  _This is cheating! Ah, calm down… I can do this, just pull the leg out and-_  But just when his leg moved back a few centimeters, hands rose from the quagmire and grabbed it.  _Are you shitting me?_  Furthermore, he could hear birds flapping their wings from afar.  _ARE YOU SHITTING ME!?_

Although the thought crossed his mind, he did not try to dispel this part of the illusion, but just put more force into pulling and saved himself. Once again, he ran to avoid the birds, but this time the boy sent one at his escape route.

 _Oh no, you won't!_  Ryuzan created both a physical and fire barrier in his right hand and just grabbed the bird. He did not know why, but he also concentrated on dispelling any potential illusions in front of him.

The bird exploded, but not before its head turned into paper.

 _I see, so that's how it is!_  Ryuzan threw the burnt paper onto the ground.  _He makes Origami cranes from his paper talismans and then Kurenai masks them with her illusions, making them look like something else._   _What's more, I recognize this technique.  
_

* * *

" _Kashaimaru, practice with me!" Ryuzan, several years ago, challenged his friend and mentor while he was enjoying some morning coffee in a bar in Kyoto._

" _No." Kashaimaru gave a swift answer._

" _I ask again, why not?"_

" _Because I don't like practicing unless I can fight with all I got." Kashaimaru put some more milk into his coffee. "And if I do that to you, you would die from one strike."_

" _But that's exactly what I need: a proper fight." Ryuzan sat in front of him. "I want to have a serious fight with an Onmyouji."_

" _Why would you want to fight an Onmyouji for heaven's sake?" Kashaimaru looked at him as if he were insane. "You are an Onmyouji, you fight youkai! That's what Onmyoudo exists for!"_

" _Yet my father found himself in a situation where he fought against-" Ryuzan then remembered that Gokadoin Tenkai whom his father fought was from Kashaimaru's family. "-a powerful Onmyouji." Ryuzan said and averted his eyes._

_If Kashaimaru was bothered by this, he did not show it. "Yeah, I guess that's true…" Kashaimaru leaned against his seat and looked into the sky. "But still, I don't feel like doing it."_

" _But-"_

" _Oh, then you don't mind me doing it, right?" A female voice came from behind Ryuzan. When he turned around, he saw a pretty, black-haired girl, nineteen years of age, in a black yukata. She had some light make-up on her face, her hair was tied into a pony-tail and she had a white flower attacked to her hair._

" _Well if it isn't Ayame-nee-san." Kashaimaru seemed to know her. When he saw a confused look on Ryuzan's face, he said, "This is Gokadoin Ayame, my dear cousin." He then turned his eyes at Ayame. "This is Keikain Ryuzan, a man who loves women."_

" _Tz." Ayame, who Ryuzan soon realized was a Fujoshi, clicked her tongue but her expression quickly fixed itself. "I overheard that you want to train. Want to give it a try?"_

" _Reject it, Ryu," Kashaimaru warned him, "Seriously, she is crazier than me."_

_Of course, Ryuzan would never reject a training practice with such a cute girl… no matter what her actual age might be.  
_

* * *

" _Ah, it is such nice air in here…" Gokadoin Ayame enjoyed the breeze in the mountains of Kansai where she forced Ryuzan to take her. It was forced because he had to pay all the travelling fees, making him wonder if tourism was the reason she wanted to train with him._

_Ryuzan sat beside her, wondering when they would start their fight._

" _Kashaimaru told me that you are an expert in barriers and Zodiac Summoning." As if she could read his mind, she went to the topic that interested him. "Which reminds me… you are the nephew of the Keikain boss who could summon multiple Shikigami and son of the one who defeated and killed Tenkai, aren't you?"_

" _Yes." Ryuzan nodded and went to ask a question himself. "Since you know what my Onmyoudo is about, may I ask what you are specializing in?"_

" _Elegance!" She answered with one word._

"… _huh?"_

" _I like elegance and techniques that are elegant," she said, fittingly, with an aura of elegance around her. "I especially love flowers, so herbalism is my primary specialty."_

" _Herbalism? Is that really an efficient means of fighting youkai?"_

" _Hmhm." Ayame just winked at him and then took out a deck of paper from her pocket, with some symbols written on them. "But I will use another elegant technique against you." When a strong wind blew and scattered dozens of leaves from a tree, she threw some of the papers into the air. "Watch closely, this is what you will be fighting again!"_

_The pieces of papers started folding themselves, until they turned into Crane-shaped Origami. And then, with speed of a train, they flew at the leaves, each origami ripping apart one of the leaves, until they turned into green dust._

" _Well then…" Ayame raised herself up while Ryuzan wondered if he had any hope. "…let's start!"_

_As he expected, she beat him up on their first fight. Twice a week, they would go to a different mountain in Japan (at his expense of course) and fight one another, with him being defeated every time in the first three weeks._

_After a lot of studying on how her techniques worked, he managed to find a flaw in them and use it against her in the fourth week… a flaw she quickly fixed and defeated him again, although she proclaimed him the victor._

_To this day, he had never defeated her.  
_

* * *

Ryuzan continued his hopeless fight against the Origami.  _Now that I think about it, she did say that it was a technique invented by some genius kid many centuries again. Who would have thought that I would stumble upon him._  Ryuzan avoided a crow which almost grabbed his head, and then used a barrier to deflect the spiritual explosion that came from it.  _They are slower and explode on contact, but otherwise it looked the same. Ayame probably just altered the technique to make it more elegant, as she would call it._  Ryuzan jumped over a quagmire that appeared under his feet before those arms could grab him again.  _I wonder how she would feel about me killing one of her idols._

Having already concluded that Kurenai could not create deadly traps at short intervals, he now had a chance to focus solely on the crows and check if they really were the same.  _Although this approach did not work on Ayame, it might work on him as long as I am careful to not make him realize where the flaw in the technique was._

Two crows were now flying at him, but he did not move or prepare to avoid them. Instead, he prepared his hands for an attack.  _Concentrate and stay focused!_ When the crows were close enough, he grabbed them both and forced his spiritual energy onto them, after which he threw them onto the ground.

They did not explode, which greatly surprised the flying brat. "What the… What did you do?"

Of course, Ryuzan would not make the same mistake and explain the details to his opponent like he did to Ayame. "Nothing, I just killed your little crows."  _So it works… that's a relief._

Ryuzan then ducked to avoid another vine and started running. "I am not falling for the same trick twice, Kurenai!"

"Stop!" The boy, whose pride Ryuzan seemingly hurt, sent more of his origami masked as crows at him.

 _Bring it on!_  Ryuzan did not even grab the other origami, he just hit them with his hands and the crows fell lifeless onto the ground. As expected, the undead Onmyouji kid tried to make some of them explode before his hands touched them, but as long as they were close enough to harm Ryuzan, they were close enough for him to affect them without physical contact, although it required annoyingly more focus.

"Why you…" The child that he was, the undead boy did not take well to humiliation that Ryuzan was bringing to his beloved origami. "Just die already!" The boy threw pieces of paper into the air, which then turned into spikes and descended on Ryuzan.

 _Uh… how am I supposed to defend against this?_  They stabbed into Ryuzan, and even the physical barriers could not do anything more than just slow them down and make them stab less deep than they otherwise would.  _Well, it did save my life._

"GROOOWL!" Something roared behind Ryuzan and when he turned around, he saw an ox-headed spider run at him. The idea that he would die shocked him for long enough to not realize that this was actually Kurenai and that he could have avoided the attack.

The illusion disappeared and Kurenai appeared in front of him, stabbing him into his shoulder and pushing onto a tree. "Asahi, the spikes!"

"H… hai!" The boy, who seemed to have been called Asahi, threw more spikes down, until they floated just under Ryuzan's chin.

"You have lost, Onmyouji." Kurenai said, her mouth showing neither pleasure nor sadness. Asahi, who was now floating behind her, had a smirk on his face however. "Any final words?"

"I don't need them," Ryuzan said with a smile, "Why don't you tell them?"

Both looked confused. "What are you-"

Too late did the two of them notice that the origami, which Ryuzan had supposedly dispelled, silently flew up to them and positioned around all of the fatal points on their bodies: their chest, their back, behind their necks and, the last ones, in front of their very eyes.

 _Checkmate._ And they then exploded, sealing both of their fates.

* * *

"Come on Exorcist, show yourself." She could hear Crocell call to her. Although the tone of his voice was composed, Sakura could feel the malice in his tone. No doubt, he did not take well to her accidentally setting him afire.

 _This was not a good idea…. This was not a good idea at all!_  Sakura thought as she sat on the ground behind a large tree, dressed in a black hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants, which she acquired by compromising the Seventh Commandment on Shima Ryu, although she had a full intention of giving the clothes back. For sneaking around in a dark forest, she needed something dark and she did not bring such clothes with her.

 _Seriously, what was I even thinking?_  Sakura hugged her own knees.  _Even if he possesses the aura of an Akuma, I never dealt with living, breathing Akuma._  She could not imagine herself doing better than the youkai with the floating head, who himself got cornered by this demon. Sakura, who had no combat experience against breathing demons, had no hopes.  _Just what will he do if he finds me? I am a fool, I should have stayed at the resort._

"I am Crocell, a Duke of Hell, the 49th demon of Ars Goetia."Crocell re-introduced himself. "Come on girl, introduce yourself as well."

The fact that this demon was probably Yashagoro's acquaintance worried her as well.  _Yasagoro-san, just what are you? Why are doing this?_

"Alright, maybe I should let your screams introduce you as boiling water burns your skin," Crocell said and started to shower boiling water around the area, hoping to hit the girl who was hiding somewhere nearby.

On the plus side, the exorcism she had used on non-material demons proved to be effective against him. She was more surprised than anyone else by Crocell bursting into flames.  _I can do this… I am not sure how, but I can do this._  A few drops of boiling water fell on her hand, but she bit her lip in order to not scream. Her choice of clothing protected the rest of her body from other small drops.  _I have to banish him back to Hell and find Yashagoro-san._ She stood up to her feet and slapped herself on her cheeks. _Calm down, the Lord shall protect me._  If she was able to make him burst into flames once, then she could do it again.

She had to hold on to that belief.

Sakura took in a deep breath before going into action.  _If I can get close enough to him, I should be able to vanquish him._  She put her hand into the pocket on her sweatshirt and took out her wooden cross. Unlike the makeshift metal one she used earlier, which she built from parts of iron she found at the resort, this one should have a stronger effect on the demon.

Once she put her hands under her sleeves, which she did in order to reduce the chance of boiling water falling directly onto her skin, she started to quietly move around.

Although she was no skilled combatant and the only experience she had was against the youkai that possessed Adashibara, Sakura was good at sneaking around. She did not know how good this demon was at hearing or seeing, but the fact that he did not find her yet made her hopeful.

She stopped moving and hid behind a thick bush, as she noticed that the fallen angel was about to look in her direction. Unlike the tree cover, it was possible to look at him through a bush without putting her face in the open.

"I swear you are the most cowardly exorcist I have met!" Crocell's tone lost all of its delicacy. "I know you are there, I can feel that part of you is terrified of me." The closer he was to her, the thicker was the boiling rain. "Let us make a deal!" Just when Sakura thought of running at him while his back was turned to her, he suddenly turned around. However, it did not look like he noticed her. "For each minute you hide, I will prolong your life for five minutes. Or more exactly, the agony of being cooked alive will last longer the more you hide."

 _What a wicked monster._  The more he talked, the less afraid she felt. She heard many possessed people talk in this manner before she exorcised demons from them and him talking like this made it certain: he was one of those demons who possessed human lives only to ruin them, no doubt about it. She would give him the same treatment she gave to other demons: no mercy.

 _Close enough!_  Sakura ran out of the bushes and towards the fallen angel.

"So you actually attacked me, child," he said and pointed his hand at her, firing streams of water at her from his aquatic wings.

She put her hands in front of her face, leaving only enough opening for her eyes to see in front of her, although she had to keep moving her hands to protect her eyes from the boiling water. Naturally, her clothes could not protect her too much.

 _But what matters is that he is not flying away from me._  Seeing that he really was as arrogant as she expected, she started the prayer. " _We drive you from us, whoever you may be…_ " She spoke in Latin, but she understood what the words meant.

"Oh no you won't!" Once again, rather than do the smart thing and move away, Crocell let his arrogance get the better of him so he flew  _at_  her.

"… _Unclean spirits, all satanic powers…_ " She spoke when his hand went for her throat.

She immediately moved one of her arms down so he ended up grabbing it instead, but the look on his face showed that he was satisfied with this conclusion. "Now, let the boiling begin." Once he said that, steam started coming out of his wings and enveloped her.

Sakura wanted to scream, but she forced herself to endure.  _"…All infernal invaders…_ " She continued while her body burnt.  _This is my cross, endure it._

"Why you…" Realizing that she was too close and would soon finish her prayer, Crocell let go of her hand, probably with intention to flee. But she grabbed his hand, intending to keep him as close as possible. "Let go you-"

"… _All wicked legions, assemblies and sects!_ " With her other hand, she took out her cross and pushed it onto Crocell's chest. " _Behold the cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies!_ "

"NOOOOO!" Crocell shouted, but it was to no avail as white flames enveloped his entire body. "How dare you, you third class exo…"

" _The Lion of the Tribe of Juda hath conquered._ " Sakura pulled the cross away and moved away from the burning angel, even though the fires did not harm her.  _This looks painful…_

"You… I am not done yet!" Crocell shouted, left half of his body having turned into a skull. "The sorcerer who summoned me still lives, and he will summon me again!" Most of his body was now gone. "Next time I see you, my summoner will be with me, and not half of this accursed island away! Then you will see what it means to fight Duke Crocell when he is not at only a fifth of his power!" Now only his hand and voice remained. "Consider it my curse!"

And then the flames were gone.

"Finally…" Sakura sighed and let herself fall onto her knees, after which she allowed herself to screech in pain for having her skin burned. "Hyaaaah-" She bit her lip to keep her voice down, least she attracts another enemy.

 _Sorry Yashagoro-san, I fear I will not be able to meet you today…_  She forced herself onto her feet and started walking back to the resort.  _But in this state, I won't survive if I meet another malicious youkai._

She was weak, this fight confirmed it… but it also confirmed that she was not powerless, which made her feel like she could do more than just stare at others. However, she would still need to get stronger.

* * *

"KINO!" Kubinashi stormed into the cave where the Kyushu youkai were supposed to be hiding, with all the strings in his possession ready for use.

"Oh, Kubinashi." Kejorou greeted him when he entered the cave.

"…huh?" Kubinashi expected many things, but Kejorou standing in middle of the cave with half a dozen youkai on the floor tied with her hair was not one of them.

"You know, I'd be happy if you were not as late in rescuing me as you are late for our dates."

Kubinashi starred at her for a few moments and then started laughing. "I guess I was worrying for nothing."

"Not true, I can't deal with these guys alone." Kejorou pointed her finger at something behind Kubinashi.

"I know." Kubinashi said and continued walking without turning back. Only once he reached her, did he turn around and look at the zombies and Kyushu youkai, led by some fat baby with an old geezer's face, enter the cave. "Up for some action?" Kubinashi asked and prepared his strings.

"Always, comrade." Kejorou smiled and looked at the enemies with him, prepared to fight back to back like they so often did.

* * *

"How…" Asahi spoke as his body lay on the floor, with both of is his arms, a leg and some parts of his flesh strewed around due to multiple close-proximity explosions. "What did you do?"

"I know someone who used a variant of your technique," Ryuzan explained while putting some first aid ribbon around his wounded shoulder, "I found out that it had a flow you see: it was controlled with spiritual energy and if I forced my own spiritual energy into it, I could take control over it from the original owner."

"So what you did was not…" Asahi started and coughed some blood.

"No, I did not dispel them. I merely had them pretend that they were  _dead_." Ryuzan was done with treating his wound and turned his full attention back to Asahi. "And once your back was turned to them… voila! Seriously, using Onmyoudo against an Onmyouji is a  _horrible_  idea." He did not mention that it was easy to fix the flaw, which was what Ayame did when he stole her Origami.

Ryuzan took out a paper talisman with very complex markings on it. "But, let's get back to business. I heard you zombies are practically immortal, so…"

"You… no, wait!" Asahi seemed to recognize the talisman. "Look, I don't care about Gyuki or Sanmoto or whatever! I just came here to-"

"You wanted to get your life back, didn't you?" Ryuzan said and the way Asahi looked at him suggested that he was right. "I thought so… you were too rational and looking at how young you are, you probably just wanted to return the life you lost." Ryuzan guessed and then gave Asahi a stern look. "But that is out of question. Those who choose to lay with the devil must be cleansed."

"No, don't-" Asahi could not finish his plea before Ryuzan used the talisman on him, which resulted in the boy turning into raw Fear and enter the talisman. "Well, now to you dear Kurenai-san…"

Ryuzan threw the talisman into his pocket and turned towards the half-dead woman lying on the ground. Her guts have been torn open, her left arm was missing and the blindfold had burnt away, revealing empty eye sockets there.

"No need to seal me, boy." Kurenai forced a smile onto her lips. "I will not be returning to life once I die."

"Why did you guys do this?" Ryuzan did not feel much regret for killing a traitor who consciously poisoned them under their roof, but he still disliked the idea that Tesshin, whom he came to like, betrayed them. "What is the point?"

"…tell me boy, have you ever hated someone?"

"No, I did not." He shook his head.

"Then you don't know what hate means." Her smile disappeared. "And then you can't know what it feels like to have hate dwell in your heart for centuries and centuries, always waiting for an opportunity that never showed itself…"

"I find that hard to believe."

Kurenai smiled again. "Ha, you are right… there were opportunities… but we wisely let them pass." She coughed some blood. "Our decisions to let each one of them go… they were wise, rational, correct… yet, we felt empty whenever we did it."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean to say is… that no matter how much we tried… no matter how much we wanted…" Her voice shivered as she spoke. "Some of us just could not let it go… it was like a plague, rotting your heart little by little and you could do nothing about it."

"So, how do you feel now that you finally used an opportunity?"

"I feel…" Kurenai smiled. "…free." And with those words, she died.

"What a weak reason to get yourself killed." Ryuzan whispered and turned his back on her body. "But still… Rest in peace."

* * *

He opened his eyes.

"Gyuki-dono, you have recovered sooner than I expected." The Koshin, who sat right beside, greeted him. "And you are calmer than I thought you would be."

"Koshin-san?" Gyuki looked at his guest. "I did not expect you here."

"You did not expect many things I wager."

"That's true." Gyuki raised himself into a sitting position. "What is the situation?"

"Right to the point, huh? Well, it makes sense." The Koshin shrugged with his shoulders. "Your subordinates are attacking the traitors and your mother while the zombies are assaulting this… house or whatever it is."

"I see…" Gyuki raised himself up and took the sword that was leaning against the wall. "Where are they?"

"As I expected, you won't even take a rest." Koshin's eyes narrowed. "From what I hear, the main fight is taking place near the head traitor's mansion. That's also where your mother is."

"Good," Gyuki said and started walking out, paying no heed to his physical pain. "What will you do, Koshin-san?"

"Now that you have recovered, I will rest a little and then destroy the source of this problem, the Golden Shrine of Sanmoto Gorozaemon. Bounnoma is protecting it so I will need to be at my full strength in order to defeat him." Koshin gave him the answer he needed. "So, have you decided what you will do about your own problem?"

"There are no decisions to be made." Gyuki opened the door and walked out of the room. "There is just resolve to do it." And then he closed the door.

"I am sorry to hear that…" Koshin said in a melanchoholic tone. He thought that the lack of hesitation or emotion in Gyuki was worrisome.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- Kubinashi… his techniques look badass in Manga and Anime format, but in novel format… he is probably the hardest one to write

\- The prayers that Sakura used are actual Exorcism Prayers (or parts of one)

\- I like Ayame… can't believe that I created her because of that omake reply to Dorothea's review XD

\- I know many hoped for something more with Kejorou, but for some reason I found the idea of showing a small Kejorou scene and then, next time we see her, she had somehow gotten herself out of her predicaments and turned five of her captors into hostages. It is like saying that she was never in danger :P

\- I thought this chapter would also be over 10k words long, but it isn't. I am really bad at guessing how long my chapters will end up being…

\- And just as a reminder, there is a new poll up! At the moment, Ao-Ju is the most popular character :P


	54. Bounnoma's Sermon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rihan, Shiori, Ao-Ju, Awashima and Dohiko are invading the Temple where Sanmoto Gorozaemon's Golden Shrine is located. They are well aware that a terrifying guardian protects the shrine, but for Rihan the terror runs deeper than that…

 

**Chapter 54 – Bounnoma's Sermon**

The black and gold temple was swarming with humans, Koshin's demonic monkeys and the demonic Yashas, who looked like oversized humans with wrathful expressions on their faces, spiky manes, wielding various Asian weapons in their hands.

However, the group had no trouble with them. Awashima fought with a great amount of elegance, which made it possible for her to evade many attacks and hit where it hurt the most. Dohiko possessed great strength and agility, so he moved a lot around the halls and took down many enemies at once, almost never falling into the danger of being hit. Rihan just sliced everyone with Nenekirimaru, which killed youkai and only brought pain to the humans. In order to protect the powerless Shiori, Ao-Ju stood beside her and shot at his enemies from afar.

The battle was going easy and Shiori did not like that, not in the slightest.  _You guys better not get full of yourself. Shoumen Kongo likes raising hopes and then crushing them._

The unimpressive battle continued for about ten more minutes and the invaders did not even break a sweat. The monkeys had disappeared, the several Yasha that fought have been killed and most humans have been knocked unconscious. It was a complete victory, just as expected.

"Man, this was boring!" Awashima stated the obvious, "If not for the warming up, I'd call this a waste of our time."

"You can say that again," Dohiko agreed, "I am not saying that I want to overexert myself before facing Bounnoma, but this is really just disappointing."

"While I was still a policeman, my colleagues said that several times," Ao-Ju spoke to the two Toono youkai, "And each time destiny felt like making them regret saying that."

"Now that I think about it, that happened to us as well several times, didn't it Awashima?"

"Yes, you're right." Awashima scratched her ear. "Maybe we should stop saying that."

Rihan sighed at the laidback atmosphere. "Let's get on with it," he said and started to walk.

But then Awashima blocked his way with her weapon. "Wait! There is something I want to ask you," she said and looked at Dohiko who nodded.

"What is it?"

Dohiko was the one to answer: "Your fighting is quite weak compared to your father's."

Shiori could not see Rihan's face, but she noticed that his hand shook for a moment. "So you are saying that I am weaker than Dad," he spoke while Shiori moved forward so she could look at him, "You are not the first one to say that," he said with a weird smile on his face.

"No, we said your  _fighting_  is quite weak," Awashima corrected him, "We are going to be facing Bounnoma so we'd prefer if you did not hold back."

For some reason, Rihan looked agitated, as if he would have preferred if he was called weak. "What do you mean hold back?"

"There is little substance to your Fear," Dohiko started explaining, "You don't use your father's techniques to even half of an extent your father did."

"And none of your mother's Fear," Awashima crossed her arms, "You use  _Meikyou Shisui_  and  _Kyouka Suigetsu_  to some extent, but it is meek. You are mostly depending on your raw strength while barely releasing any of your Nurarihyon's Fear."

"I imagine that those amateurs in your Clan just think you are not as strong as your dad… But we of Toono can see better." Dohiko's eyes narrowed. "You don't like a technique and you know  _exactly_  what you are doing. You are intentionally holding back your Fear, aren't you?"

Rihan clenched his teeth, a gesture which Awashima did not fail to notice. "We won't ask why you are doing it, but know that we all might get killed if you hold back. Keep that in mind." Awashima and Dohiko turned their backs to him and took a step forward. "Well then, let us see what these Shima are made of!" Awashima said, returning to her usual laidback tone.

"Rihan, what-" Shiori started her question, but by just walking away Rihan made it clear that he would not talk about it.  _It is true now that I think about it… there is something off about his strength._

"The boy has his own inner demons." Ao-Ju walked up to her. "If you want to help him, you should get to know all of them."

Shiori nodded to his comment and both of them joined the others on their way to the Golden Shrine.

"By the way girl…" Dohiko looked at her, pulling her away from her thoughts. "What's with that tattoo?"

"Yeah, it looks kind of morbid." Awashima also looked at Shiori from the corner of her eye. "And I can feel some Fear around it… quite strange seeing as you are a human and all."

"Ah…" Shiori's eyes widened when she realized that she still wore a T-shirt so her tattoo was open for everyone to see.  _Idiot… I am such an idiot!_ Since the tattoo practically revealed to others that she was Shiori, this was no good thing.  _What the hell am I going to say?_

"It is a complicated matter and I'd be grateful if you could drop it," Rihan spoke instead of her, "And if I could ask you for a favor, please don't tell anyone about it… if my clan learned just about the tattoo, they could cause trouble for her."

"Wait, is your girlfriend some kind of rival or enemy to Rikuo or your clan? Or someone else?" Dohiko put his fingers under his chin. "It is a convoluted drama of forbidden love maybe?"

"You could say so." Rihan's eyes narrowed. It was clear to her that he himself was not sure what their relationship was, but it seemed like even in this situation he did not want others to find out about her identity. "So please…"

"Come on, lighten up!" Awashima grinned and tapped him on his back. "It is not our concern what goes on with you and your clan, and if you ask us to not push our nose into this, we won't."

"Thank you." Rihan said the words that were on Shiori's mind, although she was not sure if she would have directed them at the Toono youkai or at Rihan.

_In any case, I am an idiot.  
_

* * *

"You are late," Sanmoto Gorozaemon said to the one who landed just behind him. He did not turn around to look at him and instead continued sitting and meditating, which allowed him to use one of his Golden Shrines as his eyes and ears.

"Shut up, it is good I even managed to leave the place.  _That bastard_  tried to stop me just because he felt it would be the right thing to do," Shoumen Kongo said and sat right beside him, "But the boy still did not confront Bounnoma."

"He will now."

"Good, then I came just on time. Let us make him ours, Sanmoto."

* * *

"This must be it," Awashima said when the group reached large wooden gates, colored in black and gold. Two figured were painted on them, facing one another with their backs. One was a man dressed in a yukata and with a skull instead of a head, while the other was a wrathful, six-handed demon.

"These are Sanmoto Gorozaemon and Shoumen Kongo," Shiori recognized the characters, "As the part of this unholy pact between youkai who fancy themselves as gods, Shoumen Kongo's servant protects Goroazemon's shrine behind these gates."

"Thank you for stating the obvious," Dohiko said in an annoyed tone but Shiori did not show signs of care, "So, shall I open them?"

"Yes, please do," Shiori said and moved backwards so she would be the last one in the group. "Let us see what this Bounnoma is made of," she said and looked Rihan into his eyes. The expression on her face made it clear that she was worried.

 _Why are you worried about me?_  He wanted to ask such a question, but he did not. The source of his darkness was related to the youkai she mentioned. That is, she had a good reason to be worried about him.

"Alright guys, prepare yourselves!" Dohiko shouted and started pushing the heavy gates. Rihan felt his body stiffening as the crack appeared. It did not take too long for Dohiko to open them fully.

What ensued was primal fear.

Rihan felt his skin boil, his heart freeze and his bones crack. He felt death itself… and so did the rest.

And then Rihan regained his senses and what he saw was a large monkey-like demon sitting in front of a large, golden skull. His fur was a very dark shade of blue, dark as night, and his eyes and expression showed pure rage. The palm of his left hand was in front of him, as if he was praying, while his right one held a giant, spiky mace.

Rihan looked at the others from corner of his eyes, hoping to take in some of their confidence. But even the veterans like Awashima and Dohiko looked startled just like he was.

Then Shiori walked into his field of vision. "Oh good, I feared someone else would be with him." She looked around the hall. "But when we sum it all up, this is still worse than I expected."

"If you already look unfazed, could you not sound so pessimistic please?" Rihan asked her.  _I mean, even the Toono are afraid._

Shiori smirked and only now did Rihan notice that her hands were shaking. "Unfazed? You jest, my love."

"Since Tsuchigumo I did not feel so much Fear from someone," Dohiko said, "This will be good."

"I don't know… the thing with Tsuchigumo did not end well for us," Awashima added.

"Welcome, visitors." When Bounnoma spoke, the faces the Toono youkai made proved that they were far from courageous. "Please do tell, what brings you here?" The large monkey-like youkai rose up, casting his shadow over them.

"Maybe we should go and come back with more people?" Awashima suggested in a whisper, "I have a bad feeling that this won't end well."

"Idiot, you think he would let us just walk away after we found his super secret shrine?" Dohiko noted.

"Indeed, it might have been too late the moment we opened the gates," Ao-Ju agreed with Dohiko. His mask hid expression so one could not see if he was afraid as the rest, but Rihan wagered that he was.

"It was too late the moment we entered this land's memories." Shiori shook her head. "If we tried to leave sooner, this guy would have left the temple and attacked us."

"The girl is right, your fates have been sealed since the moment you stupidly entered this land's memories." Bounnoma cut into their conversation. "Anyway, it is bad manners to ignore someone," he said something outrageous. "So I ask you again: what bring you here?"

"We are here to throw your ass onto that ugly skull behind you!" Awashima pointed her finger at them.

Bounnoma made a vicious smile that made everyone take a step backwards. "I love your sense of humor." Bounnoma looked around, and then his eyes met Rihan's. "Rihan, son of Rikuo… I prayed for ages to be the one to offer your soul to my lord and master."

Rihan felt like the whole world, besides him and Bounnoma, turn black.  _What the hell is this…?_  Rihan felt an uncomfortable streak of cold fill his body, so cold he wondered how he was still alive.  _Why…_  He felt a need to run away… but even more so, he felt a need to go to Bounnoma and kneel.  _Who the hell is this guy?!_

"Rihan… Rihan!" He heard Shiori shake his shoulder and call to him. "Riha… Ri…h…n…" But her words gradually disappeared, until he could hear her no more. At the same time, he could see a six-handed blue figure appear behind him.

And Bounnoma's words became so loud that they shook every bone in his body. "Welcome to this place, where you shall learn to respect the gifts my Lord offers you." Rihan had to fight his urge to squeal when Bounnoma looked at him with an even greater intensity than before. "I am Bounnoma, one of the Koshin's Shima! I torture one's body and mind… and I will torture  _your_  body and mind until you realize just how pitiable you truly are." Sadistic excitement could be felt from his smile.

Rihan could already feel his skin being peeled off. He could feel his neck twisting, his hearts being squashed, his eyes molting… he could feel all kinds of tortures, as if Bounnoma was in the midst of doing it.

Finally, Rihan broke. "AAAAAHHHH!"

* * *

Everyone was taken aback when Rihan suddenly fell on his knees and started screaming with his hands on his head.

"What the hell is going on with him?" Awashima looked at him in astonishment. "Bounnoma did nothing but… SHIT!"

Awashima put all her Fear in her spear and Dohiko, who came to the same conclusion, put all his Fear into his fists. Both then attacked the air, cutting the Fear between Bounnoma and Rihan. As a result, Rihan stopped screaming but still seemed horrified.

"Rihan…" Shiori kneeled down to him. He looked at her with a horrified stare, showing that he was still affected by whatever Bounnoma did to him. "He won't be able to fight…"

"Tz, he took one of us down while we were not watching," Dohiko noted and then both he, Awashima and Ao-Ju turned all their attention at their smirking enemy, "Still, I would have thought that Rikuo's son would have fared better."

Shiori felt like punching the ape. "He will get better, just you wait!" She was not sure why she said it, but she made herself believe those words while hugging Rihan.

"Doesn't matter, we shall deal with this one before he even musters enough courage to raise his head up," Dohiko said and prepared to run at Bounnoma.

"And just who are you people?" Bounnoma said. Shiori did not fail to notice that he showed no interest in them. "Well, I guess I will have to remove the mosquitoes before I get to business."

"Awashima, he is underestimating us." Dohiko punched one fist with another and Fear started to be released from him.

"Well, he will learn that these mosquitoes can give quite a bite." Awashima smirked while Fear also started to be released from within her, giving her a more demonic atmosphere. "Let's go Dohiko!" She said and ran towards Bounnoma.

"Hai!" Dohiko followed after her while Ao-Ju continued to stand where he was, but with his guns ready to fire.

"Mosquitoes," Bounnoma said in a bored tone and swung his mace with speed that Shiori found amazing. However, with even more amazing agility, Dohiko avoided the mace by jumping far into the air and Awashima avoided it as if she were dancing.

Ao-Ju then pulled his triggers, hitting Bounnoma into his face with explosive bullets and continued shooting as if the pistols were machineguns.

"Are we still mosquitoes, huh?!" Dohiko shouted while still falling towards Bounnoma, whose face was hidden amongst smoke and flames. The Fear he created in his hand was so strong that even Shiori's human eyes could see it.

"Indeed, seems like I was mistaken," Bounnoma said in a calm tone and then, when Dohiko was close enough, his fist came out of the smoke and grabbed Dohiko by his hand, after which he turned around and used him to hit Awashima.

The temple floor got destroyed as Awashima flew through it, until finally hitting a pillar which collapsed onto her.

But Bounnoma did not stop turning around. "Shit!" Shiori's intuition told her what might happen so she grabbed Rihan and pushed him onto the ground. "Ao-Ju, run!"

But she was too late: Bounnoma had already thrown Dohiko who hit right into Ao-Ju, taking both of them into the hallway they came from while Shiori and Rihan were showered with rubble.

"You are not even mosquitoes," Bounnoma said while taking the mace back into his hand and then rested it on his shoulder. "Now, onto the main dish…" After saying those words, Bounnoma looked at Shiori and Rihan.

 _Come out!_  Shiori tried to force the Black Skeleton to appear but, like usual, she rejected to come out in times of actual need.  _Is there no way to fight him?_ Without turning her eyes away from Bounnoma, Shiori spoke to Rihan. "Rihan, can you stand?"  _Can you run?_

"I…" Rihan raised himself up and turned towards Bounnoma. "I… am not sure… if we can win this."

* * *

Dohiko and Awashima, two youkai from the strong Toono Clan, were thrown around by Bounnoma like he was a child and they were his toys. Even Ao-Ju blowing up his face multiple times did not leave as much as a scratch on him.

 _How are we supposed to survive, let alone win?_  Rihan could not even muster strength to take out the sword from its sheath. He remembered all the sensations of torture that he felt a few minutes ago and he felt like running away. And he would have, if he thought there was a chance to flee.

"Rihan, get a hold of yourself!" Shiori shook him by his shoulders. "You need to-"

And then suddenly a wooden pillar flew from the hallway and struck right into Bounnoma. "I am still not done!" Dohiko yelled and stormed back into the hall.

"And neither am I!" Awashima rose from the ground, cleaned some blood from her mouth and ran at him. Rihan felt whole at seeing both of them be alright, but Shiori's worried expression was contagious.

"Arhhh…" Bounnoma sighed and moved the mace away from his shoulder, prepared to use it again.

And then Ao-Ju ran back into the hall and jumped into the air. He pulled the triggers, but did not aim at Bounnoma. Instead, he aimed at the ground around him, causing dust to rise up and block his fields of vision.

Awashima was the first to attack and while Rihan could not see clearly, he could see the two silhouettes fight with Bounnoma trying to hit her while Awashima elegantly avoided his strike and slashed her spear at him. At one moment it looked like he was about to score a hit, but then Ao-Ju shot a bullet at the mace. The mace was thrown a bit backwards, giving Awashima enough time to move away.

In meantime, Dohiko had stopped moving and lowered himself on all fours, releasing Fear in amazing quantities. He was still standing when Ao-Ju ran past him and gave Dohiko thumbs up.

For a moment, Awashima jumped out of the dust cloud, breathing heavily. She threw a look at Rihan, and he could feel something soft in her eyes.

"Awashima's Fear is strengthened by motherly and fatherly feelings," Shiori explained, as if she knew what was on Rihan's mind, "In a way, your current situation is beneficial for her as it might make her feel worried about you to the desired level."

Awashima then turned her attention back Bounnoma, who was no longer hidden inside the cloud, and her Fear rose to the point that even Rihan could feel it from a far away distance.

Ao-Ju was the first to strike: he avoided the swing of Bounnoma's mace by ducking and then jumped up, grabbed Bounnoma by his ear and started shooting right into his mouth. Once again, the scene was hidden behind smoke.

Dohiko finally started moving, and he ran with such speed and power that he destroyed the ground in his path.

" _Perfect Fatherhood, Izanagi_!" Awashima shouted and swung her spear at Bounnoma. Both she and Dohiko hit at the same time, causing an explosion. Although Rihan could not see it, he could clearly hear that they made multiple attacks at Bounnoma.

"Wow…" Even Shiori was impressed, and even hopeful. "Did they get him?"

Dohiko, Awashima and Ao-Ju jumped backwards, to the safe distance away from where Bounnoma stood. "Did we get him?" Dohiko asked, also hopeful.

Awashima raised her now broken spear. "I felt as if I could not cut anything but some of his skin."

"Dammed…" Dohiko looked at his fist, which were bleeding from many places. "What is that guy made of…?"

"Half power, half despair and one hundred percent faith." Bounnoma's voice spoke after which enormous black Fear started pouring out from the smoke, as if there was a pyre of black flames. Everyone in the hall gasped in awe and terror. "It is time to squash some flies!"

At horrifyingly high speed, Bounnoma ran from the cloud. Although for some reason his body had become only twice as large as average human's, he was no less terrifying.

Dohiko moved in front and was the first to engage him. But Bounnoma ducked and avoided his punch, after which he hit Dohiko's legs with his spiked mace. When Dohiko started falling, he grabbed him by his head and pushed into the ground. Then he pulled him up, threw him into the air and hit with his mace. Dohiko flew into the wall and through it, out of the temple.

Without taking a break, he moved at Awashima and hit her with his mace as well, pushing her into the same direction as he did Dohiko.

"My brethren!" He called after which a two dozen Yasha appeared in large the hall. Rihan could feel that their Fear was far above the ones the group fought before. "Keep those pests away from here. But do not kill them, I wish to…" Bounnoma made his sadistic grin again. "… have some quality time with them later."

At his command, the Yashas ran through the hole in the wall.

"Now…" And then Bounnoma returned his gaze at Rihan. While his size increased again and while still having that sadistic grin on his face, he spoke to Rihan: "Let us start the sermon, little boy."

* * *

"Ah… ah…" Rihan felt horrified while looking at Bounnoma.  _How am I… supposed to deal with him… when Awashima and… Dohiko were…_

"Rihan, listen…" Shiori put her hands on his shoulders. "Your grandfather killed his master and the Nura Clan did not lose anyone in the battle against youkai like these and a much stronger one leading them. If someone here can kill him, it is you."

"No… no, I can't…" Rihan shook his head without moving his eyes from Bounnoma who slowly walked towards him.  _I am not nearly as strong as grandfather was… I can't even stand up to my sister…_

"You can… I know you can," Shiori said and let go of him.

He could hear her walk away and wanted to beg her to stay and not leave him alone. But he remembered that she was only a mere human and would die from one hit.

He was alone, facing an enemy he could not hope to stand up to. And worst of all, this was not the first time he felt such a horror: the memories of Gagoze's sadistic treatment of his eight years old self became vivid like never before.

He was so afraid that his left hand moved backwards, as if he hoped that he could catch Shiori's hand. He was at the point that even a human girl felt like decent protection. But of course, Shiori had already moved away.

 _I am done for._  Rihan thought as the enormous Bounnoma got closer and closer, walking with such a slow pace that it was torture for Rihan. The boy took out Nenekirimaru, not because he intended to fight but rather because his own body moved instinctively.  _I don't want this…_

"Stay strong, chief," Ao-Ju appeared between Rihan and Bounnoma, "I know how afraid you are. I felt horrified as well the first time I found myself in a situation when I thought that I would die for sure." Ao-Ju aimed his pistols at Bounnoma, who just seemed annoyed by Ao-Ju's resistance. "I wish I had advice on how to deal with it, but the truth is that there is none as the answer varies from person to person. But you see…" Ao-Ju released his Fear and the aura around him became more terrifying. "…once you manage to stand up to such terror, you will not be as terrified anymore." Ao-Ju took a pose of someone who was preparing to start running. "I will buy you some time, and you try to find a reason to fight."

And then Ao-Ju ran at Bounnoma before Rihan could stop him and tell him to just leave while he still could.

Bounnoma sighed in annoyance and then moved at speed which Rihan's eye could barely follow. He swung his mace even faster, but Ao-Ju fired a bullet at it and used the moment, in which the mace was pushed away, to move behind Bounnoma and shoot him in the back.

Naturally, it did not do any serious damage to Bounnoma who just turned around and swung his mace again. While Bounnoma's face was looking downwards, Ao-Ju created some grenades and threw them into the air. By the time Bounnoma raised his eyes, what he saw was Ao-Ju  _still_  armed with guns. Bounnoma took a step at him, but Ao-Ju fired a bullet into his head.

Bounnoma no doubt expected another harmless attack, but Rihan could see that Ao-Ju put far more Fear into this one than he did before. As a result, Bounnoma's head was pushed away. Due to the timing, the grenades fell onto his neck and exploded.

Rihan did not know how certain Ao-Ju was in his plan, but he himself prayed that he managed to destroy Bounnoma's neck. In any case, Ao-Ju moved at the safe distance from Bounnoma.

"I have had enough of you pests!" Bounnoma shouted and jumped into the air, almost breaking the rooftop. "Vanish, lowly mouse!" Fear collected around Bounnoma's mace, which he then threw towards Ao-Ju.

The blue-clad youkai moved away, but it was pointless: the mace may as well have been a military missile. Once it fell onto the ground, an explosive noise filled the hall, wooden and stone rubble flew in all directions and smoke filled the room. Even Rihan was almost thrown away by the sheer force.

He saw Ao-Ju fall, and then he saw Bounnoma falling at him, his fist raised high. For the first time, Rihan's foot moved, but one step was as far as he could go before the dark-blue ape caused another wave of destruction by punching right into Ao-Ju.

"A… A… Ao…" Rihan wanted to call to him and confirm his survival, but he was too shocked to speak.

"Oh, you are still alive? All three of you sure are enduring." Bounnoma spoke, confirming Ao-Ju's survival. Then he raised Ao-Ju by holding his arms with his own hands. "They say that, for a warrior, the most important is his heart. I disagree: I say it is the hands." After saying that, sounds of cracking bones could be heard, and even Ao-Ju could not hold back from screaming in pain. "Bye bye." And then Bounnoma grabbed Ao-Ju's entire body with his one hand and threw him away.

"Ao-Ju…" when Rihan saw Ao-Ju's falling body, he remembered the moment when this youkai promised to serve him. He remembered anxiety, as well as joy, at hearing that someone wanted to swear his life to him.

And that triggered something in Rihan who took a deep breath and stopped shaking. "You damn ape!" Rihan yelled and ran at Bounnoma.

"Finally." Bounnoma said happily and grabbed the handle of his mace and looked at Rihan with anticipation.

* * *

Shiori's hands shook while she watched Bounnoma deal with Ao-Ju. Although Ao-Ju was a human whom she merely turned into youkai, and even though that youkai pledged his allegiance to someone else, Shiori felt devastated as she would for any other youkai whom she created. She was glad that Ao-Ju merely lost consciousness, but that did not make up for the pain that was caused to him.

And then Rihan started moving towards Bounnoma. Although she wanted him to come and fight, she knew this was not it.  _Rihan, your Fear… don't just run at him!_

Bounnoma did not even use his mace: he just swung his left hand and threw Rihan across the crater he had created earlier. It did no noticeable damage to Rihan's body, but Shiori could guess that Bounnoma's actual goal was to irritate Rihan, not harm him just yet.  _Make him forget about his fears and then remind him in a way that it would feel like a cold shower._  Shiori felt her teeth clenching at that thought.

Bounnoma continued playing with Rihan in that manner,  _softly_  throwing him away and making Rihan more and more irritated, and his attacks more and more rough and wild. Rihan's face shone with anger, while in contrast Bounnoma's face shone with satisfaction.

After five or so minutes, Bounnoma finally used his mace. With it, he hit Rihan and propelled him into the wall, the spikes on the mace causing injuries to him.

 _Damn it… damn it…_  Shiori, who hid behind a pillar, started hitting the said pillar with her right hand.  _Come out Midori! Come out, I will give you whatever you want!_

But the only thing the discarded part of her soul did was laugh at Shiori, the one whom she hated the most, just like how Shiori hated her.

Bounnoma grabbed Rihan, who wildly ran at him, by his head. Then he shoved him into the ground several times after which he threw him at the wall on the other end of the hall. "Do you feel it, Nura Rihan?" Bounnoma shouted at him. "Do you feel how hopeless you are?"

 _Damn it… damn it, damn it, damn it!_ Shiori felt pain in her hand, but she could not stop herself from punching the pillar. She wanted to go out and help him. She wanted to save him… but she was powerless here, and she knew it.  _Why… why did I think that bringing him here was a good idea? What the hell… why did I… why?_  She trusted in him being able to deal with whatever awaited them at this place, but her belief proved wrong.  _Why_? A tear flowed from her eye.

 _It was an idiotic thing for me to think he would be able to deal with whatever was here._  Shiori fell on her knees. Every time Bounnoma did something to Rihan, she felt her heart squeeze.  _I am such an idiot… I must be such an idiot as I still believe in him._  She was not even sure where hope and trust ended and delusion started.

"Ah, I came just in time!" Someone said behind her.

Shiori cleaned her tears, raised herself up and turned around. "Yanagida…" She was surprised to see him here.

"Midori." He spoke her name with a smile, but she could feel malice come out of it. "I see you are still hard at work on sabotaging your honorable ancestor."

"Did you expect anything less?" Shiori's eyes narrowed at the man who now stood beside her and starred at the  _battle_  with satisfaction.

"You tried to bite more than you could chew this time," Yanagida spoke without looking at her, "Not only will one of Sanmoto-sama's plans come to fruition, but you treacherous girl will die."

"You should know better than anyone that Nuras are tough." She forced a smirk on her face, but tried to not look at Bounnoma and Rihan for she was not sure if she would be able to hold her facade while looking at the carnage.

Yanagida turned his face at her and gave her a different kind of smile, one that shone with joy. "So you did not notice  _it_?"

Shiori no longer smiled. "Notice what?"

"Do you really think that the Koshin and his lackeys are the only one playing a role in this show?" Yanagida turned his attention back at Bounnoma and Rihan. "You at least should be able to see it."

"What?" Shiori turned around. When Rihan standing in one place, breathing heavily and bleeding everywhere, entered her field of vision, she turned to stone for a moment. But her worry for what Yanagida said prevailed so she closed her eyes and moved her head towards the Golden Shrine before opening them again.

And then she realized what Yanagida meant. "No…" She could feel a connection between the shrine and Bounnoma. She could feel tremendous power, on level of a  _Kami_ , mixed with Sanmoto's Tale. The two together made a Prophecy and, while gazing at the shrine, she could hear what the Prophecy said:

" _Heroes and Villains come, but the Guardian prevails."_

" _No weapon nor magic can put him down."_

" _No words make him falter, no cunningness fools him."_

" _And none can flee to tell the others of his might."_

" _Horrors are all that awaits those that face him."_

A Prophecy was, unlike popular belief, not prediction of future. Instead, it was a very strong tale that could force destiny to make it happen. It was near impossible to stop it from coming true.

"Do you understand it now, girl?" Yanagida spoke. "The Koshin and Sanmoto-sama put enormous amounts of their Fear to make this  _Tale_  ascend into a  _Prophecy_. As such, if Bounnoma was ever threatened, in any possible way, destiny would force his victory to happen." Yanagida put a hand on her shoulder, which made her shiver. "But it was a waste as it seems like none of you have made him sweat so the Prophecy may never have to force itself upon anyone."

 _No…_  Shiori shook her head in despair.  _This can't be…_  Her hand fell on her purse, where she kept her tea.  _Maybe with this I could… No, even this can't help unless we find a way to defeat Bounnoma himself… just what should I do…?_

* * *

In this hopeless battle, blind hope was all that Rihan had left. The blind hope had become the only thing that allowed him to rise up again and again, no matter how much Bounnoma beat him up.

It was frustrating how powerless he was in front of this enemy.

It was frustrating how he, the son of Nura Rikuo, could do nothing to this youkai.

It was frustrating how he and his attempts to make him pay for what he did to Ao-Ju were fruitless.

And it was especially frustrating to listen to Bounnoma's lecturing. "You are powerless, just accept it already," he said and punched Rihan in the guts with such force that he was thrown into the air. "It is the first step towards salvation."

"Shut up." Rihan coughed some blood. "Shut up."  _Why do you play around like this? Just bring it to an end, like you did with the others._

"Do you remember when you were strong?" While Rihan was still regaining his balance, Bounnoma appeared behind him.

"Was it when you were courageous?" He grabbed Rihan by the head and pushed him into the ground. There were few things as painful as getting one's head pushed into stone like this. "No, courage brought you only pointless hope."

"Was it when you chivalrous?" Bounnoma threw Rihan across half of the hall and then jumped towards him, hitting him with his fist into the guts like he did with Ao-Ju, just with less force. "No, chivalry only let you down."

"Was it love that brought you a sudden influx of strength?" Bounnoma raised Rihan by holding his legs and then punched his body with enough force that Rihan felt like his spine would break. "No, that was never your motivation, was it now?"

"The one thing that ever brought you strength was…" Bounnoma grabbed him by his hand and made him look at the ceiling, where a blue demon with six hands was painted. Rihan did not know him, but he recognized the black monkeys that surrounded him "…Shoumen Kongo's, the Koshin-san's, love. Do you not remember?"

"No…" Rihan closed his eyes, not wanting to listen to his words.

"Do not deny it! You know where your true strength lies!" He then moved Rihan so he would be facing Bounnoma's face. "And yet here you are, pointing your sword at your fellow brother-in-arms. Is that how you honor out master?"

"You are not… my brother." Rihan continued to reject his words.

"Then what are we to you?"Bounnoma grinned. "Why do you go so far to make Koshin-san your enemy?"

"You are evil, that's all the reason I need." Rihan said and looked him right into the eyes. "Besides… it was because of you… it was because of your monkeys that I…" Rihan remembered the member of the Nura Clan whom he sacrificed a few nights ago. "…it was you who made me kill a comrade."

"No, it was not us. You did it yourself." Bounnoma looked like he was on verge of laughing. "Koshin-san gave your power and he cleaned your desire of all the unnecessary noise."

"No, my true desire is not to-"

"What  _is_  your true desire, boy?" Bounnoma let go of Rihan who fell on the ground.

"I just want to be… a hero, like Dad and Grandfather and…" Rihan talked while trying to stand up, but his hand slipped and he fell face down on the ground.

"You want to be a hero, huh?" Bounnoma spoke in an entertained tone of voice. "Then tell me  _one_  pay-off that made it all worth it."

"What… do you mean?"

"Remember  _one_  time when someone you saved smiled because you saved him. But do not think too much about it, a hero who fights for the weak should remember a few immediately."

"One time that… one time that…" For some reason, Rihan's mind went blank.

"Hahahahaha! You don't remember any. Do you? Even if you got some, you did not bother memorizing them!" Bounnoma laughed so loudly that it echoed through the entire hall. "But do you remember all the evils you slew? Do you remember the faces on anguish… the faces of despair that they made… and do you remember the pleasures you felt as they made them?"

"No…" He wanted to deny it, but Bounnoma was right: he did remember it all. "No, I…" He tried to deny it while holding his weight with his hands, but he failed. He could not deny it.

"And now remember the moment you killed that comrade of yours…" Bounnoma knelled towards Rihan. "Even if you later regretted it, at the time you killed him… were you not pleased that you were able to sacrifice one of your own in order to keep fighting in what you desired?"

"No…" Rihan put his hands on his head. "No… no I was not…" Yet he could not say it, and that fact alone made him shake his head left and right. "I am not a-"

"Hate! That's what fuels you! Hate!" Bounnoma rose up and spread his arms. "There are certain kinds of people you hate and you want to see them suffer! You don't want to save anyone! You don't want to make the world a better place! You only want to see those whom you hate suffer!"

"I… I…" Bounnoma was right, that was the conclusion he was forced to come to.

"So accept Koshin-san!" Bounnoma kneeled down to Rihan again. "Accept him, and he will give you both the power and resolve you need to-"

"Do not listen to his deceptions, Rihan!" A girl's voice shouted at him. "He is full of shit, and you know it!"

"Araya-chan…" Rihan recognized her voice and turned his head in the direction of the girl who ran towards him.  _No… if you come too close, he will…_

"Well, if it isn't Sanmoto Shiori herself." For whichever reason, Bounnoma did not try to stop her from running to them.

"Rihan!" She shouted again, put her hand into her purse and took out a plastic bottle containing some crimson liquid. "Drink this!" She then threw the bottle towards Rihan.

"Huh?" Rihan caught it. "This is… the tea?" He remembered the tea she made and how she put it into this bottle.

"You don't really intend to drink it, do you?" Bounnoma spoke in a mocking tone. "That drink is fishy no matter how you look at it… especially coming from someone like her."

"Trust me, Rihan!" Shiori did not give up. "It will help you, I swear."

Rihan's fingers instinctively opened the bottle, but he did not drink it.

"You must jest, Rihan-kun. You are going to just spill it, right?" Bounnoma tried to dissuade him in a calm tone. "After all, she is the very Queen of those you hate."

"Shut up you…" For some reason, Shiori's voice was shaking.

"Are you not?" Bounnoma spoke to her. "Listen Rihan, this girl is only seducing you and turning you into her plaything. Listening to her will make you into what you hate the most."

"What?" Shiori did not take well to his words. "How dare you, of all people, even suggest that-"

"Just how many people suffered due to her games, huh?" Bounnoma cut in and shouted so loud that she could not be heard even if she spoke. "She and her servants create evil, wicked youkai on daily basis. And those youkai cause grief and suffering on many!" Bounnoma turned towards Shiori again. "Do you deny it, Sanmoto Shiori?"

"You little…" Shiori clenched her teeth, but could not talk back.

"And she did not even begin! The Koshin-san knows what she plans… he knows that, if left alive, many humans and youkai will lose their lives in near future! He knows that she intends to return Japan to the Age of Superstitions! She desires to make Japan, once again, a place where every human takes existence of supernatural for granted, thus fueling the strength and birth of youkai! If that happens, the world will enter a new Age of Darkness for sure!"

"A new… age of darkness…?" Rihan found those words of his easy to believe. After all, she felt like a kind of person who would want something like that.  _No, maybe I am just wrong and-_

"Sanmoto Shiori, do you deny it?" Bounnoma asked her for an answer.

"I… do not deny it." And thus, Shiori confirmed the truth in his words.

"Do you see, Rihan-kun?" Bounnoma continued. "She is even admitting it."

"You are the one to accuse!" Shiori did not give up. "It is  _you_  guys who manipulated all those humans into committing carnage."

"No, it was Sanmoto Gorozaemon,  _your_  kin." Bounnoma looked unfazed. "I admit we helped, but it was the humans who accepted Sanmoto's call. You see, Rihan-kun…" Bounnoma turned his attention back to his victim. "The darkness is hiding everywhere and some would say that the world needs a crusader who will make the world pure of evil… And Koshin-san and you will get power to do so!"

"That's not what the Koshin faith is-"

"Do not listen to this  _witch_ , Nura Rihan!" Bounnoma yelled again. "Spill it and accept the Koshin as you master! Then kill her! Kill everything she had created! Kill-"

"Listen to him and you will kill Ao-Ju, like you did your other comrade!" Shiori managed to overshadow his voice by getting closer to Rihan. "If you do as he says, when will it be too late? When you stand upon the corpse of your-AH!"

"Silence!" Bounnoma kicked her away.

For a mere moment, he knew she was right. And before he could start hesitating again, he drank the tea. Rihan only gulped half of it when his body got paralyzed and his vision started to slowly turn white.

"I see you will need more sermons, Rihan-kun." Bounnoma put his left hand in prayer and raised the mace with his right. "I will send Koshin-san's word directly to you to protect you from this devilish woman's corruption." And then he swung the mace. "And when you return to your senses, I will show you that even with her help you are still powerless. The Koshin is the only path you have if you want to become strong."

The world disappeared in front of Rihan's eyes just before the mace reached him.

* * *

With his eyes closed, Rihan waited for the mace to hit him. But no matter how long he waited, nothing came.

Still, he continued to wait without opening his eyes. Although he did not remember when he fell down, he lay on the cold, wet ground.  _Cold, wet ground… what, but the temple was not like this._  When he also felt something small and cold fall on his face, he opened his eyes.

He was no longer in the temple, but somewhere outside. He lay on the ground and looked at the night sky while the snow fell.  _Why am I lying on the snow?_

Although he knew neither what was going on nor where he was, he understood that Bounnoma and his mace were no longer in front of him. For that reason, he felt no hesitation in raising himself up and looking around.

And then Shiori's voice echoed in his head:

" _Remember the warmth of parental love."_

 _What? Shiori, where are you hiding?_ He tried looking for her, but he found someone else.

"Rihan, you sure sleep long!" His father said.

"Did you get a proper rest, dearie?" His mother asked.

"Come here and join us, stupid little brother!" His sister called for him.

All three of them were sitting under a blooming sakura so the landscape was filled with snowflakes and cherry petals. The three of them sat on a blanket, eating sweets and drinking sake and tea. "Ah, right…" Rihan had no idea what kind of dream this was, but he walked up to them and sat down.

"How are you doing, son?" His father asked him while his mother poured him some cold tea. "You look like you lost a brawl with a bear."

"I am fighting some extremely strong youkai." Rihan accepted the cup of his mother's tea. "I am getting beaten up like a ragdoll."

"Haha, I know that feeling." His father laughed. "When I first met Tsuchigumo, he beat me up continuously for what felt like eternity."

"Do not remind me, I actually thought you died back then," Tsurara said and drank some sake while her two kids drank tea, "It really felt like our entire future would disappear that day."

"But it did not," He put his arm around his wife's shoulders, "I defeated him and now I have a wife and two kids. It is a perfect future!"

But even though his father's words felt encouraging, Rihan did not feel persuaded.

"It is alright to be afraid, brother," his sister said, "If you are not afraid of your enemies, you can't get stronger."

"Ritsura is right." Their father nodded. "I am glad I fought someone like Tsuchigumo. He made me realize how weak I was and that I needed to get much stronger if I was to defeat my other enemies." He let go of his wife and stretched his hand to put it on his son's shoulder. "I know you are terrified and I know just how much you are afraid." He spoke with a kind and sympathetic expression. "But remember, you are  _my_  son, a child of the Nura Clan. You have the power to defeat him, no matter who he might be."

"I don't know about that…" Although Rihan said that, he did feel a bit better. He took a sip of the tea and suddenly found himself somewhere else.

" _Remember that you are not alone."_

He could hear Shiori's voice in his head again, but once again could not see her anywhere. Instead, he only saw a street in Ukiyoe as well as several members of the Nura Clan fighting some upstarts who thought of invading Ukiyoe and usurp his father's position.

And Rihan was fighting alongside them. It was a minor fight that happened around two years ago.

"Are you alright, young master?" Kurotabou, who stood beside him, asked.

"Of course I am," Rihan answered like he did back then, "These guys are small fries after all."

"They are, but what about your current enemy?" Kubinashi, who appeared behind Rihan, commented. "How is that fight going?"

"Huh?" Rihan was confused. This was not how the conversation went that time. "Kubinashi, you are not supposed to be here!" Only Kurotabou, Aotabou and a few others fought alongside him back then.

"What are you talking about, young master?" Kejorou, who was also not supposed to be here, said to him. "We are the Nura Clan."

"Even when we are physically separated…" Aotabou crushed one of the enemies and landed in front of him. "Our hearts are always together!"

"Indeed." A youkai whose face was hidden by papers, called Yami, agreed. "We are always there."

"We are the Nura Clan." Shouei landed on top of a large enemy youkai and slew him. "We are the strongest clan because our hearts are always aligned."

"You guys…"

"So do not fear any enemy, Rihan." Nurarihyon said while sitting on top of a ledge and smoking his pipe.

Someone's back touched his "We are always by your side." Ritsura said and he heard her run at someone.

"We are always there, protecting you." His father and mother deflected an enemy attack that almost hit him.

"From this world or another…" He felt hands of some man land on his shoulders. "…we will always be by your side." The unknown man assured him.

"I… see…" was all that the younger Rihan could say to their words.

" _You know what you need to do… What you need to accept."_

When he heard Shiori's words, the scenery changed once again: he had returned to standing under the sakura which bloomed in the middle of snow-filled winter.

But this time his sister was the only one sitting there. "Would you join me for drinks, little brother?" His sister asked him and raised a cup of sake.

"We are underage sister." Rihan said to her without moving from his spot.

"This is a yakuza ceremony, age doesn't matter!" Ritsura complained.

"A yakuza ceremony…" Rihan muttered. "Is this the Sakazuki Exchange?"

The Sakazuki Exchange is a very important ceremony amongst the yakuza, the Nura Clan included. Through it, one would claim servitude or brotherhood to the other person and that way join their yakuza group. To the youkai following yakuza traditions, it was the ceremony that made one an integral part of a Hyaki Yakou and, in extension, the youkai clan in question.

Although Rihan and Ritsura were siblings, it was expected from one to make a fifty-fifty exchange with another. Since Ritsura was the chosen heiress, exchanging sakazuki with her meant that he would accept her right of inheritance and support her for the rest of their lives.

"But this is not a real ceremony," Rihan spoke out, "This is only happening inside my head…"

"We are yakuza, brother. This ceremony is important for us not because of what it means to others, but what it means to us."

"Us? But you are not here," Rihan said and walked to her.

"But you know me well enough, little brother." Ritsura smiled. "You know I'd be happy to exchange sakazuki with you."

_That's right… she did offer it to me in past._

"Come on, why are you standing there?" Ritsura tapped the ground in front of her. "Sit down."

"As you say, sis." Rihan did as she asked. "But what is the point of all this?"

"The point is that you defeat Bounnoma, of course."

"And exchanging some sake would help in that?" Rihan asked while putting his finger on a cup of sake and turning it around.

"Of course not! Sake can only get you drunk." Ritsura shook her head. "It is about rejecting what Bounnoma wants you to be and accepting that you are a member of the Nura Clan."

"And  _that_  will help?"

"Of course it will." His sister smiled. "Remember that above all else, this ceremony is important on the personal level."

"To me, it would represent acceptance of the fact that I am a part of the Nura Clan," he said before she could.

"Exactly!" Ritsura nodded. "No matter how strong he is and no matter how strong you are as an individual, nobody can stand up to the Nura Clan's Fear."

"So what exactly will happen if I drink this?" Rihan tapped on the cup again.

"You will win." Ritsura made a bittersweet face. "However, for reasons I can't understand, I also know that it will cause a short-term memory loss."

"Shiori… I will forget about her." Rihan's eyes narrowed. "That is the price for this."

"I guess so. Is that a problem?"

"No… the price is fair." Rihan shook his head.

"So, will you make a fifty-fifty exchange of sakazuki with me, brother?" Ritsura asked, raising her cup of sakazuki.

Rihan thought about her offer. For some reason, he could feel that what she said was true: if he exchanged sakazuki with her, all his doubts and hesitations would disappear. Drinking the sakazuki would mean that he swore his life to the Nura clan and that all of the decisions he would make would be for the clan. No matter what Bounnoma said to him, nothing could persuade him to turn into someone who would stand against his comrades, family and clan.

And, most of all, he could fight Bounnoma. He might even defeat him.

Rihan took the cup into his hand, which his sister took as a sign of acceptance. "With this, I would offer you to become my brother, not only by blood, but also by oath."

Rihan nodded and raised the cup. "By drinking this, I would confirm our siblinghood. Although we are already family, with this I would confirm that I put my family first. I would become member of the Nura Clan, both by birth and by oath." Rihan's eyes narrowed as he looked at the cup. "By accepting this, for the rest of my life, and after it, I will serve you and the Nura Clan. The Nura Clan will become my sole ambition. I will live to support you and my children will live to support yours." He looked into the air, knowing that Shiori was there somewhere. "All of the clan's enemies will become mine." He turned his eyes back down and looked into his sister's eyes.

He did not say anything more.

He just spread his hand and the sake cup fell on the ground and broke.

"For those reasons, I reject."

* * *

The kick, that Bounnoma gave her, hurt like hell.

Fortunately, Shiori managed to persuade Rihan to drink the tea. If all went as planned, Rihan's weak bond with his clan would have become strong and the tea would force his Fear to grow. Bounnoma would no longer have a way to manipulate Rihan, Rihan would get enough power to battle Bounnoma and, as much as it saddened her, Rihan would lose his memories about her true identity.

When Bounnoma's mace reached Rihan, Nura Rihan would deflect the attack and attack Bounnoma, she was sure of it.

But, when she raised her head, what she saw was Rihan flying through the air, and hitting into a pillar. "No… way…" Rihan had lost and her last glimmer of hope had disappeared.

"Hahaha…" Someone above her laughed and then pushed her head onto the ground with his foot. "You lost, bitch!" Yanagida laughed. "Do you feel the despair? This is what you get for betraying Sanmoto-sama!" He kicked her head again and again. "We won!"

But Shiori did not care about his words.  _I am sorry Riha-chan… for bringing you here… for failing to help you…_

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- The fight against Bounnoma kinda reminded me of Rikuo's fight against Tsuchigumo… which was even mentioned inside the story XD Although he is not as strong as Tsuchigumo, I do hope that Bounnoma left an impression of someone who is not to be toyed with

\- Rihan and Shiori both are having their fits of despair and both are feeling helpless: Rihan for being unable to stand against Bounnoma and Shiori for bringing him here and not being able to help him

\- And when Shiori did help him, Rihan JUST SPILLED TEH DAMN THING WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING YOU STUPID BOY?! Seriously though, you will need to wait a while to see why he did it and what happens next ;P


	55. The King of Fears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rihan's group was defeated by Shoumen Kongo's servant, Bonnouma, and Rihan is accepting his inner darkness…

**Chapter 55 – The King of Fears**

"How disappointing," Bonnouma said while looking at Rihan who sat, unconscious, under the pillar into which he threw him.

"How utterly disappointing." Bonnouma said when he looked at Shiori, who was now lying on the floor while Yanagida kicked her head and mocked her.

Although he was certain in his victory, Bonnouma was still disappointed that the son of the infamous Nura Rikuo proved to be such a pushover that he did not even get a chance to fight.

In the end, the Fear which his master and Sanmoto Gorozaemon spent to make a Prophecy that would protect Bonnouma from defeat was wasted. That very thought made him want to torture both the boy and the girl who stupidly attacked someone above their league."Brethren!" He called and half a dozen Yasha appeared behind him, holding large swords that looked like butcher's knives. "Play with that boy, but don't kill him."

"With pleasure, Bonnouma-sama," the evil Yashas said with sadistic grins on their faces and then started walking towards the boy.

He himself would deal with Shiori. He expected even more from her than from the boy, seeing as she was the one who thwarted several of his master's ambitions.

* * *

"Why did you do it?" A female voice asked him.

After being hit by Bonnouma's mace, Rihan lost consciousness and returned to the dream-world. He was once again in a snow-filled place at night, with a blooming sakura above him. But this time, he was alone with an image of Shiori.

"Why did you do it?" Shiori, who had a ghostly body that was made of Fear, asked him while sitting on a branch. It was not really her, but rather just a part of her Fear… of more exactly, she was the tea that he drunk.

"I did it because I did not want to accept the consequences of the sakazuki exchange," Rihan answered in a calm tone while resting on the snowy ground.

"Why?" Shiori's eyes narrowed. "You will be tortured by Bonnouma until you break while the rest of us will die. Also, they will use you against your own clan. Was it really worth it?"

"It has nothing to do with worth. My heart simply could not accept it."

"Why?" She yelled. "Explain it to me better!"

Rihan stayed silent for a few moments. He was not sure how he would explain it to her. "Shiori, just want kind of youkai is a Nurarihyon?" He started with a question.

She looked at him as if he asked something pointless, but she gave an answer anyway. "Nurarihyon is a youkai who sneaks into other people's houses."

"Yes, that's what a Nurarihyon originally was." Rihan caught a snowflake that was falling towards his face.  _Those were simpler times, so to say._  "But since then, Nurarihyon became something more. Try again."

"He is a hero who-"

"No, he is not." Rihan shook his head. "I understand that now… he is no hero. Dad is a hero and so is grandfather, but they are heroes because of their human blood. Great-grandfather, the original Nurarihyon, was not a hero." Rihan's eyes narrowed. "No, that is wrong. Let me rephrase it: he was a hero, but he was not a Hero of Justice like dad and grandfather were. In other words, he just cared about those close to him and about having a fun life, but would not actively go and protect the world or something."

"Then only one thing remains." Shiori tried again. "Nurarihyon is the Master of all Youkai."

"Basically, a Nurarihyon is master of a Hyaki Yakou. Nurarihyons are youkai who lead other youkai… in your dictionary that is our tale." Rihan raised himself into a sitting position. "Well, it differs from person to person. The original Nurarihyon would have agreed with your first guess while Dad would agree with the hero claim. But my heart…" Rihan put his hand on his chest. "To me, a Nurarihyon is something like a King. Leading youkai is what, to me, it means to be a Nurarihyon."

"So that is why you rejected the sakazuki exchange?" Shiori asked to which Rihan nodded. "But this was not a 75:25 exchange, but a 50:50 one. That would make you-"

"It would make us siblings sworn by both blood and oath rather than her sworn subordinate, yes. And I could make my own Hyaki Yakou even if I were her subordinate, let alone as her sworn brother." Rihan rubbed his hands. "But it would still make me sworn to her and I already said the reasons why I don't want that."  _By accepting this, for the rest of my life, and after it, I will serve you and the Nura Clan._  "I do not want to serve my sister in any way or some clan, as it would feel like I am going against my own Fear."  _The Nura Clan will become my sole ambition._  "I have my own own ambitions, and I do not want to compromise them for the clan."  _I will live to support you and my children will live to support yours._  "I don't want to live my life only so I could support my sister, nor do I wish for any of my descendants to have such a fate. Gods know, my situation alone is already a heavy burden."  _All of the clan's enemies will become mine... you too Shiori._  Rihan smiled at his own selfishness. "Also, it would formally make me a sworn member of the clan and I…" Rihan's eyes shivered. "I don't want that."

"Why the hell would you not want that?" Shiori still sounded annoyed. "Just what is it that you want anyway?"

"I love my clan, don't misunderstand it… and I love my family. But…" Rihan looked at his hand. "I want to be like my great-grandfather and create something of my own… I want to make a name for myself in the youkai history. I do not want to serve under someone else."

"But you can still do that even if you are a member of the Nura Clan. Clans serve clans after all."

"Look Shiori…" Rihan raised himself to his feet. "If just being a leader was all I wanted, I would have competed with my sister for the leadership of the clan. After all, the heir is chosen either via election by the executives or by the active Supreme Commander, not strictly by being born first." Rihan looked towards Shiori. "But I did not as I always thought that my sister was the more fitting heir. No, even if my sister were not there, I would reject the inheritance because I could never be a worthy leader of that clan."

"Are you belittling yourself again?"

"Belittling? Hahahaha!" Rihan laughed at her guess. "No, I am not worthy because of what kind of person I am. Even if I do envy my sister and how amazing she is, this is not the actual reason."  _If I was a worthy person, I would have accepted the sakazuki exchange._

"What are you talking about?" Shiori looked annoyed. "Why don't you stop beating around the bush and just tell me what the problem is?"

"Remember when Dohiko and Awashima mentioned how I am intentionally trying to not release all of my Nurarihyon Fear?" When Shiori nodded he continued. "The reason is there: my Nurarihyon Fear scares me."

"What? Why would you be-"

"Pssst!" Rihan put a finger on his own lips and called in his Fear. "Stay silent for a while and listen."

Shiori looked at him in confusion, but accepted his suggestion and closed her eyes. Rihan released some of his Fear, which attracted certain voices.

Shiori opened her eyes in shock. "This is-"

"Pssst!" Rihan silenced her again after which the voices got, as his Fear accumulated, progressively louder… the voices belonging to the humans.

" _The Kudan Prophecy is not wrong!"_

" _Nura Rikuo is actually a hero, but it never said he was a villain in the first place."_

" _We had to kill Rikuo so he would not have children."_

" _His child will bring ruin to the world!"_

" _The hero's dark son hahaha!"_

The human voices could be heard everywhere around them, until Rihan pulled back his Fear and they retreated. "They sound so entertained, do they not?"

Shiori looked sad. "They always do."

 _The Kudan Prophecy_ … while for the most of the Nura clan it was a thing of the past, to Rihan it was present and future. The prophecy stated that the country of Japan would be thrown into ruin unless the humans killed Rikuo. The ones responsible for the Prophecy were the Hyaku Monogatari Clan, back then led by someone called Enchou, who used it to rally the humans against Rihan's father as, for obvious reasons, they thought that he would be the one to bring ruin to Japan.

In the end, the Hyaku Monogatari lost and, with help of Saaya's father, over the years that followed his own father proved to the humans that he was in fact no villain. Although some still distrusted him, many humans continued to discuss the prophecy on the Internet and amongst one another. The carnage that happened during the Tokyo Tag was not something the humans would forget so soon.

And when most humans realized that his father was innocent, they started to read the prophecy in a different way. They saw his father's death as something that would stop the future tragedy, and the most popular theory proved to be that Rikuo's child would bring to that future. Obviously, killing Nura Rikuo would have stopped the child's birth and, with it, whatever that child may have caused.

And so, just like how Tales of the Hyaku Monogatari were given birth by human belief and thoughts, Rihan's nature got altered to fit the human imagination. He sometimes wondered if this was Enchou's goal all along.

"I don't hold a grudge against them though, even if I want to oppose their wishes." Rihan smiled. "My sister could have also fallen victim to it, but she did not. If I had to guess, the Kudan's Prophecy would plague our family until it found someone suitable." Rihan's smile widened. "I guess I am, for the same reason for which I rejected the imaginary exchange, the most suitable one. That is, I am too ambitious and not loyal enough. And you see, my heart was happy about it… the very thought that I could be someone that so many humans feared excited me! I would not be the younger brother of the Nura heiress but a famous and feared youkai in his own right! Indeed, I would not have minded if I became a  _Maou_  rather than a hero."

He waited to see if Shiori would say something, but she just silently looked down at him.

"The very fact that my heart desired something like that terrified me." Rihan leaned against the tree with his back. "Dad always said that we are protectors of humans… that it is our clan's duty to keep them safe and happy, that our Fear was to bring awe, not terror. So what was I supposed to think about this part of me?"

"So, what did you do then?"

"I rejected my own Fear, obviously. I did not even release my Fear in fullest because it made me act differently when my Nurarihyon blood boiled." His father's attitude also knew to change depending on his form, but at least he was deep inside the same person. Rihan was not so sure about himself. "I was sure that if I tried enough, I could become a son that my dad wanted… that I would never become someone whom Dad could not accept." Rihan clenched his hands. "So I decided to become a true hero of justice! By keeping in my Fear I became weaker, but that was no problem: the evil I hunted was also weak."

"The Urban Legends you mean?"

"Of course, they were a perfect enemy! Most of them were evil, so I could tell myself that killing them made me a hero. All evils are enemies to my clan, so I could kill them without consequences. They were weak, so there was nothing to fear. And, just like me, they were haunted by the human voices dictating what their Fears were supposed to be so by killing them I could fool myself that I was better than them, that I was able to oppose the human orders." Rihan put a hand across his face. "And I made myself hate them… oh, how easy and delightful it was to torture and kill the ones I hated… even if those individuals never did anything to me nor to someone I knew. Looking back at it, I was really no better than them." Rihan sighed at his own stupidity. "And before I knew it, I got obsessed with it. Sometimes I told myself that it was what a hero was supposed to do, other times I used Gagoze or the Nakano Incident as an excuse. Before I knew it, darkness invaded my heart."

"The Koshin."

"Yes, the Koshin and his damn monkeys." Rihan shook his head. "To be exact, they were there with me since I was a kid, but until Gagoze hurt me, I always rejected them. Well, it was during my stay in the Hanyou Village that I realized what kind of Fear I possessed and in what ways it was different from my father's." It happed through dreams: at first, he had nightmares about Gagoze. But after several weeks a six-handed blue demon came to him, for whom he now knew was the late Shoumen Kongo, came to him to  _save_  him from those dreams, filling his ears with honeyed words and re-assurances that he and _his friend_  would help him to become a true hero.

"Gagoze?"

"Ah yeah, you don't know. Well, forget about it." Rihan shrugged his shoulders. "In any case, a few nights ago I realized that I may not be a hero… today I realized that I may have become even worse than whatever I rejected to become." He looked up at Shiori again and smiled. "All that Bonnouma said was correct… one part of me, the human part, enjoyed suffering I caused, and it still does… I am no hero, I am just a butcher."

Shiori, who said something similar in the past, did not try to dissuade him.

"I rejected my Nurarihyon blood which desired to follow the words of the Kudan. As a result, the human part of me got corrupted by the Koshin, but I rejected him as well by drinking your tea. Hahaha…" Rihan laughed a bit before continuing. "And then you gave me a chance to finally become what I wanted to be, and I rejected that path too. I am such a mess."

"I see…" Shiori finally left the branch and landed in front of him. Rihan could see that the left part of her body, and the entire lower part of her body. The fact that more of her body was quickly disappearing made it clear that she would not stay here for much longer.

"But you must accept something, or it will get worse." Shiori told him but did not wait for his response. "Many years ago, I found out that I was no normal girl and that I, too, could not follow a path of virtue. But unlike you, I did not try to change my ways… instead, I tried to kill myself."

Rihan's eyes widened, but for some reason he could not understand he felt like he already knew this.

"But then someone came to me and said that, even if I was a bad person, that I would be dear to him no matter what happened. Those words did not only save my life, but they also saved me in the future form becoming something I would not want to become." She put her hand on his cheek. "So let me give those words back to you: no matter which choice you make, you will always be dear to me."

And then she disappeared, signifying that the effects of the tea had passed.

"Thank you."

* * *

Rihan returned to the consciousness and the first thing he saw was five Yashas walking towards him.

But no matter how much pain the weapons in their hands promised, he did not pay much attention to them and instead turned his head towards Ao-Ju who was trying to get back onto his feet, but due to broken arms had trouble doing so.  _Ao-Ju, the youkai who swore his life to me… he is a subordinate whom I failed._

His ears could hear the sounds of battle from afar.  _Dohiko and Awashima, two friends of my father who joined my foolish expedition into this place. I brought them here, yet I was unable to help them in any way…_

And finally he turned his eyes towards Shiori whom some blond man held by her hair and whose pretty face was smeared by blood. The fact that Bonnouma walked towards her made it clear that something bad was about to happen.  _The girl who loved me no matter how I treated her and who tried to help me even if it meant that I would become her enemy and forget the love we felt for one another._

He wanted to punch the blond bastard and his annoying smirk.

He wanted to make Bonnouma pay not only for the humiliation he caused upon him, but also for the humiliation he caused to Ao-Ju and his Toono allies.

He wanted to avenge the death of the comrade whom he was manipulated into killing. He could never free himself of this sin, but at least he could try to restore some of his honor.

For those reasons, he raised himself onto his feet and he picked Nenekirimaru up from the ground. The five Yashas, who were now around ten meters away from him, laughed while he tried to regain balance. But, unknown to them, his Nurarihyon blood raged and boiled, trying to break from the shackles he put around it.

" _No matter which choice you make, you will always be dear to me."_  Remembering those words, Fear started pouring from Rihan.  _No matter what kind of person she is and no matter what sins she committed, she was always there for me._  Shiori might have been pure darkness to some, but to him she was a flicker of light.

" _I would betray my own if I followed such a wish."_  He remembered the words that he said to the memory of his great-grandfather when he and Shiori just entered the land of memories.

" _So what?"_  was the answer that his great-grandfather gave him.  _Ah yes… now that I think about it, he always complained about the hero of justice deal._

And so, the rest of the chains he put on himself have been unlocked and his Fear was released in its fullest. And with his Fear, so grew his ambitions and desires.  _I don't know how evil deep inside I am but…_ He looked back at the Yashas who no longer seemed as assured of their strength.  _I know one thing for certain: I have to protect my allies, those who pledged themselves to me and those I love._

Rihan took a deep breath. He could feel all the Fear that was collected in this place.  _Misery, greed, decadence, insanity, passion… how pathetic._  He was certain of one thing now: even under influence of his evil fear, he could not accept what Sanmoto Gorozaemon and Shoumen Kongo did to the humans. He felt anger at how these two dead demons abused the powerless humans and so he wanted to teach them a lesson.

He was sure of one thing now: he still had his honor, which was something he had lost on his quest of vigilance. After quickly disposing of the five Yashas without them even noticing until their heads left their bodies, he turned his full attention to Bonnouma.

He wanted to end it with one strike by beheading him. But just before he ran and jumped, his senses noticed something: a tremendously strong Fear surrounded his enemy. Rihan concentrated and noticed that he could hear words coming from it.

He knew what it was: it was a Prophecy, just like Kudan's. He was not sure what it did and what would trigger it, but he had a bad feeling about it.  _Tz, something needs to be done about this first.  
_

* * *

 _Is this how it ends?_ Shiori had no idea what else she could do to turn the situation around. As usual, Midori did not answer her calls in desperate situations, everyone was taken down by Bonnouma and even if someone with a fighting chance appeared, the Prophecy would protect the Temple's Guardian from defeat.  _Shit, I hoped for a more interesting end to my life._

"Can you just break her bones or something?" Yanagida asked Bonnouma. "Sanmoto-sama would prefer if she were tortured before she died."

"Sure, I can use my Fear to just damage her without causing death." When Bonnouma raised his mace, she closed her eyes.  _Well, losers can't be choosers._

"Good night, little Princess." Yanagida mocked her. "But I fear your sleep will be long and filled with nightmares hehe." Yanagida giggled. "A shame Kyousai is not with us, I am sure he would be able to create many different demons to... court you."

For some reason, Shiori decided to open her eyes and, when she did so, she saw Bonnouma slip and start falling towards them. "What?" Yanagida yelled and jumped away. Since he still held Shiori by her ponytail, she was pulled with him.

"Clumsy are we?" She heard Rihan say and then saw him above Bonnouma. He hit the enormous ape onto the back of his head and buried him into the ground.

"Huh?" Yanagida was surprised just like she was. "But you are supposed to be-" When Rihan landed in front of him, he went silent.

"Hi there." Rihan made a fist which was then enveloped by ice. "Harassing my woman does not make me happy you know." He then punched Yanagida right into his face with such force that he threw him ten meters across the hall.

"You…" Bonnouma muttered behind them and the next moment Shiori felt someone grab her and jump into the air, from where she could see Bonnouma strike at their mirages.

"Sorry it took so long to come and help you, my love." Rihan made a reassuring smile when he landed on the other end of the hall. "But I will deal with this monkey now."

"What? Huh?" Shiori did not know what she should ask him. "Did the tea work?"

"If by that you mean me declaring servitude to my sister, then no." Rihan continued to hold her and once again jumped away, thus avoiding Bonnouma who was now running at their mirages. "By the way, just what kind of evil demon overlady tries to create a hero and have him join her enemies? Seriously, did you even read your job description?"

"Eh?" Due to his behavior, Shiori had trouble trying to stay worried.

"Let me make one thing clear: if I wanted to join my sister's Hykai Yakou, I would have done so a long time ago. And if I wanted to be a loyal member of the Nura Clan, I sure as hell would not have left them alone and come here." Seeing as Bonnouma stopped trying to run at him, Rihan moved away his right hand with which he held his sword. However, he still continued to hold her with his left. "I am not fighting for the Nura Clan here, nor for anyone else. I am fighting solely for myself." Rihan gave her a kind smile. "Your tea helped me remember that, so in that way it worked."

"I am not sure I understand…"

"It does not matter." Rihan looked at Bonnouma again. "I am hungry and so I crave a sandwich. Once I kick his ass, let us buy one."

"Fufufu." His optimism was contagious. "I will gladly eat one, honey." She did not know what happened to him, but she felt like it was still the boy she loved… or more exactly, it felt like he was finally honest. "But can you really defeat him? He kind of… you know… beat you up."

"I will find a way…" Rihan's eyes narrowed as he gazed upon Bonnouma in the distance. "…but there is a certain meddlesome Fear protecting him."

"So you noticed, huh?" Shiori could guess what he meant. "Gorozaemon and the Koshin are protecting him with some kind of Prophecy. It is impossible to kill him or flee."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said: if you come close to defeating him, destiny will do something to make you lose." Shiori's worries started returning to her. "And it also makes it impossible to flee."

"Oh, is that all?" Rihan put a hand on her head. "Well then,  _you_  think of something."

"Huh? Me?"

"Of course." Rihan grabbed her with his left hand and pulled her towards him. "We came together here, and together we will defeat him."

"But-" She tried to complain, but was stopped by a small kiss.

"You will think of something, I am sure." Rihan winked at her and then moved away. "And until you come up with something, I shall play with him."

Shiori wanted to say something, but Bonnouma was faster: "Are you two finally done?"

"Yes, we are." Rihan slashed the air in front of him. "I know you won last time, but would you mind if we had a rematch?"

"Against you…" Bonnouma started and then crossed the entire hall in a second. "…there is nothing that can be called a match!" He finished and swung his mace at Rihan.

Shiori froze for a moment, but the one whom Bonnouma hit was a mere mirage. And the moment after, Fear started pouring from Bonnouma's left shoulder.

"Huh?" Bonnouma was surprised that someone landed a hit on him. "This is…"

"Shiori, would you mind getting the hell out of here?" Rihan reminded her that she was too close to the two of them. "I am sure you can think somewhere else."

"Hai!" She said and started running. Bonnouma did not even pay her any heed as his entire attention was on Rihan whom he finally recognized as a proper enemy.

* * *

"The dog finally learned how to bite I see." Bonnouma looked excited. "But it is not due to Koshin-san's help."

"As if I would actually need help from that stinking master of yours." Rihan mocked him to which Bonnouma replied with a furious storm of swings, all of which Rihan managed to avoid.

"Do not get too full of yourself, fool!"

Although Rihan now had his full attention and had both saved Shiori and told her to find a way around whatever protected this youkai from defeat, he still had no intention to seriously fight him.  _No, I must not fight him seriously. As Shiori said, doing so would bring the wrath of the Prophecy upon me._

He said that they came together to this place and would defeat him together… and the number of people in their little group was three, not including the Toono youkai who were busy somewhere else.

"Ao-Ju!" Rihan landed beside his ally. "How are you doing?"

"Not as good as you, chief." Although Ao-Ju wore a mask, Rihan could somehow feel that he was smiling. "He broke my arms so I don't think I will be useful."

"The arms will heal in time." Rihan tapped his shoulder. "Now tell me, do you still have some energy left?"

"I have a lots of energy but-"

"Perfect." Rihan gave him thumbs up. "I will wear you then?"

"You will what?" Ao-Ju asked, but Rihan did not bother answering and instead started using his technique. "What? What is going on here?" For obvious reasons, Ao-Ju was a bit startled by the fact that his body started turning into black mist and envelop Rihan.

"This is a family technique called Matoi." Rihan told him. "Fear not, we will be fighting as one for a while."

"I am not sure I understand… but alright."

The next moment, an explosion of Fear enveloped Rihan's body and after a few moments he was in a uniform resembling the one that was worn by the Shinsegumi centuries ago, a special police unit that protected the Shogunate in Kyoto. The uniform consisted of a blue haori and hakama worn over a blue yukata. In his left hand he held his sword Nenekirimaru while in his right he held one of Ao-Ju's pistols.

"A Shinsegumi uniform, huh?" Rihan commented when he saw how he looked.

" _Well, I am still a policeman at heart._ "

"So, this is the fabled Matoi." Bonnouma spoke while walking towards them. "This day is getting more and more interesting…" Bonnouma licked his apish lips.

"Ha." Rihan smirked. This was the first time he managed to use Matoi with someone and that made him proud.

Without any kind of warnings, Bonnouma suddenly ran and crossed most of the hall, with his mace already slashing towards Rihan. As it slashed him, and revealed that it was only a mirage, Bonnouma did not stop swinging the mace: he turned around while the mace still moved and slashed at it towards real Rihan.

Rihan shot a bullet at the mace, thus pushing it away just like Ao-Ju did several times before. The difference was that the mace also froze.

But Bonnouma paid that difference no heed: he just hit the ground with it and broke the ice, and then moved at Rihan again. The boy did not waste his Fear to create another mirage and instead just step sideways to avoid an attack from above.

Rather than raise his mace and slash with it, Bonnouma immediately started moving it while it was still in the ground, a feat not hard to achieve for someone with his strength. Rihan just jumped over it, but too late did he realize that Bonnouma moved one of his hands away from the mace and could now use it to grab his enemy.

Rihan instinctively cut at the hand with his Nenekirimaru. Although he only scratched it, Bonnouma's reluctance in front of that sword made him pull back. Rihan used the opening to start putting distance between himself and Bonnouma, all while shooting bullets at his enemy.

" _I'd advise you to stay at the distance, chief._ " Ao-Ju spoke from within him. " _The closer we are to him, the more menacing he is._ "

"Have you forgotten how fast that bastard moves?" Rihan replied to him.

As if confirming Rihan's words, Bonnouma jumped and, after a mere moment, was already above Rihan.

"So, let's try something else." Rihan smirked and moved away from the spot towards which his enemy was falling at. At the moment he landed, Bonnouma immediately rushed at Rihan and started slashing and thrusting his mace without stopping even for a moment or caring that his mace destroyed the ground around them.

Using  _Mekyou Shisui_  and simple evading techniques, Rihan kept himself moderately safe. But, Bonnouma was getting better and better at predicting where he should make his next attack.

But at one point, he made the opening Rihan desired and the boy pulled the trigger.

"AHHHHH!" Bonnouma roared in anguish and grabbed his head while Rihan jumped away at a safe distance.

Then Bonnouma moved his hand away and revealed that there was an ice spike stabbed into his left eye. The entire hall shook as Bonnouma screamed for getting a first serious injury inflicted upon him.

And then the scream turned into laughter. "The paaaain!" The sadistic youkai shouted. "The beautiful paaain!"

As if curious or what happened to Bonnouma, many Yashas and Demon Monkeys stormed into the hall and surrounded Rihan from behind.  _Well, at least Dohiko and Awashima should now have easier time._

" _Chief, I don't think that this was a good idea._ " Ao-Ju noted. " _If you already did that much, why did you not use the opening while he was still holding his head?_ "

"Because we can't defeat him yet." Rihan prepared himself for the attack that was bound to come in a moment. "We will have to wait for Shiori to do her thing first." Rihan put the pistol under his yukata and then raised his sword so it stood in a horizontal direction. "Well, let's use a Nurarihyon Technique unique to me." Rihan spoke while releasing Fear. " _Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Doku!_ "

* * *

Shiori gazed at the battle from the safety of one of the hallways, where she felt the chance to be seen and attacked by Bonnouma was low.

 _Think of something, huh?_  He said like it was the easiest thing for her to do. But finding a way around a Prophetical Tale was no simple thing. Her earlier plan depended on the Nura Clan's Fear overpowering the Prophecy's, but even the chance of that one succeeding was more of a blind optimism than an actual certainty.

She started biting her nails in frustration.  _And just what happened inside of him after he drank the tea? He got stronger certainly, but not in a way I expected him to._  She thought about it both due to curiosity and wondering if the answer to her current problem lay there somewhere.

" _By the way, just what kind of evil demon overlady tries to create a hero and have him join her enemies? Seriously, did you even read your job description?_ " She wondered why he told her something like that.  _Or why did he talk like me being some evil demonic overlady was a good thing?_

" _Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Doku!_ " She heard Rihan shout in the distance and then malicious Fear engulfed the hall.  _What? Did Bonnouma do something again? No, this doesn't feel like him… did Gorozaemon create something again?_

But once she turned around and looked what was going, she realized it was Rihan's Fear. Not his Fear under influence of the Koshin, but Rihan's own Fear. In awe, she gazed for several minutes what happened.

And then her lips spread into a malicious smile and she turned around.  _I see, so that's how it is._  She left the hall and started to walk through the hallway, now knowing what she might do to thwart the Prophetical Tale.  _He is right. It is not befitting an evil demon overlady to push someone out of the abyss and help them find salvation, but to pull them in._  There was one card she kept in her sleeve for last three years and which she could now use.

She put her hand under her shirt and took out her mirror.  _Well then Riha-chan, as per my job description, let me pull you right into the abyss and into my arms.  
_

* * *

 _Meikyou Shisui_  was the basic Nurarihyon technique, allowing them to hide their presence even in plain sight, but there were also techniques derivating from it. One was  _Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Sakura_  which allowed one to turn sake into strong, controllable fire and  _Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Zan_  which further derived from it and was basically the  _Sakura_  variant engulfing a sword.

His great-grandfather also had  _Shin Meikyou Shisui_  which basically strengthened the basic  _Mekyou Shisui_  by making the opponent too frightened to move.

His sister had developed two of her own by mixing her Nurarihyon and Yuki Onna Fears, one which she fittingly called  _Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Yuki_.

But just like his sister, Rihan naturally developed his own variant as well,  _Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Doku_. But due to his reluctance to use his Nurarihyon Fear in its fullest, he rarely used it and when he did, it was to a limited extent. Several days before his father went to the United States, he used it on him during training. He was not sure why he felt a need to do it, maybe he wanted to see how his father would react to it. But, just as expected, his father seemed shaken by it.

In any case, once he used it and his entire Fear engulfed the hall, even Bonnouma went silent. It took only a few moments for the other of Koshin's youkai to start screaming.

"AAAAAHH!"

"What is going on? Where am I?"

"It hurts! It hurts!"

Then, some of them started fleeing from the temple. Others started fighting and killing one another. And some just fell on their knees, weeping.

Even Bonnouma was not left unaffected, as could be seen from his remaining eye shaking and his body shivering. But unlike them, he knew what he had to do: he raised his mace, put all of his Fear into it and swung it, cutting through Rihan's Fear.

However, only he seemed to have gotten better, the others still looked like they were under effects of his technique. "What is going on?" Bonnouma yelled.

"I did not call it  _Doku_  (Poison) just because it sounded fancy, you know." Rihan answered his demand. "My technique spreads like poison and, once inflicted, it stays in one's body, violating all of their senses until they die from the sheer amount of Fear or enough time had gone by… although I do not guarantee that they will stay sane after that time passes." Rihan shrugged his shoulders. "In any case, all you did was stop it from spreading further."

Bonnouma snorted at him and then turned his attention to the youkai behind Rihan. "You are the chosen of Koshin-san!" Bonnouma yelled at them. "Get your act together and attack!"

"Yes, go and attack!" Rihan said and slashed his hand at the air in front of them, releasing more of his Fear at them.

"Yes, attack!" Most of them got back to their senses and ran in his direction. "Attack him!"

"You did not terrify them this time, Rihan-kun." Bonnouma boasted in pride, unable to see the smirk on Rihan's face as the boy was not facing him.

" _Chief, is it really alright if we just stand here?_ " Ao-Ju asked when the horde of Yashas and black monkeys got dangerously close to them.

"Yes, it is fine." Rihan said and then the youkai reached him… and just ran past him.

"What?" Bonnouma was surprised. "What are you doing, brothers?" No doubt, he was even more surprised when his  _brethren_  attacked him.

"Just who do you think I am, Bonnouma?" Rihan asked while turning in Bonnouma's direction. "I am a Nurarihyon, the one who rules over all evil spirits!"  _Well, that is just one mythos about Nurarihyons…_ "And after feeling my Fear from before, they are so terrified that they will attack whomever I tell them to. Most evils are, after all, cowardly."  _And it will take a while for them to regain their senses._

"Basically… they fear me more than they fear your puny god-wanna-be"

* * *

When Shiori opened her eyes, she was in a dark room without doors, illuminated with only a few candles with blue light.

Beside her stood Yanagida who frantically looked around and, in front of them both, an old man in an orange yukata sat on a stool.

"Yanagida and Midori." The old man and the founder of the Shin Sekai, going by the name Onieda Masahide, spoke in disinterest. "Shiori, did you use that mirror of yours again?"

"Yes." Shiori politely bowed to this man who was her enemy.

"The mirror?" Yanagida shouted. "You had the mirror with you?" No doubt he was angry at himself for not checking for it and taking it from her. Just like how Shiori desired to get her hands on the Teapot of the Conquerors, so did Sanmoto Gorozaemon desire to get his hands of the Mirror of Condemnation. After all, those two artifacts were supposed to go one with another.

"Please do not waste our time, Yanagida." Masahide waved his hand at him and turned his attention back to Shiori. "So, what is it that you want this time?"

"I want to add a rule to the game." She immediately demanded.

"You want to add a rule?" Onieda Masahide rested his head on his right hand as he sat. "You can't just add the rules onto a game that had started."

The game, that Onieda Masahide spoke, was the currently on-going Hyaku Monogatari ritual. It was a game played by a hundred humans where each one of them, one after another, would create tales that would then be turned into youkai (although some like Shiori and Gorozaemon could create youkai outside the game as well, but one needed proper resources for that to be possible). The game would go on until ten thousand tales have been told, a hundred for each player, after which Ao-Andon would be born and controlled by the one whose tales accumulated most Fear.

"One of the core rules of the game was that each coalition could make a rule." Shiori continued explaining.

The players were split into four groups which consisted of three coalitions and the non-aligned player. The players inside a coalition were allied with one another and shared the Fear each one of them earned. As a result, the leader of the Coalition would control Ao-Andon and the other members would get something in return from the leader. Also, the leader of each coalition had the right to add their own rule to the game.

"The  _Sunflower Coalition_  made the rule that players can't share the information about the game, nor tales made in it, with outsiders." The Sunflower Coalition was basically the group of Shin Sekai loyalists, led by a member of the Onieda family. Since they were sponsoring the game and made it possible for all the tales to be spread enough to be born, their leader was also the supervisor of the game.

If Shiori wanted to get her way, she had to persuade the supervisor to agree with her… which was no small feat seen as she killed his grandson, the former leader of the Sunflower Coalition and game supervisor, and waged war against his family.

"The  _Skull Coalition_ …" Shiori pointed at Yanagida with her hand. The members of the Skull Coalition were those players loyal to Sanmoto Gorozaemon. "They added a rule that anyone could use Sanmoto Gorozaemon's Fear to enhance their tales under condition that half of the earned Fear goes back to Gorozaemon."

"Then there is the  _Black Mask Coalition_  who added a rule that tales should not only be youkai, but that they could also be events."  _Like the Nakano Incident._

The Black Mask Coalition was created as a balancer so that Sunflowers and Skulls, who were allies, could have someone else to compete against. They were the most brutal of the coalitions and served the game purely as Fear hoarders rather than a group with ambitions. They were also the ones whom Shiori despised the most as they were the ones who were responsible for death of her parents and the Nakano Incident.

But they were no more: after Kuruguya Midori became Sanmoto Shiori, she hunted down and killed every member of this coalition, together with Onieda Masashi. Since the third coalition was necessary for the game to go on, the other two coalitions accepted Shiori's demand to let her found her own coalition.

"Now I, the leader of the  _Rose Coalition_ , demand to use this right in order to add my own rule to the game." Shiori bowed once again.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yanagida, naturally, wanted to stop her from doing this as he knew that she would somehow use it against them in the fight against Bonnouma. "The Black Masks have made a rule and that rule is still being followed. You, who have merely taken their place, do not have the right to add another rule!"

"I agree with Yanagida." Masahide nodded. "You could have requested for their rule to be negated and make your own." He spoke, his tone showing no emotion. "But not only did three years pass without you doing that, but you have also made use of their rule and the tales you prepared for the game depend on it."

"It does not matter." Shiori did not intend to give in just yet. After all, she knew this would not be easy. "The Rose Coalition and the Black Mask Coalition are two different entities."

"Let us repeat one fact, Midori." Onieda Mashide looked annoyed. "You  _replaced_  the Black Mask Coalition. You can  _replace_  their rule."

"Well, if she accepted replacement, I would not mind it." Yanagida smiled and gave her a mocking smirk.

_Of course you would not mind it! You know I need that rule active!_

"If Yanagida is in favor of that option, then I won't mind it," Masahide said, "Alright, even if you made the use of the old rule, I will allow you to replace it."

 _Cunning bastards… but I am not amateur either._ Shiori smiled, which made Yanagida worried. "I see… alright, I will accept it." Masahide's eyebrow rose at her acceptance. "But since this means that I am the inheritor of the Black Mask Coalition rather than a new player, that means that I inherit everything from them, right?" Masahide, who realized where she was going, raised his head and put the hand, on which he rested his head, down on the stool. "After the annihilation of the Black Mask Coalition, the Fear they earned through their brutal undertakings was split between the other players. However…" Shiori spread her arms. "…if you say I inherit them, then you should return that Fear to me."

Yanagida gasped while Masahide's eyebrow shook.

But she was still not done. "Since you used that Fear for three years, often against me, I will demand interest," Shiori smiled, "Onieda Masahide, would you mind calculating how much interest I should get? Oh, and I demand a percentage of all earnings you made by using that Fear." Masahide's both hands dig into the stool. His tendency to treat Fear like a countable resource became a weapon she could use against him. "Or did we get ahead of ourselves and I am an actual new player?"

 _So what will you give me? An extra rule or will you hand me an enormous amount of Fear that will weaken you and strengthen me?_  To Shiori, both outcomes were profitable in their ways and both could be used to defeat the Prophetical Tale in the temple. However, she would prefer the first option, even if only because she hated the very idea of owning anything connected to the Black Masks.

But to these two the second option was unacceptable. "Tell me girl…" Onieda Masahide spoke after calming himself down. "Which rule do you wish to  _add_?"

Shiori's lips spread into a vicious, self-satisfying grin.  _I won._

"And explain why we should accept this new rule." Masahide may have lost the former battle, but he would still look if he could somehow sabotage her. "Although everyone has the right to add one, there are limits and if I, the supervisor, deem that the rule does not fit under those limits, I retain the right to reject it."

 _Round two…_  Obviously, she could not say that she merely wanted to save her boyfriend. However, she was already certain in her victory.

* * *

"Then die you damn heretics! You damn Heathens! Infidels!" Bonnouma shouted and killed many of the youkai who attacked him with one swift strike of his large mace. "How dare you turn against Shoumen Kongo?" He shouted and killed more of them. "Run! Run to the ends of Earth in terror!" However, due to having lost an eye, his precision dropped by a large margin, so he needed more strikes than he previously would to strike them all down.

"It is useless…" Rihan appeared behind him and aimed his pistol at Bonnouma's back. "They are so terrified that they lost their reasoning. They have practically become mindless dolls." Rihan pulled the trigger and an ice spike stabbed into his back, forcing him to fall down.

Rihan backed away while the Yashas hit him on his head with their weapons, spilling Bonnouma's blood in all directions.

"How dare you…" Bonnouma's body shook while he tried to raise himself up, ignoring the attacks from the youkai around him. "How dare you fall under the control of his Fear?" Great amounts of Fear started seeping out of his body. And then his mace turned into a giant sword, but more similar to a butcher's knife than a proper weapon, and he started turning around like a tornado, turning everyone around him into minced meat "Die all of you! Go and beg Koshin-san himself for forgiveness!"

" _Chief, I feel like a tsunami is going to hit into us any moment now,_ " Ao-Ju said the exact thoughts that were on Rihan's mind.

"Die you damn infidel!" Swinging his bladed weapon around, Bonnouma ran at Rihan.

" _Chief, he is cutting the stone as if it were bread_ ," Ao-Ju commented after the bladed weapon cut a stone inside the crater in half, " _In my profession, this would be when we would call a SWAT team._ "

"Unfortunately, we lack a radio to call a SWAT team with." Rihan prepared his body for the fight that was incoming. "And a free SWAT team for the matter."

Bonnouma swung his sword in all directions at incredible speeds, but Rihan was able to avoid most of them with no more than a scratch.

However, the situation was fine as far as Rihan was concerned: Bonnouma was now blind from one eye and that made it easier to deal with him. Moving with high speed while lacking an eye was counter-productive. And after Rihan enraged him, Bonnouma was unable to think rationally so he was slow to getting used to fighting handicapped. Like this, he could keep avoiding him and tiring him out until Shiori came up with something.

But then Bonnouma suddenly stopped moving and Rihan instinctively moved away from him.  _What is going on?_

"Ahhhh…" Bonnouma suddenly relaxed. "Thank you, Koshin-san…" He said and put his hand on his face. "I completely lost myself, but your voice calmed me down." He moved his hand away and looked at Rihan. There was no longer any rage there, only composure.  _Damn it, he's calmed down._

"So this is the potential that Shoumen Kongo saw in you." Bonnouma continued speaking. "And I see that we were wrong… you have two kinds of darkness in you, one ours and one rejecting us. It is a unique situation but…" Bonnouma put down his sword and moved his body in such a way that he looked like he was prepared to run a marathon. "…not one I can't deal with!"

" _Chief! Without a heavy weapon, he will be-_ "  _faster_  was the word that Ao-Ju probably wanted to say, but too late: Bonnouma already reached them.

"First, cleansing of the minor demons." Bonnouma punched his two fists together and then punched Rihan into his guts, literally pushing Ao-Ju out of his body.

"Chief!" Ao-Ju called up to him, but Rihan was too preoccupied by holding his stomach.

"And now, for salvation!" Then Bonnouma grabbed Rihan's head with both of his hands and raised him up so their faces were on the same level. "Let me show you once again where the true path lays!"

* * *

"There, it is done!" Shiori said after she was done writing something on a scroll. She had managed to convince Onieda Masahide to let her have her way and now the only thing she needed was for Rihan to give his approval. She doubted that he would like it, but this was the only option they had left.

She raised herself from the floor and put the folded paper into her purse. "Alright, now to find Rihan." Saying that, she turned around and met someone she hoped to avoid.

"I will not let you." Yanagida stood in front of her in the hallway, holding a knife and having an enraged expression on his face. "We worked too long for this… I can't let you-"

"Be a nice spectator and move away Yanagida." Shiori ordered and put her hand into her purse. "Or Gorozaemon will need to find himself a new bitch."

"Why you…" Yanagida pointed his knife at her. "What can you, a lowly human, possibly do to-"

Shiori took out her gun, which aimed itself where she wanted, and then she pulled the trigger.

"Ah!" Yanagida shouted when a bullet hit his arm, making his knife fall on the floor. "Aaaaah!" He screamed when she shot both of his legs.

"On second thought, why am I delaying it?" Shiori asked and aimed her gun at his head. "I will just kill you here and save myself future trouble."

Yanagida's enraged face was now fully replaced with an expression of fear and he ran backwards, until he reached a fork in the hallway. Just before Shiori pulled her trigger, he ran into it and her bullet missed.

 _Well, it is too early for you to die anyway._ Shiori put her gun back into the purse and ran through the hallway.

* * *

"REMEMBER!" Bonnouma shouted while pouring his Fear into Rihan. "REMEMBER THE WRATH INSIDE YOU! REMEMBER ALL THE HATE!"

"Let go of me, you damn ape!" Rihan shouted back. He could not muster strength to force himself away from Bonnouma's grasp for most of his energy was spent on resisting his Fear.

Although Shiori's tea made him more accepting of his other darkness, the darkness brought in by Koshin was not gone. The hate, wrath and sadism of it were still inside his heart, only quelled.

And now, Bonnouma tried to force it back. "COME BACK TO YOUR SENSES, CRUSADER!" His words echoed through Rihan's head. "REMEMBER! REMEMBER THE EXCITEMENT OF SLASHING YOUR SWORD THROUGH AN ENEMY WHILE THEY SCREAMED IN AGONY!"

"No…" He remembered the sensation… the ecstasy he felt at those times. He remembered the beautiful feeling of stomping the worms… "NO!" He shouted again, forcing himself to remember the disgust he felt at such actions. He forced himself to remember the disgust he felt at killing a comrade and, with it, raised his desire to reject that dark influence.

"DO NOT BE MANIPULATED! THE KOSHIN-SAN KNOWS WHAT IS BEST FOR YOU!" Rihan's head hurt from the loudness of Bonnouma's words. "DO NOT LET THAT RED-HAIRED SUCCUBUS MANIPULATE YOU!"

Remembering Shiori actually made it easier for Rihan. "Hehe…" Rihan laughed. "A pretty red-headed girl or a geezer with blue balls." Rihan smirked when Bonnouma's face contorted with rage. "The choice is obvious."

"DO I NEED TO REMIND YOU?" He shouted at him again. "SHE WILL BRING A NEW AGE OF DARKNESS AND SUPERSTITION."

"Come on, that does not sound so bad! It might even be fun!" Rihan said in full honesty. "Also, your master would DEFINITELY create an even darker and more sinister future."

"FOOL!" Bonnouma pushed his head into the ground. "FOOL!" He raised Rihan's head up and did it again. "RETURN TO THE RIGHT PATH! IT IS YOUR DESTINY!" He yelled when he raised Rihan back up.

"First the Kudan and now a monkey… Why do ugly creatures always tell me what my destiny is supposed to be?"

"REMEMBER YOUR DESIRES! DO YOU NOT DESIRE TO WALK THE PATH OF THE CRUSADER? FOLLOW YOUR DESIRES!"

"Ah yes... that's right! I do remember my desires and my hearts seeks to follow them." Rihan spoke as if he finally gave in, due to which Bonnouma seemed to have calmed down. "But the path of the crusader was not a desire but an obssession. What I desire is something else!"

"YOU-" Rihan put his hands on Bonnouma's and froze them until he caused a spasm. "AH..."

Then Rihan freed himself from his grasp and took Nenekirimaru back into his hands. "One of my desires: kick your sorry ass!" Bounnoma tried to kick Rihan with his leg, but he avoided it and jumped behind the large ape. He then froze the ground around them and kicked Bonnouma at the appropriate place, forcing the large ape to fall onto his back.

But Bonnouma landed on his arms, which stabbed through the ice, and threw himself away. But that did not matter much to Rihan who jumped up and slashed through Bounnoma's back with his sword. "WAAAAH!" The ape screamed as the Fear sipped out of him. Rihan ran towards the spot where Bonnouma was about to land, but stopped himself when he realized that Bonnouma swung his hand at him. _Phew, I almost got grabbed again._

"Just who do you think you are?" Bonnouma looked at him with eyes. "You can't win, the gods forbid it."

"I am a Maou (Demon King), so of course I will win." Rihan said with a smirk. "And worry not, my Queen is going to find a way around that annoying Prophecy of yours."

"She will..." Bonnouma's eyebrows raised when he hard that. Rihan was surprised by this as he expected him to not pay it much heed. "I... see. In other words..." Bonnouma's Fear grew and he prepared to sprint at Rihan. "I see you are beyond salvation. I will send your soul right to Shoumen Kongo."

 _Shit, I am too close to him!_  Rihan remembered how fats Bonnouma could move. Next moment, the large youkai was already in front of him, his fist going towards Rihan's head.

then someone ran past him, hitting his legs in the process. "What?" Bonnouma started falling backwards and then the same figure jumped on his face.

 _Awashima?_  Rihan recognized the woman who was filled with bruises from head to toe. She grabbed Rihan in her path, staking him away from Bonnouma.

"OOOOHHHH!" Dohiko, who jumped above them, shouted before he fell on Bonnouma. With his fists that burned in black flames of raw Fear, Dohiko started hitting Bonnouma right into his wounds. By the time Rihan and Awashima reached the ground, it looked like Dohiko gave Bonnouma a fury of five dozens punches before putting his hands together and giving Bonnouma one last strike, after which Dohiko backed away.

"You are still alive, Rihan." Dohiko greeted him with a smile.

"We thought you would be dead by now or hiding behind a pillar." Awashima said while hugging him. Rihan felt kind of embarrassed for his head resting on something soft. "But it seems like you gave that guy quite a beating."

"I am glad to see that you two are also alive." Rihan smiled and moved away from Awashima's grasp.

"Don't remind me." Awashima sighed. "I actually thought that they would never stop coming."

"And I see that Ao-Ju is also alive and well." Dohiko said when Ao-Ju joined them.

"If we ignore my limpy hands, I am good I guess." Ao-Ju nodded. "Don't expect any help from me however."

But as usual, Bonnouma did not give his enemies time to rest. "Infidels…" He whispered, but the malice in that whisper was strong enough that everyone could hear it. "Dirty… smelly… infidels…" he said in the same tone, making everyone's hair rise up from it.

"Must that guy  _always_  find a way to get scarier?" Dohiko complained, although he and Awashima would probably, like always, be the most composed in front of him.

"I will make you pay…" Bonnouma raised himself up. "Remaining brethren, come here…" He said in a low tone, and the rest of the youkai serving him ran to him, even those who should have still been under influence of Rihan's technique.

"Are they all intending to attack us at once?" Ao-Ju guessed.

"No…" Awashima did not think so. "Something bad is going to happen soon…"

"Offer me…" Bonnouma spoke while breathing heavily. "…YOU FLESH AND BLOOD!" And then Fear started pouring from every part of his body. "OFFER YOURSELF TO THE SERVANT OF THE KOSHIN!" He grabbed two of the Yashas and bit off their heads. It took only two more bites to eat the rest of their bodies, leaving only pools of blood on the ground.

"He is-"

"OFFER YOUR OWN FLESH AND BLOOD TO THE KOSHIN!" Bonnouma yelled and started eating his  _brethren_  left and right, moving as fast as he did when he fought.

"Why are they not resisting?" Ao-Ju said while looking at how everyone just stood there, their hands spread up in the air, as if they truly offered themselves to death.

And with each bite, the Fear around Bonnouma grew. The group could only watch in horror while the ground beneath Bonnouma turned into a lake of blood and meat. "LET YOUR FAITH AND SACRIFICE BECOME MY STRENGTH! MY FEAR! KOSHIN-SAN'S FEAR!" With each youkai he ate, the Fear around him grew thinner, until he looked like he was engulfed in black flames.

"Come on now…" Awashima scratched her head. "He was not even losing! Why is he so quick to make himself even stronger."

Rihan could not help but agree. Bonnouma's power was already high enough, but now the situation is looking near to impossible.  _Again, he just loves making us feel hopeless…_

"Riha-chan!" Rihan heard Shiori's voice and immediately turned towards her. "Come here!" She waved her hand at him.

"I'll return shortly." Rihan told to the others and ran towards Shiori. "You keep him occupied!"

""...are you kidding?"" Awashima and Dohiko yelled at the same time. "Oh no... that guy is now looking at us!"

"You came up with something?" Rihan asked Shiori.

"Form a contract with the Devil." Shiori offered him a folded paper. "The Devil being me of course."

"And the fine print is?" Rihan opened the folded paper and, once he saw how many letters there were, turned back towards Shiori. "Give me the summary of the fine print please? And a pen if you have."

"Of course I have a pen." Shiori took one out of her purse and gave it to him. "Basically, you will keep your mouth shut about me and get to prance around killing Youkai. Oh, and you will be immune to Prophecies and other Tales."

"This one included?" Rihan pointed at Bonnouma who was now running after Dohiko and Awashima, both of whom were in the midst of what looked like a proud  _Strategic Retreat_.

"Of course! As long as it is your sword that cuts him, the whole Guardian Prophecy will not protect him."

"Sweet!" Rihan said and opened the pen.

"You should really read the whole thing first, you know," Shiori warned him, "Or at least look through it. I don't want to be guilty for anything you may regret later on."

"Time is thin so I will accept the consequences of reading it later," Rihan said while a sound of a collapsing building could be heard from behind, "Also… could you not have made this cooler? I mean, a folded paper with horrible handwriting."

"Well forgive me for being in a rush and not using my best hand-writing!" Shiori pouted. " "And just what would you have wanted?" Shiori asked him with an annoyed smile.

"I don't know… something like a fancy scroll where I leave a fingerprint. Or a lady coming from the heavens and-"

"Shut up and just sign the damn thing Rihan!" Shiori hit him on the head. "I will give you a fancy ceremony later on if you want!"

"I will hold you for your word!" Rihan was not sure what their future would be once Bonnouma was dealt with, but he played along. "By the way, since when did I become Rihan and not Riha-chan?" he asked while signing the paper.

"I wonder…" Shiori teased him.

"Okay, it is here!" Rihan handed the paper to her. "So, when will the flash effects start?"

"Huh?" Shiori took the paper. "This is it. There are no flashy special effects."

"…are you serious?" Rihan looked at her in worry. "No sudden surge of power in my body?" She shook her head. "No paper turning into ashes in order to confirm there is no turning back?" Shiori shook her head again. "Just a… signed paper?" Shiori nodded. "I expected more of you. This is so unlike you!"

"I did not have time to prepare, sorry." Shiori shrugged with her shoulders. "Now go and kick his ass, love. And then come and cry on my lap because you are regretting having signed this."

"I will regret this," Rihan sighed and turned around. However, when he looked at Bonnouma, he did not feel as hopeless as he did before.  _I no longer sense any greater force protecting him._  That alone made signing a contract worth it.

After swinging his sword in the air in order to warm himself up, Rihan ran towards Bonnouma who was causing mayhem while fighting Awashima and Dohiko.

 _Time to stop playing around._  Rihan smiled at the thought.

Bonnouma, now looking like a monster engulfed in black flames, slashed his sword towards Dohiko. Dohiko tried to punch him in the face after he left an opening, but he may as well have hit a rock by how unfazed Bonnouma was. Koshin's ape punched the Toono's ape back and then went to slice him in half.

Although Rihan could see that Dohiko was prepared to jump away, he still went to help. And before Bonnouma could react to Rihan's appearance…

"Arhhh!" Bonnouma screamed when his right arm got decapitated. "What is… how can you even-"

"You are not the only one who finally got serious!" Rihan replied and ran at him again. Bonnouma tried to hit him with his left hand, but seemingly eating his  _brethren_  did not return him the full eyesight so not only did he miss, but he also got cut on his chest by Rihan's sword.

Bonnouma, who was fooled into thinking that Rihan was weaker than he really was, became anxious and Rihan could see that he was unsure as to what he should do. The fact that his Fear leaked from his cuts, afflicted by Nenekirimaru, should have also made him more worried.

But just like how Bonnouma never gave them time to take a breath, so did Rihan not waste time in striking at him. He ran back towards Bonnouma who immediately struck at him, but the only thing his fist punched was a mirage. Rihan tried to stab his sword into his chest, but it could not go deep enough to cause any noticeable damage so he just pulled it out and evaded Bonnouma's kick.

"Tz, I will need to go all out on him." Rihan muttered after pulling back from Bonnouma.

"Yo Rihan, where did all this come from?" Dohiko asked him.

"No time to explain." Rihan raised his sword and put one hand on the blade, preparing to use another technique.

"Koshin-san… Gorozaemon… what is the meaning of this?!" Bonnouma yelled in the air. "Why do I not feel your protection? Where did it go?"

 _Tz, he noticed huh?_  Rihan hoped that he would realize it only once he died, but Bonnouma's senses must have been better than that.

And then Bonnouma's eyes fell on Rihan. "You… you have done something… and you are going to do more!" Bonnouma pulled back as well, until he reached his sword. He grabbed it with his left hand and rose into the air, after which the weapon turned back into a giant spiked mace.

"Chief!" Ao-Ju seemed to have noticed something. "He is going to jump and do  _that_  again!"

"Do what?" Awashima and Dohiko were confused and they were not there when he threw his mace and created a crater.

"I will blow you all with this entire temple!" Bonnouma shouted and then collected all of his Fear onto the mace. "Koshin-san, give me strength!" And then he jumped up.

"Dohiko!" Rihan yelled, hoping the Toono youkai would know what he wanted.

"Right!" Dohiko put his hands together and ducked. Seeing as he got the message, Rihan jumped onto the hands after which Dohiko threw him towards Bonnouma.

"Haaaaah!" Rihan yelled and slashed his sword when he got close to Bonnouma. But he did not slash at the youkai: instead, he cut the weapon's handle and continued ascending towards the top of the tower. _Good throw, Dohiko!_

"Now…" Rihan gave Bonnouma a look and a smirk, "…for the main dish!"

* * *

Bonnouma was terrified. Bonnouma had his share of challenging fights, but this was the first time that he was overpowered while giving it his all.

 _Why are you..._  Bonnouma gazed upwards, at Nura Rihan who now stood in front of him, blocking the view on Shoumen Kongo whose image was painted on top of the tower's ceiling.  _Move away! I can't see Shoumen Kongo because of you!_  How could he beg his master for aid when this devil blocked his view?

Then all of the Fear that was collected in the temple from the humans harassed by Sanmoto Gorozaemon flew up.  _Koshin-san! you are answering my prayers!_

But the Fear passed past him and towards Rihan. "What… how… that is not your Fear!"

"Did you forget who I am?" Rihan asked and he conveniently reached the ceiling in such a way that his legs touched Shoumen Kongo's face. "All evil youkai answer to me, as does all malicious Fear! Now let me show you a technique I based on Matoi and the idea that all youkai are made of Fear." He swung his sword and said: " _Shadow Equip_!"

All of the Fear accumulated in the Temple engulfed Rihan's body, just like how Ao-Ju's Fear did a while ago. "I am so lucky we fought here where you fools let all this Fear flow." Rihan told him. "You are so strong that am not sure if I could win if we fought outside or  _anywhere_  else at my current level."

"And this will not be enough now, either!" Bonnouma, who had already started to fall, shouted and collected great amount of Fear in his fist. "Come here Nura Rihan, will you slash my heart or will I crush yours? Let us see!" He would crush his heart, least this devil caused more harm to his master.

"You have already lost…  _Aggressive Fear Mode_!" As he said that, the strength of Rihan's Fear, both his own and the temple's, multiplied.

"Ahh… no…" Bonnouma lost all hope.  _Koooshiiin-saaaaan!_  He prayed, but those prayers no longer gave him hope.

"As the  _King of Fears_ , I issue this…" Rihan, whose hair was now released and not defying gravity, pushed himself away from the ceiling and flew towards the falling Bonnouma. "…ROYAL EXECUTION!"

The Fear from the Prophetical Tale tried to stop the devil, but the boy just cut through it like it was butter. Bonnouma's Fears have come true: something overpowered the power of Shoumen Kongo and Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

Bonnouma thrust his fist towards Rihan's heart, but the devil cut it off with one swing of his sword. "This is for all the pain you caused me!" With another swing he made a large cut over Bonnouma's chest. "This is for Dohiko, Awashima and Ao-Ju!" And then he cut half of his face. "This is for the youkai you ate!" Then he cut the rest of Bonnouma's left arm. "This is for trying to make me into one of your _brothers_." Then he stabbed and slashed a dozen strikes at Bonnouma's entire body. "This is for the comrade you forced me to kill!"

Then Rihan landed on his body, taking a tanto out of his pocket."And all that follows is for all the pointless misery that your two false gods caused." The devil poured all of the Temple's Fear onto those two weapons. "I thought about turning you into minced meat, but doing so would be pointless." He raised his two weapons, ready to use them. "So I will have the humans judge you."

Then he made an X-cut with both of them. " _Reverse Shadow Equip_!" In an instant, the Fear poured from the weapons onto Bonnouma. Since his Fear was too weak to control such vast power, the alien Fear started devouring him.

"Why?" A man cried while holding the body of his dead wife in his arms. "Why are you doing this?" He asked the cultists, but Bonnouma felt like he was asked that question.

_~Bonnouma was one of the Raksasha of India, although his name back then was different~_

"NO! Not the children!" A woman screamed while the sound of butchered meat could be heard. "NOOOOOO!"

_~He was a ferocious warrior~_

"Mister..." Voice of a young child spoke to his neighbor who often gave him sweets. "Why are you holding the axe? Are you going to chop some wood? Can I help you-"

_~But what gave him pleasure were not battles~_

"Shut up!" Bonnouma's screamed while body started to burn in black flames.

_~He loved the simple pleasures of life~_

"Please shut up!" Bonnouma begged while the Fear he collected through his life by torturing human bodies and minds also assaulted him.

_~An old woman's cooking made with love, a child's smile, festivities and simple joys~_

Thousands of voices now screamed inside Bonnouma's head, but somehow they no longer gave him pleasure. No, each part of his body could feel their anger and confusion at  _why_  they had to suffer. He was literally being burnt alive by their emotions.

_~He wanted to help humans understand that joy and to protect them so they could continue having such joys~_

His vision jumped between brighter times that were forgotten and horrors he committed in later parts of his life.

_~So he turned to a wise and powerful Rakhasha, Shoumen Kongo, knowing that he would bring righteousness to everyone~_

"I am sorry..." The youkai known as Bonnouma started crying while his body started tearing into pieces and turn to dust by the black flames. "I am sorry... this is not... what I wanted..."

* * *

Rihan looked from above while Bonnouma's body was being devoured by the overwhelming Fear and turned to dust, all the Fear disappearing with him.

"Best use of it, I think," Rihan said with a somber face while both Nenekirimaru and the tanto broke into pieces. "And this whole place now feels much less sinister," Rihan said after taking a deep breath. The humans have gotten their revenge themselves and his and Shiori's mission, which was to stop Sanmoto from getting this Fear, had been accomplished.

When Rihan landed on his feet, he was greeted with cheers.

"Woohoo, that's the way to go!" Awashima yelled. "Ha ha, we won!"

"Gooo Rihan!" Dohiko was also joyful. "I changed my mind! You are just as crazy as your dad and sister!"

"That's my chief for you." Ao-Ju nodded in approval. "A promotion is in order… oh wait, we are not in the Police…"

"Rihaaaaan!" Shiori shouted and jumped at him. "You were so amazing that you made me fall in love with you all over again!"

"Stop that… you are strangling me!" Rihan said, but was happy to feel relaxed enough to enjoy her warmth again. " _We_  won." He said and returned the hug.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- We start the chapter with Rihan explaining why he rejected the Sakazuki Exchange (which symbolizes his connection to the Nura Clan) and the existence of another darkness inside him. Either way, this serves as a turning point for Rihan, even if the Sakazuki Exchange was not real

\- Those who read the ch0 omake now see where the Kudan Prophecy plays a role: it turned one of Rikuo's off-spring into the one who would bring ruin to the world. But what exactly does ruin mean? Although Rihan Jr.'s Fear is a tad bit more sinister than of the rest of his family, we also see that he has more chivalry than while he suppressed it and he was very keen on avenging the lost human lives. Well, all in its due time…

\- Rihan's acceptance here is not definite however: through Bonnouma we see that a part of his humanity is still corrupted. This time they took the Koshin by surprise, but there are three more Shimas left… all of whom will probably be better prepared than Bonnouma was. Rihan's inner battle is still not over…

\- And we got our second original Matoi in this story and the first one with an original youkai. With this technique, Rihan brings both a gun and a sword to a swordfight ;P

\- Although the Prophetical Tale protecting Bonnouma was not easy to see, it was an important element nevertheless for, without lifting it, Bonnouma was practically immortal. Without it, he was weakened enough that someone strong enough could defeat him

\- Rihan had demonstrated a number of his own techniques here, two of which feel like darker versions of the usual Nurarihyon techniques (one which takes confusion of one's senses into more painful levels and another one which allows Rihan to control malicious youkai and Fear)

\- We also get introduced to the Game that Shiori is playing and its political structure. This also serves as an introduction into plot elements that will be important in the upcoming arcs… but what kind of contract did Rihan make with the red-haired evil demon overlady?

\- When Rihan considered turning Bonnouma into minced meat as a payment for the human lives killed by the cultists, I was actually showing the first idea that came to my mind. But seeing as NOT doing such things was supposed to be part of Rihan's development I changed it… and came up with something more fitting and satisfying: Bonnouma practically being killed by the humans who suffered by the cultists


	56. Tesshin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The time for counter-attack has come! Mezumaru, Eikichi and Benmaru are dealing with Gen'ei while Gozumaru fights the leader of the traitors Tesshin. Unbeknownst to them however, Gyuki had regained consciousness and had started to move

**Chapter 56 – Tesshin**

_The sunrays woke up the man lying in middle of an overgrown meadow. His body had hurt like hell due to how uncomfortable the place was for sleeping, but it was cheap and the tall grass his him from any potential thieves._

_But even if it were uncomfortable, the man did not rise up. The pain was a small price to pay for the serenity of the clear skies, natural harmony and the pleasure that came with resting in early morning._

_But he was hungry and had no food with him, so he could not afford to rest. After he let out an annoyed sigh, he grabbed his bag and sword and then raised himself up. Following the path he made through the grass last night, he returned to the road after ten minutes._

_For better or worse, he stumbled upon some company: a slender man who looked like a farmer. Naturally, the traveler froze when he saw a lightly armored man wearing a sword appear from the thick grass._

" _Fear not friend, I am no bandit." He assured the unarmed traveler. "Are you heading eastwards by some chance?"_

_The fact that he did not attack him made the traveler relax. "As a matter of fact, I am." His eyes fell at the sword. "Would you mind if I travel with you? I am unarmed so…"_

" _I would not mind some company." He nodded. This was not the first time that people wanted to travel with an armed man._

" _Thank you. I don't have any money on me right now, but when we reach my friend's village you will be paid, I assure you." The traveler smiled. "You can call me Kotarou. And you are?"_

" _Tesshin." He introduced himself with a name that he took recently. "I would like to say that no payment is necessary, but…"_

" _Chivalry is nice, but it doesn't feed an empty stomach, huh?" Kotatou laughed. "Fear not, we will feed that stomach of yours in an hour."_

" _I will have to apologize to your friend and, once I am done, to his plate."_

_Kotarou let out a hearty laugh, with all of his tension from earlier gone. "So, where are you going Tesshin-san? Are you looking for some lord to work under?"_

" _People always ask me that or to work for them. But the true answer is that I am travelling to find my roots."_

" _Your roots?"_

" _Yes. You see, I am looking for my father who si supposed to live I some remote place far east."_

" _It is surprising that you know who he is. Most men do not tell the woman they spend a night with even their true names."_

" _It is a complicated issue."_

" _And where exactly are you going?"_

" _To a place called Nejireme."_

" _Nejireme?!" Kotarou shouted in surprise._

" _I get that often." Tesshin shrugged and continued walking._

" _Wait wait wait!" Kotarou ran up to him and continued to walk beside Tesshin. "That place is dangerous you know!"_

" _Oh? The few people who recognized the name rejected to talk about it." Tesshin smiled. "Mind telling me why it is dangerous?"_

" _The mountain is filled with human-eating ayakashi! Even entire armies had disappeared around that place."_

" _Yet I hear people still live around it."_

" _That's because they make regular offerings to the ayakashi. Friend, even that sword of yours will not help you reach the villages if the ayakashi get hungry."_

" _Good, because it is the ayakashi that I am looking for."_

" _Huh?"_

" _You see…" Rather than explain and be laughed at, Tesshin created transparent claws around him, scaring Kotarou enough for him to fall onto his butt and scream. "…I am half-ayakashi." Tesshin finished and the claws disappeared._

_He thought the man would fall after him, so he was surprised when Kotarou appeared beside him again. "Had I not seen an Ayakashi before, I would have lost consciousness… again."_

" _It is a surprise you are not running away from me."_

" _You had two opportunities to kill me, beside the other ayakashi I met wasn't murderous either so I will take my chances." Even though he said that, Kotarou's hands were still shaking. "To be honest, I should have realized it when you called yourself Tesshin. You became quite a story in places I passed through."_

" _I did?"_

" _Yes, many talked about how some travelling warrior was an ayakashi in disguise. At one point, he even killed a group of ten thieves all by himself."_

" _Ah yes, that was nine days ago… or was it ten?" Tesshin smiled while he remembered those days. "I was asked to guard a village for a week in case the thieves came. Their ways of making riceballs was just… Mmmm." Due to hunger and how delicious those riceballs were, Tesshin's mouth watered._

" _From what I heard, they did not pay you and even threw stones and shit at you until you ran away in embarrassment or fear." Kotarou's fear was had be by now been replaced with confusion. "So why are you smiling?"_

" _I saved many lives and could pay back for all those delicious riceballs. What is there not to smile at?"_

" _Should you not be angry or at least disappointed that you were treated like that by people whom you risked your life to protect? In least, you should think they are horrible people."_

" _I am sure some would, but I don't." Tesshin smiled. "Yes, fear may have shown some ugly parts of their souls, but aren't we all ugly in some way? In those days I have spent there I have seen so many beautiful things about them that a little ugliness is nothing."_

" _Tesshin, you are the dumbest fool I have had pleasure of meeting." Kotarou commented to which Tesshin laughed. "But please, could you keep that for yourself when we arrive at my friend's village?"_

" _Of course, I don't want to cause you any trouble. Even if thieves attack you guys, for you I will fight like a human even if it kills me."_

" _Well don't get killed, I don't want my consciousness to hurt."  
_

* * *

Neither Gozumaru nor Tesshin were moving. Both warriors of the Gyuki Group just stood and starred at one another, Gozumaru holding his sword with both of his hands and Tesshin holding a sword in his right hand while being surrounded by his fiery claws.

Some would say that the battle had yet to begin, but they would be wrong: the battle had already started. Even this was a mere part of a battle.

" _You may feel reluctant to start the fight that may end your life, but so will your enemy."_  He remembered one of Gyuki's lessons.  _"Do not rush. The time before a fight starts is precious. Use it to build your resolve and to check up on your enemy. Knowing in what mood he is will help you fight him."_

Heading that advice, Gozumaru used this time to stabilize his breathing and to calm down his bursting emotions. Of course, he also checked up on the enemy and if he had to pick a word for Tesshin's mood, it would be  _disinterested_. There was no fire in his eyes, his breathing was relaxed and his grip on his sword seemed weak. Even the flames of his fiery claws looked  _bored_.

" _Do not underestimate the enemies who look disinterested. It is true that they may not have much motivation or will to win, but they have a cool head. That may not matter much with inexperienced warriors, but an experienced warrior will not make mistakes."_

" _But no matter how experienced they are they will, without fail, break with enough force."_

It was a sound advice, but Gozumaru could not imagine Tesshin breaking that easily, at least not at Gozumaru's hands. After all, he was one of the four finest warriors of the Gyuki Group and had centuries of experience, even more than Gyuki.

However, he could try to shake his will.

"Atsushi, he was your friend, right?" Gozumaru spoke while looking Tesshin right into his eyes. "He died, you know." Tesshin, Kurenai and Atsushi were a team so if he cared about anyone's death, it would be of these two.

"I know, he would have come to me otherwise." Tesshin spoke in a cold tone, but his eyes did shiver a little. "I had already lightened a candle for him."

"He was killed because of you." Gozumaru added. "Not only are you killing the loyal ones, but your own too."

"Obviously." Tesshin sighed. "The chances that any of us survive after you guy reached the resort have been low. Even if we manage to win, the Nura Clan's reinforcements will put an end to us."

The fact that Tesshin had no hope shocked Gozumaru. "You… so why did you…"

"A child like you can't understand what went through our heads." Tesshin cut him off. "But I am sure even you should be able to understand that victory is not the only reason for a warrior to fight."

Gozumaru clenched his teeth. "So, what do you fight for?"

"As I said: if you defeat me,  _maybe_  I will tell you." Tesshin repeated the words he said in the cave.

Gozumaru felt like he wanted to attack, but he calmed himself down.  _Eased the breathing, wait until the heart stops beating so strongly…_

Still though, Gozumaru could not keep it all under control. "Whatever the reason you have, it must be a stupid and meaningless one." He looked at Tesshin with eyes full of hate. "Treachery, selling us to the Kyushu Youkai, killing your former comrades, sacrificing those who stand with you… and after all that, you have such disinterested look in your eyes." The eyes under Tesshin's mask did not even move while Gozumaru spoke. "For all the lives you killed and to honor Gyuki-sama, I will take you down without fail."

Something in Gozumaru's last words must have affected him somehow as Gozumaru saw his eyes widen just before he raised his head up and looked at the sky. "Yes, you are completely right." And then he lowered his face and looked at Gozumaru again.

The boy felt shivers climb up his spine as Tesshin's eyes radiated with hate and resolve. "For the lives of my comrades, for the countless lives Umewakamaru has killed and…" The claws enwrapped Tesshin and disappeared, leaving behind a flaming armor. "…for Gyuki-sama…" His grip on his sword strengthened and he put his other hand on the sword's hilt as well. "I shall…"

And the fight started.

* * *

_Tesshin sat on a rock, gazing at the humans in the distance. He was wearing a dark-brown yukata and a straw hat, hoping it would help in hiding his presence. However, it was unlikely that humans would notice him, not at this time of the day when the sun was falling._

_The humans of all ages were standing in front of a statue that looked like a giant spider with head of a bull with fangs. To be exact, it looked like Tesshin's uncle, Gyuki._

" _What do they bring this month?" Conveniently, his uncle appeared beside Tesshin and gazed at the humans. "Three horses… hard meat, but it has its nice flavor."_

" _So are you satisfied with it?"_

" _Three horses… will be enough. I will leave the villagers alone for another month… even though a few of them look delicious."_

" _Keep your promise, uncle." There were several settlements around Mount Nejireme, and each of them brought sacrifices to Gyuki in order to keep him from attacking humans. It was once a month, but each village came at a different time so they could feed the ayakashi on the mountain satisfied._

" _I never broke my promise to the humans, Tesshin." Gyuki looked at him angrily. "As long as they keep their end of the deal, I will keep mine." Gyuki said and looked down at the humans again. "Ahh… I wonder when a new war will start. Wars always bring delicious food here. Enough to keep me fat for an entire year, hahaha!" The pact Gyuki has with the humans was not only to keep humans safe from him eating them, but also to keep any malicious forces, be they human or ayakashi, away. In order for a human army or a Hyaki Yakou to pass eastwards, they'd need to avoid the entire mountain._

" _If you wanted to eat armies, why don't you haunt the battlefields instead of this backwater mountain?"_

" _Not worth the effort… and not worth risking a meeting with an Abe."_

" _An Abe?"_

" _Ayakashi killers, very powerful ones. Went around killing all ayakashi they could find a while ago, and we were not spared. Were it not for Gen'ei, we would have all been annihilated. But as is, we managed to force the Onmyouji to retreat while we found a new home. I still have nightmares."_

" _So even you are afraid of something."_

" _They killed my brother… your father… you would be wise to not underestimate them." Gyuki said and moved his head back at the humans who had started to leave. "But change of topic. Why are you still here? You got what you came for already yet you have been here for three full years."_

" _I like it here. Fresh air, pretty landscape and I have to keep a watch over you." By keeping watch, Tesshin meant that he stopped him from eating humans whenever a sacrifice was not done or it was not sufficient._

" _Grrr… What you are doing allows the humans to constantly break our pact." Gyuki added in annoyance._

" _So, why are you keeping me here even though I rob you of your meals from time to time?"_

" _We are Ayakashi. Just like how I have this need for human flesh, you probably feel a need to protect the humans. I can't see why I would complain about it." Gyuki said and started to slowly walk towards the shrine where his meal awaited him. "Besides, we are family. You can do whatever you want."_

" _Indeed, we are family." Tesshin repeated. That was probably the reason why he did not hate his uncle even though he usually hated those who harmed humans._

" _So, what I wanted to ask is… do you intend to stay here?"_

" _I do." Tesshin answered without thinking much about it. Although he once dreamed of travelling the world, he felt at home in this place._

" _Good, you even made friends in the little time you were with us and quite a few of the ayakashi here look at you with adoration. And with a good reason: you are quite strong and have that something which attracts others to fight beside you."_

" _What does that have to do with anything?"_

" _And I… I have not mentioned the Abes for no reason. I may have kept my life, but my Fear has been weakened and I am not sure if I will get to live for another hundred years." Gyuki stopped walking and turned towards Tesshin. "So I will be naming you my heir."_

"… _what?" The sudden words took Tesshin aback._

" _The Ayakashi will not mind it, I am sure. The humans…" Gyuki turned around and continued walking. "They have already started talking about this mysterious guardian who keeps them safe from me. Indeed, the will accept you as the new master of this mountain without hesitation."_

" _I am honored… but…" For the first time in a long while, Tesshin had trouble keeping a pace with his uncle._

" _So when you are ready, give them the ending they desire and kill the evil demon on this mountain."_

"… _what are you…"_

" _Why are you giving me that look?" Gyuki commented after throwing a glance at him. "I don't want to die a cripple, but a warrior. I even had armor made for you. Pretty good looking if I can say so, the helm should make up for you not being able to look like the rest of us."_

" _I… I can't accept th-"_

" _Enough talk, I am going to dine now." Gyuki made it clear that he would not take no for an answer._

_And so Tesshin became the heir and the only thing he had to do in order to end Gyuki's reign of terror was to end his uncle's life. But that was something he could not do easily, so many years had passed._

_And when a boy called Umewakamaru came, it was too late… both for him, for the Gyuki Group and for the humans. The new Gyuki could only be satisfied by human sacrifices which he did not even eat.  
_

* * *

_What the hell happened?_  Gozumaru thought about his earlier words while running backwards in order to avoid Tesshin's swings. Deflecting them was out of question due to Tesshin's strength least Gozumaru's bones broke.  _Just how the hell did my words piss him off?_  He wondered while sweating due to the heat radiated by flames that engulfed Tesshin's armor.

Such thoughts during a deadly battle were pointless, but somehow he could not clear his head of them.  _For Gyuki-sama he said… what did he mean by that?_  But he deep inside understood that Tesshin did not mean the Gyuki-sama whom Gozumaru knew.

While his head was in thoughts, Tesshin successfully rushed to him and thrust his sword before Gozumaru could start the evasion. So he was forced to block the attack which, as expected, was strong enough to propel him into the air.

When Gozumaru's body closed to the ground, he stabbed the ground with his claws and so helped himself land on his feet and turn his attention back towards Tesshin.

"Why are you doing this?" Gozumaru asked again. "What good will come out of it? Do you really think that this bitch won't kill you too?"

Instead of replying, Tesshin had the flames around his armor revert back into claws and used them to strike the ground around Gozumaru. While none of them striked Gozumaru, the heat was tremendous and the inferno that occurred forced Gozumaru to turn around and run, even if it meant turning his backs to the enemy.

 _I have to get to safety before he reaches me!_ Gozumaru thought, but then he felt something hard strike him from behind and throw into the air again. But this time his falling path was filled with obstacles, like trees and branches, so he could not concentrate enough to lessen the impact.  _Damn it, just how can he move so fast in that large armor?_

Gozumaru tried to stand back onto his feet, but Tesshin did not give him time to rest. This time, one of the claws hit right into Gozumaru. "AAAAAHHH!" The boy screamed while the heat filled his body. A hand than grabbed him by his neck and threw him into the air again.

 _Why am I always… being thrown around?_  Fortunately, Gozumaru fell into a pond so most of the damage that he would have originally suffered was not done.

"And what if I told you that there is hope?" Tesshin spoke while looking down at Gozumaru who was still trying to stand up. "Once Umewakamaru is erased and her goal is achieved, she will become just another youkai haunting dark corners of the world. And as all strong youkai, she could use youkai followers to help her survive and thrive."

"If you are…" Gozumaru muttered while he fell back into the water. The few strikes he suffered still hurt him and on his skin he could still feel the heat he suffered from Tesshin's claw. "If you are suggesting that I join her and you, then-"

"This is just in case you fail and Umewakamaru dies." Tesshin cut in. "For now, I understand that you want to protect Umewakamaru… but if he dies, then your risks will be for nothing."

"They will not-"

"Let me rephrase it: if their new boss decides to fight to death, the Gyuki Group will die with him. But if the new boss kneels, the group survives."

"You bastard… for a warrior to do that… it is disgusting!"

"Yes, it is disgusting… as is letting your followers die in vain." Tesshin stepped into the lake and kneeled down to Gozumaru. "But that woman is brutal. While she tortures someone dear to you, let us say Mezumaru, will you still be able to claim that your decision was the less disgusting one?"

"Ah…" Gozumaru could not reply back.  _Why… why did you need to say that… you dirty bastard…_ the image that appeared in his mind killed his determination. He was still certain his answer to Tesshin's proposal would be no, but the slimmer of doubt was there… and it irritated him.

In other words, saying yes became, even if small, a possibility.  _We are youkai… it is normal for the youkai to serve the one who killed their boss… even Gyuki-sama said that…_  And then Gozumaru realized something  _…Even Gyuki-sama was the one who came to power like that._

"You are…" Gozumaru started muttering and opened his eyes. The reflection he saw in the pond was the mixture of his and Tesshin's. "…lying."

"Indeed, she is a kind of youkai that appears, does what she came to do and withers away. But, I proved my point." And then he kicked Gozumaru into his guts, throwing him into the air again… and once again, Gozumaru flew in the same direction as the last few times.

And Gozumaru's body then fell where he guessed Tesshin wanted him all along: inside the part of the forest called  _Circle of Memories_.

* * *

Gozumaru tried to stand up, but his legs hurt due to all the hits that Tesshin gave him.  _Why did he take me here? To make it easier by confusing me?_  Gozumaru used his sword, which he somehow managed to keep in his hand, to stab the ground and help himself raise up.  _You dirty bastard, you are already winning! What is the point of using this place to confuse me?_ Since the sword wasn't enough, he used his claws as another support.

When he opened his eyes, he saw the red sky had turned black and that heavy rain was falling.  _Tz, the Circle's Fear already started doing its job…_ But Gozumaru quickly noticed that something was unusual. _But I don't remember anything like this. What is this about?_

Soon after, he heard someone running towards him. Not knowing if it was a mere illusion or Tesshin, he prepared for an attack.

 _Tesshin?_  He recognized the person in question due to his red armor and the bull mask, but he was slender and the armor did not look as used. As the youkai ran past Gozumaru, the boy wondered:  _I don't remember this Tesshin._

For whichever reason, Gozumaru tried to go after him. Even though the man ran and Gozumaru barely walked, the very fact that this was all just a memory made it possible to follow after him. Unfortunately, they moved at Gozumaru's pace.

 _What is going on here?_  Gozumaru wondered when his eyes fell on the bodies. The more they walked, the more bodies appeared. All of them were gyukis.  _I don't remember anything like this! Am I somehow… seeing Tesshin's memories?_

" _Hahaha…_ " Laughter could be heard from afar. " _Hahahaha…_ " The laughter was brutal. " _Oh mom… What should I do?_ " Gozumaru did not recognize the voice, but nevertheless he felt that it was familiar. "Come on! Come on already, come at me!"

And then Gozumaru's eyes fell on a boy with long, dirty black hair, smeared in blood from head to toe. His body was that of a human, but his eyes and atmosphere around him made him feel like everything but a human.

Near him, body of a woman lay against a rock. She looked just like the woman whom Gozumaru met earlier that day, aka Gyuki's mother.

Bodies were scattered around him, each one dismembered into many pieces. But they were not cut by sword, but were torn apart by the boy's bare hands, which could be seen by the fact that he was right now tearing a Gyuki head with his bare hands until only a skull remained.

"Look mom!" The boy showed it to the dead woman's body. "It doesn't look as scary anymore right? You can come back now… please." The boy spoke while walking towards her with the skull in his hands. "Look, it is just a skull now. You can't see a skull of someone who is alive, right?" He kneeled in front of her, but when he did not get an answer he screamed. "AAAARHHHHH!" And then suddenly calmed down. "I see… we don't know that, do we?" He threw the skull away and turned around. "It is a youkai after all… I will go and check if someone can stay alive after only their bones remain." He spoke with wide eyes that shone with despair and insanity.

And they shone at many youkai that gazed upon him. Some were terrified, some were furious and all were in reverence to some extent in front of this terrifying youkai. And they were all ready to fight him… and they all held some amount of reverence for this amazing youkai in their eyes, which was a natural thing for youkai.

Besides Tesshin who arrived a few moments ago. Even though he wore a mask, Gozumaru could see his eyes. Unlike everyone else, there was no reverence in his eyes, only pure terror and worry. This reminded Gozumaru that Tesshin was a half-human and so might have been unable to view terrifying youkai the same way as normal youkai did.

"You seem lively enough." The horrific boy spoke while watching at a youkai whom Gozumaru could not recognize, but who was clearly a member of the Gyuki Group. "Yes, an Ayakashi like you might actually survive being skinned and-"

"He cannot!" Tesshin suddenly shouted. "Even an Ayakashi could not survive something like that!"

"Huuuh?" The boy started slowly turning his head towards the youkai who spoke to him. Whenever his eyes fell on a youkai, that youkai would shiver in fear. "Was it you who just spoke to me?" And then the boy's eyes fell on Tesshin. Even though there was terror and fear in his eyes, he did not react to the evil boy's gaze.  _Unlike everyone else, he is not afraid for his own life._  Gozumaru realized what made Tesshin afraid.  _He is worried about his comrades._

"Yes, it was me." The very fact that the boy's gaze was now solely upon him seemed to have given some courage to Tesshin. "I assure you, no youkai can survive being skinned to bones."

"Oh…" The evil boy said and his eyes looked into the air. "AAAAAAARRRHHHHH!" He suddenly yelled as loud as he could and then calmed down. "Ah… maybe you are lying?" His eyes fell on Tesshin again.

Gozumaru, who looked directly in those eyes, felt his body turn cold. But Tesshin, into whose eyes the evil boy gazed, looked unfazed.

"You look even livelier than this guy. Should I try it out on you?"

"It will be pointless." In contrast to the youkai who yelled  _Tesshin-sama_ , Tesshin answered in calm tone.

"Ohh… It looks like you are some big honcho here." The boy seemed to have forgotten about his previous idea. "I really want to torture you."

"I beg of you…" Tesshin lowered himself down on his legs and arms. "…stop with this madness… nothing will come out of it."

"Oh… he is begging." The boy looked into the air again. "Ah, I have an idea… I know how I might make mother wake up…" He looked back down at Tesshin. "Tell you what… if you all swear fealty to me, I will spare your lives."

And then Gozumaru's vision went blurry and the next moment nobody was there. But he knew the history of the Gyuki Group well enough to guess what occurred after.

* * *

Just like the previous vision, this one also started with younger Tesshin running through the forest.

"Give me a break…" Gozumaru mumbled but went after him. He felt better than he did a few minutes ago, but he still felt enough pain to make this a torturous exercise.

And finally they reached their destination, aka the place where Gyuki's mother was buried.

Gozumaru gasped at the sight of fresh blood, bones and half-rotten bodies that stood around as if they were a part of some evil ritual.

And Gozumaru was shocked. Not because of the bloody scene, as a youkai he did not feel much for it. What terrified him was the young man with long black hair who sat beside the gravestone. His clothes and hands were stained by fresh blood and in his hand he held what looked like head of a child, but the head was in such a state that Gozumaru could not recognize much but some bones and flesh. It was the same boy from the previous vision, but he was somewhat older now and Gozumaru could recognize some of Gyuki-sama's features on him. This person was really Gyuki-sama, no matter how hard it was to believe.

And the figure than looked towards him and Gyuki's face disappeared. The young man now had a mocking smile and his eyes shone with brutality. There was only half of dignity that the Gyuki-sama, whom Gozumaru knew, had.

"Late again, Tesshin." Gyuki spoke, reminding Gozumaru that the one this young man looked at was not him but the young Tesshin. "The girl seemed quite disappointed for it. You did promise her that you would keep her safe, did you not?"

Gozumaru could feel the murderous intent from behind him. The boy turned around and saw the young Tesshin. Although a mask could not make grimaces, the boy could still feel the wrath behind it just by listening to Tesshin's breathing and by looking at his shaking body.

"She screamed well." Gyuki said and threw the head away. "Mother said that she liked the voices of young girls. I am sure she was pleased by her voice. Yes, she must have been."

"You… you…" Tesshin tried to keep in his rage.

"You are angry, aren't you Tesshin?" Gyuki asked and leaned against his mother's gravestone. "You know, I always wondered why. The other members of your clan do not seem to mind all this. As a matter of fact, some seem to like the fact that I am so actively harassing humans." Gyuki spoke while obviously enjoying the sight of shaken Tesshin. "Ah yes right, you are a half-breed who just pretends to be a youkai."

Gozumaru looked behind to see if Tesshin would say something back, but the armored youkai just stood there and starred at Gyuki with a high amount of murderous intent.

"But I know how you feel. After all, I used to be a human too until recently." Gyuki spoke. "Why don't you try to change yourself a bit too, hmm? Give in to your youkai blood, murder some humans, and eat some of their flesh maybe? I assure you that you will enjoy it and… maybe you will even become strong enough to oppose me." Gyuki gave him a challenging smile.

"I reject." Tesshin answered in a surprisingly calm. "And who says I need to do something like that in order to defeat you."

"You need because you are too terrified at the moment." Gyuki said and closed his eyes.

"Me? Terrified of you?"

"Not in sense that you fear what I could do to you, but in sense in what I could do to your beloved comrades." Gyuki gave him a sadistic smirk. "That's why you bowed before me, right? When you saw how everyone was ready to die, you ashamed yourself, as well as them, only so you could save their lives." Gyuki's eyes narrowed. "Unless you abandon that weak human side of yours, you will never save anyone."

"Think what you want." Tesshin said, turned around and started walking away.

"And there he walks off again, hoping he will save the next sacrifice from my clutches rather than just try ending me here. What a coward."

* * *

Gozumaru's vision turned blurry again and now he was in what looked like a bar. He did not recognize this place, but he recognized Tesshin, who looked like his present self, and the fact that this bar was filled with youkai. But the whole place seemed gloomy, as if all of its customers were people who wanted to drink while being frustrated or angry.

Tesshin sat and drank some sake through the hole in his mask when an older man sat right beside him. The man wore a straw hat, a blue yukata and a staff which he seemed to use for walking. Although the staff and his old-fashioned Japanese beard suggested he was old, his eyes held the fire of a young man.

"Doing well, Tesshin-dono?" The old man spoke and poured himself some sake from Tesshin's bottle.

Tesshin looked at him for a moment and then turned his head away. "Well, if it isn't the great and mighty Mizuchi-sama. Being a Clan Leader and all that, I thought you would be too important to walk around alone… especially on the Nura clan's turf."

 _Mizuchi?_   _What is he doing here?_  Gozumaru knew the name of the Nura Clan's present enemy well enough, and since finding out that he was the mastermind behind Tesshin's betrayal, Gozumaru craved to see his  _ugly mug_.

"I am an adventurer at heart, my dear old friend." Mizuchi answered. "Like Nurarihyon-dono, I just can't stay in the same place for too long."

"Some would call both of you… worrisome."

"It is unlike you to be so reserved, Tesshin-dono! Just say  _fool_  and be done with it!" Mizuchi laughed and took a sip of his sake.

"Alright, you are both fools." Tesshin said and took a sip from his own sake cup. "Now, give me one good reason why I should not be a loyal youkai and hand you to Nura Rikuo."

 _So this is the real Tesshin…_  Gozumaru thought while he looked at the scene. On Nejireme, this youkai always looked cheerful and friendly, so it was a bit surprising to see him all grumpy here.

"You don't seem to be in the mood for beating around the bush so I will be direct." Mizuchi put the sake cup down, crossed his fingers and looked at Tesshin. As if knowing that something dangerous would be talked about, the bartender walked away as did everyone else who was in the hearing range. "In several months, I intend to invade Mount Nejireme with my army and kill everyone on it."

Tesshin, still holding a sake cup in his fingers, turned his eyes towards Mizuchi. His eyes shone with hostility, but he said nothing.

"Do not take it personally. It is just that I need something to shake up this status quo." Mizuchi continued to speak like Tesshin was a friend. "And what would be better than destroying the source of security for western Kantou? Once Nejireme and the Gyuki Group fall, the Nura Clan will look vulnerable to both their own vassals and to other clans." Mizuchi turned his eyes to front, with his mouth still being widened in a smirk. "And most importantly, my own clan would feel invigorated by the fact that it was us who finally put an end to this annoying obstacle that protected Kantou from any Hyaki Yakou that tried to invade from west or north."

"And just what madness drew you to reveal that secret to me?"

Mizuchi's smile widened further. "The same madness that made you continue this conversation with me." His eyes turned towards Tesshin. "Why are we still not crossing our swords?"

Tesshin averted his eyes away from Mizuchi. "It is my philosophy to listen before attacking."

"In that case listen to this foolish grumbling of mine." Mizuchi also turned his gaze away and both youkai were now looking in front of them. "My clan is strong, but Nejireme's Fear and reputation make them hesitant. That hesitation, summed with your clan's martial prowess, makes my victory uncertain." Mizuchi poured himself some more sake. "Now I don't mind taking risks, but I  _need_  this victory. I must use every card on my disposal."

"And you think I am one such card?"

"I have friend everywhere, Tesshin-dono." Mizuchi took a sip of his sake. "And that means I know many things."

"Like what things?"

"I know that you still did not forgive Gyuki for what he did to your uncle. I know that many of other members of the Gyuki Group still retain some hostility towards their boss. And I know that you spend a lot of time praying to all the humans whom Gyuki murdered in the past."

"That is not enough to make me into one of your card, Mizuchi-dono." Tesshin took a sip of his sake and then threw the empty cup away. "It is too late to rebel now and he is no longer the monster he used to be."

"If you let this chance go, you may never get another one, Tesshin-dono." Mizuchi drunk the rest of his sake and pushed the empty cup away. "Also, does it matter if he is no longer the person he used to be? The dead demand justice."

"And like you would know what the dead want?"

"Huhuhu…" Mizuchi giggled and his smile widened again. "What if I told you that we  _can_  find out?" He looked at Tesshin again. "And if they have not forgiven him…"

And then Gozumaru's vision blurred again and he found himself back in the forest, the reddish sky suggesting that he was back in the real world.

* * *

"Why did you show me this, Tesshin?" Gozumaru asked while looking at nothing in particular.

"For the irony of it." A voice said from behind him. "I bowed to Umewakamaru in order to protect my comrades, and now they are killing and being killed by our comrades. Brothers against brothers, sisters against sisters… all of death done by Umewakamaru's hands would have been cleaner than this. Even Atsushi is dead, and Kurenai is unlikely to survive either."

Gozumaru turned around and looked at the youkai who sat on a log. But he did not say anything back to him.

"And I was persuaded by Mizuchi to start this rebellion in order to bring justice to the humans whom Umewakamaru killed." Tesshin looked at the sky. "And while we are fighting here, Sanmoto Gorozaemon is killing humans around Nejireme. He sure made a fool out of me."

"If you knew this would happen, would you have still done it?"

"No, I would have gone to Sanmoto's Shine and killed everyone in it." He looked back at Gozumaru. "But the rebellion was inevitable. Sooner or later, the day would have come that me and others attacked Umewakamaru."

"Why?!" Gozumaru shouted. "Even if you hated him for whom he used to be, Gyuki-sama is no longer the same person! He… he had changed and-"

"He may have changed, but the past remains the same." Tesshin cut him off. "He killed my uncle and mentor, he tortured my comrades and friends and he smeared Nejireme with blood of countless men, women and children, all for the sake of a dead hag." He turned his gaze back to Gozumaru. "I know that what I am doing is wrong. I know that this negates all of what I did until now… but our patience has reached our limit."

Gozumaru did not argue back. He understood well enough that Tesshin could not be dissuaded. Also, he hated him as much as Tesshin hated Gyuki.

The only thing these two warriors could do was to fight it out.

* * *

After avoiding one of his strikes, Gozumaru slashed his sword at Tesshin, but the enemy youkai just blocked it with his armored hand and tried to hit Gozumaru with one of his claws, but the boy saw it coming so he jumped away.

_In terms of raw strength, Tesshin was far above him._

Tesshin's fiery claws grew and then went for Gozumaru. Knowing that they were illusions and made of Fear, the boy tried to cut the Fear but failed and so he had to run and jump around in order to avoid his mind being burned.

_In terms of raw Fear, Tesshin was far above him._

Knowing that he could not possibly win by just being on defensive, Gozumaru waited for an opening. When it showed itself in form of all the claws being down, he ran through the opening and went to stab Tesshin before he could move his claws again. But Tesshin still had his sword and, not being surprised by Gozumaru's move, swung it and the boy had to stop before the sword decapitated him.

_In terms of strategy, Tesshin was far above him._

The boy forced himself to remember all of his notable fights and trainings without losing his focus. Remembering most of the lessons he learned during his life, he relentlessly ran around Tesshin and tried to hit him before he could make a proper move. But all of his attacks were like a fly trying to break the glass window.

_In terms of experience, Tesshin was far above him._

But Gozumaru was a youkai and as such swordsmanship was not the only skill he possessed. Hoping that Tesshin was too focused on the enemy in front of him, Gozumaru used his strongest youkai technique: hypnotizing others with whispers. He tried to use that technique to confuse Tesshin and weaken his focus, but Tesshin showed no signs of being affected by it.

_In terms of focus, Tesshin was far above him._

Strength, Fear, Intellect, Experience, Focus… Tesshin was above Gozumaru in all these fields. For Gozumaru, he was an enemy whom he could not defeat in a proper fight.

And what was more, not only did he need to win but in case he did win, he had to also stay in fighting condition. There were other enemies that still had to be dealt with, like Gen'ei and Gyuki's mother, and Gozumaru was certain that his aid would be needed.

In other words, he had to defeat an enemy, who overpowered him in everything, now. And that meant that only one strategy remained.

" _There is no such thing as an enemy that can't be defeated."_  He remembered Gyuki's lessons.  _"If everything else fails, then you must…"_

"…Gamble!" Gozumaru shouted the keyword and ran towards Tesshin and swung his sword. Tesshin immediately deflected it and with his strength.

But the moment Gozumaru felt the impact, he raised one of his legs and allowed the force to turn him around rather than push him away. His eyes saw that one of the fiery claws went to strike him, but Gozumaru neither wasted energy in order to avoid it nor Fear in trying to cut it but instead let it hit him. It felt like he was being burnt alive, but he clenched his teeth and reminded himself that the sensation was fake.

Gozumaru intended to strike at Tesshin while his sword was still down, but his adversary was both smart and experienced enough to see it coming, so Tesshin grabbed his neck with his left hand and raised the boy up.

"It is over, boy." Tesshin said and Gozumaru could feel his fingers stab into his neck. He tried swinging his sword at Tesshin's head, but he hit it with his and, for the first time since their fight began, Gozumaru lost his sword.

It was hopeless, but Gozumaru knew that this gamble was like throwing a dice with hundred sides and hoping to get one exact number. The next gamble would be his last.

"Agh…" Tesshin's fingers spread when one of Gozumaru's claws stabbed into his enemy's neck. The armor stopped the claw from stabbing to deep, but it was enough to surprise and hurt him enough to lose focus.

The gamble worked: for one slight moment, Tesshin suffered an attack he did not anticipate and did not see in time. This was pure luck as it was not brought by Gozumaru's skill, but luck was still an important factor in a fight.

Now that a gamble paid off, Gozumaru had to use his skills to defeat Tesshin before he could get back into shape as Gozumaru could not afford to depend on luck again.

So he started a relentless storm of attacks: he attacked Tesshin with more of his claws and used hypnosis to weaken his focus. Due to pain and shock, Tesshin was unable to strengthen his will enough to fully resist Gozumaru's technique so he could not avoid or block all of the claws.

One of Gozumaru's claws went for his sword and pulled it back and Gozumaru grabbed it with his hands. "TEEESSSHINNN!" He shouted and stabbed the sword towards his enemy's head. Tesshin tried to move it away, but the sword stabbed right through his left eye.

"Gakh…" His left hand reflexively went to grab his head. Gozumaru immediately used the opening to stab the claws into Tesshin's left side.

The boy than pulled all the claws back and hit the ground with them, throwing himself into the air and thus avoiding Tesshin's fiery claws. The fact that Tesshin swung the air in front of him made it clear that he did not notice that Gozumaru was no longer there.

 _Let's end this._  Gozumaru clenched his sword and raised it while his body was still in the air. He used the strength in his muscles and the falling force to slash through Tesshin's backside as he fell.

"Arrrrhhhh!" When Gozumaru's sword left Tesshin's body, his claws slashed through the opening he made in Tesshin's armor. "Ah… Ahg…" And finally, Tesshin fell on his knees.

"It is over, Tesshin." Gozumaru said in a bitter tone, proclaiming the end of their fight.

* * *

"Tell me Tesshin…" Gozumaru spoke to the man in front of him while he held the sword beside his neck. "…now that you are like this, do you still think it was all worth it?"

"I already told you, Gozu." Tesshin replied to the boy behind him. "This whole rebellion of mine is stupid. I knew that since before I even agreed to Mizuchi-dono's offer."

"Yet you still went with it."

"What a beautiful world would it be…" Tesshin took a pause to let out a sigh. "…if our thoughts and actions were led by common sense and not emotions."

"And just what is that emotion that led you to this, Tesshin?" A man's voice spoke from in front of Tesshin.

"Huh?" Gozumaru recognized it. "Gyuki-sama?" The boy raised his head to look forward and saw Gyuki, looking healthy, slowly walk towards them. "You are… fine…" Gozumaru felt his eyes water and his sword glided down to the ground.

"Yes, I am fine." Gyuki said with a smile. "Sorry for letting you worry, Gozu… and you did well." Gyuki's eyes fell onto Tesshin again and his smile got replaced by his usual stoic grimace.

"The Princess Umewakamaru returns, huh? Did you get a good night's sleep?" Mocking was the first thing that Tesshin did.

"Why you-" Gozumaru wanted to threaten him, but Gyuki cut in:

"I don't have time to waste, Tesshin." Gyuki spoke in a more threatening tone. "What led you to this madness?"

"You know me well enough, Umewakamaru-sama." Tesshin continued to address him by Gyuki's original name, which was another gesture of mocking and rebellion. "Vengeance and justice led to hate and hate lead me to this stupidity."

"Yes, I know you well Tesshin… I know that you, in our group, were the kindest of us. I know that the desires and emotions that would challenge even the most strong-willed people would not cloud your judgment. I know, with absolute certainty, that it was not hate that led you to this."

"Hah…" Tesshin sighed and looked into the sky. "Tell me, Umewakamaru-sama, how do you feel about what you have seen?"

"What do you mean?"

"Don't pretend to be stupid." He moved his head down in order to look at Gyuki again. "How do you feel after seeing the consequences of your actions? How do you feel about the fact that you turned all those humans into demons… how do you feel about having turned your mother into one?"

Gyuki's eyes widened but soon his face returned to its usual self. "It is misfortunate, but one can't change the past."

"Still, one has to confront his past." Tesshin spoke in a bitter tone. "Sanmoto may have sent them here, but it was you who made them like this."

"Was that it? Did you want to show them to me?"

"Yes, that's it. I helped this tale come true and see just what judgment they would make." Tesshin continued speaking. "Although I already knew the answer. After centuries of praying to them, I have become able to hear their voices even from the Underworld. Day after day, I listened to their malice, their desires for justice and their wish to see you again… to show you what they had become…"

"Was it worth it?"

"Worth doesn't matter, honor and justice demanded from you to confront them."

Gozumaru was the one to comment on this claim. "They are sins of times long past." Gyuki complained. "You were hundreds of years too late."

"You don't get it, do you? At its source, this is about confrontation, not making him pay." Tesshin was unfazed by Gozumaru's words. "Had he confronted them himself, I may not have done what I did."

"What do you mean if he confronted them before?" Gozumaru asked again, but Gyuki seemed to have understood what he meant.

"Had he just come to the  _Graveyard_ …" No doubt Tesshin spoke about the cave where he prayed to the souls of humans whom Gyuki killed. "…had he come and felt the malice in that place, I would have let it go. No matter if he apologized or not, I would have let it go…"

"This is stupid. A youkai has no need to apologize for such things." Gyuki did not seem touched by his words. "Even though your youkai blood allowed you to live for centuries, you still act and think like a human."

"Hahaha…" Tesshin laughed silently, but he did not seem surprised by Gyuki's answer. "I knew you would say that.  _'Youkai should be like this'_ ,  _"Youkai are like that'_ … But you are right Umewakamaru…" Tesshin started raising himself up.

"Hey, stop that!" Gozumaru yelled and pointed his sword at Tesshin's back, but was unsure if he should strike him down or not.

"It is not very youkaish of me to act like that. At the end of the day…" With one hand he helped himself remove what was left of his broken chestplate and with the other he grabbed his mask and threw it away. "…I am still just a mere human."

Gozumaru gasped. He always wondered how Tesshin looked behind that armor and mask which he never removed. He thought that he must have had some hideous scars on his face or something, but in reality he just looked like an old half-shaved human with messy, gray hair. Look of a  _mere human_ , just like he said.

"But you see Umewakamaru…" Tesshin spoke, but could not keep standing so he fell on his knees again. "…I may be born a half-human, but you were born and raised as a full pledged human. You may have become a youkai, but you are still more human than I am. Unlike my uncle, in whose eyes I saw a complete inability to understand the humans, I know for certain you can understand them. You may have forgotten about it once, but ever since you met Nurarihyon-sama, you became a human again." Tesshin spoke while his tone became increasingly hostile. "This is not about you being a youkai, it is about you being afraid of confronting your old self."

"You are right, I guess I was afraid." Gyuki answered. "But that still does not excuse your betrayal."

"Ha, I know that we are equally big sons of bitches right now." He grinned and raised his head to reveal his neck. "So go and do it. I don't think you can afford to waste any more time."

"Hm. You are right, we are in a hurry." Gyuki nodded and looked at Gozumaru. "You are the one who brought him down. I will leave this to you."

"Yes, Gyuki-sama." Gozumaru said and raised his sword in order to behead him.  _Die, traitor._  He thought and decided to do it.

Then he remembered the sight of seeing both his and Tesshin's reflection in the water and, as a result, his hands did not move.

 _I am not like him._  Gozumaru clenched his teeth.  _I would not have done the same thing he did…_

And then Mezumaru's face fleshed in his eyes, as did Eikichi's Benmaru's, Kanmaru's and the faces of other comrades.  _Shit…_  His teeth clenched further.

 _I can't… make myself actually believe that I would not!_  Losing his will, he lowered his sword. "Sorry, I can't judge him." He said while looking at the ground. He hated him from the depth of his soul, but he could still not do it.

"I see." Gyuki replied and started walking away. "Let us go Gozu."

"…hai." Gozumaru replied, leaving the broken person behind them.

* * *

"This is the absolute worst…" Tesshin spoke to himself while looking at the blood-red sky. "I should not be spared." He tried to move, but the only thing it led was him falling onto his face. Not wanting to look at the dirt, he made himself turn around.

"Huh?" When he did so, the blood-red sky started to slowly turn black. In less than half a minute, the sky was normal again and Sanmoto's stinking Fear could no longer be felt. "I guess someone managed to find and destroy the Golden Shrine… maybe the worst ending gets avoided… no, that's wrong."

"While Gen'ei, the strongest warrior in the history of our clan, still lives the worst ending can't be avoided…" He clenched his teeth. "Stupid, I should have…" Tesshin's vision started darkening. "…warned that boy."

* * *

"Well, would you look at that." Suiro Fumiaki commented while sitting inside his car and gazing at the unnatural red sky as it turned black. "The cult failed."

"So much about the Nuras being on the edge." His niece, the Ame Onna Suiren, commented. Unlike him, she was already outside the car supervising the youkai as they prepared for the battle. "If even after an invasion and a treachery they can spare to have someone look for and destroy the Golden Shrine, we should not underestimate them."

"Well now, did you seriously think we could ever afford to underestimate the mighty Nuras?" Fumiaki said and leaned against his seat. With the sky being back to boring black, there was no reason to gaze at the sky through the window. "Suiren, the Nuras did not manage to win the title of  _Lord of Pandemonium_  for their commanders because they are the force to be underestimated. And Nura Rikuo is every but a decadent commander."

"Fumiaki-sama, I never underestimate anyone. Orochimaru-sama took care to teach me that well." Her eyes narrowed as she remembered those days. The elder Orochimaru was a harsh teacher. "My worry are the soldiers. They are becoming overconfident as of late." Unlike other youkai clans, the Hashima Kyushu Clan had a more militaristic organization and they tended to use military jargon.

"Let them enjoy it while they can. When the war breaks out, they will learn better." Fumiaki said and opened the doors of his car in order to get out. "Hurry it up a bit!" He said to the other youkai who were still going over various battle plans and maps of the area. "Preparations are nice and dandy, but the whole operation will be for naught if the main force ends up arriving before us."

"We are almost done, Fumiaki-sama." One of Squad Commanders assured him. "Give us five more minutes and we will be ready for march."

"Good." Fumiaki, knowing that he could no longer afford leisure, put his hat on the head and looked at Nejireme in the distance. "Let us hope the operation goes well."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

After a hiatus (due to January being an end of the semester for me), we are back in action! We start the first of (planned) four chapters centered on the Gyuki Group's fights. This one was mainly focused on Tesshin, the leader of the rebellion but not a youkai destined to be one of the end-bosses. Still, that does not diminish his importance as a character.

Of major note is also Gozumaru's continuing development. This time, he had to confront the fact that the traitor he hated was no simple person. Would he have done the same if he were in his shoes? If he did, could he have forgiven the one who slew Gyuki-sama? Fighting against Tesshin was in a way fighting someone who was not so different than him once, and the problem is that he could not say that he could have done better.

Also, after being absent since their introduction since ch45, General Fumiaki and Suiren make their re-appearance. Not much was revealed here but one thing: the Kyushu reinforcements have arrived... and more is coming.


	57. Gen'ei

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gozumaru's battle against Tesshin, the leader of the rebels, is over. In meantime, Mezumaru, Eikichi and Benmaru had to deal with Gen'ei…

**Note:** The first scene happens chronologically after the next few

* * *

**Chapter 57 – Gen'ei**

"Where are the others?" Gyuki asked Gozumaru once they distanced themselves from Tesshin. Although they were walking, their pace was fast.

"Mezumaru, Eikichi and Benmaru are dealing with Gen'ei. If I had to guess, they have taken care of him by now," Gozumaru answered. It was annoying that the only thing he could say were the ones related to the on-going war, but he understood that this was no time for pleasantries. "The Nuras are dealing with the Kyushu youkai."

"The Kyushu youkai you say?" Gyuki's already narrow eyes narrowed further. "So they are here as well?"

"Yes, but they seem more interested in the Nuras than us." Gozumaru remembered. "It seems that Ritsura, and maybe Rihan too, are their targets."

"So they are trying to assassinate them after turning us against our own and causing the spirits of the deceased to do their dirty work." Although he tried to keep calm, Gozumaru could sense anger in Gyuki's tone. "Rikuo-sama was right. Mizuchi has sure reached a new low." He then closed his eyes and when he opened them, he seemed to have regained his cool. "What about my mother?"

"Supposedly, she is resting at Tesshin's mansion. It is safe to say that many of the zombies are there too."

"I see, so I was going in the right direction." Gyuki nodded.

"So we are going there, huh?" Gozumaru asked. "What about Gen'ei?"

"Benmaru and Eikichi are skilled warriors on the same level as Gen'ei. I am more worried that they have gone to the mansion."

"That's true. Hopefully they will be waiting for us." Gozumaru nodded yet he had a bad feeling about all this.

* * *

Three or four minutes had passed since Gozumaru left, yet the setting did not change: Gen'ei still sat at the ground while the three loyalists stood in front of him.

"Hey, Eikichi." Benmaru broke the silence with whispers. "What kind of abilities does this guy use?"

"Why do you ask me that?" In contrast to Benmaru's whispering, Eikichi answered in a normal tone. "You are the native of Nejireme like him. You should know that better than me."

"Nevertheless, I never actually saw him fight seriously. Few have." Benmaru shrugged. "But you fought him to death recently, right? What did he do?"

"He waved that staff around and created some wind." Eikichi shrugged. "The old bastard did not do much with the wind other than annoy me." Eikichi's eyes narrowed with frustration. "Even back then, he was underestimating me."

"I was underestimating you." Gen'ei finally spoke as well. "It is just that it would be tasteless to seriously fight a brat," he taunted Eikichi while still sitting on the ground.

"Gods, I hate this old fart." Eikichi's grip on his chain tightened. "So, when will we kick his ass?" he asked Benmaru and Mezumaru.

But the first one to answer was Gen'ei. "When you lie down and take a nap. You might kick my ass if your dreams are merciful enough to give you a chance."

"Why you…" Eikichi looked like he was on verge of exploding, but he did not want to attack until the three of them decided on at least some sort of basic plan.

"Hey Mezu!" Benmaru turned towards Mezumaru. "Do you by some chance know what aces this guy might have up his sleeve?"

"Sorry…" Mezumaru scratched his head. "I have never seen him fight either."

"I see." Benmaru sighed and started loading his musket. "So other than swinging his staff, nobody knows what he is capable of."

"Bah, he is probably too old to do anything of note anyway!" Eikichi said and spat on the ground. "I will fight him head on, you Mezu distract him when you see a chance and you Benmaru try to put a bullet in his head."

"Yes!" Mezumaru nodded and started slowly walking backwards, creating strings around his fingertips in the process. Although his abilities are supposed to be used to take control over someone's body, for youkai too strong to be controlled it could be used in other ways.

"Leave his death to me," Benmaru said and pointed his musket at Gen'ei. Other than his head and arms, the rest of his body was facing sideways and his legs were positioned in such a way that he could immediately start running if the need arose.

"Well finally!" Gen'ei said and took the staff into his hand. "Alright brats, let's play around a bit. Brats love games I hear..." he said and rose up onto his feet. "And to be perfectly honest, so do I."

"Not for long you won't, you damn old geezer," Eikichi said and his chained started floating around him. "We will not go easy on you." As if to confirm the words of its wielder, the chain turned pitch-black and a dark aura surrounded it.

* * *

 _Why must all brats be so arrogant?_  Gen'ei wondered while gazing upon Eikichi and Benmaru, his fellow high commanders of the Gyuki Group. The boy Mezumaru had disappeared somewhere.  _He is the brattiest one here; the boy will definitely try something stupid sooner or later._

Eikichi and Benmaru attacked both at the same time and Gen'ei could see both a bullet and the chain fly towards him. Still, his body did not react until both came closer.

He then swung his staff in such a manner that it hit the chain and then the still flying bullet.

"What the…" Benmaru was immediately surprised. "Did that old man just… hit a bullet in the air?"

"Your choice of weapons is lame, Benmaru," Gen'ei said after jumping away from Eikichi's chain. "Choosing a gun when everyone else was embracing swordsmanship made you cute, but you wasted all of your potential by never embracing the more modern weaponry."

"The old geezer is sure open-minded, heh," Eikichi said with a mocking smirk, but the trembling in his eyes betrayed him: he was definitely worried about the fact that Gen'ei was able to hit a flying bullet.

"Weapons are weapons. Way of the sword, the nobility of archery…" Gen'ei spoke and swung his staff which then transformed into a halberd. "…all that is useless crap existing solely to excuse one's pride, just like honor and all that crap."

"You are the only one doing the excusing here, traitor," Eikichi said and raised his chain, which then floated right above him. "And we will put you down a notch."

"As you say brat, as you say…" Gen'ei replied in a disinterested tone and then put both of his hands on the halberd. "But even you should agree that deeds are what counts, not words."

* * *

Eikichi was sure of one thing: he was lucky. Had he not seen Gen'ei block his chain and hit a moving bullet with one single swing, he may have overestimated himself and found in a situation where Gen'ei slashed at him instead of a bullet.

 _Even when we fought together, he never showed that level of skill… no, he avoided seriously fighting in front of anyone._ Eikichi wondered about his enemy's skill while contemplating on his next attack. _Just for how long did that old fart plan to betray us?_

 _Well, doesn't matter. The very fact that he always won while hiding his true skill should be another sign that he is not to be underestimated._  Having decided that it was time to attack, Eikichi made the other of his chain fly up into the branches and used his ability to make the chain smaller in order to quickly propel himself into the air.

He was frustrated to notice that Gen'ei, when he realized that Eikichi decided to climb onto the trees, had not looked up but had instead turned immediately towards Benmaru, correctly guessing that the other youkai would use the situation to attack.

But more than frustrating, this was worrisome. Eikichi was a youkai born during the Sengoku period, when the entirety of Japan was engulfed in a seemingly never-ending war. As such, Eikichi met countless warriors, some against whom he fought and others with whom he fought side by side.

The few moves Gen'ei did this day, and his quick thinking when Eikichi suddenly rose up, was something that would shame most of warriors that Eikichi met in his life.

 _Heh, this fight would not be so easy to win as I expected._  He poured more Fear into his chain, which resulted in more ends growing out of it as if it were a tree.  _This means… we have to go all out._ He hoped Mezumaru and Benmaru realized the same thing.

* * *

Gen'ei kept a watchful eye on Benmaru. He looked at the way he moved his musket as well as the positions and movements of his limbs. By keeping an eye on the musket, he was able to predict where his enemy would shoot and by keeping an eye on his enemy's body, he was able to predict the possible angles of the later bullets.  _Still, he is a skilled marksman. It would not take long for him to find a way to surprise me. I must not allow myself to become comfortable._

The boy Mezumaru was no doubt still hiding somewhere but Gen'ei could find him.  _Impressive, it takes a lot of effort for a child to fight its inborn curiosity and impulses._  However, Mezumaru's youth did not make Gen'ei underestimate his worth in this fight. The ability to control other bodies was dangerous and Gen'ei could think of a dozen ways he could use it against him, even if the boy's Fear was not strong enough to put Gen'ei under his full control.  _He could do little, but many fights are decided by a 'little' detail._

Eikichi was somewhere above Gen'ei. The old man did not need to look at the branches to guess where the outsider with an eye-patch was. The noise he made by moving was enough for Gen'ei, but even if Eikichi was completely silent the old man would have been able to sense him by the Fear he had started releasing.  _He is not trying to hide, but is instead buying time._  Eikichi may have been an outsider, but nevertheless he was a youkai who was born by the Sengoku Period. As a consequence, his martial skill and Fear were bound to be on high a level.

This was going to be a hard battle, and that made Gen'ei smile.  _Perfect, finding a worthy opponent in this age of peace is hard._

Gen'ei avoided several incoming bullets with ease, but then Benmaru got serious and the upcoming attack felt like Benmaru was going for a kill.  _So Eikichi is now making his move._  Gen'ei guessed the motivation behind the attack and turned his attention upwards while putting his left hand between himself and the bullet. It was damage, but there was one way to avoid this attack, a way Benmaru and Eikichi probably hoped he would use.

His instinct was correct: the black chains struck the ground where he may have found himself if he jumped away. But just like Gen'ei, Eikichi was also a hard-to-surprise warrior and the chains immediately went towards their actual target. They spread around in such a way that he could not avoid them by jumping left or right.

 _Now this is more like it!_ Gen'ei thought and prepared to strike the chains with his halberd. He also heard a gunshot, and the same moment he tilted his head right. However, Benmaru must have gotten used to his predictions as the bullet pierced his back.  _The brat is getting smarter._  It was of no consequence however: his backside was armored and even the wounds he did suffer would not be as fatal as a bullet in the head.

Gen'ei had never been attacked by Eikichi's Fear so he did not know what his exact ability was, but he fought several battles alongside him and he saw that the chain; once it enwrapped its victim, it broke the victim's mind.  _A fearsome ability used by someone born in a fearsome age._  Just looking at the chains would have probably felt horrifying to most humans and youkai, let alone being caught by them.

Still though, Gen'ei would not be beaten so easily.  _But I have been through even more fearsome ages!_  Just before the chains reached him, Gen'ei released much of his Fear, to the point that horns grew from his head, and then swung the halberd at the chains.

His and Eikichi's Fears clashed, and the clash soon resulted in half of the chains being pushed away.  _One more hit._  He thought and his weapons turned into a silver-colored katana which he then swung again. The Fears clashed again, and the rest of the chains were swung away.

 _I bet my arm and the only left eye that Eikichi anticipated this._  He ignored the bullet that hit his horned helm and looked upwards with his sword ready. Three more chains were descending upon him and he prepared to strike them away.

But then his body stopped moving. _Mezumaru… now that's what I call good timing._  Although he could force wrest himself out of Mezumaru's control, it took a moment too long and Eikichi's chains enwrapped him.

And then the world turned black.

* * *

He was lying on the ground and looked up at the orange sky. The smell of burnt trees and bodies filled the air around him.  _The stench of death…_

But if there was a stench of death, then there was the threat of death as well.  _I can't afford leisure right now._  Gen'ei forced himself to rise up and look around himself.

He was in what once used to be a serene forest, but all of its greenery had been replaced with blackness and the colors of blood. Indeed, there were several human bodies dressed in white.  _The Onmyouji of the Imperial Court… the apprentices of the Nue, Abe no Seimei._

But those bodies meant nothing to him so his eyes turned to the other, more numerous, victims. Organs, claws, horns, fangs, heads… all of those decorated the landscape, alongside with a great amount of bodies that were charred.

Alongside them was the body of the leader of the Gyuki Group, the fearsome youkai who founded the Gyuki Group.  _But he was supposed to have survived…_

"Was your dream comfortable?" A voice asked him.

Gen'ei looked to his left and saw a black-haired man in black and white stand there, with many Onmyouji behind him. "Abe no Yoshihira…"

"We lost many good Onmyouji here…" Abe no Yoshihira, the fearsome Onmyouji who could control the weather, raised his hand as his eyes shone with hate. "Father ordered me to make you pay in proper."

_I see… so everything about our survival was just a dream, huh?_

_So we did not survive the Great Cleansing… huh?  
_

* * *

Now that they had successfully lured Gen'ei into a trap, Eikichi jumped from the tree branches and landed around four meters away from the old youkai. "Good thing all three of us were cautious," Eikichi said while sweating. Controlling one chain was exhausting, let alone a dozen with three times more power than he usually used.

"Yes, but we still have to finish him," he heard Benmaru say from behind him while he looked at the old man who was just starring into the air.

"I know," Eikichi muttered and took out a short sword he usually carried with him but rarely used in fights. Not daring to waste time saying words of respect, which can be left for later, Eikichi slashed his enemy's throat.

"So it is done?" Benmaru commented.

"No." Eikichi's teeth clenched. "The old bastard has some tough flesh. It barely grazed him." Eikichi replied and made a diagonal uppercut. Blood was spilled, but not enough to make a fatal strike.

"Just hit the damn heart with all you got!" Benmaru started to feel annoyed.

"I will." Eikichi turned the sword around in his hand and directed it in such a way that he would stab the old man's heart.

But what got stabbed were Eikichi's guts by the hand of Gen'ei. "Wha…" His eyes widened as he gazed upon Gen'ei and the black chains surrounding him started to break and turn into dust.

"Impressive." Gen'ei who was, just a few moments ago, caught in a trance, spoke. "Dirty by some standards of honor I am sure, but very impressive," he said and pulled his arm away. "A shame it doesn't work on everyone, huh?" he commented, letting Eikichi fall onto his knees.

"How?" The pain was tremendous. "How did you… get away from that?" The technique was supposed to hypnotize the target and show them something they would consider traumatic. Since they were hypnotized, there was supposed to be no way to escape the technique. The most a victim should have been able to do was to preserve their mind from getting broken.

"Hm. Hypnosis, trauma and becoming defenseless in front of the enemy… a good technique indeed." Gen'ei grabbed Eikichi by his throat and raised him up. "But as I said, it doesn't work on everyone." While he spoke, Benmaru shot several bullets into Gen'ei, but the old man did not seem to care about it. "It threw me into the past, just after Abe no Yoshihira supposedly destroyed the Gyuki Group and went to torture me. The technique tried to fool me into thinking that it was all just a dream, but my memory was way too vivid." Eikichi could feel the fingers mercilessly stab into his throat. "The horror I felt as I fought for survival… the sadness I felt when people I knew for most of my life died… the joy I felt when I and some of my comrades survived… and the hatred I felt when I found out that some lousy brat killed the few of my dearest comrades… all of those are way too real to be a dream."

"You…"

"In any case, do you remember how several years ago you praised your own technique, claiming that it was fearsome and I said it was stupid? Do you know what was stupid?" Gen'ei started lecturing him. "The fact that you praised it. The moment you start to have a high opinion about your own skill is the moment you turn weak."

"I see…" Eikichi forced a smile onto his lips. "So there is something more annoying than a lecturing old man: a dishonorable, lecturing, treacherous old man."

Gen'ei returned the smile. "Well then… farewell, outsider." These were the last words Eikichi heard whereas the last sound he heard was the cracking of his own bones.

* * *

"Eikichi…" Benmaru's fingers stabbed into his musket so hard that he feared the weapon would break.

"I tried to stop him…" Mezumaru, who hid in a bush nearby, spoke. "I tried but…"

"It is not your fault, Mezu," Benmaru said and raised his weapon to cover his mouth. The last thing he wanted was for Gen'ei to notice that he spoke and guess that Mezumaru was in Benmaru's hearing distance. "This is a man who can hit a bullet without using any Fear-based techniques and escaped Eikichi's technique. Even Gyuki-sama himself would have failed to keep him preoccupied for more than a few small moments."

"So what do we do now? Without Eikichi…"

"We fight and try to achieve the best," Benmaru said while looking, in grief and annoyance, as the old man threw Eikichi's body into the bushes. "I will now move from distracting to offensive. You try to think of something as well."

"…yes." Mezumaru agreed, but his voice betrayed his composure.

"Do not despair, in the youkai world, that is the most common source of defeat," Benmaru said and started walking towards Gen'ei.

"Hooh?" Gen'ei raised a brow. "Is it wise for a marksman to come so close to his enemy?"

"This is a musket. Unlike more modern guns, it is not very effective at great distances," Benmaru explained and when he reached the distance he desired, he stopped. "It doesn't help that by the time the bullet reaches you, you get a chance to deflect it."

"True, it is unlikely that I would hit a bullet if the time between its firing and reaching me is short. However…" Gen'ei swung his sword into the air and it turned into a long spear. "The closer you are, the easier it is to hit you."

"Old man, do you really think that Gyuki-sama would make me one of the high commanders if using a musket was the only skill I possessed?"

"Then show me your worth, brat," Gen'ei challenged him, put both of his hands on the spear and prepared for a sprint. Even if Benmaru managed to shoot him into the head, the old man would manage to get close enough and pierce him into the heart.

But it was time to use the more complicated techniques.

* * *

Gen'ei stood ready for anything. Although it was possible, he doubted that Benmaru would just shoot a bullet and run. But his opponent's body movements hinted that this was exactly what was going to happen as his legs stood ready to run… but for some reason run in the direction of his enemy.

 _What are you planning, Benmaru?_  Gen'ei wondered.  _Hm, actually he would not rush directly at me, but in diagonal. Why?_

And then Benmaru shot a bullet… and suddenly there were five of them: one standing in the same spot, two running to his respective left and right and the last two running at him.

Gen'ei tilted his head and body to avoid the bullet and then tried to guess which Benmaru was the real one.  _He could have done this from afar. The fact that he closed in on me first means that he wanted to fire a point-blank at me._  With that conclusion, Gen'ei turned his full attention at the closest two.

He randomly stabbed one of them into the heart and was certain that he felt the spear stab through flesh.  _Did I get him?_

But the other close one shot at him and Gen'ei could feel pain.  _No, I was wrong…_

Gen'ei turned his spear into a sword in order to save himself having to pull the weapon back and turned around to face the  _real_ Benmaru, only to find out that three of them were standing there.  _He split into more?_

Just as he tried to guess which one of them was real, the three he was ignoring fired their bullets, and each of them hit into Gen'ei, one at his back, one at the shoulder and one at the nape of his neck.

And all three felt equally real.  _They are all… real?_

Then the three in front of him shot their rounds. Two hit him into his chest and the third barely missed his forehead.

… _impressive.  
_

* * *

Benmaru wanted to scream.

Until today, the number of clones he made with his genjutsu was two and usually he split one by one. To suddenly split into five existences was exhausting and the toll it took on his mind was great.

His technique was strong: even if only one body was real, the damage he did with his muskets, no matter if it was the real or a clones one, caused real damage, although only to youkai. Since it was a fully Fear-based attack, it could only be used like that on spiritual beings. Humans would be immune to anything but the real musket as their bodies were purely of physical matter.

Fortunately, Gen'ei was a youkai and not a human. All the bullets brought harm to him.

Unfortunately, it was a dangerous technique. Since the illusions he created were not harmless, he had to share their Fear with them. Or to be more exact, the Fear that made up his body had to split into multiple persons, all controlled by one mind.

Having multiple eyes, multiple senses of smell, feeling multiples sensations on the skin, moving multiple bodies… all that and more had to be done through one mind which was supposed to control only one body.

And that is only the toll on the mind. This technique also exhausted his Fear, especially once he landed a hit on a youkai. And Benmaru's Fear was not strong enough to be safely used with this technique.

In a summary, he had to defeat Gen'ei before his Fear got wasted or his mind broke due to mental exhaustion.

 _I have to make as many sure hits as possible._  After making a basic plan, Benmaru aimed his musket and his enemy's neck, the one part that was not armored and probably the only part where his skin was not as tough.

He then moved another musket from another body and then forced his mind onto the third. Then he looked at the eyes of the first again because his eyes reacted to one of the movements that Gen'ei made, but the legs he felt moving were from another body.

_I have to keep a hold of myself…_

After a few moments, all of his bodies fired at Gen'ei, but the old warrior put his hands around his neck so the bullets did not hit the desired target. And from what he could see, the damage done to the hands was not on level he had hoped for.  _So this is why Eikichi had trouble killing a defenseless old man? Tz, I will need to put even more Fear into my attacks, even if it is dangerous._

But then he remembered that Gen'ei was unlikely to just stand and wait to be killed: the old warrior stretched the hand that held the sword and the weapon started turning into something else again.

 _What is it now?_  Benmaru wondered while trying his best to keep his concentration.  _You have to be kidding me!_  His mouth opened wide when he saw the weapon that Gen'ei was now holding.

He was definitely sure of one thing: the weirdest sight he had seen in his life, and the weirdest sight he may ever see if he lived through this, was definitely an ancient-looking old man dressed in torn-up samurai armor and holding a Kalashnikov, model AK-103.

Although though it would probably not matter, Benmaru felt fortunate that it was not equipped with a grenade launcher.  _Still, with this old musket of mine versus a modern assault rifle, I feel like I brought a knife to a gunfight…_

Gen'ei quickly aimed his weapon at some of Benmaru's illusions. He felt fortunate that his real body was behind Gen'ei so he would not get shot before he saw the old man in action.

Gen'ei pulled the trigger and a storm of bullets quickly killed one of Benmaru's illusions and even made one of smaller trees fall.

Then the gun broke into pieces, only for Gen'ei to restore it to restore it after a few seconds. What was more, Gen'ei was suddenly sweating and his face turned red.  _Of course, unlike a spear or a sword, this weapon is complicated!_ Realizing what his enemy's greatest flaw was, Benmaru prepared for another round of shooting. Although he could not shoot as many bullets from one weapon and not with as much force, Benmaru had an upper hand in experience and the fact that he could shoot from multiple angles.

 _I have to put all I have into these attacks._  Benmaru decided and several shots were fired, all of which made more noticeable damage to the old man's body. However, due to not having enough time to properly aim, none of them hit near the neck, the head or the heart.

 _I have to make more clones._  Once Gen'ei killed two more of Benmaru's clones, after which his weapon broke and had to be re-created, Benmaru made three more clones and made them run to desired positions. His visions had started to blur, so he doubted that his shoots would be as precise.  _I will have to follow my instincts from now on._

Gen'ei and Benmaru aimed their weapons and pulled the triggers at the same time. Gen'ei killed two more illusions before the Kalashnikov broke, while all of Benmaru's bullets hit him into his body.

 _Damn it, I need time to aim at the head…_   _I am getting nowhere like this!_

And as if they heard his thoughts, a swarm of bugs flew past him.  _What?_  Benmaru and Gen'ei were both surprised. And then Benmaru noticed some strings attached to the bugs. _Mezumaru! You are controlling the bugs._

Unfortunately for Gen'ei, no common tool of war was able to fight a swarm of bugs so the only thing he could do to protect himself was put one hand across his face while the bees and wasps assaulted him.

 _This is my chance! It is now or never!_  Benmaru dispelled all of his illusions and put all of his Fear into his next attack.  _I need to blow his skull into pieces at all costs! But when did it become this dark?_ Benmaru aimed his musket at Gen'ei but, even though he stopped using his genjutsu, his mind was still fuzzy.

Still, he was certain that he aimed the weapon properly and immediately pushed the trigger.

 _Oh… no…_  And at the most inconvenient moment, his limbs went numb and his mind could no longer control his body.  _No… just a second…_  He thought while slowly regaining control of his body.  _I have to… aim again…_  He thought as he looked at the gun that was now hanging from his hand.

"You almost got me there, Benmaru," Gen'ei spoke and addressed him with his name. "Nobody likes putting his life on the line, but if you did that during your trainings then you might have won."

Wind, bugs, leafs… Benmaru could not hear any of those anymore, and after a moment he could not even see anything.

If there was one good thing about all this, then it was the fact that he felt no pain when the bullets stabbed into him. He just felt like a gentle hand pushed him onto the ground.

* * *

 _No way… even Benmaru?_  Mezumaru gazed in shock as his comrade's body fell on the ground.  _I was too late… I was too late!_

Gen'ei still looked upon Benmaru as his gun broke into pieces again, but then turned into a short spear. And when the old man started turning around, Mezumaru hid again.

He could not fight him. Mezumaru was not much of a fighter and would stand no chance against a force like Gen'ei, the youkai who defeated two who were supposed to be his equals.

 _I have to warn the others…_  Mezumaru could not fight him, but he could be of use in other ways.  _If I tell Gyuki-sama, Nurarihyon-sama, Gozu or Ritsura-chan about what he is capable of, they might even defeat him. Yes, I have to-_

And then something sharp penetrated his left leg. It hurt like hell, but the horror he felt was stronger than the pain so he just stood there, paralyzed by fear.

"Sorry boy, in normal circumstances I would have let you sneak away." He could hear Gen'ei speak as he closed to him. "But your death is the only thing that can help me in pushing Umewakamaru over the edge."

_Sorry Gozu… I could not fulfill my promise…  
_

* * *

" _Hey Gen'ei!"_  He remembered his brother's words.  _"You know how many youkai have started joining together and forming clans right? Well what do you say we do the same, huh?"_

As he slowly walked through the forest with a blood-smeared skull in his hands, Gen'ei remembered the days past. Many names and faces went through his head as he remembered them. They were his friends and comrades, with whom he lived for centuries and with whom he formed a clan for, which they fought for through several more centuries.

A few of them died in various battles, but most died by hands of Abe no Yoshihira.

"Ah, it sure was a harsh battle, was it not?" he asked the ghosts of the past and sat down on a rock. "Our poor leader lost much of his Fear and became a shadow of his past self while I…" He put both the skull and his helm down. He wished he had some water at hand in order to wash his face and quell his thirst, but he was not so lucky. "Ah, was I shocked when I looked at my reflection in the water. The battle exhausted me so much that I turned several millennia older. Heh heh…" He looked at his wrinkly hand. "It is like a fairy tale, is it not?" He let out a large sigh. "But we won… we managed to save our clan and even though all of you never fully recovered your Fear, you still went on to live proudly."

He looked at the ground, trying to not fall unconscious. Although Eikichi's technique failed, it still managed to torture his mind and body before he managed to break free. Summed up with the many injuries afflicted to him by Benmaru and the exhausting effort necessary to create a complicated weapon, he was in a relatively rough shape.

"What a fool I was… Gyuki-sama, I should have listened to you. The fact that I aged but retained most of my strength should have been used better. But no, I had to leave and avenge our comrades by killing some Onmyouji. Oh yes, I killed many of Seimei's and Yoshihira's apprentices, but at what price?" His fingers stabbed at the palms of his hands. "If I were there… if only I were there… I could have saved you. I am sure if I were there, I could have killed that cursed Umewakamaru… ah…"

He felt tears flow down his face. "Seeing as the Nue destroyed almost the entire youkai world, we actually did amazingly well… only for  _all_  of you to die by the hands of some mindless brat! Ahhhh…"

Sure, the Gyuki Group survived. But to Gen'ei, they were all mere kids, none of whom he could see as equal adults. Even though he was not as old as he looked, he felt like the oldest person on the planet. He was alone and the only purpose he had left was to live for Tesshin, one of his brother's children.

"But I could not save him either… I could not stop him from going into a suicidal mission." Gen'ei looked towards the mansion, where someone was already fighting. "Well, doesn't matter. I will use the situation to do one last thing before I join you, my dear brethren… Umewakamaru, I will be waiting for you to defeat that woman… and then I will put you to one final test."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

We left the last chapter with Tesshin wanting to warn Gozumaru about Gen'ei, but he failed and both Gyuki and Gozumaru underestimated the old youkai. In the end, even Tesshin's inactions brought harm to those he labeled as enemies.

\- Since we did not see any corpses, question arises about the death count in this chapter. Well, you will need to wait a while for your answer... sorry...

\- Few chapters ago, Benmaru made fun of his enemy using a cloning technique. And voila, he actually does the same here… heh

\- Gen'ei takes his Master-at-Arms to such an extreme that he even uses weapons from the 21st century ;P Fortunately for his enemies, it takes a toll on him to create such complicated weapons. But seriously, Gen'ei stop: old men should use cool old stuff, not this!


	58. Time for Another Round

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rihan has managed to defeat the terrifying Bonnouma while his sister has clashed with the assassin from the Kyushu Clan. For both of the siblings, there is still more work to be done before they can rest

**Chapter 58 – Time for Another Round**

"WAAAH!" A headless samurai somehow shouted while jumping an Kashaimaru from a tree.

"You should have used you lack of mouth to stay silent." Kashaimaru commented and threw a talisman into the air. The Samurai burst into flames when it touched him and Kashaimaru gracefully moved away so he would not fall onto him.

Immediately after, Kashaimaru's fiery foxes jumped at the headless samurai and an even stronger fire engulfed the undead youkai. Soon after, he was gone and the foxes ran at several remaining youkai.

" _To kill these youkai, you need to carefully examine their nature and find a way to kill them."_ Kashaimaru remembered what he heard from those who fought them. "But that goes for all youkai who are born through tragedy: there's usually something that makes it  _easier_  to kill them." He talked to nobody in particular. "But just like always, overwhelming power will put an early end to them. And now that Gorozaemon's Fear is gone, it is much easier to kill them."

Kashaimaru had already killed dozens of youkai on Nejireme that way: his fires and his Shikigami were too strong for lowly youkai that assaulted him.  _Well, I am no Gyuki so they aren't as efficient against me anyway._

He looked around, wondering if he had already killed all of them. After all, no more attacks came.

"This is strange." He muttered when he noticed several of them run past him without paying him any attention. "Did my technique stop attracting them?"

"No, it should still be working." A male Kitsune replied to him and Firefox growled in approval.

"Are they afraid then? No, they are foolishly fearless." Kashaimaru made two of them burst into flames, but they went on as if nothing happened. "Ah, I see: that woman that controls them must be summoning them to her side." Kashaimaru sighed. He contemplated on going to aid Gyuki, but decided that he had no reason to. "I guess my role here is over then. Good luck, Gyuki and Nura Clans."

* * *

"Woohoo, that's the way to go!" Awashima yelled after Rihan had defeated Bonnouma. "Ha ha, we won!"

"Gooo Rihan!" Dohiko was also joyful. "I changed my mind! You are just as crazy as your dad and sister!"

"That's my chief for you." Ao-Ju nodded in approval. "A promotion is in order… oh wait, we are not in the Police…"

"Rihaaaaan!" Shiori shouted and jumped at him. "You were so amazing that you made me fall in love with you all over again!"

"Stop that… you are strangling me!"Rihan said, but allowed himself to enjoy the warmth that she brought him. " _We_  won." He said and returned the hug.

Looking back at it, Rihan was surprised himself: the mighty Bonnouma fell, and by his hands no less. It was the first time in his life that he defeated such an overwhelming opponent, and a part of him always believed that something like that was impossible for him. Yet, a bit of effort, teamwork and trust made it happen.

And he thought that he could rest now.

But, the masters of this temple still had something to say.

" _ **Curse you, Nura Rihan!"**_  A deep voice shouted from somewhere within the temple.  _ **"Curse you and your accursed blood!"**_  Rihan let go of Shiori and he, as well as everyone else, looked around.

Soon it became clear from where the voice came: the huge golden skull that was located within the temple. The skull in question also started to change: parts of it cracked and large, black tentacles started coming out of it and an eyeball appeared in the skull's left eye socket.

And there was a large quantity of Fear coming from it.  _Ah yes, the Fear I used against Bonnouma was collected through today's terrorizing._ Rihan concluded. _The Fear they collected through worshipers over the years must have been collected inside that shrine._

"Sanmoto Gorozaemon…" Shiori said as she looked at the bizarre sight. "My  _honored_  ancestor blesses us with his presence." She spoke and Rihan could not discern if she looked annoyed, cautious or something else.

" _ **And curse you, you rotten bitch!"**_  He spoke while his eyeball looked at Shiori.  _ **"First Enchou and now my own blood keep finding new ways to betray and dishonor me!"**_

"Oh, I am just getting started." Shiori finally grinned at the skull. "Just you wait until you see what else I have got in store of you, my beloved grampa~"

" _ **No you will not!"**_  He yelled and his tentacles stormed in her direction.

"Give me a break already." Rihan grabbed a sword that one of Yashas left behind (when he died) and cut the tentacles with one swift strike. "I could really use a rest you know."

"Tentacles, every girl's worst nightmare." Shiori said but looked unfazed. "I can't believe my honored ancestor tried to use it on me."

"That sick bastard." Rihan, Awashima and Dohiko said at the same time.

More tentacles appeared from the skull.  _ **"The horrors I have prepared for both of you will are unimaginable!"**_

"Enough of this." Shiori put her hand inside her shirt and took out her mirror pendant. "You lost this round so your Fear belongs to me now."

"No it doesn't." Rihan turned to her and complained. "I killed Bonnouma, it should be mine."

"Huh? Can you even steal someone else's Fear?" Shiori looked grumpy.

"I can force it to become mine, which is the same thing."

" _ **How dare you ignore me?"**_

"Oh yeah, that's right." Shiori nodded but then became grumpy again. "Wait, wait, wait!" She said and pointed her finger at him. "I brought you her, saved you from that ape's brainwashing and helped you bring out your full potential! If it were not for me, you'd be dead by now!"

"Are a human and youkai seriously arguing about who will steal another youkai's Fear?" Awashima commented and scratched her head.

"You  _helped_!" Rihan pointed out. "And if it were not for me, that blond pervert and the skull would now be directing a hentai show!"

" _ **Look at me!"**_ Sanmoto Gorozaemon attacked again, but Awashima and Dohiko deflected his attacks.

The two youths did not seem to care. "How did you even come up with that response?" Shiori turned red. "You are as sick as he is!"

"I am not and do not move away from the topic! His Fear is mine, period!"

" _ **You will both regret this when I return to the world of the living in my true, terrible form!"**_

"Stop trying to interrupt their lover's quarrel already!" Dohiko complained after ripping apart another tentacle. "Have some tact, man!"

"Fifty-fifty, my last offer!" Shiori started haggling.

"Huh? Can we even do that?"

"I use my Mirror to start stealing his Fear and you interrupt halfway."

" _ **What did you say?!"**_

"Alright, let's go with that."

" _ **Heeeeelp!"**_

As if answering his pleas, the roof of the temple broke and four figures fell into the temple.

"What is it now?" Dohiko asked and everyone prepared for a fight, besides Shiori who just moved behind Rihan.

When the dust cleared, Rihan started sweating: four large apes in different colors, in a way resembling Bonnouma, now stood in the temple with crossed arms. And in front of them stood a larger youkai, with blue skin, six arms and a savage expression on his face, resembling the youkai Shoumen Kongo that was engraved on top of the temple's tower's ceiling.  _Shoumen Kongo… but the aura around him is somehow different._

" _ **I did not mean you guys!"**_  Seemingly, they were not Sanmoto Gorozaemon's allies.

"Ah good… I know one of them." Ao-Ju seemed to recognize them as he relaxed. "They are not bad guys."

"It depends on the perspective." Shiori muttered. "But yeah, they are the technically good guys… although that doesn't mean they will be on good terms with us."

And indeed, Rihan could not feel the malice that he felt from Bonnouma. Still, their Fear felt cold and menacing.

"We have come to clean this place of evil." The youkai resembling Shoumen Kongo looked at Sanmoto's golden skull with tentacles. "I found one, but where is Bonnouma?"

" _ **A Bad guy? Oh nonono, I a just misunderstood!"**_

"In Hell." Rihan answered his question and relaxed the grip on his sword a little. "Where he belongs."

"You people killed Bonnouma?" one of the apes spoke in surprise and astonishment. "Ha, so much about our preparations."

"Do not relax just yet." Shoumen Kongo spoke. "Greed is strong within Nura's kid and the red-haired girl." His eyes narrowed while Rihan raised his sword again. "I see… you want the Fear these two devils have collected, do you?" He did not wait for the reply. "Move away, that Fear must be cleansed from this world."

" _ **Come on, I am sure we can come to some sort of agreement!"**_

As usual, everyone ignored Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

"Hoo?" Rihan smiled. "Would you care to fight for it?"

"Rihan, this is not a good idea…" Shiori whispered to him. However, he did not care: he already forgot about Sanmoto and instead wanted to exchange several blows with this youkai who is stronger than even Bonnouma.

"First blood?" Shoumen Kongo suggested at once.

"It is fine with me."  _Heh, I might even have a chance._

And then Shoumen Kongo disappeared.

And a shadow fell over Rihan from behind him.

_Well damn it!  
_

* * *

The boy's Fear was strong, but he was too exhausted to even react in time. One punch was enough to propel him from the center of the enormous temple to outside.  _He is greedy, but there's chivalry in his heart._

However, there was another person with a high level of greed amongst them and a dark heart. Shoumen Kongo now turned his attention at her.

However, the greed in her heart could no longer be felt. "Rihan!" She yelled and ran in his direction.

 _A dark heart, but still it has some light in it. And small as it may be, it is strong._  He then turned his attention towards the three youkai who remained.

"I apologize for my Chief's attitude." A youkai in a blue mask bowed. "You know how younglings are." And then he turned and went towards his  _chief_.

"What about you two?"

"We don't care about that tentacle monster." The ape commented.

"We would like to stay and chat, but we have pressing matters." The woman winked and she and the ape started moving as well. "Seriously, some cool guys appear and we can't even…"

… _what a strange bunch._  Shoumen Kongo sighed and turned towards Sanmoto Gorozaemon's living shrine. He could feel the coward's terror.

" _ **Uhm… hello? Nice to meet you ser..."**_

Shoumen Kongo did not waste time on words or rituals: in one swift moment, he stood in front of the shrine with his fists tearing the ground. The skull broke and the Fear it had collected, as well as the Fear that it summoned from Hell, started to vanquish due to Shoumen Kongo's powers.  _What a pitiful youkai… but this Fear would have still been too much for that boy and girl._  He pulled his arms back and his servants started preparing for a full cleansing of the shrine and the entire region that it was corrupting.  _You both will need to strengthen your spirits if you want to consume this Fear, least you get taken over by it.  
_

* * *

 _Yep, he is in a completely different league._  Rihan thought with a smile while he lay on the grassy ground outside the temple. Although Shoumen Kongo suggesting that they fight only until first blood made him hopeful, he already gave up on the Fear that Sanmoto had collected from his worshipers. The duel was purely to see the ferocious youkai in action.

But, naturally, some people could not possibly know it.

"Rihan are you alright?" He could hear Shiori shout. "What came into you there?" And then he could see her kneel above him. "That Fear was not worth ricking your life against that youkai!"

"Do not worry. We were just doing some male bonding." Rihan assured her but did not bother to rise up.

"Men…" She sighed but still looked concerned. "Are you sure that he didn't break any of your bones?" She spoke while the sky above her started breaking like glass, showing that the two Maou's Fear was dissipating and, in extension, that they were fully defeated.

However, he did not care much about it.

"Agh!" Rihan groaned and put a hand on his neck. "I suddenly feel sharp pain here!"

"What?" Naturally, she got worried. "Damn it, I told you something-HEY!"

He tried grabbing her, but she successfully avoided his grip. "Damn it!"

"You must be alright if you have energy to play around like that." She sighed.

"And you sure got stingy." Annoyed, Rihan raised himself into sitting position. "It seems like the red sky is gone." He spoke while looking upwards.

"Oh!" It seemed like Shiori only then realized that they returned to the normal world. "Well, that should weaken whatever Tale they had released onto Nejireme."

"Weaken? Shouldn't it be over?"

"No, the Tale is too strongly connected to Nejireme and its inhabitants. so it won't disappear for some time."

"And that time is?"

"More than it is needed for the battle to be over."

"I see…" Rihan sighed in annoyance. "I guess I should hurry back to Nejireme." Even though he rejected to swear his life to them, the Nura Clan was still his family and he desired to help them. "So, what will  _you_  guys do now? Will you come with me?" He asked as he turned towards the three youkai that walked towards them: Ao-Ju, Dohiko and Awashima.

The Toono Youkai were first to answer, probably because Rihan was looking at them. "We'd love to help but…" Dohiko started and scratched his head.

"We have some business to take care of." Awashima, who turned back into a male, added.

"Some business?" Rihan thought that they too would go to Nejireme with him.

"Yes, it is something that concerns our village." Awashima continued and Rihan remembered that the Toono youkai had come to Tokyo for some reason of their own.

 _But what could they possibly need here?_  Rihan started to become suspicious, but decided to let it go for now. "I see… but before you go, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Let me guess: keep quiet about the fact that you are having an affair with your clan's enemy?" Awashima stated with a smirk and then turned his back to them. "This is not our concern, so fine."

"Well, we wish you the best of luck with this problem." Dohiko nodded. "But we will have to celebrate this someday." He said and then started following Awashima while still looking at Rihan. "Come to Toono sometime to have a drink and maybe even train with us."

"I will consider your offer." Rihan weaved at them. "And thank you."  _This was easier than I hoped._

After the two Toono youkai disappeared from their sights, Rihan turned towards Ao-Ju. "What about you?" He asked. But the sight of Ao-Ju's many wounds and torn up yukata made it clear that he was probably not in form to fight in a war. "Don't take this the wrong way but…"

"I know chief. I would not be welcomed on a battlefield like this." Ao-Ju spoke to which Rihan nodded. "I will return to my village, see if there is still trouble and… I'd like to see how my son is doing."

"Yes, that would be a good idea." Rihan nodded and then glanced at Shiori. "And may I ask you to take care of her while I am away?"

"Sure can do chief."

"Hey!" Just as Rihan expected, Shiori had complaints about the plan. "I want to be there!"

"Oh no, you won't!" Rihan tried to sound as commanding as he could. "I am too tired to fight and think about your safety, especially since literally everyone up there is your enemy!"

"I-"

"Now listen here!" Rihan cut in and pointed his finger at her. "I don't have time to argue with you. If you continue complaining, I will hit you and you will spend the rest of the war napping."

"Grrrr…" Shiori looked grumpy again. "One small victory and you immediately become and all high and mighty. Hmph!" She turned around. "Fine, I will not come with you."

"Perfect." Rihan felt relieved and looked at Ao-Ju. "Take good care of her… and be careful: no doubt, she will try get away while you are not watching."

"Fear not, I used to take care of such people at least once a month."

"So I am a prisoner now, am I?" Shiori whispered to herself.

"Thank you." Rihan smiled and tapped Ao-Ju's shoulder. Then he walked to Shiori, who was still pouting, and kissed her on the cheek. "See you later, love."

"Yes." Her expression softened "Take care there, Rihan."

He nodded and then started running.  _I hope I am not too late.  
_

* * *

Neither Ritsura nor Orochimaru played around the bush this time: their second battle did not start with a swordfight, but with a battle of Fears.

Ritsura has already frozen everything around the two of them, making the scene look like a regular winter night. Orochimaru, on the other hand, had already summoned numerous snakes, both small and large.

 _The small snakes are poisonous._  Ritsura had to slay every snake that tried to attack her as avoiding snakes was far more dangerous.  _The large ones are not, but they have enough strength to rip my limbs of._ She also had to keep an eye on Orochimaru who sometimes kept his distance and attacked her with throwing knives and other times attacked her directly. All of his weapons looked like something sticky was on them, which led Ritsura to conclude that his weapons were poisoned.  _In either case, I need to take care neither of the serpents here touches me._

Although she fought better than in their earlier fight, Ritsura still failed to cause any significant wounds onto him other than a few scratches. However, he did not even manage to scratch her. But that was mainly so because Ritsura had to be extra cautious as even a smallest scratch might poison her while he could allow himself to fight at more leisure.

Yet, she understood that her own skill was not the only reason that she was untouched. "Why are you holding back?" She demanded to know. "Why don't you make your eyes turn serpentine and all that, like you did when my allies fought against you?" Although it was to her advantage that he stayed like this, it annoyed her when an enemy went easy on her.

However, Yashagoro did not answer, although his brow did shiver.

 _He can't._ Ritsura realized.  _For some reason, he can't._ "Was it because of what Sakura-chan did to you?" She asked him with a grin.

The ever-silent enemy kept his mouth shut, but the way his eyes narrowed suggested that she was right.  _But still, this guy is an expert at deceit. He might just be waiting for me to lower my guard and then go all out._

"What about you?" Orochimaru surprised Ritsura by speaking. "I remember that you were about to do something before you got sick."

"For a certain reason, I am unable to do it." Ritsura lied. "So we are on even footing it seems."  _If he is waiting for me to lower my guard, this might motivate him to attack. If he is truly unable to go all out, then_ _ **I**_ _will go all out if he lowers his guard._  Last time her Fear overwhelmed him and she was close to beating him once and for all.  _But now, he will keep his Fear strong and won't allow me to overwhelm him. Hopefully, he falls for the trap._

Time for words and strategizing was over and Ritsura had to focus on the small snakes which already jumped up to bite her. She killed half of them with one swing of her sword and froze the other half with her breath.

Using the opportunity, Orochimaru stormed at her, one of his wazikashi prepared to block her sword and the other going for her throat.

In response, Ritsura swung her sword in direction he expected, if only to stop him from using one of his wazikashi. In her left hand, she created a small but durable and sharp knife which she threw at him. It was not much of a surprise that one small tilt with his head was enough to avoid her knife which then stabbed right into a tree.

She created another one and threw it again, but it missed as well.

 _The dices have been cast._  Even though Ritsura wasn't sure if Orochimaru fell for her trap or not, she started releasing her Fear in fullest. Once again, her hair started fluttering around and cold wind started blowing around her.

Ritsura could swear that, for a mere moment, Orochimaru smirked. His hand immediately went into hit pants and he took out what looked like three Onmyouji talismans.

Orochimaru stopped running and threw the talismans into the air. Rather than get caught in the wind, the talismans flew to Ritsura and surrounded her.

"Oh servants of my great ancestors!" Orochimaru spoke in a ceremonious manner. "Feel the terror of this impure soul and seal it within her!" The talismans then shone and turned into snakes which flew towards Ritsura.

 _I have to move!_ Although she gave such an order to her body, one of the snake's eyes mesmerized her and she could not move from her place. So the snakes bit into her arms and chest, enwrapped her and turned into white chains. The chains touched one another at her chest and disappeared.

Ritsura could move again and felt itching at her chest. She also realized that she was forced into her human form.  _Damn it, I can't even freeze myself._  She tried releasing her Fear, but it felt like water hitting into a dam.

She could no longer handle the exhaustion as well so the heavy sword started to feel heavy and she knew she could not use it to fight anymore.

_Ha, as one would expect from an Onmyouji, even if he is a youkai.  
_

* * *

Just as Yashagoro had hoped, Ritsura lied when she said that she was unable to release all of her Fear.

The technique he used was a strong sealing technique, but it was made by those who were not good at controlling the flow of their own spiritual energy. As a result, the seal was only as strong as the Fear at the moment of sealing. That meant that using it before a youkai released all of their Fear would create a weaker seal, which the youkai could dispel by releasing twice more Fear than when the sealing was done.

Although he did not know just how strong Ritsura's Fear exactly was. He suspected that she could not release much more Fear than a few moments ago.

In other words, she was no longer able to fight him.

"Well, you got me there." The now brown-haired and brown-eyes girl spoke while breathing heavily.

 _It is time to finish this._  He ordered his snakes to surround her, least she used another trick on him.

"What, you still won't talk?" Although she had lost, the girl tried to look confident. "Come on, at least tell me why you are doing all this? Was it Mizuchi's order?"

 _I have no reason to talk with a target._  Yashagoro raised his wazikashi, prepared to strike at her throat.

"Oh, and just so you know why when it happens: I ordered Sakura killed if I die."

"What?"

"Oh, finally speaking are you?" Ritsura continued grinning. "Gramps was right, yakuza techniques are the best~"

"What did you just say?"

"Oh come on now, Sakura told me everything. Well, I was unsure if you cared about her as much as she did for you, but it was worth a try." She explained and then pointed her index finger at him. "And _jackpot!_ You now talk! Now, don't you think it would be better to take me hostage than kill me, hm?"

 _She is bluffing._  Yashagoro clenched his teeth.  _She is Rikuo's daughter! She would not kill an innocent._  Although he was certain that Sakura's life was not in danger, he lowered his wazikashi. Somehow, no rational thought could make him take the risk. "You would not do that. Your father-"

"Come on, I know you spied on me for a long time. You know I am not as soft as dad."

 _Damn, she is right…_  In weeks he kept an eye on her, he became certain one thing: she is harsh like a yakuza.  _But still, she wouldn't harm an innocent girl, especially not a friend…_

"So, was it Mizuchi who ordered my execution?" She repeated her question.

 _She is just buying time! I must not fall for it!_  "No, he was against this." However, he was unsure what to do: to kill her or not. For that reason, his instincts forced him to buy time. "So I and a group of my allies decided to take action into our own hands."

"You are a rogue assassin then? From experience I can tell you that nobody likes it when their assassin starts acting independently." Ritsura's eyes narrowed. "After all, my death would not bring anything but harm to you and your clan. My father might prefer to avoid unnecessary conflicts, but he is not someone you want to anger."

 _Tz, I can't afford to waste time!_  Yashagoro stopped talking to her and ordered some of his snakes to bite her.  _The poison should not kill her, but it should neutralize her as a threat. It will be a fitting compromise._

The snakes bit, and the girl smiled.  _What?_  Something was amiss, although he was not sure what exactly.

And then Ritsura disappeared in front of his eyes.  _Oh no… oh no, I made a stupid mistake!_  Yashagoro completely forgot that her Yuki Onna's Fear and Nurarihyon's Fear were separated. His earlier seal was used on her when she used her Yuki Onna Fear, meaning that she was still able to perform Nurarihyon techniques.  _Wait, should she even be able to use Fear in her human form? Bah, forget about it! I must find her before she runs away!_

Then something stabbed right into his left ankle and through his chest.  _Shit… she did not… run away._ He moved his eyes but did not see her. However, he did see that two ice knives she made and threw at him were no longer stabbed into the three.  _Ah, how stupid of me… she usually shot icicles! Why would she waste Fear and time on creating weapons unless she had another use for them?_  Although she may not have been able to use the heavy sword in her current exhausted form, the knives were a different story.  _No wonder she made them sharp… she intended to use them against me like this!_

"Ah sorry, you must not have heard about this! After all, I keep it secret even from my own allies~" He could hear her words from behind. "But I am bad at mixing my Nurarihyon and Yuki Onna Fears, meaning that your sealing of one strengthened the other." She pulled both of her weapons back and Yashagoro fell onto his still healthy knee.

"You planned all this?" He asked her.

"No way, I couldn't possibly know what you would do to me." She answered him while putting a knife under his throat. "They were a reserve in case my technique failed to kill you and my Yuki Onna's Fear got depleted."

_Still, a trap it was! And I fell right into it!_

"Now, I'll give you two seconds to unsummon these snakes or you die."

"Tz." He decided to do as she asked and ordered his snakes to disappear.

"Good boy!" She mocked him.

 _I still have a few tricks left._  Now that the countless snakes had disappeared, his spiritual energy could be used for a stronger summon: a talisman he hid in the grass should have floated above Ritsura and would any moment now turn into a huge snake and devour her. Such summoning would exhaust him, but if she died it would be of no issue.

"Ritsura, behind you!" But a male voice interrupted his plan and the girl pulled the knife across Yashagoro's throat before jumping away.

* * *

"This was the last of them." Hitotsume spoke after killing the last zombie around them with his gun. "I think…"

"There should be more near Tesshin's mansion." Aotabou said and turned towards Nurarihyon. "Should we go support Gyuki?" Although they were asked by Ritsura to stay inside the resort in case something happened, Nurarihyon decided to take a few stronger youkai outside and kill any enemies they could see. But they still kept close enough to the resort to quickly retreat to it should the need arise.

"No, it is too far away." Nurarihyon, who sat on a stone and smoked his pipe, answered. "I will trust in Gyuki's skill and Ritsura's plan. Let us stay here for a while and see if any of the zombies will try to pass through." After they saw all the zombies run in direction of Tesshin's manor, they all knew that the best way to help Gyuki was to kill as many of them as they could so that was what they did. However, their small numbers and the fact that the zombies were hard to properly kill made their aid to Gyuki limited.

"Nurarihyon-sama, do you think he will come?" Hitotsume spoke in a low tone when he walked up to his boss.

"Who? Mizuchi?" Nurarihyon guessed whom he talked about.

"Yes, he." Hitotsume nodded and started smoking his own pipe. "Mount Nejireme is strategically important for our clan and that guy…"

"He might." Nurarihyon answered. "He never liked being side-lined. And from what I heard, it got worse after he created his own clan. He often disappears to take care of important matters without informing everyone else."

"I wonder how his subordinates must feel." Hitotsume grinned.

"Are you suggesting something, Hitotsume?" Nurarihyon asked with a smile.

"Maybe." Hitotsume grinned.

"Are you two done badmouthing our leader?" A feminine voice suddenly spoke above them. The two youkai looked above, and saw a woman stand atop a tree branch, dressed in a military uniform that looked like it came from the Meiji Era, but light gray in color and with the mon of the Hashima Kyushu Clan as the insignia.

"Who the hell are you?" Hitotsume asked and their comrades ran to their side. At the same time, number of youkai in uniforms appeared from the forests.

It was clear now that Ritsura's prediction was correct: the Kyushu Clan really did attack.

"This is Suiren." Nurarihyon, who still sat and smoked his pipe, answered. However, the look in his eyes was stern, suggesting that he was not fully at leisure. "She is the Ame Onna from Kyushu, one of their top brass." He spoke and the Ame Onna (Rain Woman) jumped onto the ground, holding a katana in her right hand.

"Oh, an Ame Onna." Hitotsume looked relieved. "I got worried, but ends up it is just someone who earned her title through nepotism."

"What did you say?" Suiren looked insulted.

"Oh sorry." Hitotsume continued mocking her. "Suiren, now I remember! You are from that family who used to get their Fear from helping humans by summoning rains and saving their crops." Hitotsume removed the pipe from his mouth and raised his gun at her. "Now run away girl, least you get thought what a real warrior is."

"Truly, you mobsters lack manners." Suiren said and unsheathed her sword to which the Nura Clan's youkai answered by preparing to defend themselves. Strangely, her allies did not prepare for a fight. "But no worries, you will learn to watch your tongue soon enough!" She than raised that sword into the air and Fear started sipping out of her.

"Retreat." Nurarihyon spoke and raised himself up.

"Why?" Hitotsume was confused. "It is just the rain."

"Retreat." Nurarihyon repeated and turned around. "Go into the closest cover you can find, but under trees!" He spoke and started running.

Hitotsume, Aotabou and others, confused at why they had to run from some rain, stood there for a few moments, but in the end went after their commander. After all, Nurarihyon was not one to retreat unless necessary.

And the rain started… and soon after, the screams.

"What is going on?" Hitotsume shouted when his skin started burning wherever the drops fell.

"I heard rumors about her in Kyushu!" Even the mighty Nurarihyon seemed to have felt the pain as he had trouble talking. "The Orochimaru Clan… did something to her and she became able to summon acid rains." Understanding what was at stake, everyone started running at a faster pace. "If we don't hurry, this rain will melt us to our bones!" He warned while the rain became more and more intensive.

Fortunately, the youkai serving under her could not follow after them as they were unlikely to be immune to the acid rain.

However, Suiren was a different story: Hitotsume saw her gracefully jump in front of them, preparing to strike their commander as he ran.

But one of the youkai jumped in her way and she was forced to retreat, but not before putting a scratch on him. The youkai smiled in satisfaction that he made her retreat, but then a look of horror appeared on his face.

"What is it now?"

"So that rumor is correct too, huh?" Nurarihyon clenched his teeth. "If her sword touches you, she can turn much of the water in your body into acid."

And so the Nura clan got to know what kind of monsters the Orochimaru Clan was able to create.

* * *

 _Damn it!_  Yashagoro held himself by his throat. Because Ritsura didn't cut too deep and because his body had strong regenerative properties, his life was not in danger. However, he was frustrated because he failed in his mission.

 _Damn it!_  He repeated in himself while he looked as his serpent disappeared. In order to keep himself alive, he had no choice but to unsummon it, especially since it would fail to kill the girl anyway.

With pain in his chest, ankle and under his throat, he looked at the nuisance who ruined his latest assassination attempt: it was the Onmyouji from before. At the moment, Yashagoro felt like a cartoon villain whose plans constantly got thwarted by some annoying hero.

"You are a bit late, Ryu." The brown-haired Ritsura said with a smile.

"I disagree: I came at the right moment to save the damsel. Well, it is a shame we did not get to use the technique we practiced, but it might be too early anyway." He said and walked up to her. "So, why are you in your human form?"

"He kinda sealed my Fear." She said and scratched her head. "Are you able to unseal it?"

"It would take too long to check what kind of seal it is." The Onmyouji turned towards Yashagoro. "Would you be so kind to do it?" When Yashagoro did not reply, the Onmyouji asked: "If it is a simple seal, rendering the summoner unconscious might do the trick."

"Tz." The Onmyouji was right as the seal was not strong or advanced enough to exist without the user sustaining it. So, Yashagoro lifted the seal and the next moment the girl turned white-haired again. This way, he might at least stay conscious in case something turned the tables in his favor again.

"Tz." For some reason the Onmyouji clicked his tongue.

"Why are you reacting like that?" Ritsura also seemed confused.

"And there I thought I'd need to strip you to see how it works."

"Don't even think about it." Ritsura said and softly punched him into his chest.

"Ritsura-sama!" Yashagoro hoped that his allies would come first, but he was not so lucky: the two youkai he recognized as Kubinashi and Kejorou appeared. "We are glad to see that you are alright!" And then their eyes fell on Yashagoro. "Oh, he is alive?" They looked at him with disdain. As an assassin, Yashagoro was used to it.

"Kino, I am happy you are alright!" Ritsura looked with joy at the female youkai that appeared. "I feared Crocer got to you!"

"Crocer?" Kejorou looked surprised, but Kubinashi recognized the name.

"Someone came in and stopped him." Kubinashi said and looked at Ryuzan. "Was it you? I am sure someone used exorcism."

"No, it was not me." The Onmyouji shook his head. "Maybe it was Kashaimaru? How come you did not see the Exorcist?"

"She hid." Kubinashi shrugged. "Now that I think about it, she sounded like a girl."

 _Sakura…_  Somehow Yashagoro had a feeling it was her. He also saw Ritsura and the Onmyouji exchange glances but did not say anything.  _It must be Sakura…_  Ironically, the girl he was worried about thwarted his plans twice in one day.

Yet still, for some reason he was more worried about her than about Crocer, especially since Nurarihyon was on the mountain.

In very least, Nura Ritsura seemed to be fully aware what Sakura was. "Ah, let us leave such things for later!" For whichever reason, Ritsura seemed keen on protecting Sakura's secret. "We can chit-chat when we get somewhere safer!"

"That's true." Kubinashi sighed. "I feel ashamed that I forgot about that."

"Don't be such a worry rat, Kubinashi." Kejorou teased him and then looked as Yashagoro. "So what about him? Do we take him with us or kill him?"

"Ritsura!" Suddenly, the Onmyouji pushed Ritsura away and, a moment after, something flew down from the sky onto the spot where she stood a moment before. The same creature than flew away and landed in front of Yashagoro.

Yashagoro recognized the youkai who attacked. "Hainu!" He spoke as he looked at a winged dog.

"So, the ambush failed, huh?" Another voice spoke from behind Yashagoro.

The boy recognized it. "Fumiaki-sama!" Yashagoro immediately raised himself up, even though it hurt him. "What are you doing here?" He asked the general who walked out of the bushes, with around ten youkai following after him. Amongst them were Konaki-jiji and some other members of his squad whom he sent to keep an eye on exits from the mountain.

"I should be the one asking you that, Yashagoro." Fumiaki said in his usual disinterested tone. "I heard my father ordered you to stay home."

"I-"

"Well, we don't have time for that now. It is actually convenient that you and your pals are here right now." Fumiaki said and stood beside Yashagoro. "You are listening to orders without question from now on, got it?"

"Of course, Fumiaki-sama." Yashagoro wanted to ask many questions, but the Nuras were already preparing for a fight.

"Our top priority mission is to  _capture_  one of Rikuo's kids  _alive_." He put emphasis on two of the words. "Other than that, we try to kill as many of their lieutenants as we can."

"Of course, but I am not sure if I can still fight."

"Yes, I see your wounds." Fumiaki's eyes narrowed. "But do you still have energy to fight? You don't look exhausted to me."

He understood what Fumiaki meant. "Yes, of course I do."

"Sorry to break your happy reunion guys." Ritsura spoke out. "But how the hell did you sneak up to here?"

"Ah, you must be Nura Ritsura." Fumiaki said while scratching his chin. "I don't have a reason to answer that, girl."

And then two more youkai flew down from the sky and landed near Ritsura, but they were not on Kyushu Clan's side. Yashagoro recognized these two flying youkai as members of Senba Garasu, Nura Clan's scouting unit. "They split in two groups, it seems." The female one, Sasami, spoke. "One, lead by an Ame Onna who could summon acidic rain attacked the First Commander while this group used the opportunity to move past the defenses."

"I see." Ritsura did not ask any more questions. "I am sorry, but I will need you two to fight here. There are way too many of them here."

"Of course we will." They both said.

"So the pieces are set I presume?" Fumiaki said and unsheathed his sword. "Troops, attack before more of them come!" And after he said that, everyone but Fumiaki and Yashagoro moved forwards.

"Go, kick their asses!" Ritsura ordered and everyone but she and Ryuzan moved in to fight.

"I get to kill that old baby!" Kejorou shouted as she ran.

However, nobody fought between the two leaders.

"Fumiaki… Hey, I recognize that name!" Ritsura finally realized. "You are Mizuchi's son, are you not? The half-youkai one!"

"Well damn, I am more popular than I want to be."

"Perfect, now we both want to capture one another alive! See? Is it not nice to have the same goals?"

"You are very much at ease, are you not girl?" Fumiaki asked her.

"My and Ryu's enemies here are a half-dead snake and the weakest of Mizuchi's children." Ritsura shrugged. "A dangerous situation, but at least I know that it could have been worse."

"True on both behalf's: it could have been worse…" Fumiaki smiled. "… but still it is a dangerous situation." And then he started his technique.

Ritsura was surprised at what she saw. "That is…"

And then Ritsura's eyes no longer showed cautious entertainment.

Now they showed murderous intent. "How dare you use  _that technique_?" She raised her sworn and spoke again, but this time not to Fumiaki. "Ryu, let us do it."

"But-"

"No buts…"

The Onmyouji nodded and raised one of his gloves, summoning one of his Shikigami.

There was no reason for it, other than to mock one another as neither expected it, but Fumiaki and Ritsura shouted the names of their technique aloud:

""MATOI!""

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here we are, another chapter is out! Sorry for the small hiatus, some scenes were tougher to write than you would have expected.

\- For a while, we return to Rihan and Shiori. We see what occurred after their victory against Bonnouma and what will everyone in the group do next. Unfortunately for our greedy couple, nobody gets the look they desired… but at least Gorozaemon got to speak in the fabulous bolded italic font ;P

\- What mysterious business do the Toono youkai have to take care of I wonder? Those who know some basic stuff about Japanese mythology might make a guess…

\- Round 2 of Ritsura's and Yashagoro's fight is here… this was a fight scene that was hard to write as I did not want it to feel like the last one. Hopefully, it was still interesting enough

\- Suiren and Fumiaki finally make their move. Hitotsume thought that Suiren was harmless because she was an Ame Onna. And he may have been right if not for one detail: she can summon very acidic rains. He was not the one laughing after that…

\- Although she defeated Yashagoro, Ritsura is still not done fighting: Fumiaki appeared and this half-youkai showed that he knows how to use Matoi. However, we also see what Ritsura and Ryuzan had been practicing, which is something similar to Matoi


	59. Mother's Judgment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After defeating Tesshin, the leader of the rebellious faction, Gyuki and Gozumaru went to sneak into his mansion and deal with the leader of the undead forces that plague Mount Nejireme

 

**Chapter 59 – Mother's Judgment**

_It was night time and he, a boy of five years, was trying to fall asleep in his mother's arms. But they were outside and it was so cold that even their only remaining servant keeping a fire up did not help much._

_But even colder was the tear that fell onto his face. The boy opened his eyes and muttered a single word: "Mother…"_

_But she kept her eyes closed, tears still coming out of them._

" _Mother…" he repeated again, hoping that she would reply this time._

" _Ah…" Finally noticing that he child woke up, her eyes opened wide. "What is wrong, Umewaka?" For the good of her child, she tried to pretend that nothing was wrong. "Are you unable to fall asleep?" The children were gullible, so she hoped that he would forget about her tears and return to sleeping._

_But the child knew how much she missed his father and wanted to soothe her worries. "Mother, I will strive in my studies and not slack off with a sword and I will definitely protect you in place of father."_

_She did not reply anything but just stared at him. "Ah… ah…" then her voice started crying again and she hugged him tightly.  
_

* * *

_His father was a high-ranking noble and a general under the Yoshida Clan, his mother was that general's wife._

The number of time that Gyuki had visited Tesshin's manor could have been counted with fingers on only one hand, but even so he knew that the inside of the manor felt larger than he remembered it to be. The air in it was malicious but, taking into consideration the current situation, that at was to be expected.

He and Gozumaru walked through it with swords in their hands, although only Gyuki's sword was stained with fresh blood. Although it was contradictory, he did not let his comrade in arms get threatened.

But, at this very moment, contradictions did not matter much to Gyuki.

_His father and mother loved one another, yet she was unable to give birth. So she prayed for a miracle at the Hiyoshi Shrine in Otsu. After many prayers, her prayers got answered and she gave birth to a boy her husband named Umewakamaru._

"Murderer!" A woman whose upper half of head was a bloody mess broke through the wall and attacked them, but without even slowing down Gyuki had cut her in half upside-down.

"You will pay for this!" A man in rags, and holding a sword, jumped from the ceiling. Gyuki gracefully avoided him and cut of his head.

"Why, miser?" A seven years old girl appeared in front of him and her shadow attacked him, but he did not hold back from slaying her either.

All of them were beyond salvation, as was he.

_His father passed in a battle while he was still a child. Umewakamaru swore to pray for happiness of his father's soul and became a monk in a Buddhist temple whereas his mother continued with her journey._

It was at that temple that Gyuki got taught Buddhist value and ethics, but it wouldn't be until he lived through several human lifetimes that he would remember those teachings.

Yet it took so little for those teachings to become blurry once again.

_Yet he left the temple, and his life started on its bloody path. His father's prediction that Umewakamaru was given to the world by gods as a blessing proven to be wrong.  
_

* * *

_Gyuki-sama…_  Gozumaru looked as Gyuki mercilessly moved through the mansion, slaying everyone and everything that got in his way.

On other hand, Gozumaru's sword did not slay anyone. And that did not satisfy Gozumaru's wishes. It was not because for glory that he wanted to use his sword, but because he did not want Gyuki to carry all of the burdens alone.

Yet, Gozumaru could not do anything. No matter how quick he tried to be, Gyuki was quicker. He could only follow and look as the expression on Gyuki's face became darkened with every spirit he slew.

No doubt, Gyuki did what he thought was right. But for the first time ever, Gozumaru felt certain that Gyuki was in the wrong.

These spirits may not be able to put even a scratch on him, but they were able to strike at his very heart.

And most of all, he feared for what  _the Mother_  had in store for Gyuki.

* * *

" _Now, isn't this rare?" Gen'ei spoke when he entered Gyuki's chambers. "It is not so often that you ask me to visit you, youngster." Although Gyuki was his superior, Gen'ei did not exactly radiate with humility and respect. It got even worse in situations like these when the two of they were alone._

" _I tire of your words, Gen'ei." Gyuki found it annoying and decades ago would have tried to kill him, but these days he tried to keep his head cool. Partially, it was because Gen'ei and Tesshin were now the only ones keeping older ayakashi in his clan loyal, but partially it was for a different reason._

" _You tire of my words, yet you summon me for a talk." Gen'ei sat down behind Gyuki who was currently reading some of the Buddhist scriptures he took from a monk he had killed several nights ago. "You are contradicting yourself, youngster."_

" _Don't play dumb: you know of which words I tire, you old geezer." Part of him started regretting to have summoned that vulgar old man. "Could we please have a more peaceful chat?" He asked with clenched teeth. He was certain that Gen'ei would have commented on his expression if he looked at him._

_Thankfully, the only thing he looked at was Gyuki's back. "This is so unexpected that I would think it is an omen of times to come. But alright, ask your question and I will try to contain myself."_

" _I hope you keep your word." As nice as it was to not look at this vulgar old man, Gyuki still turned around for the sake of ethics… and so that the old geezer would not get annoyed and become even more vulgar._

_He looked at this old man. In contrast to his vulgarity and laid-back attitude, Gen'ei had eyes were beaming tension and ruthlessness. Gyuki met many warriors in his life, and the ones with these eyes were the most dangerous ones: they saw literally everything and the only reason Gyuki managed to best such people in battles was because they were mere humans while he was a powerful ayakashi._

_And that might be the reason why he went easy on this old man when he appeared in his clan, returning from a hunt for some exorcists. It was those eyes, the eyes of a ruthless warrior and eyes of a man who hated him from the depth of his soul, which made Gyuki afraid._

" _I was wondering, old geezer… you seem to be a competent warrior, both from what I hear and from what I see in your eyes, not to mention that you seem to hate me." Gyuki's eyes narrowed. "So why did you never try to take me down?"_

" _Youngster… I will tell you…" His voice became lower as he spoke. "…that it is a secret." And then he quickly winked at him._

" _You damn old…" Gyuki had to contain his anger and not kick him out of his room. "Alright, then I will cut to the chase."_

" _Oh, so this was just foreplay?"_

" _How do you keep yourself from attacking me?"_

" _What did you say?" This question actually took Gen'ei by surprise._

" _I don't know what your reason for holding back is, but I am sure you need to contain your hate for me somehow. Tesshin attacked me several times, and when he doesn't it is because he is not strong enough. But you could win so… how do you manage to make yourself not attack me?"_

" _Damn, a philosophical debate." Gen'ei scratched his head and looked at the scriptures behind Gyuki. "Did that foreign religion make you use your head?"_

" _I studied at a Buddhist temple while I was still a human child."_

" _Woah, the more you know…"_

" _Yet, even all that does not help me contain my anger." He finally went to the topic that interested him. "The great Buddha teaches us about my peace and serenity and I understand those entire teachings well… but still, my heart just rejects to let me calm down. I do my best but still…" He raised his hands and looked at them. It was him who asked for a Buddhist monk to be attracted, but e failed to contain his urges to kill him with these bare hands. "I crave to kill."_

" _You are an ayakashi now, so that is natural."_

" _As are you and so many others… but they still know how to keep calm."_

" _What a waste of my time this was." Gen'ei said and rose up._

" _Hey, where are you-"_

" _Look youngster, a few books will not teach you how to behave properly in a single day." Gen'ei cut him off and pointed his finger at Gyuki. "You are no longer as bad as I hear you used to be so I am pretty sure that it means you are making progress." And then he turned around. "Meditate, read those scriptures or do whatever you are supposed to do. If nothing else, you will keep getting better and might actually grow up into someone who is not a subject of a fairy tale."_

_And so he left, leaving Gyuki with only one answer: this ayakashi was definitely hiding something._

_In any case, Gen'ei was right: meditation and reading of Buddhist scriptures was all that took to calm him down. It was passive, but then so was everything else.  
_

* * *

"Ah, Umewakamaru…" After a while, Gyuki and Gozumaru finally reached the woman who promptly greeted them while sitting. "We were already starting to think you would not come."

The woman no longer wore a straw hat so Gozumaru could see that she used to be a pretty woman with long, black hair. However, she still wore the ragged and blood-stained clothes and her face was filled with scratches and dried blood so pretty would not be a fitting word for her anymore.

" _We_?" If Gyuki was shaken by the sight of his mutilated mother, he did not show it. "I have a feeling you are not talking about all the other undead here."

" _We_  are." The woman rose onto her feet and spoke in a raspy tone. "Something happened to Gorozaemon-sama, so our collective Fear weakened."

"So you merged your consciousness?" Gyuki commented and his eyes narrowed while looking at what looked like his mother.

"We did, although  _I_  am still dominant." Her tone became increasingly feminine, as it fit her image. "Admittedly, I regained some sanity this way so I am the one spirit that does not mind this." She explained while the evil spirits surrounded and gazed at them.

Gozumaru was tense and prepared for a fight at any moment, but Gyuki seemed to be more relaxed. "Still, you are not my mother." He said to the woman.

"That hurts me, Umewakamaru." She spoke while insanity shone in her eyes. "Oh, what all pains I have gone through in the Underworld because of your  _sacrifices_." And spread her arms as she spoke. "Yet here you come, your eyes cold and looking as if you are prepared for a murder."

"And I am." Gyuki raised his blade. "After I saw you come back to life, something in me broke… but since then I had enough time to strengthen my spirit. I will  _not_  allow my followers to die again just because I could not keep my spirit strong."

"So you will slay us all,  _Gyuki_?"

"Yes." Bloodlust radiated from Gyuki as he said that simple word. "I do not care if I have to slay men, women, children or even my own mother."

"So you actually will swing your sword at your own parent?" She raised her arm and the spear that existed for sole purpose to slay gyukis appeared in her hand.

"I have a new family and a new father now." He said and Gozumaru knew that he talked about Nurarihyon and the Nura Clan. "And to keep them safe, I will destroy my past if need be."

"That's very inhumane of you, Umewakamaru."

"Well." Enormous amounts of Fear have started to be released from Gyuki and the next moment he was swinging his sword down at his own mother. "I am a youkai now!" Even though his image was still that of a man, the aura around him and the vicious smile on his mouth left no place for questions: he was a demon through and through. "And youkai do not care about such things."

Most of evil spirits got overwhelmed by his Fear and many moved at a further distance from Gyuki.

However, the demon that looked like his mother stayed calm and blocked his attack by holding her spear with both of her hands. "So that is your answer, Umewakamaru?"

"Gyuki." He corrected her. "Umewakamaru died a thousand years ago."

* * *

Indeed, there was no need to care about this woman: he went insane because he could not stand solitude and his mother used to be the only person he had left, but now it was different.

He had his Gyuki Group.

He had his father, Nurarihyon, and his kinsmen, the Nura Clan.

He had Gozumaru, Mezumaru and Rikuo… all of whom he saw as his children.

Gyuki was no longer alone. And if he wanted to stay like that, he had to fully discard his human past once and for all.

" _Gyuki_ , then…" The woman who looked like his mother said in a calm tone and moved away from him. "So tell  _us_ , do you at least regret what you had done,  _Gyuki_?" Her feminine and raspy tones were now mixing with one another.

"What is done is done. I did a lot of stupid things as a child, but past can't be changed even if I desired so." Gyuki said and pointed his sword at her. "But why are you asking this question? Since when did _you guys_  care about anything but your bloodlust and revenge?"

"Since sanity was gained. Gorozaemon no longer controls  _us_  so  _we_  can think long-term now:  _we_  intend to judge you."

"Judge me?" Gyuki smirked. "You will judge a youkai for acting like a youkai?" What he did was wrong and childish, but it was nothing special in the world of youkai. So the thought of a youkai judging him for it was ridiculous to him.

" _We_  are still deciding on it." She said and raised her spear. The next moment, all of the undead turned into black mist and started collecting into her spear. "Although for most part,  _we_  have decided already."

"So tell me then: what is your judgment?" He asked her without worrying too much about what was going on. After all, it took him only a moment to conclude that they were putting all of their Fear into that weapon as divided they could do nothing to him, especially not since they lost the support of Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

"Patience, there is one more questions remaining." She said and lowered her spear, which now looked like it was burning in black flames.

"And that question is…?"

"You see, some of  _us_  here are skeptical. After all, no matter how much we hated you, your atrocities became rarer as time went on and were non-existent for last five hundred years." She pointed her spear at him. "So the question is this: Did you change, or are you still the monster that brought suffering to us all?"

"I have changed." Gyuki raised his sword again. "So, will you now tell me your judgment or will we fight?"

"First thing first: your words mean nothing." She said with a smirk. "Second:  _we_  do not have any intentions to fight." She lowered her spear and raised her index finger. "Someone else will be doing the fighting and testing while  _we_  look and judge…"

"What do you mean?" Gyuki asked but she just stood there and smiled.

And then a sudden storm came: ceiling, walls, doors, furniture… some kind of chaotic force made it all fly in all directions. But rather than look at the source, Gyuki jumped to shield Gozumaru.

And then the storm stopped and only dust remained. Gyuki coughed a bit but then took a fighting pose as it was quite likely that his nemesis, be it the woman or someone else, used this opportunity to attack from shadows.

Next came a tremendous amount of Fear. But it was not the same kind of Fear that radiated from the undead. No, it was something else… something less foreign.

And then the dust cleared and Gyuki gasped in shock and terror.

The Fear he felt had nothing to do with the undead or Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

It was the Fear of the Gyuki-type youkai. And at that slight moment, Gyuki was once again a boy called Umewakamaru who gazed at a large ox-headed spider.

Now, he was gazing at a gray-colored Gyuki, with a large scar on its face, who was three times larger than any of the gyukis in the Gyuki Clan. In comparison, the Gyuki whom Umewakamaru slew looked tiny.

"Who the hell is this?" He could hear Gozumaru ask, but Gyuki had no answer to that question. If there was a gyuki like this in his clan, he did not know about him.

But the woman, who did not even bother to turn around and look at the youkai who destroyed the manor and created a clearing inside the forest, seemed to know who it was. "Your timing is perfect, Gen'ei."

"Gen'ei?" Gozumaru muttered. "That is… Gen'ei?"

Now that he took a better look at it, Gyuki knew it was true: this was Gen'ei. He was not in his human form, but somehow they looked alike: both had the aura of old age around them and the scars on their faces were in relatively same places.

However, Gyuki did not know that he was this large in his youkai form. Granted, he never saw him in it.

"I did not come too early, did I? Tesshin is not here I see"

"No, you did not." She turned her head around a bit. "And Tesshin won't be coming. It seems like he was defeated."

"Ha, he probably went easy on the boy." Gen'ei said while looking at Gozumaru. "So, can we start it already?"

Shiver went up Gyuki's spine.

Something bad was about to happen.

"Yes, start." The woman looked at Gyuki again, her eyes shining with malice. "So… did you change? Or are you still the monster that created us?"

Gen'ei opened his mouth and Gyuki remembered that moment when the former Gyuki opened his mouth and showed him his mother's corpse.  _Why is he here? He should be fighting… oh no… oh no no no…_

And then Gen'ei spit out a blood-stained skull and both Gyuki and Gozumaru stopped breathing.

"Mezu…" Gozumaru muttered and his sword fell from his hands. "Mezu…" he repeated.

" _Gyuki-sama!"_  Voice of a young boy could be heard in Gyuki's ears.  _"Gyuki-sama, what is this?"_  He remembered the boy who asked him many questions.  _"Yes, I will train more… really!"_  He remembered the boy who was always at leisure.

 _Why Mezumaru…?_  Gyuki felt like everything around him was breaking.  _He was the softest of us…_ His breathing jumped from slow to fast and back all the time.  _He did not deserve this…_  His blood boiled and none of his teachings could contain it anymore.  _They will pay… THEY WILL ALL PAY!_

And the beast was, once again, released.

* * *

Everything went as Gen'ei thought it would. As much as Gyuki tried to stay resolved, his heart was shaken by the betrayals, the realization what happened to his mother, having to face his beloved mother as an enemy and having to face his sins had shaken Gyuki's heart. The realization that someone he saw as his son suffered painful death would be the drop that spilled the glass.

Gen'ei was still in his youkai form while Gyuki tried to kill him. The youkai who was several moments ago an image of calmness was now holding a monstrous expression on his face and his Fear was darkening the air around him. Even the grass looked like it tried to move away from him.

But to Gen'ei, that was just another crazed warrior. Yes, he was more dangerous than most, but he was still easy to avoid.

However, he could not avoid him forever and while Gen'ei was strong and agile in his youkai form, he was unable to wield weapons and fight with human elegance. So he turned back into his human form and turned his weapon into a heavy sword. It was less than five seconds that he had to use it to block Gyuki's swing.

"You damn old geezer!" Gyuki shouted at him, his eyes opened wide.

"It sure was ages since you called me that." Although he mocked him, Gen'ei had a bitter expression on his face.  _How sad, boy… how sad.  
_

* * *

Hate was right now the strongest emotion inside him, with terror and relief following soon after. He was relieved for he did not feel this good for centuries, but the rational part of him was afraid that he would revert to his old self.

He thought he strengthened his spirit before facing his enemies, but he was wrong. Indeed, he was able to face his mother and keep himself from breaking, but in his heart was still vulnerable. The betrayal, the haunting, the realization what his actions did to his mother's soul, casting away his mother and all whom he had wronged… all of those killed a part of him. Mezumaru's apparent death was just the final straw.

Was Mezumaru even dead? Indeed, he did not see the body so it was possible that he was alive. But it did not matter anymore: for a moment he was certain that Mezumaru was killed and a part of his old self was unleashed. And now, he was unable to contain it.

He wanted to kill Gen'ei.

He wanted to torture him.

He did not want to do it for Mezumaru, but because he wanted to show him how terrifying he was.  _That damn geezer…_  He tried to calm himself down, but a stream of memories in which Gen'ei mocked him rushed into his mind. Those memories usually meant nothing to him, but at this very moment they further fueled his sadistic desires.

Each of his swings became more and more ferocious, and less calculated. But the lack of calculation was of no issue as Gen'ei had more and more trouble in blocking and evading Gyuki's attacks. If he continued like this, even this skilled old geezer would die.

So what if Gen'ei was a giant in his youkai form? What is that to the mighty Gyuki?

And why would Gyuki have to contain himself? He was a youkai, a creature of darkness… a creature feeding on the fears of others. He was no longer a human! In his case, containing his demonic urges was the unnatural and unhealthy thing to do!

Deep inside he knew that this thought process was wrong, but he could not stop himself anymore. His fate was no longer in his own hands.

But at least he would kill this old geezer.

And then the old geezer's fist somehow found itself punching right into Gyuki's stomach.  _What?_  Confuses, Gyuki could only fly through the air as his eyes gazed on Gen'ei and the white fur and horns that grew on him.

And then he fell onto the ground and his eyes looked at the cloudy skies.

Normally, he would stop and think about what had occurred, but not this time. He immediately raised himself up and ran at Gen'ei, who now had ox horns, white fur on top of his skin and white spider claws sticking out of his back.

And worst of all, he held an emotionless expression on his face.

Gyuki swung his sword with extreme speed and force, but Gen'ei just stood in his place while one of his claws stabbed into Gyuki's hands and another into his guts, throwing him away once again.

Gyuki hit into rubble that used to be the house, and his sword fell right beside him. Although his hands got stabbed by the claw and he felt enormous amounts of pain, they instinctively grabbed the sword and he raised himself up. Only a moment after, he ran towards Gen'ei again, but this time created illusions of himself.

Gen'ei struck at Gyuki's illusions with all of his claws, destroying every of them beside Gyuki. Normally, Gyuki would have taken this as a sign that Gen'ei could recognize real Gyuki from the fakes, but this time he thought he was lucky and swung his sword again.

Gen'ei simply grabbed Gyuki's sword with one hand, breaking the sword in the process, and punched him into the face with another, making him stagger backwards.

 _You damn old geezer!_  Gyuki immediately regained his stance and ran at him.  _Don't think that me losing my sword would be the end of me!_

This time, it was Gen'ei who was caught by surprise. He probably expected Gyuki to become more cautious, or harmless, after he lost his weapon, but he was wrong. Just like what Tesshin did to him hours ago, so did Gyuki stab a hole through Gen'ei with his bare hand.

But Gen'ei was not one to stay confused in the midst of a battle: he grabbed Gyuki's hand and stabbed his claws into various parts of Gyuki's body. Then he broke Gyuki's hand, pushed it out and punched Gyuki again.

 _It hurts… but I will be alright…_  Gyuki raised himself up again and turned towards Gen'ei once again. Still with a composed expression on his face, Gen'ei held a long katana and prepared to rush at Gyuki, and his claws were ready to strike at any moment.

But a more fatal attack came from behind: someone stabbed a sword through his guts.  _Who… who did this?!_   _Mother?_  But when he raised his eyes, he saw the youkai who looked like his mother stand under a tree, her hands crossed.

"Gyuki-sama, I am sorry." Gozumaru's words came from behind.

"Gozu… maru?" The surprise and confusion quelled Gyuki's wrath, and his desire to not harm the boy kept his ugly side from coming out again.

The boy slashed left through Gyuki's body and so took his sword out. Due to injuries he suffered from Gen'ei and Gozumaru, Gyuki fell down.

"I am sorry, but I can't let you lose yourself…" The boy said while tears flowed from his eyes. "Allow me to be the one to deal with Gen'ei!"

And then Gyuki fell on the ground, losing consciousness.

* * *

_Several centuries before, the younger Gozumaru sat in a dim-lighted room, right behind Gyuki who was reading some old scriptures._

_There was no special reason for why Gozumaru had visited his leader. The boy simply adored this youkai and when he had nothing else to do, he would sometimes just follow him around, hoping to learn how to be just like him. Usually, his friend Mezumaru was with him, but that boy played too much on this day and left to sleep._

_He'd wish the other boy was with him however as, right now, Gozumaru was feeling a sense of boredom. But somehow, that same boredom made him even more intrigued by Gyuki: how come he did not mind just sitting in the room and doing nothing but reading._

_Actually, just now Gozumaru realized that Gyuki did not even turn a page and that his eyes were more often closed than opened._

" _Are you asleep, Gyuki-sama?" He was not sure why he asked the question aloud._

" _No, I am not." Gyuki answered to him. "You have been sitting there for a while, Gozu. Do you desire to ask me something?"_

_Gozumaru thoughts of staying silent, but the boy's curiosity took a better of him. "What are you reading?" Several times he thought of asking that question, but each time he felt that the silence was too oppressive and he did not dare to break it. But this time, it was Gyuki who ended the oppressive silence._

" _I am not reading anything right now." Gyuki answered the young boy's question. "I am meditating."_

" _You are meditating?"_

" _Hm." Gyuki nodded. "I used to live in a Buddhist monastery long time ago so meditation became a habit for me."_

" _So… why do you need the book?"_

" _I use it to help myself focus."_

" _Alright…" Gozumaru was not sure he understood what Gyuki was saying. But then again, he might have been too young for it. "But why do you waste your time meditating when you could do something more useful?"_

" _What I am doing is very useful. Do not underestimate the importance of meditation, Gozumaru." Gyuki spoke in a stricter tone. "Just like how a warrior needs to train his muscles, so does he need to train his spirit."_

_This was not the first time that he heard Gyuki and other, like Gen'ei, speak about the importance of spirit for a warrior. "I can understand training muscles. It makes you dig your blade deeper into someone." Gozumaru decided to continue using this opportunity to question Gyuki on various things that interested him. "But I can't understand this spirit thing. How could sitting and doing nothing possibly make you a better warrior?"_

_For a while, Gyuki stayed silent and Gozumaru, in his childish excitement and naivety, thought that he said something smart to Gyuki. But then Gyuki turned around and continued with his lecture. "Gozumaru, what do you think makes a warrior different from a murderer?" He asked while looking Gozumaru right into the eyes._

_Gozumaru felt uncomfortable by Gyuki looking at him like that, but at the same time he could not make himself avert his eyes. He felt that doing so would disappoint this youkai whom the boy adored. "The warrior is honorable while a murderer is a coward?"_

" _Many murderers are extremely brave, unbelievably so in fact." Gyuki shook his head. "I will agree about honor, but that term is not a good enough answer. After all, it is honor we are talking about here."_

" _Well…" Gozumaru scratched his head but could not come with a answer._

_Gyuki must have realized that as he continued explaining. "You see Gozumaru, when you spend your life by killing others, it is often easy to lose yourself."_

" _To lose yourself?"_

" _Yes." Gyuki nodded. "Some fall into depravity and forget what they are fighting for. Others, once they get used to peace, become decadent and only start caring about women and food. And some…" For some reason, Gyuki averted his eyes for a moment. "…get overtaken by hatred or start enjoying carnage too much and lose their ability to fight with reason."_

_Gozumaru did not fail to notice Gyuki averting his eyes. "Did you fall into one of those?" He asked, though he could not believe something like that was even possible._

" _Yes." Gyuki looked at him again, his eyes beaming with melancholy. "After losing someone dear to me, I lost myself. For a long while, I could not think straight and I forgot how it felt to enjoy life."_

" _Aha…" Although Gozumaru could see that Gyuki was serious, the only Gyuki he knew was this one. So this entire speech felt a bit alien to him. "But still, how exactly does it help us stay proper warriors?"_

" _It allows us to reach, and upkeep, our inner peace. It allows us to ignore all that is not needed and focus solely on what matters, in our case honor and martial competence." Gyuki said and then turned around, signaling that he was ending the lecture. "Well, it will become clearer to you as you age."_

" _Okay." Saying that and shrugging was all that Gozumaru could do at the time, although he did spend some time thinking about what Gyuki had said.  
_

* * *

"Did you go crazy, boy?" Gen'ei mocked him after the boy turned his attention at him. "Stabbing Gyuki and challenging me? That is something on a brand new level."

 _You don't need to tell me that._  Gozumaru raised his sword with both hands and pointed it at Gen'ei, the strongest member of their clan.

As Gyuki had promised him centuries ago, Gozumaru would learn what he meant when he spoke about peace and importance of spirit.

Gozumaru understood the hate Gyuki felt. He too wanted to scream and slay the traitor who had killed his best friend. He wanted to feel his sword stab through the soft flesh of Gen'ei. He wanted to taste his blood and the blood of everyone that this old man called his ally.

And it hurt… it hurt so much to reject those desires and feelings. It hurt so much that the old he would have given in… no, had he not confronted Tesshin, he may have lost it now.

He was surrounded by the sea of contempt. The undead spirits gave in to their hate and couldn't have peace in afterlife. The traitors could not let go of their hate, and even the once kind-hearted and proud Tesshin fell to it, becoming nothing more but a lifeless husk whose life lost all meaning.

And Gyuki… how painful it was to look at him fighting Gen'ei and how his spirit gradually lost its elegance. How much time, concentration and effort did it need for him to leave his ferocity behind? A lot no doubt… and now it had almost all been in vain.

"You are crying?" For a moment, Gen'ei had an expression of surprise on his face.

Gozumaru did not say anything back to him. It was true, he was crying: in order to stand firm against this sea of contempt, he was killing a part of himself. By not giving in to his anger and his desire to achieve vengeance, he felt like he was betraying Mezumaru.

But he would not give in. He will become a true warrior, the kind that Gyuki taught him about.

So he took a deep breath and then breathed out. And then he looked at Gen'ei while forcing his senses and mind to ignore everything that did not matter.

Gen'ei looked at the boy in surprise, but then smiled. "I thought so when I saw you fought Gyuki's mother but…" Gen'ei swung his sword at the air and took a fighting stance, suggesting that he would not be underestimating Gozumaru. "So that's why you were able to defeat Tesshin."

* * *

" _What did you just say?" Gen'ei looked at Gozumaru as if he were drunk._

" _I am asking you to tell me how to become a great warrior." Gozumaru repeated the question to the old geezer. He really hoped that he did not go senile in his old days._

" _Why are you asking me about that?" Gen'ei seemed annoyed. "Why don't you ask the boss, whom you always ask stupid questions? Or Eikichi, Tesshin, Benmaru…"_

" _Gyuki-sama told me a lot, but he also told me that everyone has a different philosophy or way to say it. So I decided to ask others this as well." Gozumaru explained and crossed his arms. "And don't get full of yourself: you are the only one I still did not ask about it."_

" _Good, then you won't suffer if I tell you to run off." Gen'ei waved his hand._

" _No way in hell!" Gozumaru shook his head. "You are the last person I want to talk with, but you are probably also the most experienced one."_

" _Oh geez, I am the oldest and that means that I have to lecture some brats about it…" Gen'ei sighed in annoyance. "Why don't you read a book? Like 'The Book of Five Rings' or something?"_

" _The Book of Five Rings? What is that?"_

" _It is a book. You open it, read the kanji and let the incredible amount of knowledge burst into your head. It is a truly fascinating experience."_

_Gozumaru could feel his face turn red, but if he got angry now, then he would have no hope to get Gen'ei to speak. "I know what a book is. But where could I even get that?"_

" _I think I have a copy somewhere." Gen'ei scratched his head as if he tried to remember where he put it. "Oh no, I borrowed it to a friend while I was in Edo."_

" _What a shame." Although Gozumaru said that, he saw this as a good opportunity to make him talk. "Would you tell me what it is about?"_

" _Tz." Gen'ei realized he fell into his trap: by offering to borrow him the book, he robbed himself of the right to not teach him something. "Basically, it is a book on warfare, written by a human swordsman called Musashi Miyamoto. It is quite interesting because it is open-minded and focuses on both material aspects of warfare and spiritual ones."_

" _Oh, spiritual…" He remembered how Gyuki often mentioned the importance of spirituality for a warrior so this got him intrigued. Eikichi, Tesshin and Benmaru never focused much on it. "Tell me more."_

" _No, I will not talk to you about the book! It is a big thing that had to be split into five parts. You will read it once I get it back." Gen'ei answered. "Instead, I will tell you about the element that all true warriors seek to achieve."_

" _What is that element?"_

" _As inspired by Buddhist teachings, there are five elements in traditional Japanese beliefs: earth, water, fire, wind and void." Gen'ei raised a finger on his right hand whenever he mentioned an element. "If you know anything about Buddhism, you will know that void is bound to be above the others."_

_Gozumaru nodded as he listened. He remembered that Gyuki thought highly of Buddhist teachings so he liked where this conversation was going._

" _In the book of Void, Musashi says that you must learn to perceive that what can't be understood."_

" _To perceive what can't be understood? Is that even possible?"_

" _Yes, it is." Gen'ei nodded. "Intuition, reflexes, sixth sense… there are many terms people use for such things, but it is basically all the same thing. To achieve the void is to clean your mind of all unnecessary thoughts and information and then use that enlightened mind to consciously process the information that goes through your subconscious."_

" _Huh?"_

" _Basically, it means that your mind is sharp enough to notice and predict every swing of a sword, to force your muscles to give their best without overexertion, to force your ears to hear even the smallest sound… a sharp mind like that will make it possible to find a way to win against anyone."  
_

* * *

"No matter how strong her Fear is, that woman is no warrior." Gen'ei spoke while Gozumaru stood and looked for an opening. "And Tesshin… he has experience and skill, but he is not a type who could handle a warrior whose mind achieved the void…"

 _He is mocking me so maybe… no, he is not mocking me._  Gozumaru could feel respect coming from the old man.  _But still, he is quite laid back._

"Well, achieving the void isn't that rare in the youkai world." Gen'ei shrugged. "Umewakamaru himself reached it ages ago and I did it when I fought the Abes. Still, to keep your head clear even after finding out that I crushed your friend's skull…" Gen'ei made a malignant grin. "…that is quite something."

 _He is taunting me._  Before he could even get angry about what Gen'ei just said, Gozumaru's mind saw through the old man's trap. His eyes then fell on the skull that Mezumaru used to wear on his head all the time.

"There is not enough blood." Gozumaru noticed. "It looks like you just smeared it on it."

"Hooo…" Gen'ei grinned again. "Is that a good guess… or a child's naivety?" And then the giant white claws appeared from behind Gen'ei. "Well, it does not matter. Let us put an end to this."

Expecting the old man to rush at him, Gozumaru took a defensive stance. However, Gen'ei spread his claws behind himself, putting most of them behind tees and rubble.

 _What is he…_  And then Gozumaru changed his stance to one more fitting for evasion. And the next moment, Gen'ei pushed his claws forward. As a consequence, rubble, stones and even several trees flew in Gozumaru's direction.

He threw a glance at Gyuki, who was still lying on the floor. Fortunately, none of the rubble flew in his direction so Gozumaru could focus on keeping himself safe.

But he could not only evade: Gen'ei was bound to try and use the opportunity.  _What would he be likely to do in this situation?_

He heard a sound behind himself, but did not turn towards it. Instead, he ducked down to avoid an arrow flying at him.  _He threw something to make me think he ran behind me, but instead used that weapon of his to make a bow and arrow._  Gozumaru contemplated on his enemy's action while he looked at him holding a silver bow and a new arrow creating itself in its place.  _He can't move with such a wound._  He remembered that, before Gozumaru stabbed him, Gyuki fatally wounded Gen'ei. Even though ht old man stood strong, he was actually handicapped.

In other words, he would not be able to fight properly.  _But even if he is handicapped, am I good enough to win?_   _No, staying away from a fight won't end it._  Having decided what to do, Gozumaru raised his sword in direction of Gen'ei.  _I can't waste any time. I will have to gamble and attack him with all I got._

"Gozumaru…" He heard Gyuki mutter.

The boy threw a glance at him and saw Gyuki trying to stand up while holding to his sides. He was happy to see Gyuki recover, but also worried because it meant that he might interfere in the fight.

"Don't be foolish… Gen'ei will shred you into pieces if you get too close to him." Gyuki correctly guessed what Gozumaru planned to do. "You go and call the Nuras to help. I will stay here and keep him-"

"Gyuki-sama, you are too wounded." Gozumaru replied. "I will not be leaving you to die."

"I will not die so easily." Gyuki managed to force himself to stand on his legs. "I am alright now that my head cooled down… I can't defeat him, but if you hurry I should be able to keep him away." Gyuki's eyes narrowed, beaming with resolve. "After all, I still can't afford to die."

"Sorry, Gyuki-sama, but I won't do that." Gozumaru said and turned his full attention back at Gen'ei, who seemed to have already prepared for an incoming attack while listening to their conversation.

"Gozu, this is an order." Gyuki looked at him with a commanding expression. "Go and ask the Nuras for aid. The future of our clan depends on it."

"Sorry, but I will have to reject that order." For some reason, Gozumaru felt his lips widen into a smile.

"What?" Gyuki did not seem to have expected that response.

"You know Gyuki-sama… to me you were, and still are, my idol." Gozumaru spoke what was on his heart at the moment. "You are a wise youkai, a great warrior, a caring leader, a teacher one could only wish for… but today I found out that you are not perfect. You have made mistakes in past and, to be honest, I don't fully disagree with what Tesshin told you. I believe that you may have dealt with this entire thing better… or maybe even avoided it." Gozumaru spread his legs, preparing to run at his enemy. "But that's fine, nobody is perfect… and I know that you just want to protect me and everyone else. But this time, you are the one who needs to be protected." Gozumaru said as he remembered how Gyuki lost his composure and gave in to his inner monster. "And now I will show you that I learnt a lot from you and that this time I will protect you!"

"Gozu-" Gyuki started, but Gozumaru did not wait and listen to what he had to say: holding his sword with of his hands, he ran at Gen'ei. This was not only about keeping the leader whom he saw as his father alive, but also about reminding him of what he taught him a warrior was supposed to be.

Gozumaru was so focused on the upcoming clash that it felt like the time itself had slowed down. His eyes looked for every opportunity he could use to defeat his fearsome enemy while his mind tried to come with countless strategies.

Gen'ei stood in his place, his sword being turned into a spear and his claws prepared to strike at the boy. His expression seemed melanchoholic. "You are good, but you lack experience boy…" The old man said in a sad tone and his claws started moving. "I wish to go easy… but doing so would be disrespectful."

Gozumaru predicted the movements of his claws and he had started evading their paths… but only after a few moments did he realize that Gen'ei was not trying to strike him down, but rather move him into a situation from which he could neither avoid nor deflect his attacks. The boy knew that one claw would split his lower and upper parts of body from one another while another claw would stab right into his skull.

But he could not stop running now for his he would be even easier picking if he stood in a place. As hopeless as the situation looked, standing was even more hopeless. So he could only hope for a miracle.

And then a miracle happened: the claws stopped moving.

The eyes of Gen'ei widened in disbelief and then look at something behind Gozumaru after which they narrowed and looked at the boy running at him.

He started moving his other claws, but it was too late: not even bothering to think about what just occurred, Gozumaru used the opportunity and stabbed Gen'ei right into his heart.

After turning the sword around, Gozumaru pulled back his sword and looked as Gen'ei staggered backwards, while his spear fell on the ground. He wanted to know what he saw behind Gozumaru, but he could still not turn his back to the enemy.

Gen'ei put his hand on his new wound and then looked at the blood. Soon, his lips widened into a smile and he looked at Gozumaru. "You won, boy." He said while trying to keep the smile on his face. "Turn around, I am done for." He suggested to the boy while still staggering backwards.

For some reason, Gozumaru felt like he could trust him and turned his head around. His heart almost stopped when he saw a boy, with a girly face and a bruise under his left eye, smile. "Hehe, I was useful." The boy said with a proud expression on his face while stretching his hand forward, suggesting that he used his ability to control a part of Gen'ei's body, saving Gozumaru's life and giving him the opportunity to make a killing strike.

"Ah good, we don't have to fight that guy again." Benmaru, who stood behind him while bleeding from his wound, said and fell onto his behind.

"Damn, I… wanted to make him… pay for this damn pain in my… neck!" Eikichi said while holding his hand below his head.

"Mezumaru…" Gozumaru's eyes watered as he looked at the three of them. "…Benmaru, Eikichi… you are all alive!"

The three of them smiled in response. But then their eyes widened. "Gozu, behind you!" Mezumaru shouted and Gozumaru immediately turned around, fearing that Gen'ei had broken his promise.

Gen'ei was growing in size, and turning into his youkai form. Gozumaru raised his sword in expectance of an attack, but he quickly noticed that all the wounds he suffered in his human form existed in his youkai form as well, and were in larger in proportion to his size.

"Do not worry. He will not do anything to you." Gyuki appeared beside Gozumaru and looked at Gen'ei as he transformed. "If he did not kill them, he won't kill you now either." Then Gyuki's eyes narrowed. "Even though he did try to kill you a moment ago. But I guess that he did it out of respect than because he wanted you dead."

"You truly are… a smart boy, Umewakamaru." Gen'ei spoke in a pained tone once his transformation was done. "Do not mind me doing this. It is just that I would prefer to pass away like this than in a human disguise." He quickly explained and then collapsed onto the ground.

Where in Gozumaru once was hate and then apathy, now there was sadness. He had a chance to kill Mezumaru, Benmaru and Eikichi, but he spared them… which ended up costing him his life. "Why did you join the traitors?" were the words that left Gozumaru's lips.

"Where Tesshin went, I follow." Gen'ei gave a simple answer. "Even if it were a foolish path. But not supporting him would have been a betrayal towards my old friends."

Gen'ei closed his eyes and, for a moment, Gozumaru thought he passed away. But then he opened them again and looked towards the spear on the ground.

"I won't need that anymore." Gen'ei said. "Take it and do with it whatever you want. Cast it away if you despise me or claim it for yourself. It is a good weapon no matter what kind of warrior you are, but it takes a lot of effort to master its use."

Gozumaru picked the spear and looked at it. The moment he decided to keep it, the weapon turned into a sheathed, black katana.

"So you are taking it, huh?" Gen'ei said and closed his eyes. "It will be quite a while before you inherit the title of Gyuki, but until then you may fancy yourself as clan's Phantom Shadow (Gen'ei), its best warrior. I am sure you will live up to it…" His voice became more and more silent. "And good luck to you too, Gyuki, at protecting what is left of our pitiable clan."

And then, the oldest member of the Gyuki Group passed away.

* * *

"Are you two done talking with him?" The youkai that looked like his mother spoke a few moments after Gen'ei had passed away.

"We are." Gyuki replied and turned around, facing the youkai who floated in the air and still holding her spear. Mezumaru, Benmaru and Eikichi only now noticed that there was another enemy near them, but Eikichi and Benmaru had trouble standing so only Mezumaru prepared for a possible fight… but not before he grabbed his skull and put it back onto his head. "So, are you done judging?"

"I am." She said and turned the spear in her hand so that it now faced downwards. "But do you have anything else to add?"

"I do." Gyuki said to which she raised an eyebrow. "I am sorry."

What Gyuki intended to do, when he went to confront her, was to kill anyone who threatened his clan. It did not matter that he committed sins in the past and that the ones who were wronged desired retribution: he would ruthlessly slay anyone in his way. After all, he was a youkai: it was alright for him to act as a monster.

But Tesshin was right: he used to be a human so he could act like that. And like Nurarihyon showed him, youkai do not need to be monsters to be true to themselves. What was more, Nura Rihan built a clan of youkai who protected rather than terrorized and the Nura Clan, which he adored so much, was a glowing symbol of youkai chivalry and a proof that youkai can be strong through respect and care.

So many years ago he told Rikuo that he had to embrace both the human and youkai side of himself to become strong and lectured him a lot on the matter. Yet, as someone who once used to be human, he should have followed the same words. After all, it was what he learned in the Buddhist Temple as a human that helped him get over the monstrous part of himself.

He might be a pure-blooded youkai now, but he used to be a human once. And for that reason, a part of him will forever be human.

"Huh?" The youkai was surprised by his reply.

" _Kill her."_  A voice whispered from inside his soul.

"There is nothing I can do to pay for my sins, but if you desire my life, you can have it." He let the human part of him speak.  _"She will kill everyone if you do so!"_

"Gyuki-sama!" Naturally, the others did not approve of what he had said.

"Hoo?" The woman smirked in amusement. "And in return  _we_  will spare the others, you think?"

" _She will not! Kill her to save others! Kill her to make them pay for desecrating mother!"_

"It would be preferable, but no matter what you choose to do, I have trust that my heirs will keep standing." After seeing Gozumaru and Mezumaru take down Gen'ei, he felt a large sense of pride and realized that the two of them have grown up and no longer needed to be protected by him.

Gozumaru and Mezumaru jumped in front of him, standing in her way.

"Sorry, but we have no reason to let that happen." Gozumaru said.

"I feel sorry for you people but… I won't let you kill Gyuki-sama!"

The woman just looked at them in amusement and then started laughing. "Hahahaha!" But while she laughed, everyone else remained silent and looked at her. In meantime, Benmaru and Eikichi, as wounded as they were, also joined the two boys in standing against the woman.

"I see, I see…" She said when she stopped laughing. " _We_  are sure now: the judgment  _we_  choose is correct." She raised her spear to which everyone, but Gyuki, prepared their weapons… but she did not attack anyone and instead stabbed it into the ground.

Soon after, the spear got  _eaten_  by the ground and Gyuki could feel a strange Fear envelop the surrounding.

"The Gyuki Group has paid enough, so  _we_  will spare you for now!" The woman proclaimed. "But  _our_  hate is still not satisfied, so  _our_  grudges will now rule this mountain. May every human and youkai who passes through here be haunted by memories of  _our_  suffering so that it never gets forgotten, even after we return to Hell!"

The air around them changed. The mountain's Fear, which Gyuki got used to over the centuries, felt increasingly more alien. He did not doubt that the others felt the same.

"You may live, but have to abandon this place, least you face  _our_  eternal wrath once again!" She continued while looking straight at them. "But remember  _our_  hate for eternity that is to come!" She said that while looking at Gozumaru and Mezumaru and while her body started fading away by becoming more and more transparent. "With that in mind, may you begin anew, heirs of Gyuki, and may your future be brighter."

And then she disappeared…. But the Fear of the youkai that have possessed that body remained behind, having claimed Nejireme for themselves.

* * *

Tesshin still lay on the ground. He heard the judgment and felt annoyed.

In the end, Gyuki and Gozumaru must have found a way to calm the vengeful spirits and the remnants of the Gyuki Group would be spared.  _No it must have been Gozumaru…_  Although it would be another defeat at that boy's hand, for some reason he was smiling at the idea that Gozumaru saved the clan.

Or maybe it was Gen'ei who calmed them down. After all, he was discussing something with  _that woman_  away from Tesshin's earshot.  _It must be it… he did not seem satisfied when she said that they would overwhelm Umewakamaru with the power of their hate. And just after that, he goes and discusses something with her._  Tesshin still wondered if he should have stopped him, or if this was a better ending.

But maybe it was not him, but whoever destroyed Sanmoto Gorozaemon's influence. He hated that youkai for using Tesshin and then harassing humans while he was busy fighting the loyalists. But if Sanmoto's power did not vane, a harsher judgment might have been brought for he had the power to fuel the hate of the spirits.

"Well, whatever." Tesshin rose up back onto his knees and released his Fear. The armor repaired itself and his wounds healed somewhat. His hate filled eyes then looked at the distant skies of the west. "There is still something that I have to do." He said to himself and put his mask back on while his eyes shone red.

* * *

 _Where am I?_  Gyuki wondered. After the youkai disappeared, he found himself in a dark world and he could not see anything around himself.

"Worry not, Umewaka." A soft female voice spoke from behind him. "I pulled your consciousness to this place, at border between life and death, to say goodbye."

It was a voice Gyuki remembered. It sounded similarly to the one he listened a few moments ago, but it held the warmth from ages long forgotten.

"Mother…" Gyuki turned around and looked at the woman who sat in front of him, dressed in old travelling garbs and holding a straw hat in her hands. She no longer had scars on her body and the smile on her face brought back warm memories of his childhood.

"I know their judgment may sound bitter, but please forgive them." She spoke to him. "I did my best to calm them down while they possessed me, but…"

"One can't expect them to do nothing." Gyuki finished and she confirmed it with a sad smile. "But may I ask what would have happened if Gozu did not stop me?"

The smile disappeared from her lips. "Then everything would become history, both their regrets and the Gyuki Clan. No matter how strong you and the rest of your clan were, it is not nearly as strong as their collected hate and suffering." And then she smiled again. "But I knew that it was impossible for my Umewakamaru to suffer such a fate."

"No, I failed…" Gyuki's eyes closed at the thought that eh almost doomed his clan.

"No, you did well, Umewakamaru." And then he felt his mother's arms embrace him. "No matter what the past may have been, you grew up into a fine man and it was you who raised those boys."

"Yes, they grew up well." Gyuki felt a tear flow from his eyes. He wondered if it were because he felt his mother's embrace again or because e was proud at them… or maybe even because of both. "But still, I made you suffer so much…"

"My dear boy, don't be stupid…" She pulled her head back and looked at him with warm eyes. "I am a mother. We will always suffer any amount of pain for our dear children." She said as the fingers on her hand petted a side of his face and then she pulled back and put her straw hat on. "But now I must leave you. The dead have nothing to do in the world of the living, after all." And then she turned her back to him.

"Mother…" He felt pain in his heart, but did not know what to say.

"Do not be so sad, Umewaka." She turned her head around and showed a happy smile. "I will finally get to meet your father again. You should be happy for me."

"Yes…" Gyuki forced a smile on his face. "Farewell mother…"

"Farewell Umewaka…" She turned her head back and started walking into the darkness. "…my beloved son…"

* * *

"Gyuki-sama?" Mezumaru's voice forced him to come back to reality. "Why are you crying?"

"Crying and smiling…" Eikichi cut in. "Please do not go crazy on us again, boss."

"Watch your mouth, Eikichi!" Gozumaru yelled at his vulgar comrade.

"Oh damn, look there!" Eikichi grinned. "Gen'ei-sama is very angry at us!" He tried to tilt his head, but he felt pain and fixed it back.

"Do not call me that."

"You better apologize before Gen'ei-sama breaks what's left of bones under your head." Benmaru taunted him.

"Do not call me that!" Gozumaru's voice grew increasingly annoyed.

Their argument continued or a while and Gyuki just stood there relaxed and listened to it. The Gyuki Clan suffered a lot on this dark day, but this reminded him that they would recover.

But they could not afford to rest just yet.

"What… is that?" Mezumaru spoke while looking at the sky west of them.

Gyuki and the others turned around and their eyes widened in shock as they saw three giant serpentine creatures descend from the clouds. They were still far away, but it was already obvious that they were huge.

"Are those… dragons?" Benmaru suggested.

"It better not be because I can't handle any more shit for today." Eikichi's teeth clenched.

Gyuki recognized their new guest.

The mastermind behind this whole incident, the Aquatic Dragon Mizuchi, was coming to visit them.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And finally, after a long while, the main conflict of the arc is over! A four or five more chapters and a new arc will finally start!

\- The opening scene of the chapter is the written version of the one from Anime. Unlike most Anime-original additions, the expansion of Gyuki's background is canon and was done by Hiroshi (but was not included in the Manga due to pacing considerations)

\- Gyuki's Buddhist upbringing probably played a major role in him calming down and becoming a cool and collected leader of the Gyuki Group so I put an emphasis on that part in this chapter

-  _The Book of Five Rings_  was not something invented by me but a book that actually exists. The whole talk about the _Void_  is also based on actual philosophies and I thought it fit here due to the whole Buddhism theme

\- For a small while, Gyuki had reverted back to his old self, showing that this part of him was not gone. It was a turning point for Gozumaru who grew up more for it. The scene was mainly inspired by one from Citsimsan's  _Kitsune no Mago_  fanfic where a certain father says something like "A day always comes where children find out that their fathers were not as perfect as they thought". Since this arc was in big part about Gozumaru growing up, I thought it would be fitting

\- I wonder if you guys noticed that the theme of this chapter was interaction between parents/teachers and children/students, which is especially noticeable in the flashbacks. There was another scene I really wanted to write but could not fit… maybe I will put it in the Omake spin-off? The convo between young Gyuki and Gen'ei does not have much value without it after all…


	60. Flames of Victory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The enemy reinforcements from Kyushu have arrived at Nejireme. The leader of the reinforcements, Fumiaki, had joined up with Yashagoro's unit while his lieutenant, Suiren, had attacked the forces led by Nurarihyon

**Chapter 60 – Flames of Victory**

A dozen and a half a dozen of youkai literally jumped into the resort belonging to Mount Nejireme, amongst them being Aotabou, Hitotsume and Nurarihyon. Even though numerous enemies were waiting outside, many of them allowed themselves a luxury of looking over the burns that they suffered from the acidic rains.

"What is going on here?" The young female youkai, Heiko, ran up to them.

"By no means go out into the rain!" Aotabou shouted so everyone in the vicinity could hear him. "There's some strange Ame-Onna creating acidic rains."

"And if you see a young woman dressed as some old general, do not attack her in close combat. She will turn your body's fluids into acid if she just scratches you." Hitotsume said and walked up to the exit while still standing inside the resort. "Tz, where is she now that I am able to put a bullet into her?"

"Be careful Hitotsume!" Aotabou warned his ally. "Who knows what other tricks she may have up her sleeve?"

"The rain has stopped." Nurarihyon noted in a sharp tone and everyone went silent. As dangerous as the rain was, it still kept them safe from one thing: the rest of the Kyushu youkai. "Prepare for an attack at any-"

"Some kind of smoke is spreading through the western side of the resort." Heiko, whose shadows kept guard across the giant complex, spoke. "And it seems to be spreading from some ugly, hairy head…"

"Akashita!" Aotabou guessed who it might have been.

"Do you know the one responsible for this?" Hitotsume inquired.

"He was amongst the assassins." Aotabou started with his explanation. "This entire smoke is a product of his Fear, and the Kyushu assassins used it to split us apart and attack in the dark."

"And now the proper Kyushu soldiers will use it to confuse us." Nurarihyon commented. "And that Ame-Onna… she will probably hide behind it. She can do much damage to us by just randomly swinging her sword." Nurarihyon took out his sword. "Well, there is no time for planning. Good luck everyone, try to take down as many of them as possible."

* * *

From atop the roof under which Nurarihyon and his allies took shelter, Suiren looked over her squad assault the mansion. While Akashita's Fear filled the mansion's halls, the youkai would attack. It would be a fight in the blind and on enemy territory, but they had to keep the enemy on their toes.

With Nurarihyon in the resort, as well as several other big names of the Nura Clan, this was a risky operation for the Kyushu youkai, especially since half of their forces went to save Yashagoro.

Because their mission was just to buy time, Suiren felt attracted to the idea to just remain outside. However, since they did not know what kind of youkai were in the mansion that might actually be the more dangerous option. If there was just one person inside who could stop her from creating acidic rains or take her down in any way, the rest of the squad would have no hope of winning as they would get outnumbered.

Once again, the term  _Fear_  was the key for youkai. As long as they kept the Nuras on their toes and oblivious to the true numbers of youkai that fought against them, they had a chance of standing their ground until the necessary amount of time had passed.

 _We can do it._  She took out her sword, prepared to attack as well.  _Fight for a while and in a few moments-_

"So, will you take responsibility?" An unfamiliar voice asked from behind her, but Suiren did not dare to turn around. "You see, because of you I just realized that I may have a thing for women in uniforms."

She finally realized that, with Nurarihyon under her and Ritsura fighting Fumiaki, there was only one person who could have sneaked up to her like that: the person none of the Kyushu youkai knew where he was.

Suiren immediately turned around, intending to fight him. Taking it as a signal, a seventeen years old boy with amber eyes and gravity-defying black-white hair jumped at her with his sword, with a smile decorating his lips.

* * *

Rihan swung down his sword with all his might. As a consequence of it, and the fact that the weak woodwork got corroded by the acid, the roof under the women broke and they fell right into the resort.

 _She is strong._  Rihan realized before they even reached the ground. She blocked his sword with hers and even after she lost her grounding, she did not falter nor stopped to push her sword. And when her feet touched the floor, she elegantly moved her body away and kicked herself away.

Rihan's hope that he could end this with one strike did not get fulfilled.

"Rihan?" He heard a familiar voice call towards him. "Just where have you been all this time?"

"Gramps, what are you doing here?" Rihan looked in direction of his great-grandfather who just pushed back one of the uniformed youkai, who then promptly retreated into the pitch-black mist.

"We will chit-chat later!" Nurarihyon said to him. "Beware of that Ame-Onna! If her sword just touches you, your blood will turn into acid."

"Women in uniforms sure are scary." Rihan said and turned his attention back towards the Ame-Onna. "There sure are many scary enemies around these places nowadays." Rihan was still tired from his fight against Bonnouma, but even so he desired to clash his sword with hers.  _Ever since those visions in the temple, I sure have become easily excitable._

"One of Rikuo's heirs has appeared!" She suddenly yelled. "Start focusing on capturing him!"

"Capture me? Well, that's one way to get a date." Rihan joked, but she showed no reactions. "Sorry, I see you are not in mood for jokes." He said and raised his sword, ready to fight her.

But then Aotabou and Hitotsume stood in front of him, one clenching his fists and the other pointing his gun at the enemy.

"What are you doing guys? Protect the young master!" Aotabou tried to rally more to his aid.

"Tz, now we need to protect you." Hitotsume was less pleased to help him.

 _Ah yes… these guys will not let me do as I please._  Rihan remembered his status in the clan and the fact that his safety was too important to them.  _How annoying._

"I have no time for this." The Ame-Onna also seemed annoyed at the occurrence of these two. "Akasahita, we are  _joining_!" And soon enough, the mist from several halls disappeared, revealing the Kyushu youkai who used to be protected by it. And then a floating head surrounded by the smoke appeared just above Suiren.

"Joining?" Aotabou muttered. "Can that guy fig-" But then he realized what joining meant and was lost for words, and the rest of the Nura Clan was similarly surprised.

For when the Ame-Onna raised her sword, Akashita started turning into raw Fear and started engulfing her body.

This was not a regular technique that youkai of these types should posses… but Nuras could immediately recognize what kind of technique it was. A moment later and venomously green mist surrounded the Ame-Onna and her sword.

"Matoi, huh?" Unlike most of his comrades who were surprised and then annoyed, Rihan found it somehow interesting. "This may get a tad bit more dangerous."

"How is this possible?" Aotabou asked with an angry face. Many other youkai of the Nura Clan could be heard whispering the same thing, but none of the Kyushu youkai seemed surprised.

"So another rumor proves to be true, huh?" Nurarihyon spoke in reply to Aotabou. "I heard that Mizuchi somehow managed to get his hands on it."

"But how is it possible?" Aotabou repeated his question. "It was a technique invented by the Second, so how come that woman can use it?"

"Any Hanyou can use it." The up-to-now quiet Ame-Onna was the one to answer the question. "I know a dozen more in our clan who can perform it, and two of us are on this mountain."

 _A dozen more, huh? What a scary thought._ "Still, just being able to use it is not enough." Rihan welcomed the chance to talk with her. "It is not hard to learn, but you still need someone to guide you towards mastering it."

"Obviously, there is someone who managed to remake it, and he taught it to the rest of us with mixed blood."

"Rihan, stop talking!" Nurarihyon reprimanded him. "She is buying time!"

"Huh?" Rihan turned a glance towards Nurarihyon, and then noticed that the Kyushu youkai moved away from the nearby halls. He then immediately turned around and saw that the grin mist around the Ame-Onna got thicker, while the numerous Kyushu youkai blocked the exit.

Rihan and the rest did not need to wait and see what she did before they started running through the halls to escape the venomous mist which corroded everything it touched

"We are running away from her  _again_?" Hitotsume complained.

"Calm down Hitotsume." Nurarihyon advised while running and lighting up a smoking pipe. "A bit of running is good for your health."

* * *

After a bit of running, the Nuras decided to just break out through the walls.

"Well, I guess we managed to flee the  _Halls of Death_." Rihan noted.

"Wait 'till it starts raining again." Hitotsume pouted and then turned towards the mansion, from where sounds of fighting could be heard. "By the way, which fools are fighting in there?"

"Several who prefer corridors to the possibility of acid rains?" Nurarihyon replied and took a smoke before he continued. "Also, that Kage Onna started summoning some of her shadows. She will probably remain inside due to the nature of her abilities."

"Should we go back and help her?"

"If you go back inside, that Ame-Onna and her acid cloud will haunt those halls." Nurarihyon debunked his great-grandson's proposition. "But this way, the Ame-Onna will come after you and I while easier to deal underlings will remain inside, probably unaware who are the real youkai and who are just the Kage Onna's illusions. Long story short, by staying outside we will be of more help to her."

"That Kage-Onna is quite useful." Hitotsume noted and Aotabou nodded in approval, which was a very rare sight to see.

"Well, seems like our rest is over." Nurarihyon said when a green mist started leaving the mansion, in middle of it a girl walking and looking like she was ready to kill.

"I am not letting this opportunity go to waste." Hitotsume pointed his gun at her and immediately pulled the trigger. But the mist spread as if it went to grab the bullet, melting it before it could even reach its desired target. "Tz, so now even long-ranged attacks are useless."

"At least now we know that we should avoid using regular weapons against her." Aotabou concluded.

"So what are we going to do now?" Hitotsume asked in annoyance. "Run again? If we get too far away, that bitch will just summon more acid rains."

But Aotabou did not seem worried. "Well, let's try this." He grabbed a giant boulder with his hands and turned back towards the Ame-Onna. "Let us see if she melts  _this_  in time!" And then he hurled the giant boulder at her.

This time, the Ame-Onna's eyes spread in horror and she was actually forced to avoid the attack.

"So, that will work huh?" Finally finding his enemy's weak point, Aotabou released his skulls and his Fear grew exponentially. "So miss, I hear you like rains!" After hinting at what was to come, Aotabou had started to move at high speed, throwing rocks and trees at her with such haste that she could do nothing but evade.

"Good job, Aotabou!" Hitotsume said and started firing bullets. All of them were caught by the mist, but the cloud stretched to the point that Rihan could quickly sneak up to her and swing at where the mist was the shallowest. He felt some of his skin burning due to practically entering the acidic cloud, but right now was as weak as it could get.

But she noticed him in time and deflected his attack with her sword. Rihan jumped away in time, but the sword he used had melted off.  _Tz, I will need to find something less breakable one of these days._

"Young master, get away from there!" Aotabou, who had to stop hurling boulders in order to not risk hitting Rihan, shouted.

"Yes yes, as you say." He said and ran away. The Ame-Onna looked at him, her teeth clenched in annoyance. No doubt she wanted to go after him, but could not afford to risk ignoring Aotabou and his stone rain.

Aotabou threw another boulder, which she once again avoided. But then she suddenly stopped moving.

"You sure took your time, gramps." Rihan noted, realizing that she stopped because Nurarihyon used  _Shin Meikyo Shisui_. It was a type of  _Meikyo Shisui_ which overwhelmed the enemy with his Fear, forcing it to become paralyzed.  _And now she will get stoned… what a shame._

Naturally, Aotaobu threw another boulder, albeit a smaller one. The big softie probably hoped to bring her down without killing her.

But they underestimated her: she managed to break from Nurarihyon's technique and her body started moving again.

 _You have to be kidding!_  There were not many who had enough willpower to break from this technique of Nurarihyon.

And then she released her Matoi, with Akashita turning into a much bigger black cloud and floating towards the others… while the Ame-Onna ran towards Rihan.

 _Now I really wish I was as skilled in creating swords from nothing like sis is!_  Rihan's eyes looked around in hopes to get away, as without a weapon and due to exhaustion he did not want to fight her seriously. Even though turning around and running seemed like the most obvious choice to take in this situation, turning his back to such a dangerous enemy could not possibly be a good idea.

He thought about using his Fear against her, but that would not be good idea. If she could break from Nurarihyon's  _Shin Meikyo Shisui_ , then she could break from anything that the exhausted boy threw at her.

But he was saved by an umbrella that suddenly flew down from the sky and hit her right into the head.

… _what?_  Rihan looked in surprise at the sudden occurrence.

The umbrella then flew in his direction and turned in such a way that he felt like I offered itself to be taken.  _Ah yes, Karakase-obaka, the umbrella that kicked my ass!_  Rihan recognized it as the Tsukumogami that Shiori created when Rihan confronted her and which she supposedly sent to do some scouting. "Well, I will accept any help I can get." He grabbed the youkai umbrella and looked at the Ame-Onna who raised her head and looked at him again. "Beware, I have an umbrella!"

"Pft." The Ame-Onna smiled, a scary sight coming from her. "An umbrella?"

"Beggars can't be choosers." He said and handled the umbrella as if it were a sword, wondering how much Shiori would have laughed if she could see him. "What is your name again?"

"Suiren." She answered and swung the sword at the air. "No need to introduce yourself, Nura Rihan."

"I see my reputation precedes me." Rihan smiled but prepared for an attack that was bound to come from her at any moment. "I take it you would not accept a recruitment offer, even if I said that we have cookies?"

"Do not jest, Nura Rihan." She grabbed her sword with both of her arms and rushed at him. But even though it looked unreliable, the umbrella deflected Suiren's sword without suffering a scratch.

She then made another swing, which Rihan again deflected.  _Can I even use this to attack? No, better not risk it. It is only a matter of time until Ao, Hitotsume and gramps get back here._  After her swing got deflected again, she pulled the sword and instead of a swing made a thrust forward.

Rihan successfully deflected the strike and made her stumble down. But then one of her arms left the sword as if she lost the grip, but when Rihan saw an opened bottle in it, he realized that it was a trap.

Before the water-turned-acid could reach him, the Karakase-obaka opened itself, protecting his user from the power of the rain like it was destined to.

But when the acid touched it, the youkai started screaming and jumped out of Rihan's hands and flew away while turning like it was on fire.  _Well, it must have hurt… I probably should have warned him about the acid…_

Rihan did not move his eyes away from Suiren and prepared for another attack on his unarmed self. When she stood up again, he could see hostility in her eyes.

But then she lowered her sword. "It seems like you got away this time." She said while looking at something above Rihan and walking backwards. "Rikimatsu, take us away from here!" She yelled.

Nobody replied, but numerous giant birds appeared around the area. "What is going on now?" Rihan instinctively thought that the birds would attack him.

But Suiren's next words denied that possibility. "Take care you don't die from a heatstroke, Nura Rihan." She spoke while sheathing her weapon. "And then maybe we will cross swords again." With that farewell, she jumped onto one of the birds and flew away. Rihan turned around, and as he did so he noticed other Kyushu youkai also jumping onto the birds, save Akashita who just floated away.

"It is over… just like that?" Hitotsume spoke as he and Aotabou ran to Rihan, their eyes looking at the youkai who were retreating.

"Over? You must be kidding, Hitotsume." Nurarihyon slowly walked up to them, still smoking his pipe. "Look there." He said and pointed with his finger towards the western skies.

Everyone looked in the direction Nurarihyon was pointing at.

Rihan sighed when his eyes saw what his great grandfather was pointing at.  _For breakfast, we had an evil demon overlady. For lunch, a crazy fire Onmyouji. As the main dish, an evil monkey god. For the desert, we had a wet female general with an acidic personality. And for dinner, THREE DAMN DRAGONS!  
_

* * *

Fumiaki stood in front of her, his eyes having turned into a snake's. Ritsura did not know how he managed to gain knowledge on how to use  _Matoi_ , but she knew two things: that this made him more dangerous and that he was someone who dared to use a Nura's family's technique in front of a Nura.

Ritsura herself also used Matoi, but not with a youkai. Instead, she did it with one of Ryuzan's Shikigami, in this case the Ox. She felt less tired after the fusion, possibly due to nature of the Shikigami. However, her appearance did not change and she felt a growing pain inside of herself. After all, she and Ryuzan just started practicing the technique, so it was still imperfect.

The largest consequence of it was that the Shikigami tried to  _cleanse_  her, which brought her pain that slowly, but steadily, grew.  _Well, it is still better than what youkai feel when they Matoi with me._ Fortunately, the Shikigami were connected to their summoner, Ryuzan, who was also conveniently an expert at elemental barriers and so he was able to keep them safe from her Fear… although Ritsura still remembered the first time they tried it and he failed to properly keep up the barrier, resulting in the Shikigami freezing and Ryuzan suffering the same kind of shock. Although it did not repeat again during their training, she was still worried.  _I will need to stay careful._

And while wearing a Shikigami did not make her as strong as wearing a youkai be it due to nature of the technique or because she and Ryuzan did not practice it enough, it still made her stronger. She could feel the Shikigami's divine energy mix with her Fear and revitalize her.

"Ritsura, I am not one to rush others into a fight, but…" Ryuzan spoke behind her.

"I know. This is exhausting for you." Ritsura did not need to turn around to know that Ryuzan already started sweating. Even though he was just the summoner of the spirit with whom she was fused, he still got tired as he had to keep his Shikigami safe from her Fear and keep her safe from the Shikigami's nature. "Let's end this as soon as possible." She said and ran at Fumiaki. If they took too long, Ryuzan's barrier might falter and her Fear might freeze him.

To Ritsura's surprise, she moved easier than before and her sword swinging was much faster and forceful. Fumiaki managed to avoid it with a similar elegance as Yashagoro (probably due to the two of them performing Matoi), but she was still pleased with it.

* * *

" _She is faster now, Fumiaki-sama."_  Yashagoro spoke to Fumiaki.

"Is that so?" Fumiaki did not care much how strong or fast the girl was when Yashagoro fought against her as, to him at least, this was the first time he met her. Since he never got used to fighting her, he could not be taken by surprise.

And Fumiaki's conclusion was: the best course of action would be to not even clash swords with her, yet alone get hit by it. Was it due to Matoi with a Shikigami or not, right now this girl was stronger than she looked like, even by youkai standards.

" _Yashagoro, can you use your snake magic?_ " Fumiaki asked the youkai whom he was wearing. Fumiaki heard that Yashagoro met a Kirishitan Exorcist and while he did not have time to ask for details, it was clear that the exorcist sealed Yashagoro's inborn power.

But Yashagoro did not reply.

" _Yashagoro?_ "

" _In this state, yes… the exorcism stops me from using it, not you._ " Yashagoro replied after a few moments of thinking. " _But I would advise against it, Fumiaki-sama. The Snake Magic is-_ "

" _Dangerous, I know. But we already tried it and there were no problems._ "

" _That was during practice. If you overexert yourself while fighting her, there's no telling what the powers of the Orochi would do to you. Even we of the Orochimaru Clan have to use Buddhist disciplines and Onmyoudo to keep ourselves safe._ "

" _Worry not. A dragon is an even large serpent than a snake._ " Fumiaki was accepting of the risks. He wanted to capture at least one of the siblings no matter the costs… even though it was not actually part of his squad's orders.

* * *

"Ritsura, I am getting a feeling that you are not fighting seriously." Ryuzan mentioned when Ritsura backed away from Fumiaki and got closer to her partner.

"Of course I am not." Ritsura gave him an honest answer and then decided to explain herself. "First, I am tired. Second, if I overexert myself than I put you in danger." She side-glanced him and, as she somehow expected, he frowned in annoyance.  _Sorry Ryu, but this is not time to show off for either of us._  "And third, unless we start losing, there is no time to rush." She said while looking around. The Kyushu youkai fought surprisingly well, but the Nuras fought better and it seemed like they were equal in numbers.

 _But the real question is: how are gramps and the others at the resort faring?_ She forgot to ask the Senba Garasu about how many enemies had attacked the resort, although the fact that there was someone who could summon acidic rains suggested that at least one of the enemies was strong.  _Maybe it will be the best to not expect reinforcements._

Although she did not intend to go too far, she could try to defeat Fumiaki as soon as possible. However, something in her guts told her that he was more dangerous than he looked. And right now, Fumiaki looked like he was preparing for something. He just stood there, his eyes keeping watch over Ritsura while his brows were squeezed like he was concentrating on something.

"Ritsura…" Ryuzan started talking in a worried tone. "Prepare yourself for… some Orochimaru magic."

Ritsura was confused for a mere moment, but quickly realized what he meant: Fumiaki was preparing to use the same kind of Onmyodo that that Orochimaru used before.

And as a proof that Fumiaki's power was changing, his skin started to turn pale and reptilian scales started to spring out of his hands and the left side of his face. Even the expression on his face changed slightly, and he no longer looked as bored as before. Instead, his left eye was open wide and he looked like the left half of his body went insane.

And similar to Orochimaru, he moved without his body preparing itself, making it harder for Ritsura to expect his attacks.

In just a moment, he was beside her. Thankfully, the Ox Shikigami made her stronger so she could use only one of her hands to swing the sword while in her other she created another, smaller sword which she would use more as a shield than a weapon.

After his attack was blocked, Fumiaki immediately moved behind Ritsura and went for another attack. But Ritsura quickly turned around and used her ice sword, as well as her new strength, to both deflect his attack and make Fumiaki stagger. Before Fumiaki could take full control of his body again, she used Nenekirimaru to stab him.

However, the Orochimaru's Fear made Fumiaki unnaturally graceful and he successfully evaded the attack and moved away from the Yuki-Onna.

And while Ritsura started to breathe more rapidly, Fumiaki seemed fine and started moving again. Unfortunately, while the Ox indirectly made Ritsura faster due, it did not make her more agile nor did it improve her reflexes. This was especially bad as her mind was still not used to her speed and strength, so she could react as properly as she usually could. In the worst case scenario, Fumiaki would get a better feeling for her movements than she could… which meant that the more times they crossed swords, the more dangerous Fumiaki could get. She had to keep him away from physical clashes until she got a better grasp of her current physical state.

But fortunately, she was a Yuki-Onna so sword fighting techniques were only a small part of her arsenal. So before Fumiaki could make another attack, she created a slight blizzard around herself. This took Fumiaki by surprise so he instinctively put his hand in front of his eyes, which made an opening that Ritsura was more than happy to use. But rather than attack with her sword, which was something she decided to delay until she got used to her own movements, she decided to throw several ice spikes in his direction.

The first managed to hit his shoulder, but that seemed to serve as a wake-up call to him as he easily avoided all of the other spikes and then immediately rushed at Ritsura. He did stop when he made his attack, but instead did it while moving. This action confused Ritsura as the attack did not go for any of her vital regions nor was it hard to block.

While still thinking about what he was thinking about, she turned around and saw that he was already running at her. And one again, he looked like he was about to use the same trick. Ritsura instinctively decided to make her own attack at him, but he just pushed her sword upwards and continued moving.

And then she realized what Fumiaki's actual goal was. "Ryu, watch out!" She yelled at the Onmyouji towards whom Fumiaki was now running. He intended to deal with the one who gave Ritsura strength to keep fighting.

Ryuzan, who was dangerously sweating, gasped in shock when he saw that Fumiaki was going after him. But when the enemy came close enough, the boy smiled and raised the hand on which the glove with white kanji was.

After noticing that the Onmyouji was about to use a technique of his own, Fumiaki stopped running.

But it was too late, for a large tiger appeared and slashed across Fumiaki with his large claws. Fumiaki then tried to move away from it, but seemingly forgot that his back was turned towards a more dangerous enemy… and of course, Ritsura decided to use the opening.

Fumiaki turned around to swing the attack at her, possibly hoping to catch her at surprise. But she let the swords fall from her hand. Then she froze her left hand in a thick layer of ice which, due to her fusion with the Ox Shikigami, she could easily move. She used it to catch the sword as it moved and then froze it as well, robbing Fumiaki from his weapon. Seeing as Fumiaki could no longer focus on him, Ryuzan unsummoned the Tiger, probably because it was hard for him to keep it summoned while the Ox, whom he had to keep under control and safe from Ritsura's Fear, was inside Ritsura, whom he ironically had to keep safe from the Ox.

She then also froze her right hand, but this time also made spikes on it, thus practically turning it into a spiked mace which she then thrust into his guts. And while her hand was still inside Fumiaki, she turned around and threw him in the opposite direction from Ryuzan. And while her enemy was still bleeding, she created a large ice mace in her hands and hit him before he could get a hold of himself, throwing his body away as a consequence.  _You may have gained some of Orochimaru's abilities, Fumiaki, but you are not as skilled as he used to be._

And then she reached her limit: the pain from having an exorcising spirit inside her body grew too strong and made her fall down onto her knees and the Shikigami promptly started attacking her Fear.

"Ritsura!" She could hear Ryuzan yell and run towards her. She could also feel that the Shikigami was pulled out of her body and unsummoned. "Are you alright?" He reached to her and knelled down. Judging by how wet his face was and his breathing, he was unlikely to keep fighting either.

"I am fine." Ritsura, whose hair had already started turning brown because her Yuki-Onna's Fear got depleted, looked towards Fumiaki. Even though he suffered a number of major injuries from the Tiger Shikigami and Ritsura, he was already half-way to standing up. Her eyes also noticed that all of his injuries have mostly healed, probably as a consequence of him wearing Orochimaru's Fear.

She then looked around herself to see how the others were doing, and promptly noticed that, although the battle was still going on, several of Kyushu's youkai have fallen or were hanging from trees.

 _Alright, I managed to buy enough time._  She turned her eyes back at Fumiaki who was already preparing to run at her, with a small dagger he was pulling from his pocket. "Kubi, Kino!" Ritsura shouted just before Fumiaki started moving.

And soon after, red strings and long hair almost caught Fumiaki, but he managed to cut them off and pull back.

"Am I bothering you?" Ritsura asked the two figures that landed in front of her.

"Your safety is never a bother to us, Ojou-sama." Kubinashi answered.

"Actually, Kubinashi was almost praying that you called his help." Kejorou said and giggled, to which Kubinashi silently growled. Soon, the rest of the Nura Clan youkai surrounded her. It looked like several of the youkai joined the fight after it started, as did several Gyukis, one of whom smirked at Ryuzan.

On other hand, the Kyushu youkai also surrounded their leader. The battle was now at a standstill, with both sides now looking at one another.

"They fought well." Sasami commented and Ritsura came to the same conclusion. Several youkai from both sides have been taken down, but all at all the Kyushu fought better than the Nuras could have expected.

Which was especially worrisome as, other than Fumiaki and Orochimaru, all of them were the Hashima Kyushu Clan's equal to a foot soldier.

* * *

"So that's how it is, huh?" Fumiaki muttered after looking over the Nuras. "They are formidable, as is the heiress."

" _What do we do now, Fumiaki-sama?_ " He hard Yashagoro ask from within him.

"The side objective is cancelled." After saying that, Fumiaki let Yashagoro go and the young youkai appeared beside him. His injuries seemed to have regenerated for the most part. "Unless Suiren succeeded, we can consider the objective to capture one of the heirs a failure."

"…side-objective?" Yashagoro looked confused. "Was this not why you came here?"

"No, my mission was to save you and the rest of your rogue squad. We can't let you die, can we now?" Fumiaki said with a smile and turned towards the enemies again. "The other objective was to buy time, keep the enemy split and tire them out… until the main force arrives."

"The main force?"

"You will understand soon enough, they are almost here. For now, we should focus on getting out of here." Fumiaki took out a closed scroll and put his hands together, holding the scroll like that. " _Oh blessed and mighty ancestors. Your unworthy son prays for your help, so please come quick and bring safety to…_ "

~)(~

"What is he saying?" Kejorou asked when they saw Fumiaki whisper something at the distance.

"He is summoning someone." Ryuzan guessed. "Kyushu is known for various clans who can summon spiritual beings to aid them. Orochimaru Clan summons snakes, Jiraiya Clan summons toads, Rikimatsu Clan summons Tengus and Mizuchi Clan, to which Fumiaki belongs, summons…"

Having finished with recitals, Fumiaki's scroll opened itself and large amounts of Fear got released from it, and two creatures appeared from it.

"…dragons." Ritsura finished the sentence which Ryuzan started as she looked on two yellow serpentine dragons, large as a house, which floated above the Kyushu youkai.

"Ah, it is you Fumiaki." One of them spoke while looking at Fumiaki.

"Did you summon us to perform that Matoi technique with us?" the other one asked. Shivers went across Ritsura's spine at the very thought of Fumiaki using Matoi with such powerful spirits.

"Forgive me, but father implicitly forbade me to fight seriously." Fumiaki spoke loudly to them, so even Ritsura could hear his words. "May I ask you to take me and my friends away from here?"

"You are fleeing already?!" Ritsura immediately reacted. She thought that he would keep fighting rather than retreat so quickly.

"We did what we came to do." Fumiaki spoke while the dragons lowered themselves so that some of the other youkai, at least those that could not fly, could jump onto them. " _They_  will now take center stage." He said and pointed his finger at skies behind Ritsura.

Ritsura turned her head around and her mouth opened wide when she saw three enormous dragons fly in their direction and were only a few minutes away from Nejireme.  _Shit, how did they appear without anyone… clouds! They hid in the clouds!_  She immediately turned back towards Fumiaki who was already standing atop one of the dragons, with Yashagoro standing just behind him. "What is the meaning of this?!"

"Where's the fun if you spoil it?" Fumiaki replied back and the dragon started flying up. "You are a strong warrior, Nura Ritsura. I fear what kind of woman you will become and honestly hope I don't meet you on a battlefield or alike. I am not really a good warrior myself, you see." Fumiaki said and a sad smile appeared on his face. "Well, please try to survive what is about to come. Unlike what my dear Yashagoro here thought, your death and Rikuo's wrath would be death of us. Farewell, girl." And after saying that, the dragons quickly flew away.

"And just like that, he is gone…" Kubinashi muttered.

"Not only them." Sasami said and pointed a finger in direction of the resort. "The other ones are leaving too." She said while everyone looked at large birds flying away, with youkai atop of them.

"They are fleeing." Ritsura commented and turned her attention back at the dragons. "They are going to do something… something bad." Now she noticed that, unlike the dragons that Fumiaki summoned, these three were made out of water.

Kejorou noticed the same and more. "Are those… ships?"

Now that she looked better, on two of the dragons there were large wooden ships. "Sasami, Tosakamaru… check it out. Now!" Ritsura gave the order to two of the Senba Garasu who were with them and the two Tengus immediately flew as high as they could, and immediately after flew back down.

"Those ships are filled with youkai, Ojou-sama!" Sasami yelled as soon as she landed. "There seem to be hundreds of them!"

"And more than just youkai…" Tosakamaru was pale. "They also have… catapults. And those catapults…"

* * *

"Mount Nejireme…" Spoke the youkai called Mizuchi as he stood on beak of the largest ship and looked down on the mountain. "For a thousand years, the home to the fearsome Gyukis… and for half a millennium, the unconquerable fortress that kept Chubu and Kantou safe from youkai of the west."

"Just how many Night Parades have tried to conquer… or just sneak past it… and failed?" Mizuchi continued to speak to himself. "But in order to fulfill our ambitions, we need to raze that fortress to the ground." He then looked at one of the towns which no doubt suffered from Sanmoto Gorozaemon's Fear… which was something he caused and planned out. "How many sacrifices and cautious planning was required for us to get a chance to bring that fortress down? Too many… way too many." Without doubt, Tesshin would not forgive him for this.

Finally, his solitary monologue was over as Rikimatsu, a boy of thirteen, jumped from one of his tengus to just behind Mizuchi. "Suiren-sama and Fumiaki-sama have retreated."

"Hm." Mizuchi nodded and looked downwards again. He saw tengus and two yellow dragons fly towards their fleet which sailed atop the dragons made out of sea water. "Then let us begin." Mizuchi took out a signal flare from his pocket and shot it into the air.

About ten seconds later, the catapults from other ships threw boulders enwrapped in flames onto Nejireme. One of the dragons flew faster, allowing the ships onto it to rain fire on other parts of Nejireme as well.

It took only five minutes for the serene forest to become fully enwrapped in fire. Trees, houses, youkai, humans… soon everything without protection would be turned into ash. If Fumiaki succeeded at keeping the enemy split into smaller groups, then even if they had a youkai or two that could keep their allies safe, they would be unable to save everyone.

Five minutes later, and Nejireme now looked like a giant pillar of fire. All of the threes had been consumed by the fire, and the buildings where Gyukis resided have collapsed and disappeared.

"May the entire Japan see this monument of  _our_  victory!" Mizuchi spoke while stretching his arms. "May the entirety of Japanese youkai know that the Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan has razed this unconquerable fortress! May they know that the east is now ripe for the picking!"

The Gyuki Clan was devastated by treachery and the restless spirits. Mizuchi did not know how many of them survived, but it did not matter: it would take centuries for the Gyuki Group to fully recover.

Due to the terror which Sanmoto Gorozaemon spread across Nejireme, to the humans this region would no longer be known as home to the Gyuki. Instead, darker tales would become more popular, and as a result the Fear of Mount Nejireme would change.

And this fire will both kill more of the Gyuki Group and further give birth to new legends amongst humans, corrupting the Mountain's Fear further.

A battle had ended, and the war had started.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Well, I don't think many of you expected this when you read the title ;P

\- Rikimatsu is a character from "The Tale of Gallant Jiraiya", who saved Jiraiya and Tsunade. Unlike Jiraiya, Tsunade and Orochimaru, he is not as well known and his name is usually not even mentioned

\- This chapter is practically the proper introduction of the Kyushu Clan to the readers. Although it is not much, we get introduced to some major characters, the fact that the clan has a great amount of Matoi users, that Mizuchi likes to play with fire and that more than a few Kyushu Clans are focused on summoning techniques


	61. Fall of Nejireme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The youkai of the Hashima Kyushu Clan had invaded and immediately gave the final blow to Mount Nejireme by putting it on fire. But the Nura Clan and the Gyuki Group are still within the forest…

**Chapter 61 – Fall of Nejireme**

Crying in anguish, the leafs and flames released crackling sounds and the branches that birthed them turned ever darker until they finally fell from the trees, and continued to be turned into ash by the merciless flames.

The houses around Nejireme did not fare any better: they too released crackling sounds as the fires, and sometimes flaming boulders, consumed them. The mattresses that offered their masters comfort were disappearing into this air, the few decorations on the wall were re-painted black before withering away, the books and scrolls turned into ash, together with all the knowledge and memories that they contained inside them.

Even the lakes and rivers were not sparred: first the smoke turned their once serene reflections black and then oil rained from the skies. Before long, ash and blackened trees polluted them further. Just like the smoke, the waters turned poisonous. The oil and trees allowed fire to burn just above the water surfaces, as if victoriously standing on corpse of a defeated enemy.

It took less than half an hour of raining flames and oil to kill the proud Mount Nejireme. Such was the intensity of the attack and the Hashima Kyushu Clan's resolve.

* * *

Fate was either cruel or merciful, for Gozumaru, Gyuki and the others reached the center of Mount Nejireme just after every building was caught by fire and just before they started to crumble under the heavy fires.

None of them spoke anything. They just looked at what used to be their home, and even the suffocating smoke could not make them avert their eyes.

They looked as a wooden board, atop the entrance to Gyuki's mansion, that had their clan's mon engraved on it, slowly turn black and then fall onto the ground.

Gozumaru and Mezumaru looked at the places in the open where they liked to practice their fighting skills. The log on which they liked to sit turned hideous, the roughened ground that survived many kind of attacks was filled with fallen trees and the practicing dummies looked like they begged for help while the fire killed them. And maybe they did.

They all looked at the largest mansion burn and could hear the furniture inside collapse, as well as the roof. The smaller buildings around it were much quicker to turn into wooden, black bones. The place now looked like a graveyard.

Eikichi, the one with least connection to Nejireme, was the least sentimental about this view so naturally he was the first one to speak. "We should get moving, guys."

"Where to?" Gozumaru asked. As far as he was concerned, his home was gone. Even though Gyuki's mother claimed that they would need to leave the mountain, he did not believe that it would actually happen: unless Gyuki ordered otherwise, he would have stayed and fought.

But no amount of fighting could save their home now.

"To the resort." Gyuki, who was leaning against Benmaru, spoke and turned around. "We should ensure the safety of our guests and then leave the mountain." If Gyuki was grieving for his home, he did not let it show either in his tone or his face. He was his usual determined himself… at least on the outside.

 _That's right… we can't afford to grieve right now._  Gozumaru decided he should follow his lead and took a deep breath to concentrate. But only when his throat burned and he started coughing did he remember that breathing was not an easy thing to do in this situation. "Damn it, we must leave!"

"Sure, boss." Eikichi muttered and everyone started moving.

"Will we even- COUGH! COUGH! …survive to the resort?" Mezumaru asked.

"We can only- COUGH" …pray boy…" Benmaru added. "And let us pray that others get to safety and don't die in this inferno."

Gozumaru clenched his teeth at that thought. Many of the Gyuki Clan fought and were probably fatally wounded. It was possible that some of them would not be able to get to safety in time.  _We managed to defeat that accursed woman and both of the traitor bosses… yet we still aren't safe? Give me a damn break already!_

And then the fires around them started to suddenly whirl around, as if a fiery tornado started to form. The group stopped and worried about what was going to happen to them.  _I said give us a break already!_

Soon after, something jumped in front of them. The group tensed for a moment fearing an enemy, but the creature that appeared did not seem hostile.

"A… fox?" Eikichi said while raising an eyebrow. The creature in front of them was a three-tailed fox spirit whose tails looked like they ate the fire and smoke around them.

The fox then slowly turned around and started to slowly run in direction of the resort.

"It must be a Shikigami from one of those two Onmyouji." Gozumaru remembered an arrogant boy who always hung with Ritsura and a more arrogant one who just walked into the resort this same day. "Let's go! By the looks of it, the fox should keep us safe from the fires."

The others nodded and joined him in following the fox.  _Finally a break!  
_

* * *

"Jeez! This Mizuchi is- COUGH …one crazy man!" Ritsura complained while she and her group moved through the burning mountain. Since both she and Ryuzan were too tired to walk properly, they were helped by Kejorou and Kubinashi. Fortunately, there weren't many youkai injured so they did not move too slowly. Tosakamaru and Sasami were not with them as Ritsura sent them to check how others were doing.

"Burning Mount Nejireme…" Kejorou shook her head. "I heard a lot about him, but I never thought he would go this far."

"Well, it is an important stronghold for our clan." Brown-haired Ritsura noted. "I am more surprised at how he was able to come here with an entire fleet."

"Indeed." Kubinashi also wondered about it. "Shikoku, Chugoku and Kyoto… they had to pass through those regions in order to come here,"

"Yes… if they were moving." Ryuzan sounded annoyed. "You guys forget that the fleet came from the air. They could have just flown over the seas."

"Yes, that makes sense-" Ritsura nodded. "We were naive to not take that possibility into consideration."

"Nobody thought that they had a fleet." Kubinashi replied to her. "And not to talk about dragons who brought those ships."

"Wasn't Mizuchi a part of our clan once? How come nobody knew that he was able to summon such dragons?"

"Mizuchi left when I joined the Nura Clan." Kubinashi explained. "But even the older generations do not seem to have known much about him."

"From what I have heard, he was very stingy about using his techniques against enemies." Kejorou joined into their conversation. "Most often, he just fought using his sword."

"And that swordsmanship was excellent if rumors are right." Kubinashi added. "Be it as it may, we need to-"

Then someone flew in front of them. For a moment they feared that it might have been an enemy, but they realized that it was Tosakamaru. "You should hurry up to the resort." He did not lose time. "Kashaimaru, or however he is called, is keeping the fires away from the resort."

"So we don't need to leave the entire mountain to get to a safe haven." Ritsura felt relieved.

"It won't be such a safe haven when the Kyushu youkai descend." Ryuzan mentioned.

"We will worry about that later."

"Also, Rihan-sama is at the resort. He is a bit injured, but otherwise fine."

"Even more good news!" Ritsura felt a stone fall from her back. "I am glad that my little brother is safe. Anyway, tell the others that we should come soon."

"I will." Tosakamaru nodded. "By the way, Kashaimaru had sent a Kitsune… ah, here it is." A fox appeared from the bushes and started eating fire with her tails. "It should keep you safe until you come to the resort."

"Third time lucky? That's what I call a jackpot!" Ritsura said with a smile.

"I call it misfortune." Ryuzan was not as relieved. "It is unnatural to get more than three lucky hits in row."

* * *

Rihan could barely breathe. He was inside the resort, but the heat was still unbearable as was the smoke that lingered in it. He was fortunate that he gained more control over his ice techniques so he could cool himself a bit, otherwise he might have gone insane.

 _But why is the resort not burning?_  Rihan wondered.  _And why aren't the boulders wrecking this place?_

They were not far from the resort when the fire and oil started raining from those dragons. Since there were injured in the resort, Nurarihyon ordered for everyone who could walk to take the injured and help them leave the mountain. But only a several minutes later, Rihan heard that Nurarihyon ordered everyone to NOT leave the wooden resort even though it was surrounded by the sea of flames and the boulders were catapulted in their direction. Yet, the fire did not seem to enter the resort and the sounds of breaking stones from above were all that could be felt from the boulders.

Rihan wanted to see what was going on, but Nurarihyon ordered Zen and the nurses to take care of first aid for everyone… and since Rihan was injured in his fight against Bonnouma, Zen ordered his wife to give him all the necessary treatment.

"Are we done yet?" Rihan asked after seeing that the bandage was put over one of his larger wounds.

"No. But there are those who need me more than you, young master." Zen's wife answered with a bitter smile and quickly moved away.

"Finally." Rihan, who was anxious to see who saved them, rose up and started to walk outside.  _Stupid heat… I swear I will kill whoever came up with this idea and gave it to that bastard Mizuchi! Or I might just kill Mizuchi. That would be fine as well!_

It was not hard to guess who was responsible for the boulders. And when Rihan left into the courtyard, his suspicions were confirmed: Aotabou, in one of his larger forms, ran around and punched into every boulder that was falling towards the buildings where the youkai took shelter. Some other youkai helped too of course.

The other buildings, however, were long ago destroyed by the boulders.  _Saaya's dad will be heartbroken._

But interestingly, the fire on the boulders disappeared when it got too near the resort. Someone very strong and skilled must have been keeping them safe.

"Young master, you should return inside!" Aotabou shouted when his eyes grazed upon Rihan. "It is dangerous out here!"

"Where's the one responsible for this fire?" Rihan asked in return. "I want to talk with him."

"He is on the rooftop I think. But why do you-" Aotabou started asking, but had to crush another boulder. Instead of waiting and replying, Rihan just turned around and started to walk back towards the resort. "Please do not disturb him young master! We have it hard as it is."

Rihan paid no heed to his words.  _There's nobody in our clan who can keep such fires away like this._  It had to be some outsider, and he hoped it was not the one that came to his mind.

But alas, it was. "Well, if it isn't the gentleman who made our Shi-chan run like a poor damsel." The Onmyouji whom Rihan fought against a while ago said when their eyes met.

 _Sh…Shi-chan?_  "What the hell are you doing here? Did Shiori send you?"

"Shi-chan is not my only friend, you know. Ritsura-chan and Ryuzan are also my pals." The Onmyouji said and then his eyes narrowed. "But I may change my mind and leave. How is Shi-chan faring?"

 _Ah yes, that's right. When we met, I was still trying to kill…_ "She is fine and well."

The Onmyouji just looked at him with a serious expression, without saying anything.  _Oh damn… I have nothing to prove it._  If the Onmyouji did not believe him and decided to leave, Rihan would have done a fatal mistake.

"You should thank Ryuzan for hanging around me for all these years." The Onmyouji closed his eyes. "If I did not get accustomed to that pro's lies, I may have chosen not to believe you."

"How kind of you…" Even though he was glad that he stayed here and helped protect the others, Rihan just could not make himself act like it. Something about this Onmyouji annoyed him. "What is your name again?"

"You can call me Kashaimaru." He said and put two fingers together. "Now if you'd excuse me, I need to concentrate so I'd prefer not to talk."

"Alright, I will be leaving then."

"As much as I'd like that, I would ask you to stay here." Kashaimaru said and closed his eyes. "Just in case the Kyushu youkai dropped someone from one of those ships, you know."

"Ah yes… they are cunning ones." Rihan nodded and looked above. Although it was hard, he could see the silhouettes of dragons and ships in the skies. One of them was flying around in the distance while two were circling high above the resort and catapulting boulders onto it. "Actually, it is only a matter of time until someone descends upon us."

"Well, unless they came here to sightsee, no doubt about it." Kashaimaru added. "By the way, you are sweating more than the others. Do you have a fever?"

"No, I just have a kind of heat allergy." Rihan sighed and lowered his gaze. He knew that someone formidable must have been keeping them safe, but only now did he realize just how skilled this Onmyouji was: the resort standing safe while literally everything else around them burned looked both unnatural and fascinating.

But even more so, the fact that the inferno was so large said a lot about what kind of an enemy were they facing. Not everyone could pull up something like this.

"What do you think, Nura Rihan?" Kashaimaru suddenly asked him.

"I am thinking about how scary the enemy is." Rihan answered without thinking and while still looking around. "Burning an entire mountain… that is crazy man."

"Ummm… that is not what I mean?" Kashaimaru replied.

"Hm?" And then Rihan realized. "They stopped throwing the boulders!"

"That's a good start but…"

Rihan raised his head to see if something attacked them or if the enemy just went out of ammo. "Oh…"

He could see the dragon with the largest ship on top of its head and some figure on it standing there with his sword pointing at the skies. But that itself wasn't anything special: above that sword, the clouds whirled.

"Is he creating a cloud whirlpool?" Rihan thought loudly. Then he also noticed that the third dragon, which did not carry any ships on its back, flew into the whirlpool. A moment later, the whole amount of water burst into a flying circle and lowered itself, leaving the western skies clear.

"It looks like he created a large ring of water and had it surrounded by water!" Kashaimaru yelled, threw a large number of talismans into the air and immediately put his hands together. "He is planning something very bad! I will keep the barrier up, but I suggest you prepare yourself for a sudden change of landscape!"

"What is-" Rihan started but Kashaimaru had more to say, although not to him.

"Everyone, your enemies are preparing something worse than that inferno, and I fear that I am not an expert in the element they intend to use next!" He shouted as loud as he could. "Everyone who has some fighting spirit left, please take one of these talismans…" As he spoke, some of the paper talismans he threw into the air split into smaller ones and flew around. "…and force your Fear into them! I will need as much spiritual energy as I could get!"

"Is it going to be that bad?" Rihan asked as he grabbed one of the tiny talismans.

"You still hadn't realized what they are up to, did you?"

"I'd say that I do not believe someone is capable of that but…" Rihan forced some of his Fear into the talisman. "…these guys have already exceeded my expectations and I have already seen enough of crazy stuff today."

And then something loud could be heard from everywhere around them and a moment later, Rihan could see what looked like a Tsunami coming at them.

"Wish me luck." Kashaimaru said and prepared the incoming waves.

"I wish that luck was not the only thing we could depend here." Rihan said while sweating, this time from worry.

* * *

"Ryuzan… or me…?" Ritsura wondered while lying in mud, wet from head to toe. "Was it me who jinxed it when I said that I got lucky, or he when he mentioned that fourth time it would be misfortune?"

It happened suddenly: at one moment they were running through smoke and fire, and then a tsunami appeared out of nowhere and split their group up. And before she knew it, the storm ended and Ritsura was now here.  _Well, maybe I am lucky that I only got dirty and wet. Seriously, my head could have hit something._

Although tired, she forced herself to get back up onto her feet with help of her sword, which she somehow managed to keep holding too even while the wild waters threw her around. She was split from her allies and if thus tsunami was created by the enemy to put down the fires, then they might have been preparing for a direct attack. If in her current state she ended up meeting an enemy before an ally, she would be in danger.

Now that she was back to standing on her two feet, she could look around herself. The fires were, much to this Yuki-Onna's relief, gone. However, the Nejireme was now truly dead, a sad sight for the heiress of the Nura Clan. I swear,  _they will pay for this._ Furthermore, there was also some kind of mist everywhere around her. By focusing her senses, she could feel that the mist was created by a youkai's Fear. _Another of the enemy's tricks… they just don't want to give us a room for breathing, do they?_

 _But more importantly, where am I?_  She looked around, but the fires completely changed the look of the mountain and the tsunami made it near unrecognizable. She was certain that even if she had passed through this part of the forest multiple times, she would have no idea where she was right now.

 _I have to get to others and-_  And then she could feel that someone was behind her. While slowly taking out her sword from its sheaths, she slowly turned her head around.

Behind her stood a man in a blue Meiji Era military uniform, with an old fashioned beard on his face and with a sheathed sword that had an unnatural aura around it.

Somehow she knew whom she was facing. "Mizuchi…"

"For someone who had never met me, you know faces well." Mizuchi spoke with a smile. "Granted, I never saw you before either but I am sure you are Nura Rikuo's daughter."

Ritsura fully turned around and pulled the sword out its sheaths. However, she was tired and in her human form now so the sword felt heavy. Other than trying to look tough, there was little she could do against him.

"Before we go onto business, apologies are in order." Mizuchi continued to talk.

"Apologies? You want to apologize for what you did to Nejireme and the Gyuki Group?"

"No, that was an attack planned and ordered by me. I will not apologize for that." Mizuchi said in an apathetic tone.

"So  _what_  do you want to apologize for?" Ritsura kept a defying tone, even while she was certain that he was aware of her powerless she was at the moment.

"I want to apologize for Yashagoro's assassination attempt. I have not yet found out who told him it would be a good idea, but he acted against my orders."

"I see." She then remembered that Sakura cared about Orochimaru, aka Yashagoro, to some extent. So, she decided to ask a trivial question "So, what happens to him now?"

"He will get an earful and maybe some cleaning duties." Mizuchi shrugged his shoulders. "The ones who gave him ideas are the ones who should be worried, not the boy."

"Aha." She got the answer to her least important question. "So may now discuss the more important issues?" She had to buy as much time as she could. She could hear movements behind the walls of mist, but they were no doubt the enemy. Until she could hear the sounds of battle, which would suggest that her allies found them, she could only wait and delay becoming this man's prisoner. "Why did you do all this?"

"No offense girl, but that is a stupid question." Mizuchi said and leaned against a burnt out tree. Obviously, he did not care much about his clothes getting dirtied. "Our two clans are, even if your father thought differently, at war. And when you are at war, you either conquer or raze your enemy's strongholds."

"And Mount Nejireme is one of our most important strongholds." Ritsura added. "It is a good target for your first attack, right?"

"Ah, so young yet still smart. I like that." Mizuchi smiled as he complimented her. "Nejireme is Nura Clan's most important stronghold, that's right. Not only does one of its strongest vassals live on it, but this is the reason why it kept it safe from ambitious youkai from west."

"Kyoto, Shikoku and Chugoku are the three regions where Fear is strong, so powerful youkai live there. Kyushu youkai are no weaklings either, even if they were quite ambitious while the Tsukumo clan still ruled over them."

"The Toono youkai are also quite strong, but they are not very aggressive." Mizuchi shrugged his shoulders. "I am sure you know that many ambitious youkai attack your clan, even if almost all of them get defeated without much effort."

Ritsura nodded. The youkai from northern Japan and Chubu often attacked the Nura Clan's territories in blind hope that they could accomplish something, but they were always defeated and returned home humiliated. "Yes, many pointless attacks."

"But, that is the youkai nature. Even if they know they will probably lose, they feel the urge to try and accomplish something. But once Nejireme falls…"

Ritsura finally saw where the main value of Nejireme's fall stood. "The ambitious youkai from Yshikoku, Kansai and Chugoku will start attacking."

"Oh, they definitely will. The un-aligned youkai from Kansai have probably seen the fires and are preparing to attack Chubu and Kantou. The un-aligned youkai from Shikoku and Chugoku will follow soon after. And these youkai will not be as weak."

"Still, they will lose."

"It does not matter. Even in the worst case scenario, the numerous attacks will weaken the Nura Clan and do some damage."

Ritsura clenched her teeth, but kept her mouth closed so he would not notice it. Even though most of Nura clan's territories were in Kantou, and especially in Tokyo, they also had territories throughout Chubu. Those territories would probably fall to these legions of strong, unaligned youkai seeking to form their own clans.  _And if some of them settle in Chubu, than we will have even more hostile youkai as neighbors._   _Many of the Chubu youkai were already hostile towards us, and in worst case they might ally with the Kyushu youkai._

"What about your alliance with Sanmoto Gorozaemon?" Ritsura went to another topic. "He seems to be popular enough in Kyushu to have a cult of his own. Do you even know what kind of youkai he is?"

"Of course I know. His influence started spreading through Kyushu when Yanagida moved his clan to Hashima."

"Yet you let him be."

"Yes, though I admit that it was a risky move. Still, it has its perks and without him I would not have been able to so efficiently get rid of Nejireme." And then Mizuchi smiled. "But I admit that I was very pleased when I heard that his own long-term plan here was ruined by your brother. You guys sure took care to lessen the threat for us."

_With friends like these, Sanmoto does not even need enemies. But then again, it was also his friends who ruined his plans in past._

"You are silent, girl." Mizuchi finally stopped leaning against the tree and start to slowly walk towards Ritsura. "I take it you have no more questions?"

"What happens now?" She still had one question. "You want to take me hostage?"

"It was not part of the plan, but if you are just standing there then-"

And then many loud sounds could be heard from the skies… sounds of canons.

 _A battle has started!_  Since this was her best chance to make her move, she used her Nurarihyon's Fear to try and get away while Mizuchi was looking up. Just like how the mist stopped everyone from seeing what was going on above, she hoped that it would help masking her presence as well.  _I wish I could attack him but… I would probably lose._

It did not take long for Mizuchi to lower his gaze. "I see that you have already started to move. I feel embarrassed." He spoke while looking around. "If someone sees anything strange, immediately yell with all your might."

Soon, she could no longer see him through the think mist.  _It should be the same for everyone._ However, she could not see his comrades either, meaning that the chance was good that she stumbled upon one of them. And if anyone yelled, she had a bad feeling that Mizuchi would immediately find her.

But then the mist started moving around, as if something was sucking it up, and Ritsura remembered that the mist was created by an enemy youkai. "Kiriken." Mizuchi said one word after the mist became smaller. "It is my sword. It makes it easier for me to controls fogs and mists." He spoke while putting his sword, Kiriken, into its sheaths. "It was smart from you to try and use the mist to aid yourself, but unfortunately for you it was me who created it." Although the other youkai were looking around, Mizuchi was looking right at Ritsura, which made it clear that his Fear was too strong to get fooled by this exhausted girl's Fear.

"Was the tsunami also created by it?" Ritsura returned to buying time. Since the sounds of battles could still be heard, she hoped that her allies would appear soon.

"No, it was my own Fear that caused it." With his sword still in sheaths, he walked up to Ritsura. Clearly, he did not see her as a threat. "But we can talk later." He said and grabbed her hand just when she started to move it in an attempt to attack him. His hold was strong, but soft enough that she did not feel any pain. "Now, let's-"

Her eyes saw something fall from the skies behind Mizuchi, but she could not recognize what because the mist was still thick further away. When it started to move, it became clear that it was a person. And that person rushed past Mizuchi, taking Ritsura from him. After several steps, the person stopped and turned to face Mizuchi, who now held unsheathed Kiriken and no longer seemed laid back.

But Ritsura was more interested in the person who saved her. "Dad?" And then someone else landed as well. "Mom?"

"Yo." Her father smiled at her. "Papa is back from his trip."

* * *

It was a cloudy night. Was the weather natural or created by the Kyushu youkai was unknown, but it did not matter: just like how the Kyushu youkai used them to  _sail_  to Nejireme, so did the Nuras. Once Nura Rikuo and his group returned from the States, he immediately assembled a fleet of Nura Clan's flying ships and they flew to Nejireme where they ambushed the Kyushu youkai's fleet.

Nura Rikuo had already jumped onto Nejireme, but the fleets were fighting. The Kyushu's fleet answered Nura's fleet with canons. But after Nura clan's fight against the Kyoto Youkai and the Gokadoin House years ago, Rikuo had armed Takarabune and the smaller ships with canons too. And so both fleets attacked one another with canons and youkai boarding other ships.

Since Nura Clan's ships flew by themselves, they were more flexible and could easily fly above an enemy's and allow the youkai on them to jump right amidst the enemy youkai. However, the Kyushu youkai sailed atop dragons made out of sea and those dragons could bite. One ship had already been crushed under a dragon's fangs and one's claws almost destroyed another one.

Since Rikuo already left the fleet to find on land, the current commander of Nura Clan's fleet was Mokugyo Daruma. He stood atop the Takarabune and gazed upon the battle. Although he was the commander, the youkai were a kind of beings that fought as they wanted, not as someone dictated them. So, he was only there to give orders if need arose.

However, he saw many of the enemy's tengus fly around and the Kyushu youkai seemed to constantly change their fighting patterns depending on it. The Hashima Kyushu Clan proved once again that they were unlike every other youkai clan and had fought with a strict discipline and followed orders without question. Because of that, even after being outnumbered the Kyushu youkai fought well and the Nuras were slow in beating them.

It did not help that the Kyushu youkai had many talented youkai. A young boy, whom he identified as the heir of the Orochimaru Clan, was one of them: Daruma could see from the distance that he was not in his top form, but nevertheless he was able to keep away some of the youkai that saw dozens of battles.  _If the entirety of the Orochimaru Clan is like this, we can be grateful that this boy is a black sheep while the rest of their clan remains independent from Kyushu._

As if not wanting to lose to an Orochimaru, the current Rikimatsu also fought well. Although he was clearly a young boy, his fighting style was brutal: his tengus and birds attacked his enemies mercilessly, gouging their eyes and pushing them from the ships. It did not take long for the Nuras to start avoiding the ship on which that boy was standing.

Then there was the Ame Onna, Suiren, who killed everyone who crossed her path, sometimes with mere scratches. On other hand, Mizuchi's son Fumiaki was clumsy and tried to stay away from battles. However, he did manage to summon a smaller yellow dragon from time to time who managed to cause some trouble for Nura Clans youkai.

Of course, the Nura clan's youkai fought well too. Shouei had just landed on a ship. Already seeing what he was capable of, the Kyushu youkai moved away while Shouei destroyed the entire ship with one strike of his bare hands. Then, with his monkey blood, he jumped towards another ship, broke through it and landed on the third, tearing it apart. However, the sea dragons soon took a notice of him and made it harder for him to safely jump around.

Kurotabou jumped from ship to ship and, with ruthless precision, slew every youkai around him with countless weapons. He did so for several ships until Suiren appeared before him. The two youkai stopped moving around and instead spent the rest of the battle clashing weapons against one another.

As if feeling that his rival was here, Aotabou also made his mark by throwing boulders into the enemy fleet. Some missed the mark, but several hit into enemy ships. Later on, the boulders he threw far into the air were burning with fire. Ironically, the flaming boulders were now being returned to the Kyushu youkai.

It was a harsh battle, with both sides fighting on an even ground.

* * *

"Rikuo!" Mizuchi shouted in Rikuo's direction. He seemed kind of pleased to see his enemy, though also cautious. "I did not expect you to return from America so soon."

"What the hell are you doing here, Mizuchi?" Rikuo asked while accepting the sword that his daughter offered him. "Are you aware that I will not let you get away with this?"

"To be honest, I don't know what to expect from you. Anyone else would have already gotten tired and declared war, but you were quite keen on delaying it."

"A smart man would have used that opportunity to stay away." Rikuo said while he and Mizuchi circled around one another.

Some of the Kyushu's youkai looked in Ritsura's direction, but whenever they did so, Tsurara gave them a quick, angry glance and they backed away.

"Then I am no smart man." Mizuchi grinned. "You should have seen this coming for years now, Nura Rikuo! I don't know how cleared I could have made my hostile intentions for you and your clan." Then Mizuchi's eyes narrowed. "Oh, sorry I forgot! You expected me to start razing Shikoku or Chugoku first, right? Those dear allies of yours?"

"The youkai of entire Kantou, Shikoku and Chugoku stand against you, Mizuchi. And given time, the youkai of Kyoto will join us." Rikuo spoke and pointed his sword at Mizuchi. "What makes you think that you stand a chance against us, huh?"

"The aces up my sleeve, of course." Mizuchi immediately replied. "But is there a point to this conversation? After what I did to western Kantou, Nejireme and the Gyuki, will you just let me walk away in peace?"

"No." Rikuo gave a short answer and then ran towards Mizuchi.

Rather than use his sword, his opponent slashed his left fist at Rikuo. Just as it went through him, thus revealing that it was a mirage, Mizuchi slashed his Kiriken right and deflected Rikuo's attack.

Rikuo took a few steps backwards and then slashed towards Mizuchi again. However, his legs suddenly froze so he could not move anywhere. "Husband and wife fighting together. How romantic!" Mizuchi commented and blocked Rikuo's attack.

Rikuo continued pushing his sword towards Mizuchi. Since Mizuchi's legs were frozen solid, he would be at a large disadvantage if he were unable to keep pushing Rikuo back.

Some of his allies jumped at Ritsura and Tsurara, but the elder Yuki-Onna froze them in a second and then threw an icicle at Mizuchi's backs.

" _Kiriken Mamoru_!" Mizuchi yelled and then mist flew out of the sword and towards the icicle. The next moment, the icicle broke into tiny pieces just before it could stab into his back.

And then Mizuchi whispered " _Kiriken Satsuriku_." The extremely think mist then flew towards Rikuo, who immediately jumped away.

"I would love to stay and fight, Nura Rikuo, but we already won this battle." Mizuchi proclaimed and raised Kiriken into the air. "Whatever else we could achieve would come at a high price for my men. So with due respect… goodbye." He took out a scroll from his pocket, opened it and then stabbed his sword into it. "Come forth,  _Kiriryu_!"

For a small few moments, the Nuras could see a dragon made out of mist appear, but then thick mist filled the entirety of their surroundings.

* * *

The Nuras were taken aback when another dragon, this time made out of mist, appeared from within the forest. And when the dragon burst and the entirety of skies became filled with the thick mist, they started to feel worried.

"What is going on?" Daruma wondered while looking around. But not only could he no longer see the battlefield, but his vision could not even go past Takarabune.

He waited for sounds of battle to be heard. But everything went quiet. After several minutes had passed, sounds could be heard… but those were the sounds of the confused, and then frustrated, Nura Clan's youkai.

They did not need long to realize what had happened.

* * *

"What is going on?" Tsurara asked while she still held her daughter by her shoulders. "Shouldn't they… attack?"

"Mizuchi did not sound like he wanted to fight anymore, mom." Ritsura noted. "He may not be the most trustable guy, but I take it that he decided to leave."

"She is right." Rikuo said while walking into their field of vision and sheathing Ritsura's sword which he then handed back to his daughter. "I can sense Mizuchi's Fear, but it is already far in the air and moving west." He said and then patted his daughter on the head. "Are you alright, Ritsura?"

"I am fine." As annoyed as she was that her father had to save her, she was relieved that the long battle was finally over.

"Should we not go after them?" Ritsura asked, but her father shook his head.

"Doing that would mean leaving those on Nejireme defenseless. As much as I hate to say it, we have no choice but to let Mizuchi and his youkai leave."

"I understand…" Ritsura muttered. "…but still, because of him the Gyuki Clan and Nejireme have been…" She started and enough of the fog disappeared that everyone could see  _Nejireme's corpse_.

"I know." Rikuo said with an angry look in his eyes while facing west. "And in due time, he will pay for this." And then he turned around. "But for now, let's take care of everyone's safety. We will discuss the rest when we return to Ukiyoe."

"Come on, you need some resting, Ritsura." Her mother said and started to softly push her forward.

"Yes dad, yes mom." Ritsura said while pouting. Still, after this whole dangerous day she was glad to see them again.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And so, the action parts of the Nejireme saga are now over! There are two epilogue chapters (one showing Mayuri's fate) and then we finally finish the Nejireme saga and enter a new story arc. I, the writer, have already gotten tired of Nejireme and I am sure you guys are tired too. Soon friends, soon…

\- I tried to make the chapter opening as visual as possible. If this were an Anime, I would have definitely used two minutes to just show Nejireme as it is burning

\- Once again, Kashaimaru saves many lives. Ritsura better hope that this Gokadoin does not have a notebook where he writes down all the debts that the Nura Clan owns him ;P

\- Speaking of Kashaiamru, he and Rihan had their first dogfight!

\- And Rikuo has finally returned to Japan! We all missed you man!

\- Even his own daughter can't escape the  _Damsel in Distress_   _Curse_  when Rikuo has to make an epic entrance XD

\- Just like Nejireme's burning, the battle between ships in the skies looked ore awesome in my mind than I could ever showcase it with words :(

\- Mizuchi did some fighting and even revealed the name of his sword, but had retreated because he held the lives of his followers over any gain he could get by continuing to fight, even if it meant letting the chance to defeat Rikuo pass him by. Rikuo had to deal with enemies who threw away their comrades like ragdolls and enemies who overestimated themselves, but this time he has to deal with someone completely opposite of those… and if those virtues are where true strength lies, than this is gonna be a bloody war...

\- What about Tesshin some will ask. Well, more on him soon… his scene was supposed to be in this chapter, but I could not make it fit into story flow properly so it was delayed

\- Also, this story is now over half a million words long! We came a long way friends... and there's much more to come!

* * *

**Omakes**

* * *

**Citsimsan** : " _And young Rihan has a thing for women in uniforms? Maybe some kinky roleplay with Shiori is in order!_ _"_

"Military uniforms…" Rihan muttered while writing something into a small notebook.

"Rihan, what is that?" Shiori appeared and looked into it. "Policewoman, Geisha, Military, Cowboy outfit, Elf, Princess… are these… cosplays?"

Rihan just smiled and the background behind him turned pink.

"Oh… oh no…" Shiori started to slowly back away with her hands held in front of her. "Was altering my character design by removing glasses and hairpins not enough for you?"

"Nope!" Rihan said and started to walk towards her while holding some kind of bag. "By the way, I have bought something for you~"

"Eh… eh… wait, what is that dangerous look in your eyes? Wait a second, we need to discu- KYAAHHH!"


	62. After the Fall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Nura Clan reinforcements, led by Nura Rikuo, had arrived in time to save the survivors at Nejireme from the Kyushu youkai. However, they were late to save Nejireme itself…

**Chapter 62 - After the fall**

"Uhh…" Mayuri's consciousness returned. She did not remember what happened or where she was, but could feel that she was lying on something soft.  _I am on a bed?_

She tried to remember when she left to sleep.  _It was on Nejireme… no I woke up after that._  She remembered how she met up with Junji and then fell asleep on a bus.  _But I am not in the bus… and I woke up soon after…_  Then she remembered visiting a weapon factory, a hospital and…

"AHHH!" She screamed when she remembered what had occurred. When Junji brought her to a certain part of the town, she remembered dying in an accident and her brother Mahiro appearing and doing something to her.

Breathing heavily, she started to slowly calm down and could recognize her surroundings. She was in a hotel room, by all accounts a high class one. She did not remember when she got here, but she guessed that Junji or Mahiro brought her to this place.

She tried to piece together all that she had learned recently. She remembered how she found out that her own grandmother sacrificed herself to become a Goyro and let the  _Shin Sekai_  take her bone marrow so they could use it to revive children from the dead.  _Father must have planted some into me as well…_ She then looked at her hands. They were a young woman's hands and she grew up like a normal girl as the years passed. Other than the  _narcoleptic attacks_ , her human life was nothing unusual.

"Ah, did the Princess finally woke up!" She heard Mahiro's voice behind herself.

 _No… why is he here?_  She turned her head around and saw her eviler brother sit at a table, his legs crossed. "Mahiro-onii-san."

"Come on now, you should remember that you are the Onee-chan here, both to me and Mamoru." He spoke with a mocking smile. He may have claimed to have been the younger brother, but did not act like it.

 _Mamoru… does he know about my condition?_ "It does not matter. I am still mentally younger than you."

The answer erased the smile from his face. "Tz, you are just like father." Still in bad mood, Mahiro walked up to Mayuri. She reflexively tried to move away, but by the time her body started moving Mahiro had grabbed her by her chin. "Now listen here, zombie-onee-san…"

"What?" She wanted to complain about it hurting, but she was angry enough to feel defiant.

"Do you see this?" He raised a cellphone so she could look at it. "With just one move of my finger, I can kill you. And with just one move, I can make you alive again. The same way, I can kill you forever, get it?"

She grabbed his hand and tried to push it away, but he resisted. Then, she dug her fingernails into his arm. "Ah!" He let go of her and pulled his hand back. But then he got angry and slapped her with enough force that she fell down onto her bed again. "Which part did you not understand, you darn zombie?"

 _He is in a hurry…_  She realized but decided to not mention it. "What do you want from me, Mahiro?" She did not address him with a suffix this time.

"Mamoru is what I want." As he somehow came to expect, he immediately went onto the topic.

"And what do you want from him exactly?"

"He is a problem to our organization. But as long as he is an Onieda, father does not allow us to touch him." Mahiro sat next to Mayuri and started caressing he cheek, no doubt so that he could cause more pain to her if he felt like it. "But there are some in the organization who want him gone."

She immediately guessed what he probably meant by that. "I won't help you kill him." No matter the situation, she would rather die than betray Mamoru.

"Killing him would make father turn against  _my friends_. No, we need a more elegant solution." The sadist pinched her cheek. "But that might become necessary soon. So, either you help me… or you will both die. Get it?"

"…get it." She had no choice but to listen to him.

* * *

"Are you sure about this, Gyuki?" Nurarihyon asked his old comrade while the two of them, in company of Rikuo and Gozumaru, gazed upon Nejireme while Takarabune and the rest of the fleet lifted from Nejireme. "You lived here for a thousand years."

"I am sure." Gyuki said while gazing down on his old home that was ravaged by numerous catastrophes. "I am ashamed of this, but the Gyuki Group is no longer capable of protecting Nejireme."

"Do not blame yourselves." Rikuo mentioned. "But why did you rush like that? I thought you would like to say farewells or something."

"There is nothing to say farewell to." Gozumaru answered. "Those bastards from Kyushu razed absolutely everything."

"There must have been-"

"It is not only that, Commander." Gyuki cut in. "The spirits that brought this upon us are not gone, just resting. Besides, that large firework did not go unnoticed by the youkai of Kansai. Some would probably use the opportunity to harass us all while we were still on Nejireme. And by the time we dealt with them, the youkai from further west would also come."

And then he pointed at something in the rubble below. The group soon saw what he was pointing at: some youkai had already appeared on Nejireme, mocking the Nuras with their hand gestures and jumping around. These youkai were most likely not affiliated with any major clan, but now that Nejireme was down they would probably try to claim some of the Fear from eastern Japan.

"They have already started coming in, huh?" Nurarihyon spoke in annoyance. "How long will take for other youkai to start coming into Kantou I wonder?"

"It will take several days at best." Gozumaru answered this question. "Just enough time to for some of us to get better." Gozumaru turned to Rikuo. "Do not worry. We may not be at full strength anymore, but we will help other clans in western Kantou. They will not be reaching Tokyo that easily."

"We have no doubts in that but… How many of you remain?" Nurarihyon asked the ugly question.

"Twenty nine warriors remain, Supreme Commander." Gyuki replied in his usual calm tone, even though his eyes shivered for a moment. "Those who do not fight, like children and elderly, are alright but we can't count on them to keep the enemies at bay."

"It will take at least several more decades for the younger ones to become proper warriors." Gozumaru said while his eyes returned to gazing at what used to be Mount Nejireme. "And a century or two until we can have hope to reclaim our home. The children of our species age slowly."

"That's less than half of your entire force lost." Nurarihyon sighed. "What about the traitors?"

"They weren't numerous and most of them have been killed." Gyuki spoke. "Some have no doubt run away. Their leader's fate is unknown, though it is likely that he perished in flames or by the tsunami."

For a moment it looked like Gozumaru wanted to say something, but no words left his mouth.

"Just in case, I will let the rest of the Nura Clan know about the traitors. If any survived, they will not be able to set foot in Kantou." Rikuo promised and gazed down again as they passed above a human town.

He could see fire trucks, ambulances and police vehicles rush towards Nejireme. It was good that they left, lest they had to deal with the humans and hide from them while fighting the invading youkai. It would not have been much of a problem, but Rikuo doubted that anyone was in the mood for hiding or fighting, yet alone for both.

He could see countless dead bodies. There were men, women and even children… all killed by another plot made by the wretched Hyaku Monogatari Clan. This sight remembered him of his old hate for them, as well as the fact that they were the main culprit behind the death of his father.

But they were not what his mind wanted to be occupied with at the moment. "I will leave you alone for now." Rikuo told to Gyuki and Gozumaru.

"I understand Rikuo-sama, it was a long time since you spent some time with your family." Gyuki said with a humble and sad smile.

"It was long time indeed." Rikuo turned around and started walking away. "We will hold a meeting in two hours. By then, please decide what the Gyuki Group will do from now on."

* * *

For a welcome change to Ritsura, the child at which her mother was most angry at was Rihan. "And not only did you go alone…" Their mother lectured her bandaged son while Ritsura ate some chocolates that she found on Takarabune. "…but you took a powerless human girl with you? What were you thinking?"

"Uh…" Rihan sat on his knees and obviously did not know what to say.

Ritsura also wondered what he was thinking by going alone. A part of her thought that Araya may have lured him away, but as eccentric as Araya was she would not have gone alone without a damn good reason. However, she would not ask something like that in front of others.

"Does it matter? I got out of it fine!" Rihan went to the most desperate choice of words.

"YOU ARE LUCKY YOU GOT OUT OF IT  **RELATIVELY**  FINE!" Ritsura could swear that the whole room shook when their mother yelled at him.

"The Toono youkai were there!" Rihan started sweating. "So even though I did go alone, I found some allies…"

"And you would have retreated if you did not stumble upon them, I am sure." She was not satisfied with that answer. "Geez, you are just like your father, grandfather and Nurarihyon-sama!"

"Isn't that a compliment?"

"Not in this situation it isn't!" Their mother got progressively redder. "I swear, if the Nura Clan ever dies it will be because their bosses…" She threw a glance at her daughter. "…always try to act all cool and solo! For heaven0s sake kids, have some consideration for the rest of us!"

"Objection." Ritsura raised her index finger. "I did not all solo!"

"Oh, you did not?" Their mother now faces her daughter while holding her hand on her hips. "From what I hear, you sent Kubinashi and Ryuji's brat off and fought a dangerous assassin by yourself!"

"Well, my circumstances were opposite of brother's" Ritsura scratched her head. "We went off as a team, but had to split up."

Tsurara looked like she wanted to say more, but then the doors opened. "Oh come on you three, can't the father return to a silent home." Their father, whom they didn't see for weeks, said with a smile but Ritsura was pretty certain that he was even angrier than their mother.  _He will not say anything now, but unlike mom he will bring these events up every now and then. Ugh…_

Still, she was happy to see her father and did not have trouble smiling and greeting him. "Did you enjoy your time in the States, dad?" She asked while rising up. Her brother did the same.

"I admit it could have been better. Definitely could have used less people trying to kill me, but I am used to that by now." Rikuo, in his youkai form, said and then hugged both of his children. "I am glad to see that you are both alright. I got worried when I heard what was happening on Nejireme."

"Hmph, just whose children do you think we are?" Ritsura was her usual bold self. "Mizuchi would need a nuke to beat us up!"

"Quiet girl, that crazy man might just do that." Tsurara commented.

"And my dear wife!" Rikuo let go of his children and turned towards his wife.

"Hyah!" He hugged her before she could even move her arms. And, again before she could react, he put his lips onto hers.

"Oh come on!" Ritsura put her hand on her forehead after her mother closed her eyes. "At least wait until we are gone!"

It took a few more moments for their father to pull himself back. "Come on kids, give us a break."

"Indeed, it is rude to interrupt such things." Rihan said while nodding.

"Hooo?" Ritsura looked at her brother with suspicion. "Now that I think about it, you were on a date a day before you stupidly left the mountain."

"Ah…" Rihan's smile shivered for a moment.

"Oh yes, you called me for money." Their mother also became suspicious. "Who-"

"Anyway dad, did you find out anything while you were in the States?" Rihan immediately went to change the topic.

And then their father's face darkened. "More than I wagered for. Details about it are for the clan executives and lieutenants so we will discuss those matters on the meeting."

"We can come to that meeting, right?" Ritsura asked although she already knew the answer.

"Please don't start it now, Ritsura." Her father said with a sigh. "You already went through enough, you should not be asking for more."

"Sorry, but I must. That's my duty."

"It is not your duty  _yet_." Her father was stubborn as usual. "But there is something I have to mention." Their mother must have heard about it as her face became sadder. "The ones in charge of one of the more dangerous enemies we face, the  _Shin Sekai_ , are the Onieda family."

Both Ritsura and Rihan gasped. "You don't mean…"

Tsurara was the one to comment on this. "The one we were rescuing from Shiori and her thugs several days ago was just another of our enemies."

 _That damn asshole…_  Ritsura remembered his insults and both felt more embarrassed and now wanted to punch him even more.

"What about Mamoru and Mayuri?" Rihan asked.

"I don't know, but Gyuki seems to know about Mamoru and vouches for him. Chances are, Mayuri is oblivious about all this. Speaking of which, where are those two?"

"They both left… after Gyuki said that something dangerous was going to happen to Nejireme."

Rikuo's face showed signs of surprise and then anger. "You  _knew_  something was going to happen?"

Ritsura bit her lip, but she stayed silent.

"That Gyuki… I will need to have him answer for this in future."

"Anyway, what do you plan to do about them?" Rihan asked.

"For starters, get a hold of them both." Rikuo answered. "I know they are your acquaintances, but it is desirable that we get to them before Onieda Masato does. They will be safer out of that sick man's reach anyway."

 _Good to know that dad understands the value of hostages better than Mizuchi does._  Ritsura did not buy that either Mamoru or Mayuri was part of this  _Shin Sekai_  so his decision, even if it was a natural course of action, annoyed her. The thought of youkai gangsters searching for them through Ukiyoe was all but pleasant.

"So what is that makes him sick exactly?" Ritsura tried to get more information from him.

Her father looked like he contemplated if he should tell her or not, and then spoke: "Mix the Hyaku Monogatari with a bunch of crazy scientists and you get the Shin Sekai."

 _Very informative!_  However, Ritsura did not vocally proclaim her sarcastic remark and she was already tired of all the serious issues so she welcomes her mother's following suggestion: "Come on, let us not fight about that now! Nothing will happen to Mamoru-san and Mayuri-chan, you will get your title in time Ritsura and for now please let us dine!" Before anyone could return to the topic, she clapped her hands and the Tsukumogami of the Tsurara Clan flew into the room with food plates.

"Your mother's right." Rikuo said and both of the children nodded. "Let us have a nice, warm family dinner. And after that, we will talk."

* * *

Yashagoro was sweating while sitting on a cold stool made of metal and gazing at the carpet. In front of him sat Mizuchi, dressed in his military uniform of the highest officer and holding Kiriken with his hands. Yashagoro, who acted against orders, did not dare to look him into his eyes. At least, there was nobody else in the room to witness his embarrassment.

"Speak, Yashagoro." Mizuchi spoke. "What did you think you would accomplish with your foolish mission?"

Yashagoro forced himself to raise his head and look his Supreme Commander into his eyes. "I thought it was the best course of action for the clan, Supreme Commander." It was hard, but he had to keep looking Mizuchi into his eyes. He knew very well that Mizuchi did not tolerate it when someone talked to him while not looking directly at him.

"And just how would it have been good for our clan, Yashagoro?" Mizuchi rose up from his stool. "Just how would death of the Nura Clan's heirs have aided us?"

"Nura Rikuo loved his children and would have been mentally crushed by this." Yashagoro spoke while his commander walked around him. "He would have become thoughtless. I am sure you would have found a way to use that in our-"

"Do you hear yourself, Yashagoro?" Mizuchi inquired. "Repeat those words again if you need, until you realize what you are saying."

"Commander? What is-"

"Repeat them, Yashagoro." Mizuchi stopped in front of him and looked at Yashagoro from above.

"Nura Rikuo… loved his children…" He started to realize it. "…and would have been mentally crushed if they died." He realized how wretched his plan was.

"That's murder, Yashagoro." Mizuchi said and sat down again. "Now, I am no saint. What I did to bring down Nejireme is beyond evil. However… committing such deeds should not be commodity, but the last resort. Was this our last resort, Yashagoro? Was it really our last resort to murder children in order to make their mom and dad suffer?" Mizuchi using informal terms for parents just made it worse.

"…no, Supreme commander."

"It is worse than  _not_ , Yashagoro." Mizuchi spoke with disdain in his voice. "Didn't you think that an angry Rikuo would be more dangerous than weak? Didn't you think about how many would have died even if I did manage to take him down?"

"…I…"

"And not only that, but you would have died while fighting. Those kids are hard to kill and if you succeeded, you would have been too tired to deal with their bodyguards. One of our clan's greatest assets… and more importantly, one of our comrades would die for such a stupid reason."

"…"

"Don't you have anything more to say, Yashagoro?"

"No, I acted stupidly." Yashagoro looked down at the carpet again. He no longer saw himself worthy to look at his commander. "Please, punish me appropriately."

"There will be no punishment for you, boy. Now look up at me while I am speaking!" Mizuchi yelled and Yashagoro immediately looked him in the eyes again. "Now tell me, who put you up for this?"

"…what do you mean?"

"You are a smart boy, but also naive. Normally, you would not have acted once I ordered you not to, but if someone put certain thoughts in your head…" Mizuchi's eyes shrunk. "Well, you would naively think it was the best course of action."

"Nobody ever persuaded me to do this, Commander."

"Yeah right." Mizuchi rolled his eyes. "Try to remember Yashagoro… whom did you speak on similar issues. They probably did not do it directly, but had beaten around the bush until they hit the right spot. Remember, Yashagoro."

Yashagoro tried to comprehend what Mizuchi meant. And while he did try to think back on everyone he talked to, he was too tired and his head was currently busy with another question. "Mizuchi-sama… do you believe that there are traitors in our midst?"

"Traitors might be a too heavy word, but I do believe that there are factions which act behind my back." Mizuchi then weaved his head at Yashagoro. "Now leave and try to think about whom you spoke before you left for this suicidal mission. Once we return to Kyushu, I will have tasks for you."

"That means that…"

"Yes, I am re-enlisting you into the Hashima Kyushu Youkai Clan, Yashagoro."

"Thank you, you are too kind." Yashagoro rose, bowed and turned around to leave.

"And something more, Yahagoro." Mizuchi spoke when Yashagoro's hand touched the doorknob. "The  _Elder Orochimaru_  said that he wants you to visit him once we return to Kyushu. Take care you do."

Yashagoro's hand shivered. "I…"

"No  _Is_  and no  _Buts_ , Yashagoro." Mizuchi ordered. "You will visit him and see what he wants from you. Consider that your punishment for you behavior."

"Yes…" As much as he hated the thought of meeting  _him_ , Yashagoro understood that this was still much kinder of a fate than what he deserved. "See you, commander."

"Yes, see you." He could hear Mizuchi say while leaving the commander's cabin.

"You are still alive and unbound." A boy's voice spoke when Yashagoro left the cabin. "A shame."

"Rikimatsu." Yashagoro sighed in annoyance and looked at the twelve years old human boy. "Fancy seeing you here." Yashagoro forced a smile onto his lips.

"Not fancy for me." The boy complained with crossed arms. "Mizuchi-sama would not have been so kind towards others." He clicked his tongue. "An Orochimaru deserves everything but kindness."

Rikimatsu was the descendant of the boy who saved Jiraiya and Tsunade from his ancestor, the first Orochimaru. This whiny boy grew up reading the Story of Gallant Jiraiya and in pride for his ancestor saving their legendary leader, Jiraiya. As such, he could not stand Yashagoro who himself was an Orochimaru.

"Is there something you want, or were you bored and just came to whine about pointless things again?" Yashagoro himself did not like Rikimatsu either. "And if you are here, I guess Jiraiya should be too. Where is he?"

"He is in Kyushu, keeping it safe while the Supreme Commander is here. If that rotten bastard Tamazuki finds out that some of our force left the island, he might try something." Rikimatsu said while following after Yashagoro. "So were you kicked out of the clan? Or are you back?"

"I am back and once again I will be your beloved comrade, you obnoxious brat." Yashagoro said while giving him the largest smile he could. "Truly, I am thrilled at the idea that I will be leaving my back to you during fights."

"Tz." Rikimatsu clicked his tongue in frustration. "If only Tsunade would appear, then we could kick you out for good."

"Well, the Tsunades are probably all dead by now." Yashagoro continued annoying the kid. "And even if our current Jiraya manages to find his beloved, she would be of little use to you guys. Remember, the Slug Magic now belongs to the Jiraiya Clan, not the now extinct Tsunade Clan."

"Oh, you will see!" Rikimatsu still held belief in a  _brighter future_  though. "A Tsunade will appear again, and she will reclaim her rightful place."

"Oh really? Well, maybe she will fall for my charms and become my best buddy." Yashagoro continued teasing the boy. "And she will show everyone that, deep inside, I am an angel."

"Hmph, just you joke around! You will see when she comes and helps bring glory to the Kyushu Clan!"

"Yes, sure she will. Now, would you PLEASE stop following me around?"

* * *

 _Finally._  The figure thought while looking at Yashagoro and Rikimatsu jumping onto another ship. He already confirmed that Suiren and Fumiaki are on a ship atop the other dragon, meaning that Mizuchi was now protected by mere soldiers.

If he did not strike now, the Kyushu youkai might notice that there was an outsider on their little fleet.

So he walked to Mizuchi's cabin that was guarded by three soldiers. "Hey, sto-" But even if they were stronger than most soldiers, they were still unable to defend themselves from being pierced by his three fiery claws.

Against his expectations, they did not scream and jump into the water, but have instead clenched their teeth and ran at him. But he was far more experienced and his Fear was much stronger, so they all fell dead after just one swing of his sword.

A moment later, he kicked the door to Mizuchi's cabin and walked inside.

Mizuchi did not seem surprised or worried. "Oh, so you are still alive?" The leader of the Kyushu Clan greeted him while looking at the map of Japan. "I must say, I did not fancy meeting you here… Tesshin."

"Mizuchi…" Tesshin threw away the entire uniform and put on his mask. "You have a lot to answer for."

"That says my partner in crime." Mizuchi smirked. "So, how did you manage to come all the way here? Did you grow wings since the last time I met you?"

"Your mist helped me. All I had to do was punch one of your men, take his uniform and then punch a Nura youkai." Tesshin decided to answer his query.

"I see… I would have thought that you would have spent all of your energy on killing Gyuki, but it seems that I was wrong." Mizuchi said and walked up to Tesshin. He did not take out his sword, suggesting that he did not view Tesshin as a noteworthy threat. "So, what is it that I have to answer for?"

"Attacking the human settlements was not part of the plan, Mizuchi."

"Ha, I knew that you would complain about it. Soft towards humans, just like usual." Mizuchi smirked, but it was a sad smirk. "It is misfortunate, but your actions alone would not have brought down Nejireme. More extreme measures  _had_  to be taken."

"You…"

"Don't look at me like that, Tesshin." Mizuchi crossed his arms. "You think I would put all my bets on you? Don't be a fool. Nejireme had to fall, no matter the costs."

"If we won, then you would not have had to…"

"Look me in the eyes, Tesshin. Tell me that you thought you had a chance to win." After a few moments of silence, Mizuchi continued. "For you, this was all just a glorified mass suicide. It had its uses, but to me it was not enough. I needed a complete victory, not a half-baked one."

"And you admit that you could not have won a fair fight? Even after we had weakened them?"

"I could, but it would require of me to bring more of my force with me. But sure as hell, the youkai of Chugoku, Shikoku and Kyoto would not let me do that and would either constantly attack us or strike Kyushu while it is defenseless. I could get away with a small force like this, but not with a force large enough to take down the Gyuki Group and Nejireme." Mizuchi turned around and started walking away from Tesshin. "And I needed Nejireme to be brought down before I started my expansion over Shikoku and Chugoku. There was no other choice."

Tesshin did not reply with anything and instead just starred at Mizuchi's back. He put his hand on his sword and released few of his fiery claws. He did not believe that he could defeat Mizuchi at full strength, yet alone exhausted like this. But his heart wanted to strike the man who played him.

He remembered Atsushi, Kurenai, Gen'ei and others… they were all dead, killed in battle that he had started. And then he sheathed his weapon and dispersed his illusionary claws.  _Why am I still alive? Is there something I still have to do?_  With those questions in his head, Tesshin turned around and left.

He would live on, but for what purpose?

* * *

Isao Daichi, twenty four years old youth, felt empty as he sat inside the police station. After the day that felt like it came right out of a horror flick, sanity had returned in form on ambulances and prefectural police. The wounded were being brought to the hospital, the few remaining freaks were being hunted down by the police… and the bodies were taken off from the streets.

Daichi himself spent an entire hour in the local school, in front of his mother's and best friend's bodies, both murdered by the inhumane humans. But he left, for there were others who wanted to see their loved ones who had passed away. The lessons in humility and respect, that his father taught him, were like a curse that robbed him of his selfish desires.

 _Dad, where are you?_  The boy wondered while sitting in what used to be his father's office, before he was promoted. They were still searching for his missing father… or for his body to be exact, as everyone had lost hope that Isao Jin was still alive.

Yet, Daichi could not escape the feeling that his father was not truly dead… but he could also not escape the feeling that his father was gone. It was contradictory, but he was certain that both feelings were correct.

The young man did not hear anyone enter, but had a feeling that someone was standing beside him while he himself rested his head on the table.  _Did I space out again? Who had come to give me condolences now, I wonder?_

Daichi did not bother to look up. If this person wanted to give him condolences, they would have to speak first. However, Daichi would probably not look up.

"Daichi." A familiar male voice spoke.

Daichi's eyes widened and he slowly raised his head. "Father?" He muttered, but the one who stood in front of him was not his father. At first, he thought it was another of the cultists as he wore a yukata and a mask… but he was blue. "Ao-Ju?" He muttered. He heard rumors that someone had become Ao-Ju, something he and his friend tried to do, but he did not think it would matter to him.

"Both." The youkai said and tied to remove the mask. But seemingly, he could not pull it off so he just lowered his hand again.

"Father…" Daichi rose up as his eyes watered. "Father…" Once again, he hugged him.

"Yes, it is me." His father returned the embrace. "Yet, it is not me any longer."

"What happened to you?" Daichi asked while pulling back. Yet, he knew the answer.

"I became a youkai… to save you and the rest, I had become a youkai." His father explained in a sad voice.

"Why are you said father?" Daichi asked, even though he knew the answer. Yet, a part of him still hoped that he was wrong. "We are both alive, right? If you…"

"No." Ao-Ju, his father, shook his head. "It is hard to explain but…" He raised his hand and looked at it. "…my nature doesn't allow me to stay here. I need to… continue upholding the  _Tale of Ao-Ju_."

"Father…" Daichi felt alone again.

"But I am still your father, and I will forever be that." His father said while putting his hands on his son's shoulders. "I will be watching over you, literally. And you can bet that, when you get married, a freak all in blue will be staring at you and your wife."

Daichi could not stop a small smile to come from his lips.

"So… I won't tell you not to be sad, for this was a very dark day for many." His father softly squeezed his son's shoulders. "But you have to stay strong, son."

"Policemen have to stay strong no matter what, right? You told me that once."

"Yes." Although he could not see it, Daichi could feel that his father smiled. "We are keepers of peace and order. Even when everyone falls into despair, we must stand strong and protect whoever we can." He said and let go of his son.

"Of course." Daichi said and made a salute. "It is hard… but I will keep doing my best."

"I know you will son. Now I have to leave, before someone sees me and starts panicking." His father said and turned around. "I will visit you sometime, though I can't guarantee that you will see me."

"Yes father." Daichi nodded and looked as his father walked away. But there was one more thing he had to ask. "Father, why did you spare them?"

"Hm?" His father stopped walking and looked back. ""What do you mean?

"Those cultists!" Daichi's teethe clenched at eh thought of them. "I heard that you did not kill them, but instead just neutralized them. Why? Why would you spare such people when you could kill them and get away with it?"

"Because I would not allow myself to become like them." He turned back towards the door. "I may have become a youkai, but my heart is still that of a cop's. And I will not allow them to turn me into a killer." And with those words, he left.

"I see." Daichi sighed. He lost much on this horrible day and he was glad that he asked his father that last question for it gave him the resolve to keep on living as he always did.

* * *

It was a boring conversation. Mahiro asked her a thousand questions about Mamoru, but she could not answer any in a satisfying manner. Several times he looked angry enough that she feared he would hit her again, but clearly he remembered that Mamoru kept her in the dark with literally everything.

But now, he had changed his strategy. No longer was he that interested in searching for their brother's  _dirty laundry_ , but instead started to think up more sinister methods to get rid of him. "Maybe he could be framed." Mahiro obviously did not see Mayuri as a threat for he thought aloud right in front of her. "Bah, if that was so easay than I would need you. No, you can't be used for a good framing."

"Do I need to be used at all?" Mayuri suggested while she sat at the table and squeezed her own fingers.

"He cares for you so, yes, there is value for someone as useless as Onee-sama." He continued to mock her position in their complicated sibling relationship. "Hmm… well, maybe we should do the obvious?"

His tone made Mayuri's body freeze. "What do you mean?"

"We could force him to do something stupid." He talked with a raised index finger. "Now, he did countless stupid things since he abandoned the organization, but never went so far that father would ignore the fact that he is his son."

_Of course he wouldn't. He is the smarter brother._

Unaware of her thoughts, Mahiro walked to behind Mayuri and put his hands on her shoulders. "But all humans are weak against emotions. That's what Nii-san liked to say." Mayuri had no doubts that the _Nii-san_  he talked about wasn't Mamoru. "And you are his greatest weakness." He whispered into her ear.

 _Is this guy intentionally trying to act like some cartoon villain?_  Mayuri was glad that he was behind her so he could not see her deadpan face. "And you think he would fall into your trap?"

"Of course he would, as long as it is well prepared." Mahiro said and continued walking around again.

_What I meant to say is that you are the last person who could fool him. But it might be better if I don't mention this._

But before he could go on with the development of his evil master plan, the doors of the hotel room suddenly opened and several armed men in black suits entered, followed by the traitor Junji. Mayuri jumped up from fear, but Mahiro looked unfazed.

"What is it?" He asked them with tone that shone with annoyance.

"You need to move." One of them said. "The Nuras have found out which family leads the Shin Sekai."

"What?" Mayuri did not expect something like this to occur.

"Tell me something I don't know." Mahiro said with a sigh.

"The Nuras are looking everywhere for Mamoru-sama and Mayuri-sama." He continued. "Some youkai of the Nura Clan have already started attacking the Onieda family's assets."

Mahiro looked at Mayuri. "It seems like we are already in a full-pledged war with your friends, Onee-sama." And then he turned his attention back to the men. "So-"

"Where are father and grandfather?" Mayuri cut in, much to Mahiro's surprise. "And where is Mamoru-nii-san?" She asked while trying to talk in a commanding tone.

She must not fail here.

"Masahide-sama and Masato-sama are both safe, of course." The leader of the group was surprised, though not as much as Mahiro who looked at her as if she were insane. "Mamoru-sama… he seems to have been caught by the Nuras."

 _Caught… so you already chose your side, nii-san?_  For a moment Mayuri contemplated on her own course of action, but she remembered that right now there was only one route for her, lest she became a certain sadist's slave. "And what about this place? I don't think you would burst in all armed unless it was critical."

"Indeed, Ojou-sama." The leader of their bodyguards seemed to have gotten used to her. "The Nuras must have somehow found out that you are in this town. Their youkai are already searching the town for you."

"I see." Mayuri nodded. Mahiro opened his mouth to say something, but she was unsure if she could allow him to talk just yet. "What about our facilities in this town and their staff?"

"They are of minor importance. Your father ordered that we should spend all of our resources on-"

"Get them to safety as well. The Nuras will have easier time finding us if we move like an army anyway." Although she doubted that Nura Rikuo would do anything to the good doctor and other staff of the _hospital_ , but she was unsure if she could put as much trust in the rest of that yakuza clan's members. And she could never forgive herself if something happened to them.

"And just who gave you the right to talk?" Mahiro had finally lost his cool and yelled at her. "I am in charge here! Remember?"

 _The dice is cast… I hope I did not guess wrong._  Rather than look at Mahiro, she looked at the men behind who, once again, looked confused. "Can you call father?"

"Huh?" Mahiro's face suddenly turned pale.

The other men looked confused as well, minus Junji who as per tradition had a mocking smile on his face. "Sorry, but me and Mahiro had a quarrel on who is in the lead. So could you please call father and-"

"Shut up, woman!" Mahiro walked up to her and pointed his finger in front of her face. " **I**  am in charge here! After father and grandfather,  **I**  am the boss of the organization! Get it?"

"Father is many things, but he is not someone who would hand over the leadership to a psychopath. That's why he is so soft on Mamoru-nii-san and so talkative to me, right?" She spoke the words she wanted to say for a while now.

At first Mahiro turned mute from surprise, but then he suddenly lost his temper and grabbed her by the collar. "You damn bitch how dare you-"

Then a gunshot echoed through the room and Mahiro's eyes widened. Mayuri made a similar face.

"There is no need to bother Masato-sama." The man spoke again. "The hierarchy is clear.  _As long as they aren't against the organization's interests, Mayuri-sama's words come before Mahiro-sama's._  That's kind of how your father worded it to us a year ago."

"You…" Mahiro looked behind while holding his left hand on his bleeding, right hip. Realizing that he was only lightly wounded, Mayuri tried to return her more commanding facade. But it was easier said than done. "It was at your discretion… he said at your discretion…"

"With all due respect Mahiro-sama, it is clear that Mayuri-sama did not order anything unreasonable or suspicious. Please, back down."

"Back down? You bastards… I will have your heads for this…" Mahiro spouted and started turning his head back towards Mayuri, but then someone fired another bullet.

Both of the siblings turned pale and looked at the direction of the sound, and so did the four bodyguards.

The one who fired the bullet was Junji and currently he was aiming his gun in Mayuri's direction. Realizing that her life was in danger, Mayuri's body started shivering.  _No… he might be testing me! If I look weak, these men might decided…_  She bit her lip and dug her fingers into her legs so far that she could feel blood coming out of them. But just like how her dress his her wound, so she did her best to hid the fact that she was scared.

"Junji…" Mahiro spoke in a cold tone. "How dare you… point your gun at me?"

And then she realized what was going on. It was not she at whom Junji was aiming his gun at, but Mahiro.

"You will-"

"If you move your lip just once more, I will decorate the room with your brain-cells, Mahiro-sama." Junji spoke while the other men put their hands on their holstered pistols. "Mayuri-sama, that man can't only kill you with touch of a button, but with a word as well. That's how that cellphone in his pocket is programmed."

Mahiro's lips moved and Junji pulled the trigger. However, the only thing that it hit was a vase behind Mahiro… though a bullet did scratch Mahiro's face, as proved by the blood that started coming out from his cheek.

"Sorry, sometimes I miss. It is rare, but it happens." Junji said with a mocking smile. "What are you waiting guys? Take that cellphone from his pocket before he kills Ojou."

Mayuri did not look at Mahiro while the men from their organization pacified him, but instead looked as Junji with an angry look.  _You think I will trust you, traitor?_

As if reading her thoughts, Junji spoke. "I just follow orders, Ojou-sama." He said and put the pistol under his belt. "But I admit that it is a nice surprise that, instead of a tragedy, we got a comedy. Hahaha!"

* * *

"Alright! Now that the dinner is over…" Nura Rikuo spoke and sat down beside his wife, while Rihan and his sister sat in front of them. "…let us talk what the hell happened here."

"Oh, we are having a formal debriefing!" Ritsura hit the palm of her head with a fist.

"Don't make it sound more formal than it is, Ritsura." Their father sighed. "For starters… you  _knew_  that something would happen?"

"Ah…" Ritsura scratched her cheek and looked aside for a moment, but did not look regretful. "Gyuki guessed that my and brother's presence might make Sanmoto and his band move quicker."

"And yet you stayed here?" their father looked displeased. "You should have left once you found out about it, both of you." Their mother nodded in approval. Of course, their father tried to use the opportunity to try and undermine her attempts to rise up in power. "As my heir, you should have acted accordingly."

The fact that Ritsura released a small smirk suggested that she already had prepared a good answer to that claim. "It is exactly because I am your heir that I could not have done that."

"What?"

"The Gyuki Group is the Nura Clan's most prominent guardian. What message would it have sent to everyone if I, the Nura Clan's own heir, did not trust in them? As my father you may not like it, but as the Supreme Commander you can't complain about my decision."

"Uh…" Their father's brow shivered while their mother hid a smile on her lips. Rihan also smiled at the sight of their father being caught off guard. Nobody doubted that he stood to his opinion, but Ritsura was right: as the Supreme Commander of their Clan he had to support this action. Leaving Nejireme just because it might have been dangerous would, in this case, have been a sign of cowardice and distrust towards one of their most prominent subjects.

"Also, this did not matter in the long run." For some reason, Ritsura looked annoyed. "The only ones I had to fight were Orochimaru and, later, Fumiaki. And Orochimaru could have attacked me anywhere, really. After all, they seem to have been stalking me for a long while." She said and Rihan thoughts that this was a disguised attempt to excuse Gyuki's decision.

"We should really do something about our security in Ukiyoe." Rihan commented.  _I mean, one of our clan's enemies lived right in front of our noses._

"Ugh…"Their father sighed and put his hand on his forehead. "I can't wait for Karasu Tengu to return from Chugoku." Then he lowered his hand again and changed the topic. "So, who are those two Onmyouji who made a name for themselves?"

Their mother answered part of the question. "One of those Onmyouji, the  _seemingly_  polite one, is Ryuzan. You know, Ryuji's kid."

"Ah yes… what is he doing here?" Their father asked her.

"The same thing that the  _Onmyouji Woman_  did long time ago: he is moving to Ukiyoe." Their mother answered and then raised her index finger. "He is probably here to kill a Nurarihyon as well. Do not let him fool you! Deep inside, he is probably worse than Ryuji."

"Would you please not badmouth someone who helped us… a lot?" Ritsura cut in. "Yes, one is Ryuzan. The other one is Kashaimaru. He is… uh…" Rihan's sister looked like she wondered if she should continue or not.

But their father already knew that which she tried to hide. "He is a Gokadoin, I know." He said and took a smoking pipe which he lit up. "So, what is a Gokadoin doing here?"

 _He came to visit Shiori… or something._  Rihan thought to himself but he had zero intentions to say it aloud.

"I don't know, he just came here and started burning stuff." Ritsura spoke while playing with a strand of her hair. "I am cautious of him as well but… well, he saved my life and the whole resort where most of youkai took shelter. Gokadoin or not, we are indebted to him."

"Indebted to a Gokadoin… I am unsure how I feel about that." Their father sighed and put the smoking pipe into his mouth. "But you are right, we are indebted to him. I guess I will even have to shake hands with him… well, I guess it might help ease the tensions between our two families." He inhaled a smoke and then made another question. "Oh, yeah… Aotabou and, to my surprise, Hitotsume praised some young Kage Onna. Who is that?"

Ritsura got a large smile on her face. "She is mine."

"…yours?"

"Yes, mine! She is the first member of my Night Parade." Ritsura looked like she ate the most delicious parfait in the world. "She is making me very proud." She said while pretending to wipe tears of her face.

"Heh, she definitely sounds like a welcome addition to our clan." Rikuo said to which Ritsura nodded. "I have to admit it, you did well. Even the others commended your decision making."

"So can I become an Underboss now?" Of course, it was already a tradition for her to ask this question whenever she proves herself.

"No." And as per tradition, their father rejects it.

"Uh…" And, again as usual, Ritsura's head fell down.

"Now for you Rihan…" Their father now turned his attention to his son. " _Everyone_  mentioned how you just disappeared for an entire day and did not return until late at night. Where have you been?"

"Well…" Rihan had to choose his words carefully.  _I can't say that Araya is actually Shiori and that I tried to kill her. Heavens know what would happen to her._

_No wait… maybe I should? I don't want to betray her, but if it goes on like this, then she would most definitely get killed. But if I tell dad about it and ask him to spare her, then not only may I save her life, but also her soul._

But just after that thought went through his head, Rihan felt a cold shock raze through his body. Even his heart hurt so badly that he had to put his hand above it and close his eyes from the pain.

And when he opened his eyes, the time in front of him had stopped and the world turned gray. "What… what is going on?" Rihan immediately asked. "Mom? dad? Ritsura?" He called for them, but they just sat there like a movie on a pause.

"No spoilers!" A low-pitched voice shouted from somewhere.

"Huh?" Rihan looked around, but he could see nobody.

"Spoilers are bad and nasty!" A different low-pitched voice called. "You should feel bad about yourself!"

"Who is there?"

"Spoilers are… DEATH!" And suddenly, a one-eyed teddy bear whose body had rotted away, and which held a scalpel, appeared right in front of him. "DEATH I SAY!"

"Gaaah!" Rihan jumped up and then stumbled and fell onto his backside.

"DEATH! Death to the spoilers!" Several small throwing knives came from the darkness and thrust into the wall behind him.

"A man should never spoil!" A doll in form of a nurse jumped onto his chest and put scissors under his neck. And then mre dolls appeared around him, all looking morbid and ready to kill.

"What is going on here?!" Rihan shouted, and the dolls exchanged glances.

"All members of the Shin Sekai, Hyaku Monogatari and anyone who participates in the current Hyaku Monogatari game made a contract!" The nurse yelled at him. "As a participant, this goes for you as well! Any attempts to reveal a tale to outsiders will result in certain death!" The eyes of the dolls shone red, making the whole scene even more eerie. "From the lowest pawn to coalition leaders, everyone has to follow these rules!"

"What game? What are you-" Rihan started but then it came to him.

And then he started laughing.

"Hahaha… I almost forgot…" He remembered signing a contract with Shiori during his fight against Bonnouma, but not having read the contents. Now that he thought about it, Shiori mentioned that she herself can't talk about certain things either. "I have already sold my soul to a she-devil."

"Glad you remember!" The nurse pulled the scissors away and closed them. "Whenever you think about spoiling a tale, we will remind you of it. Disobey and…" The aura around the dolls became even more sinister and Rihan became certain of one thing: nobody, including him, could survive the attack of this horrifying youkai.

"Yes, I understand." Rihan said and raised himself back into a sitting position. "I know nothing about a game, but I understand this rule."

"Good." The dolls bowed and started disappearing into the darkness. "We truly hope you keep upholding the holy ideal of a spoiler-free environment."

And just like that, he was back to the real world, with his father waiting for his answer. "I and Araya heard about that Golden Shrine of Sanmoto's." He noticed Ritsura's eyes narrow, but he tried to not react to it. "And as usual for her, she thought she knew where it was and disappeared so I had to follow after her." What he said was half-true actually. "In the rush I forgot to notify anyone."

"And you found it?" Ritsura cut in. "The Golden Shrine I mean. This is the only thing that would explain the disappearance of Sanmoto's Fear."

"Don't remind me of it." Rihan scratched his head. "I was lucky to meet the Toono youkai as the shit that guarded that shrine was no joke. Well, I won in the end so I guess it is all fine but…" Rihan put his hand into his pocket and took out a hilt of a broken sword. "Sorry, Nenekirimaru broke."

"You have to be kidding me." His father put his hand onto his forehead. "That's a good sword but it breaks way too often."

"Heh." Rihan scratched his head. "I wouldn't know about it…"

* * *

"It is over." Ritsura talked to herself while lying atop one of the smaller ships, which was not as crowded as the others. Her father questioned her brother as much as he had questioned her. Truth be told, it was interesting to hear how and where the shrine was hidden, and it should help the Nura Clan track down several more of the Golden Shrines.

"You look tired." A boy spoke to her. "Is talking to your father  _that_  exhausting?"

"Ah, Ryu." She greeted the boy who sat down beside her. "It was a tough day, of course I am tired."

"Sorry for a stupid question." Ryuzan apologized with a smile and raised himself back up and walked to the helm of the ship.

"Forget about it." Ritsura also raised herself up and walked to where he was. The ship they were on was high in the air, above most of others, so they could see the entirety of the fleet. "It was quite an adventure today, was it not?"

"Indeed it was." For some reason, Ryuzan had smiled. "Auntie was right when she said that Ukiyoe might be more than I wagered for."

"Hooo?" Ritsura rested her chin on her hand. "Do you want to return back to Kyoto then?"

"No, I wouldn't mind more adventures like this."

"Hohoho!" Ritsura let out a small, dramatic laughter. "I will remember those words, Ryu."

"And just what will you do with them?"

"Write them down on a postcard which I will send to Kyoto once you run away from us."

"You think I am not tough enough to handle all this?"

"Hmm…" Ritsura turned around and leaned against the wooden railing. "You are right. You would be able to handle all this so I guess that postcard would never be sent."

"And suddenly she is praising me." Ryuzan pulled backwards and crossed his arms.

"Well, you did save my life. And helped me a lot." Ritsura said and bowed a little. "Of course, that means you will get a reward."

"And what reward will I get?"

"You don't need to look for a home. The Nura Clan has enough rooms…" And then she put on a mischievous smile on her face. "…and some bratty youkai could use a scary Onmyouji to keep them afraid."

"Hmmm…" Ryuzan put on an expression that made him look unsatisfied. "I am thankful but… knowing you, I would have gotten that offer no matter what."

"Oh… you are right." Ritsura shrugged. "Well, say what you want and if I can give it to you, I will."

"Okay." He walked so he could stand in front of her. "Make me the Prime Minister of Japan."

"Something I can give you, Ryu."

"Oh, is that so… Well, there is one thing that I always ask from the Princesses whom I save." He told a lie, but she did not need to know that.

"What-" She started, but then he put a hand behind her and pulled her to him. "Huh?" Before she could react in any way, he put his lips onto hers.  _Hah?_  It took two to three seconds for her to realize what is going on and start blushing."Hmmmmm?"

His hold of her was meek, so she could break off she wanted, but she was too taken aback by what was going on to react properly. She was also worried about him getting frozen by her breath, but he did not seem to have suffered any frostbite.

 _Wait, shouldn't I be pushing him away or-_  And just while such thoughts went through her head, he pulled himself away from her and let go of her.

"A… a…" Ritsura could still only blush and look at him.

Unlike her, he had a satisfied smile on his face. "I thank you for your offer, Ojou-sama." He made an exaggerated bow. "Truly, you Yuki-Onnas live up to your reputation."

"W… w… what…"

"And now, just in case, I will run to the other end of the fleet. See you later, Ritsura." And with those words, he moved past her.

She turned in his direction but was unsure what to say or do… or how to feel about it.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And so another chapter gets split into two. I would have liked to have all of the Saga's Epilogue's scenes in one chapter, but that would have made the chapter too big so here's a split chapter.

\- And Mayuri's story continues. Poor Mahiro, at the end of the day he is the Matou Shinji of TSS. There will be at least one more Mayuri scene in the next chapter, so don't think this part of her story is done yet!

\- And just like how Mayuri earned some secrets of her family, so did the Nuras find out who is behind the Shin Sekai. The Nuras are off to secure the two Onieda siblings. Depending on perspective, it is either to keep them safe or to make them hostages

\- Yashagoro got out of all this easily… unless his meeting with his honored ancestor is really THAT bad. Either way, he and Rikimatsu exchange some  _warm_  words and we also get the hints of what hides under the Kyushu Clan

\- And the first consequence of Rihan's contract with Shiori became visible: he can no longer reveal ANY of Shiori's secrets to his clan… or tell them about anything concerning the Hyaku Monogatari and Shin Sekai that he might learn about. This is no small thing…

\- Ritsura, be very careful when you make such offers to an (inconsiderate) guy that likes you...

* * *

**Omakes**

* * *

**Citsimsan** : "But what was in the bag? Which costume did Rihan like? It's important!"

* * *

"R... Rihan..." Shiori spoke with a shivering voice. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Hm hm..."Rihan looked at her and nodded. "It doesn't look that bad."

"Hrrr..." Shiori, who now wore a tight black, sleeve-less shirt, a very short mini-skirt, red horns on her head and a tail, pouted while steam came out of her ears. "What is wrong with you?!" She asked while pointing a large, plastic fork at him.

"I am just doing my best to bring out the  _real you_."

"What am I?! A Devil?!" After a few moments of silence, she added: "Oh... it actually does show the real me..."

"Now come, make some of your trademark faces!"

"What do you..." Then she saw what he held in his hands. "Rihan, you are..."

"Cheese!" She automatically made a pose and put on a mischievous smile while he took a photo.

And then she returned to normal. "This is taking it way too-"

"Cheese!" And she made a different pose, another mischievous smile and added a wink.

"Stop that!" And again she returned to normal.

"...cheese?" This time she made a sexier pose. "Admit it, you enjoy this."

"No, I just can't allow myself to look any worse on photos." She looked in another direction while blushing. "I... I don't have such crazy kinks like-"

"Cheese!" Again, she gave her best to make a decent photo. "You do, just as I like it."

"Grrr..."


	63. The Day's End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Although the Kyushu youkai were forced to retreat, the Nura Clan's youkai could not rest on Nejireme and an immediate evacuation was ordered by Nura Rikuo. The fleet now returns to Ukiyoe, thus putting an end to one chapter of a story

**Chapter 63 - The Day's End**

"How dare they?!" Yanagida shouted while walking through the empty fields just before the sunrise. "Why? Why can't nobody understand you, Sanmoto-sama? Why did both your chosen champion and your own blood reject the fate you put in front of them?" His fingernails dig into his palms as he thought about it. "Why don't they understand?"

This lose was not a decisive one. As a matter of fact, the chance that they could mend Rihan's character without trouble was low. The chance that they fail to do it at all was high. So Sanmoto Gorozaemon, who got cautious, did not make Rihan an essential element in any of his plans. The most vital plans would go on.

But still, Yanagida hated this turn of events. He hoped for the best ending… and got the worst. There was no telling what Shiori would do to him now that she had his very heart on the palm of her hand. Even the fact that Nura Rikuo would be unhappy with this turn of events was not enough to lessen Yanagida's frustration.

But more frustrating developments were just about to come.

"Found ya!" A feminine voice spoke behind him.

"You sure can move fast for such a little man." A more brutish voice added.

Yanagida stopped walking and turned around. When he did so, he saw a blond woman with a spear and an ape surrounding him.

"Are you sure that's him, Dohiko?" The female asked.

"It is. Akagappa's drawings aren't the best, but that is definitely him." Still, the ape did not look convinced at his own words. "You are Yanagida, right?"

 _Toono… they are the lost ones I needed to see this day._ "It was a long while since I saw someone from Toono." Yanagida spoke in a laid back manner, but he took care to show disdain on his face. "Yes, that's my name."

"Ha, we were the ones to find him!" The ape, Dohiko, put on a large smile. "Itaku and the others will die of jealousy!"

"What are you doing here?" Yanagida asked them in an angry tone. If not for them, maybe Rihan and Shiori would have lost their battle against Bonnouma.

"Don't be so stuck up, Yanagida." The busty female revealed a large smile and put her hand on his shoulder. Her grasp was strong, revealing that she was not interested in letting him walk away. "We are all from the same village, after all."

"I  _was_  from the same village." Yanagida reminded her. "I left it many centuries ago and have not looked back. I belong to another clan now."

"Yes, we know you joined some suspicious sort." Dohiko said and walked to behind him. Both of them were now blocking his escape routes.

"Whom I joined is not your issue. Toono does not forbid such actions." Yanagida reminded them. "So why were you searching for me? And why are you now surrounding me like this? I was the Historian in the village and you are warriors. I couldn't run from you if you gave me a starting chance." The role of Historian was one of very few professions in Toono that  _required_  one to focus all of his Fear onto non-martial techniques.

The female's smile disappeared and she finally jumped to the topic at hand. "One is free to leave Toono and join another clan… but there is that unwritten rule that says to never betray the village."

"Again, why are you here?" If there was one thing about his roots that Yanagida continued to honor, it was this. In fears that he may try to use it, Yanagida avoided the topic of Toono even in front of Sanmoto Gorozaemon.

"That attack that the exorcists made on our village several years ago…" The female's grasp on his shoulder got stronger. "Our current historian found out that these men might have been your allies."

He did not like the accusation. "I will not deny that I have connections with this group. But, I did not have anything to do with the attack nor did I know about it until after it happened." It was only half-truth, but in the way that he had zero connections with this subgroup of the Shin Sekai. "And just who is that historian?"

"Fuguruma Youbi is her name." Dohiko answered this question. "She has this neat ability to write a correct story from just a few words that you tell her. Conveniently, it can be used to find truth in lies."

"In other words…" The blond female put her arm around Yanagida's shoulders. "You return to Tooon, we have a few chats and, if you are innocent, you can leave."

 _Fuguruma Youbi…_ The mention of that name made his mood fouler.

"Alright, I have time to spare." Yanagida decided to accept their demands.

Th female and the ape looked at one another with confused faces and then the ape spoke. "…that was easy."

"Aren't you some kind of leader now?"

"Do not worry about it. My master no longer trusts in people so now we run a decentralized system."  _Enchou taught us both to not trust anyone._  Yanagida pushed her hand away. "So let us go."  _There are some things I have to take care of myself.  
_

* * *

"Ah, Ukiyoe…" Shima spoke out when they saw their town from above… or for what they thought was their town, it was hard to know from such a distance. "How long I have waited to see you again, my love!"

"How come nobody notices this many ships just floating in the air?" Sakura wondered while shielding her eyes from the rising sun.

"It is for the same reason why so few people noticed the unique physicalities on our new principal." Sanmoto Shiori, aka Ichinoe Araya, answered her question. Araya was back in her usual get-up, with glasses and a pony-tail. "These ships are youkai and as with all youkai, most humans will not notice them unless they pay attention to them or the youkai releases its Fear."

"That's very convenient." Sakura commented and yawned. Unlike Shima, she probably did not sleep much. Rihan couldn't blame her for she, again unlike Shima, was still not used to being surrounded by youkai. "I know many people who wish to go unnoticed like that."

"I am sure you do~" Araya said it in a tone that made Rihan wonder if she knew something about Sakura.

"Well, I wouldn't mind having an ability to stay hidden." Shima could not let the chance to comment on it pass. "Imagine all the opportunities."

"Shima-kun, you should cleanse yourself of such sinful desires." Sakura guessed what he meant and lost a point of respect towards him.

"Come on, it is a natural urge!" Shima defended himself. "Right Rihan?"

"Hooo?" Araya muttered with a smile.

"You think I need to peek in order to see a girl naked?" Rihan said with a smile and looked at Araya for a single moment.

"Hooo?" Araya muttered again, this time with an annoyed face. He let her guess if he was talking about her or the girls in general.

"What kinds of buddy are you, Rihan?!" Understandably, Shima did not take his comment well.

But Rihan ignored him and looked around. Their little group consisted of him, Shiori, Sakura and Shima. Heiko was resting, Ryuzan was jumping form a ship to ship the last time he saw him and Ritsura was seemingly looking for someone to kill, but he was not certain whom.

Most of the group was unaware of it, but there was someone else with them: Gokadoin Kashaimaru stood at the distance and pretended to not pay attention to them.

And then he looked back at Shiori. She was, with her Araya alter-ego, fooling around with Shima and making him lose as much face in front of Sakura as humanly possible. Rihan had a lot to discuss with her, but he had to wait for the ships to descend. Even if he managed to pull her away from this group, there were too many ears on this ship for him to be able to talk with Shiori instead of  _Araya_.

* * *

"Zen, why don't you want to meet with Rikuo-sama?" His wife asked him while their son slept on her lap. None of them got any rest while the siege was still going on, but both Zen's wife and child were now tired. "I know he would be happy to see that you got a little bit better."

But Zen did not answer her and instead just continued lying down on his tatami. He told her to tell everyone that he was feeling worse and not let anyone in, including Rikuo and Shouei.

What could he possibly tell them? That he used a cure given to him by one of their clan's greatest enemies? Although he knew that he should tell them that one of Shiori's underlings was on Nejireme not long before troubles began, the shame he would feel for it would be unbearable. Yet, shame he feels for not telling them is unbearable as well.

And most of all, like this he could not look Rikuo in the eyes.

"Zen,  _why_  did you get better?" His wife started suspecting it herself. After a lengthy silence, she continued. "So you won't even tell it to me? I understand." She sighed and raised herself onto her feet after putting her son down. "I will tell everyone that we will not be staying at the main house."

"Yes." Zen accepted the idea. "Thank you.

* * *

"Ah, finally on the solid ground!" Shima proclaimed when their little group jumped from one of the ships. "But still, could you not have taken us to somewhere closer to my home?"

"Sorry Shima, but we are not a taxi service." Rihan replied to his complaint. "But you are free to stay here and rest. Your dad will understand."

"No, thank you very much." Shima rejected his offer. "I would very much spend my school-free day at my house. Right Sakura-chan?"

"Ah yes, school!" Sakura's mouth opened wide. "I completely forgot about it!"

"The principal will take care you are excused." Araya noted. "I am surprised you can even think about going to school after such a rough day."

"Skipping school would ruin my schedule! And I get frustrated whenever that happens! Ah, I also need to go home and grab my school uniform!" Sakura yelled and grabbed Shima's hand. "Let us go Shima-kun!"

"Why do I need to hurry?"

"Because I lack change for a taxi so I have to depend on our friendship to get home as soon as possible!" She explained while the two of them ran towards the gated of the Nura Clan's mansion.

"Whyyyyyyy?!" And then both of them disappeared from Rihan's field of view.

"Well, I guess I will go home too." Shiori said while yawning and stretching her arms. "Maybe I will even try to get on time for last few class-"

But Rihan did not care what she wanted to do. "You are coming with me." He grabbed her by the collar and started pulling into the mansion.

"What? Where are you taking me, you beast?" She asked him in a playful manner.

"To my room." He immediately replied. "We have to talk."

Naturally, the ever-nosy small youkai and even some of his mother's Tsukumogami overheard him. "The young master is taking a girl into his room!" One of the Tsukumogami announced. "What are you going to do with her? Kiss and cuddle maybe?" And Nattou-Kozou tried to embarrass him.

But Rihan was not in mood for them. "Something like that, yes." He turned to look at them and gave them a murderous smile. "So don't you dare compromise our privacy or you will earn the highest of my wraths." After making sure that they all got scared, he continued pulling his girlfriend with him.  _Even they should respect our privacy if they misunderstand my words so we can talk in peace._

"You are a very demanding man, Nura Rihan Junior." Shiori pulled herself out of his grasp but continued walking beside him. "You should practice on your patience a little. After all, a girl has to replenish her energy for a while."

"And you gotta hit that limit." Gokadoin Kashaimaru appeared from his other side and whispered to him. "Women love when you bring them to their limit."

"Ah look, it is a dead man." Rihan reminded him of the fact that he practically killed him once. "Did you even get allowed to enter here, Gokadoin?"

"I gotta keep the girl safe from you." He said, meaning literally.

"A shame that you do not know this girl, right?" Rihan reminded him of that simple fact and that Kashaimaru's left brow fell down. "Right?" He looked at her.

"Indeed, I don't know such strange fellows."  _Araya_  answered. A girl she pretended to be could never know him.

"If that's what you say." Kashaimaru noted and stopped walking. "Well, have fun you two. Now, where's the exit again…"

Rihan still did not like that guy so he was happy to have gotten rid of him.

"Are you jealous?" Of course, she had to ask that question with a naughty face.

"A little." Rihan did not bother lying. Granted, he was more suspicious of him for being a Gokadoin and a potential threat to his family than for his relationship with Shiori.

Soon, they reached Rihan's room.

"Ah, a guy's room. It is strange how tidy it is." Shiori said while walking in a small circle inside his room. "Speaking of which, I think this is the first time I was in your room."

Rihan wasn't in mood for either chit-chatting or for being shy. "Could we discuss the terms of the contract please?"

When he mentioned it, Shiori stopped walking while her back was still turned towards him. "Hmm?" She turned her head aside and looked at him with a satisfied and playful smile. "I see. So you were trying to spoil someone's fun, Riha-chan?"

"Can you blame me for considering the idea of telling at least something I learned about you to my clan?"

"The clan you rejected to serve you mean?" She reminded him and his brows twitched.

"I did not accept, but neither did I permanently reject." He informed her. "They are still my family and you are still a threat to them."

"And they are a threat to me." She shrugged. "But let us leave that for later." She turned fully towards him and removed her glasses which she promptly put into her pocket. "I take it that the dolls told you the basics of it."

"They did." Rihan confirmed and crossed his arms. "But I haven't the faintest idea what it meant."

"I take it you didn't read the contract either. And I spent so much time writing it… well, I rushed so I am quite embarrassed for my handwriting which means it might be for the best." Shiori sat on his bed as if she owned it. "So, I guess I should give you the summary in person."

"I'd be very much thankful if you did that."

"Let us introduce the setting and the lore first, 'kay?" Shiori winked. "You know that the Hyaku Monogatari is name a game, right?"

"Everyone knows that." Rihan said after a nod. "It is also used as a term for published collections of horror stories."

"Good. There are three large-scale games that are worth mentioning." Shiori raised three fingers. "First was started by my  _honorable_  ancestor, Sanmoto Gorozaemon, four hundred years ago. Through a hundred traditional Hyaku Monogatari games in which he personally participated and through making the game popular enough that a majority of Edo played it, he wanted to have a million tales be told. The millionth was supposed to be his final tale and masterpiece that would accomplish his wish, but…"

"My grandfather had something to say about it."

"Yes. And so the millionth tale ended up being his transformation into a Devil." She raised two fingers. "The second game was played almost thirty years ago and was started by the then acting leader of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan. It was unorthodox as it was a game of tag between our two clans. But Enchou himself broke the rules so nothing really came out of it, other than the dissolution of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan."

"Wasn't Ao Andon created and Sanmoto revived?"

"My  _honorable_  ancestor was revived against Enchou's expectations, yes. But it was so lame it is not even worth mentioning. From what I heard, your father killed him in one strike." Shiori's eyes narrowed. "As for Ao Andon… Enchou was a smart guy, but he did not comprehend what Ao Andon was." She put her left hand above her chest, where Rihan guessed that mirror of her hang. "If that monster were to be born, even all youkai of Japan allying together could not threaten it."

Her words were so cold that Rihan felt like she was not kidding. "And the third game?"

"That one was started several years ago by Oniesa Masahide, the founder of the Shin Sekai, and Yanagida." Shiori lowered her hand. "And unlike Enchou's, this is an extension of the original Hyaku Monogatari game."

 _Onieda… Masahide._  Rihan remembered seeing that man in newspapers and TV before and guessed that he was Mayuri's and Mamoru's grandfather. But while he wanted to know more about him, he did not pull Shiori out of the current topic.

"The rules are as follows: there are a hundred players, each of whom gets a candle that makes it possible to create youkai through tales… or in some cases, like mine, it strengthens the youkai tales we create." Shiori pointed at herself with her hand. "There are a hundred rounds and in each round, every candle is used to create one tale. At the end of the game, a ten thousand tales would be created."

"That's a lot."

"Not really. It is still less than the first game's numbers…but the quality should be much better this time."

"I noticed that you talk about candles and not players. Why?"

"Because one player can get more candles." She made a vicious smile. "If one player gets killed by another's tale, than his candle now belongs to the killer. Well, only one in case he is a member of a coalition as the rest would go to the Coalition Leader."

"Coalitions?"

"You don't really think that amongst these hundred players, all would stay independent? Especially since killing you is so attractive. There are three big coalitions and most players are members of one." As if she were tired of sitting, she laid down on his bed. After knowing her for three years, Rihan wondered if she would ask him to draw her like  _one of his French girls_. "The two biggest ones are the Skull Coalition, which is led by Yanagida and whose members profess absolute loyalty to Sanmoto Gorozaemon, and the Sunflower coalition which serves the Shin Sekai and usually creates the tales for their organization. There was also the Black Mask Coalition which represented the players who were only in for the excitement and served as assassins for the other two coalitions."

"That sounds more like an alliance where everyone fights for a common goal than a competition."

"And that's exactly what the plan was: the Skull Coalition gets the profits after the game ends, the Sunflower Coalition uses the game to further their research while the Black Mask Coalition keeps order through brutal means. It was a flawless plan." She said with a grin.

"Really now?" Her grin made him suspect that. "And which coalition do you belong?"

"The Rose Coalition." Her grin widened. "It was a flawless plan from internal perspective, but you can't just cut off the rest of the world."

"What do you mean?" Rihan could feel pride coming from her.

"I kind of killed everyone in the Black Mask Coalition three years ago. One of the three pillars of the game… fwoosh! And what's worse, the relations between Yanagida and the Shin Sekai started to get cold so the members of those other two coalitions started to more often compete against one another. And when I came in and formed my own, I did my best to make the atmosphere more competitive, just like it should have always been." She looked happy. "It is a proper death-match now."

"Killed them all?" Rihan raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit extreme?"

"Do you feel sorry for them?" Her smile then became somehow bittersweet. "This might interest you then: they are the ones responsible for the slaughter at the Nakano's Middle School three years ago."

"Wha-" Rihan's eyes widened and the memories of those sights of dismembered bodies of children appeared in front of his eyes. "They are the ones who…"

"They were the Shin Sekai's police and in the game for the thrill. In other words, they were merciless killers with no substance or an artistic heart." Shiori seemed to remember them with distaste. "Well, they are all dead now so if you had wishes for revenge… sorry, that isn't gonna happen."

"I see…" Rihan got nausea from the memories so he sat on the bed beside the girl who still laid down on it. "Why did they do it?"

"A small part due to their duties and a larger part due to the fact that they were psychopaths." She explained in a simple manner. "Does it matter now?"

"No, I guess it does not…" Rihan sighed. He felt disappointed that he was robbed of a chance to make them pay, but also relieved that it was no longer something that needed to be taken care of. After finding out what Shoumen Kongo did to him, this might have been for the best. "So, let us return to the game. The dolls called me a participant, but I am pretty sure I have neither a candle nor would I create stories."

"There's more to the lore, Rihan." Shiori put on a more natural smile. "Each coalition has the right to add a rule of their own. I, as a leader of my own coalition, delayed the use of that right until yesterday."

Rihan did not fully understand what she meant, but he could grasp the important details. "And what rule is that?"

"Each coalition now has the right to proclaim someone, be it a youkai, Onmyouji or even a full normal human, as a Main Character. It doesn't even matter if it is an outsider." She raised herself back up into a sitting position and hugged him from the behind. "And through that contract, you accepted to become  _my_  Main Character." She put emphasis on the word 'my'.

"And what does being a Main Character mean?"

"Most importantly, it means that no rules of a tale apply against you. Originally, Bonnouma was protected by a tale form that game. And tale stopped anyone from being able to kill him. Well, it isn't easy to create such a tale, but they pulled it off."

"Yes, I remember that. It was that Prophecy, right?"

"Indeed. But by being a Main Character, you were protected by Plot Armor as well. And now that both of you had Plot Armors, you could fight on more even terms. Since you won, the tale turned from a tragedy where a powerful youkai corrupts a heroic spirit into a tale where a heroic spirit slays an evil demon against all odds. Aka, you turned the story of Bonnouma into a chapter from the Epic of Rihan."

"And I take it that this blessing is permanent?"

"Only until the game ends." She let go of him. "Furthermore, you will gain Fear from mixing into a Tale which is to be a motivation for you to act." She now sat beside him. "Of course, since you are now part of the game, you are forbidden of spoiling the tales to outsiders… until the game ends, that is."

"That was a mean move from your side."

"It was. And I am proud of it. So, why are you smiling?" She commented on his facial expression.

"Nothing." Rihan replied back at her. "You mentioned that all coalitions can declare one. Am I going to have rivals?"

"Rivals indeed. I forgot to mention that you will need to compete with whomever Yanagida and Masahide proclaim as their champions. But, they both like preparations so they won't declare one anytime soon." She pinched his cheek. "So in order to stay in front of this race, you better start working soon and work good."

"Stop that!" He pushed her hand away. "This reminds me… what does a coalition get from this? And does this mean that I am your underling or something?"

"We get a percentage of your Fear. It is basic economy, really." She let her head rest on his shoulder. "But you are allowed to turn against us and would retain you status even in case the coalition got destroyed."

Rihan was annoyed. "You are doing it again."

"I am doing what again?" She asked, but her tone betrayed that she knew what he meant.

"You could have put a rule that forbids me to turn against you. But you did not…" He looked at her with an angry expression. "…because you do not want to-"

"I do not want to force you into a certain path." She returned the angry expression at him. "It is true, I may have done it thinking of you… but even if that was not on my mind, I would have still done it because I value free will." She looked away. "Remember what happened after you drank my tea? Unlike my  _honorable_  ancestor, whose tea robbed one of free will, my tea helps a person become what they desire. That's the product of my Fear… in other word, a representation of what kind of existence I am."

"It makes you a lame villain though."

"Are you sure?" She returned a smile to him. "Even with free will, you are mine." She said and put her hand under his chin.

"You sure have a high opinion of your chances. I am a cautious person you see."

"Are you now?" She let her hand fall onto his and let her head land on his shoulder. "For someone skeptical about embracing his own family's Fear, you sure did not waste your time signing the contract."

Rihan could not find a smart remark to this. What she said was true: he rejected to swear himself to his clan, but when it came to making an oath to her, he did it without any consideration.

"Do you regret it?" She asked him.

"Do I regret what?"

"Selling your soul to me… to say it fancily."

"No." Once again, he answered without even having to consider it. "I am fine with it, although I would not use that terminology." Even after witnessing the consequences, he still did not regret his actions.

"See? I am a corruptive devil even without using cheap tricks."

* * *

Mayuri sat at a humble table and peeled an apple while an opened laptop stood in front of her.

Right now, she was alone in an apartment. Neither the apartment nor the building was anything special, which made her organization consider it a perfect hiding place. If nothing else, it was better than a luxurious hotel where fire-weapons had been used.

Of course, she wasn't truly alone: janitors who cleaned the hallways right now were guards in disguise and a few apartments near hers were also containing armed guards. They guarded her just as much as they kept her in a cage.

 _What happens now I wonder?_  She managed to get herself out of Mahiro's grasp, but she was still under the eye of the Shin Sekai. And in extension, Mamoru was also in their grasp as they no doubt had more devices that could put her in danger. Even if her father, who saved her life, would not use it, the others in the organization would. Mahiro confirmed that they are sub-factions that would not mind abusing her against her family's wishes.

Was it possible to escape from this predicament? She didn't know of a way… but maybe Mamoru did. But she could not contact him. Several times she tried to call him, the cellphone just disconnected. No doubt, it was the organization's doing.  _Maybe if I could reach a payphone? Or maybe ask someone on the streets to lend me a call? But how could I escape from this place…_

A sound rang from the laptop so she looked at it. She was getting a video call but the caller's username looked like some kind of code. This wasn't her laptop so the code meant nothing to her. But the organization told her that someone might be contacting her so she had to answer the call.

After hitting space, a face appeared on the monitor and she almost jumped up because she did not expect him, although it makes sense that he would call her.

"Is everything alright there, Mayuri?" Her father asked her.

"In what way do you mean, father?" Mayuri quickly regained her composure. "But more importantly, what happened in the States? I hear you… botched it all." She intended to say  _'got found out'_ , but felt too resentful.

"Nura Rikuo found out about my involvement with the Shin Sekai, yes." He did not seem to care about her bad mannerisms. "But it is of no issue. All this secrecy is too costly and no longer as necessary."

_Speak for yourself!_

"Anyway, I heard something happened with Mahiro?"

"He hit and blackmailed me. It seems like some people in your organization want brother gone, father." He no doubt knew which brother she meant.

"Hm, it doesn't surprise me. I intended to distance him from the organization in near future, guess he found out about it."

"That man needs mental care, father." But she did not care to talk about Mahiro. "By the way father, what is this about me being… being…"

"You were fatally wounded many years ago." He did not let her finish the sentence. "And now you are alive. What about it?"

 _He… he really does not have any tact, does he?_  "Why? Why did you save me?"

"What question is that?" He spoke as if she said something stupid. "It is natural for a parent to save its child's life."

"Ugh…" Trying to get a warm reply from him was an act of futility.  _Well, he does seem to care in his own way I guess._  "Alright, I will let it go. But why do you have remote controllers for my life?"

"Remote controller for… what?" He looked like he did not know what she meant.

"My life! Mahiro used it to… kill and revive me." She said.

For the first time ever, her father looked angry. His brows lowered themselves and his face got redder. "I did not know about that."

"Isn't that a bit embarrassing, dad?" Even though she was glad about what she heard, she could not let the chance to belittle him pass. "But what happens now that the Nuras know about  _your_  connection to their enemy?"

"A war, obviously. We all must be more cautious now."

"I am not going to be a caged bird, father." Now that she had a guarantee that her father would get rid of that death button, she did not see a need to hide from the Nuras. "I will be going back to Ukiyoe, one way or another."

"Yes, that's for the best."

"…huh?"

"What  _huh_?"

"You are alright with me going back to the Nuras?"

"Give me a reason why I should not be." Her father spoke with annoyance in his tone. "Nura Rikuo is soft, especially towards humans leading normal lives. He would not put a hand on you."

"I… see…" Mayuri had to admit that she did not think it would be this simple. And now that she thought about it, it could not possibly be so simple. "What about the less ethical members of his clan? What if they…"

"You will not be worth the trouble."

"What do you mean?"

"Starting tomorrow, you will formally become the CEO of Onieda Industries, Onieda enterprises and all other public family corporations."

"…WHAT?!"

"What  _what_? Nura Rikuo knows I am one of his greatest enemies. If I continue making public appearances, it would be a matter of time until a hitman from the Nura Clan took my life. No, I have to retire and focus all of my energy on being a boss of the  _Shin Sekai_."

"Wait wait wait wait…"

"Would you suggest Mahiro for this position then?"

"Uh… no…"

"Then our discussion is over." And just like that, he ended the call.

… _I will kill you, dad.  
_

* * *

"So you have returned from your trip, Sakura." She could hear her mother speak when she entered the house.

"Yes, mom!" Sakura said aloud while taking off her shoes.

"Did you enjoy the trip?" Her mother, Kibiki Marie, asked when Sakura entered the living room with her bags. Her mother was kneeling in front of what looked like the statue of Buddha… but a better eye would notice that it was in fact a Christian artifact made in a similar style.

"Well…" Sakura started but her mother cut in.

"Forgive my sarcasm." She spoke and raised herself up. "Nagasaki called me that out brethren around that mountain… informed them of recent events." She turned towards Sakura and looked at her daughter with a cold, elegant expression. While Sakura did inherit many traits from her, Sakura's demeanor was more like her father's. "I prayed to the Lord that nothing befell you, my dear daughter."

"Your prayers were answered, mother." Sakura said and let herself fall onto the sofa. She was so worried about trying to get to school that she forgot about the fact that she had to inform her parents, who were active members of a Christian Exorcist order, about what had occurred.

"You look healthy in both body and mind." Her mother said while sitting beside her. "Yet, I know it must have been hard." She said and put a hand around her daughter.

"I am weak." Sakura said while letting her head fall onto her mother. "there were so many demons… yet I could only take on one and I barely made it out unscathed."

"You were never trained to fight youkai, only lower demons." Her mother reminded her. "The fact that you are fine means you did more than well."

"I was wondering… why was I not trained for it? I met two Onmyouji and they both were trained to fight youkai since they were kids."

"Even they are unlikely to have been able to exorcise anything but weakest of youkai until they got older. True, you were supposed to get properly trained for stronger demons after you reached age of twelve, but your father was against it. And I agreed with him."

"Why?"

"Because the most dangerous demons are the ones in our hearts. We think it is better to hone those skills first… especially since our exorcism depends on prayers and not techniques."

"Still…" Sakura wanted to ask more questions, but could nothing came to her mind at the moment. "…oh yes… the youkai I fought was different than the others…"

"Hm?"

"Crocell… it was Crocell from Ars Goetia." She informed her mother, feeling stupid that she did not mention this earlier. "He was amongst some youkai who resides in Kyushu."

"Crocell… you did well you stupid girl." Her mother pinched her cheek with and let a soft smile come to her mouth. "Now go tell that to your dad. The exorcists from Nagasaki have become strangely interested in Ars Goetia…"

"Yes mother." Sakura nodded and raised herself up. "By the way mother…"

"What is it?"

"Remember that offer uncle made several weeks ago? Can I… go to Kyushu to train in Nagasaki?"

* * *

_Another Clan meeting, huh?_  Tsurara sighed while sitting in the meeting hall, just beside her husband.  _Well, at least I am not in charge this time._

She looked around. The meeting had yet to start and various executives, retired executives and higher-ups were still incoming. By the looks of it, the entire hall will be full, even if not as full as when the Grand Assemble was called many years ago.

 _Still, this will probably be the largest meeting in last few years._  It was not surprising though: Sanmoto Shiori had proven to be dangerous, Sanmoto Gorozaemon found another way to murder countless lives, it was revealed that the Oniedas were behind the Shin Sekai, Nejireme had fallen and they were now in state of war with the Kyushu Clan.  _So many things happening in so little time… it is like everyone hit us at the same time._ While she was younger, she thought that Nura Clan would become untouchable once it proved its strength. Now, it looked like everyone just tried to challenge it at the same time. Things seemed so much simpler when she was younger and she was certain that it was the same for Rikuo.

"Not again…" She heard Rikuo mutter. That was all she needed to know to guess what she would see when she looked in front of her: her daughter angrily walking in. Granted, she did not really expect to see her pull Rihan by his collar. While she was dressed in her kimono, Rihan was still dressed in the western clothes he had on him when he arrived in Ukiyoe.  _Well, at least he changed clothes before the ships left._

"We are participating." Ritsura spoke in a determined voice.

"No, you are-"

"We risked our lives there!" Ritsura said while pushing Rihan down to sit beside their mother. "We have a right to be here!" And then she sat beside her father.

"Ritsura, you-" He started but their daughter crossed her arms and looked in another direction. It was clear that this time she would not leave without a lot of fighting.

"Rikuo-sama, please indulge her this time." Tsurara whispered to her husband. "She dealt with the Shiori Incident and the Nejireme one well. Give her some satisfaction."

"Hmmm…" But Rikuo continued being stubborn.

"You know she won't just let it pass even if you manage to make her leave. Give her the recognition she deserves."

"Haah…" Rikuo sighed. He did not say anything anymore, but the fact that he did not try to kick her out was his way of telling her that she could stay.

Still, she knew that Rikuo was proud of how his two children have fared, even if he fears to say it aloud. Naturally, Tsurara herself was a proud mother.

"Rihan, do you want to change places?" She asked her son who sat beside her rather than beside his father.

But her son's interests lay elsewhere. "To be honest, I'd prefer if I could just leave."

"Come on, don't be like that." She petted him on his head. "Even if you find it boring, you can afford to sit it through."

"Yeah, I knew you would say that." He was unconvinced. He was a polar opposite of his sister in many ways. "But I would still prefer to stay here lest those executives get funny ideas."

"Ah, them…" Tsurara sighed. The oldest Executives were trouble for Rikuo in past, and while they are satisfied with Ritsura they have a tendency to complain about Rihan. "When you say it like that, I guess I have no choice but let it go." If her son did not want to get in trouble, she could do nothing but respect his wishes.

Finally, the representatives of the Gyuki Group, Gyuki and Gozumaru, entered. Gozumaru averted his eyes when he looked at her.  _I guess he still does not approve of me… ha, like it matters._

Many murmurs could be heard through the hall as those two entered. Some youkai were sympathetic towards what happened to the Gyuki Group… while others looked at them with disdain. Tsurara hoped that those disdainful thwarts would not cause trouble during the meeting.

"Hi there!" And then a merry person entered the room. "Don't mind me, this is my first time at such a meeting so I am kind of excited."

"Huh?" It took a few moments for Tsurara to remember that this pretty boy in a fancy black coat was Keikain Ryuzan… the boy she had to wait for at the bus station but who had never appeared. For some reason, he was all merry and friendly towards everyone. "What-"

"What are  _you_  doing here?!" Her daughter was the first to ask that question. Tsurara did not understand why she was so hostile towards him.  _Well, he is an Onmyouji and my daughter no doubt knows better than to hang around with such sort._

"Now that is mean, Ritsura-chan." Ryuzan bowed. "But isn't it obvious? I am the only Keikain here and that makes me the only proper representative for House Keikain."

""Huh?"" Tsurara and Ritsura said at the same time.

"He asked if he could come and I said  _'Sure, why not?'_  After all, I would prefer to keep relations between our clan and the Keikains on good terms. Our alliance accomplished a great lot. _"_  Rikuo said with a shrug. "But please take your place at a side. The youkai Executives can be a bit touchy about where they sit."

"Sure, Rikuo-san." He said in a pleasant tone and walked away.

"He is surprisingly nice." Rikuo commented. "He is nothing like his father."

"Rikuo-sama, it is because he is  _that man's_  son that you should not take him at face value." Tsurara tried to remind her husband. "Seriously, he might be planning to kill us all."

"Calm down Tsurara. You should know that Onmyouji are not all that bad. Especially the Kei-" He stopped when he saw what face she made. "Ah, sorry… but he is an alright guy."

 _Forget about it…_  Tsurara knew that Ryuzan would most likely bring no harm to them, even if she was worried that he would one day make a fool out of them. That was his father's favorite thing to do after all.  _Well, at least my daughter knows better than to trust such a sort._

Tsurara looked at Ritsura again and noticed that her girl's eyes fell onto Ryuzan. Ritsura then turned red, put on a pouty face and looked away.

_What… why… why are you acting like a tsundere in front of that boy? No wait, maybe she is just angry at him… yes, that must be it…_

"Oh, I almost forgot." Ritsura hit her palm. "Dad, I told Ryuzan that he can stay here so he would not need to search for an apartment."

… _what?_

"Ah, so that's why earlier he said that he hopes to get along with me." Rikuo said and nodded. "It is a good thing you asked this, Ritsura. From what I heard from Yura, Tokyo can be a horrible place for an Onmyouji due to lack of demand for an exorcist."

_Why… why did she ask him to stay with us… to sleep in our house… for Ryuji's brat to SLEEP IN THE SAME HOUSE AS MY DAUGHTER?!_

And to make it worse, Tsurara noticed a soft smile on her daughter's face before she pretended to cough and returned to acting like a dignified lady.

_A lying-type Onmyouji is deceiving my precious daughter with who knows which dark intents! And she just brought him into our house! NOOOOOOOOO…!  
_

* * *

Rikuo waited for the meeting to commence, feeling bitter as he did so. His attempts to avoid a war with the Kyushu Clan had failed and there was no telling what the future would bring. He was certain of his strength and the strength of his clan… but if there was one person who had a chance to beat him in fair combat, it was Mizuchi. His grandfather, who still had to appear at the meeting, told him a lot about this youkai and after clashing swords with him, Rikuo was certain in the strength of that youkai's Fear. He was also a vastly different enemy than the ones he thought before, for Mizuchi truly carried the burden of his Procession of Hundred Demons.

And Rikuo still could not comprehend why that youkai wanted to oppose him that much. It just made no sense.

But as if that war alone was not enough, it had to start just after Rikuo had found out about the Oniedas, which meant that Shin Sekai might become more aggressive, and after a dangerous new enemy, Shiori, appeared inside his very own territory. This was not one war, but three separate wars with dangerous enemies.

And the son of one of those enemies, Onieda Mamoru, entered the meeting room. Those who already found out about the fact that Oniedas were now their enemies turned silent and gazed at the young man with suspicion, while the others wondered why this human so casually walked into the meeting room and sat near their Onmyouji guest.

Truth be told, Rikuo did not fully trust Mamoru yet. But Gyuki and Ritsura both spoke out for him so he gave him a benefit of doubt. Still, Rikuo was unsure how much he respected him for turning against his family so quickly.

And then there was Keikain Ryuzan. He only recently met the boy, but he heard how he helped keep his daughter safe on Nejireme. Ryuji may have been an uncomfortable person, but he was still a force to be reckoned with. Rikuo did not doubt that he raised his son into a capable Onmyouji.

It was also a while since he had a pleasant conversation with a Keikain. While Rikuo did visit their house several times in order to uphold good relations with them, he and Yura weren't as close as they used to be. It was natural, but he still found it regretful.

He shok away his memories and looked on as several more persons entered, most of who were retired Executives of his clan as well as Ichinoe Araya who… had nothing to do here.

"Kick that girl out." Rikuo was not in mood for that young girl's antics.

"Come on, I want to see how a meeting amongst youkai gangsters looks like!" She pleaded while Aotabou pulled her away. "You will regret this when you see what I am capable of!" And then she was pushed out of the meeting room.

"Wasn't that a bit excessive, father?" His son asked him. "You could have just asked her to leave."

"I am not in the mood to deal with her." Even Rikuo was not spared of that eccentric girl's antics and knew that she would blabber herself out rather than just leave the room. He thought that Kiyotsugu made him immune to crazy people, but she was even worst.

But truth be told, for some reason he did not like her since the first time he saw her. He tried to accept her as a friend of his two children, but something inside him constantly made him feel contempt towards her. He did not know why he would feel like that towards a normal, if strange, human girl and he tried to get over that part of himself, but to o avail.

 _Ah well, not that it will matter._  Rikuo thought and then felt someone pull his sleeve. "What is it Tsurara? I hope you aren't going to ask me to let her in too."

"No Rikuo-sama, there was something else I wanted to mention." His wife closed her face to his and, while a scarf hid her mouth, spoke. "Rikuo-sama, two days ago Rihan asked me to lend him money because he was on a date with girl. On the same day, Aotabou saw them shopping together."

_What?_

"And it gets even more suspicious." Tsurara looked at their son to make sure he wasn't listening and then continued. "And when we landed, he immediately took her to his room where they stayed for a while. Just in case they are an  _item_ , you should talk to him. We don't want him to act inappropriately with a girl at such an age." And after saying that, she pulled herself away.

… _you have to be kidding me._ The thought of his son dating that girl made him feel annoyed.  _Calm down Rikuo, it is his choice what a girl he wants to… I have a bad feeling about this._

He looked towards his son who was typing something on a cellphone.

He seriously had a bad feeling about this.

* * *

Everyone who was supposed to attend the meeting had arrived, and the breakfast was also over, so Daruma started the discussions.

"As most of you know, yesterday was a blood day." Daruma spoke to tte attendants. "The Hashima Kyushu Clan had attacked our western territories, and some of their youkai even reached Tokyo. Many a clan in western Kantou and Chubu had suffered greatly from these raiding parties, but the worst was-"

"Nejireme." Houkou spoke aloud in a displeased tone. "Mount Nejireme had fallen!"

By now everyone knew that it had occurred, but murmurs still occurred. Some were afraid, others were angry at Gyuki and there were even some who did not understand the severity of the issue. Rikuo did not like how they badmouthed those who had suffered the most from these attacks, but this was no time to start an argument over it.

"Indeed, Nejireme had fallen." Daruma did not allow himself to be swept away. "After the sun sets, I am sure we will already hear about attacks on our westernmost territories. By the time tomorrow's sun sets, foreign night processions might already start wreaking havoc in Kantou or even inside Tokyo itself."

"In other words, already today you should start preparing for shaking off cockroaches." Ritsura added in a mocking manner. "And keep in mind that another attack from Kyushu could come at any day."

"It is unlikely that they would-" One of the youkai started but Ritsura cut him off.

"These attacks were unlikely too, yet look at what happened." Ritsura said and crossed her arms. "And just to remind you, I was at Nejireme yesterday. Mizuchi manipulated higher ups in the Gyuki Group and even Sanmoto Goroazemon himself. And as if that was not enough, he brought a flying fleet on top of two dragons, burnt down an entire mountain, created a freaking tsunami and flew away and I have no doubts that he had come home on time to watch the new episode of  _Attack on Oda_. Nothing is  _unlikely_  for that guy."

"And what will the Main House do about it?" One of the retired executive demanded to know.

"It is our fault, so we will take care of it." Gozumaru said and hit the floor with some fancy new sword of his. "Already today, the remaining warriors of our clan will-"

"Are you joking, you damn brat?" Hitotsume yelled at him. "You were crushed by the enemy. Crushed! Who would put their clan in  _your_  hands?"

Gozumaru's brow twitched and for a moment Rikuo thought that he would return back with yelling, but instead Gozumaru took a deep breath and replied in a, surprisingly, calm manner. "We will not be able to protect you from someone like Mizuchi, that's true. But only the Main House could do that, and I don't expect them to waste their energy on you while other enemies pose a more direct threat."

"Worry not for the western clans." Gyuki finally spoke. "Our best warriors survived and they will be more than capable of taking the head of any procession's leader before their procession even gets a chance to put up a fight." And then Gyuki looked around at everyone. "Or is there someone who would question our capabilities as warriors?"

The look he gave them must have been quite something as everyone turned silent for a moment. Then, they started murmuring amongst themselves again but it did not feel like they had anything more to say on the issue.

"But the Kyushu Clan is not our only enemy." Shouei spoke.

"Indeed, there is still the Hyaku Monogatari." Houkou, who had a grudge against them, spoke out. "You were not here commander, but they put up quite a fight several days ago…" And then his eyes narrowed. "And yesterday as well, both against us and the Kyushu youkai."

"Yes, I got a detailed report on it." Rikuo mentioned. "And I am sure that by now everyone heard about it."  _Another remnant of that accursed clan. As if one were not enough._  "This person, Shiori, was known to us for a while now. However, she proved to have a more formidable force than we expected. All the clans should be careful."

"Stay careful?" Houkou obviously hoped for a more daring action. "We-"

"Both of our fathers were murdered by that bunch, Houkou." Rikuo reminded him. "I want to get rid of this clan as much as you do… but we will need a more concrete plan for that." And then Rikuo's expression got sharper. "And when we do take action… this time we will scourge them to a point that no remnants will remain." He remembered his father dying in front of him. He remembered hearing about all the suffering this clan had caused toward the humans and youkai alike during the Edo Period and in following centuries. He remembered many other atrocities they committed, including the Tokyo Tag, the Nakano incident and, most recently, the slaughter at and around Nejireme. "Next time we deal with them will be the last."

* * *

Rihan listened to his father's words with a foul mood. Even if she did help ruin Gorozaemon's plan back at Nejireme, Rihan did not fool himself into believing that Shiori was a morally good person. And she was bad in ways that his father would still want to see her gone.

Yet, this did not sit well with him. He did not like that he grouped Shiori in the same class as Gorozaemon. Rihan still did not understand why she did what she did, but she still had enough humanity left in her to not abandon the powerless humans to the cultists. Even if thwarting Gorozaemon's plan had strategic significance, the situation was such that strategically it would have made more sense for her to just stay out of it all and let Gorozaemon  _eat his cake_. Yet she did not do so, even while Rihan tried to hunt her down and kill her. Even while he tried to slay her, she even helped some of the humans escape from that hell.

He was fine with their clan wanting to take her down for what she  _did_  do, but not for something like this. He was also not fine with the fact that his father acted like he knew all about her.

He wished he could at least say that she helped take down Gorozaemon at Nejireme but that was impossible. For whenever he thought about it, he would see one of those dolls in the meeting room, even if others could not. It seemed like they did not care if his intentions were malicious or helpful.

So he could do nothing else but sit and listen.

But when his father said that they would deal with them once and for all, it was like he triggered something in the Executives and others who attended the meeting. They were excited… too excited for Rihan's tastes.

"Maybe we should challenge her for a fight?" Hitotsume spoke and for some reason turned around his gun. "If she is human, a good snipe from afar would put a quick and definitive end to her."

"She would probably not fall for it." Someone else added. "We should keep collecting intel and in meantime deal with Kyushu and Gorozaemon. That ant can't possibly do much harm to us. Even that what happened during the Tokyo Tag, when over ten thousand of their youkai attacked Tokyo, caused only minor damage. And she lacks such numbers."

"Her ilk likes to attack from the shadows. Will we wait until she assassinates someone important or somehow throws our clan into chaos?" Houkou was most interested in putting an end to whoever had relations to the clan that killed his father. "We should start using the  _more traditional_  methods to get information out of others. With that, we will sniff all of them out of their hiding hole and put a quick end to them!"

Rihan was surprised that his father just sat there and listened.  _I guess he would not let a chance to hear so many suggestions let go._  Rihan thought as he looked at his father listening carefully to them. What he saw at Nejireme must have disturbed him more than he showed on the outside.

"I agree with that." The Nura Clan's Jorogumo agreed. "This is not something that can be taken care of with ethical methods. We are yakuza and should act like one if we want to definitively put an end to them."

It was only now that Rihan realized: it was not only his father who hated them, but the entire Nura Clan. There were not many things that made the entire clan united in opinion, but it was clear now that everyone held nothing but absolute contempt for this one enemy and anyone who might deal with it. Granted, for most of them the contempt came from simple rivalry, but some like his father just hated them for what they were.  _What does that make me then? Me, the one who is having dealings with Shiori herself… and the one who slept with her while knowing full well who she was._ Rihan found himself smiling at the irony.

"What a dirty way to deal with the issue." One of the executives noted. "We already know that she gets her friends from those Urban Legends. Why not just start purging them from our territories and kill two birds with one stone?" Some complained about attacking youkai for whom they did not know if they were affiliated with the Hyaku Mongatari, but great many nodded to this suggestion.

Rihan had enough of listening to this so he raised himself up, put hand in his pockets and started walking toward the exit.

Naturally everyone went quiet for a moment. Of course, his sister was the first to speak out. "Rihan, where are you going?"

"I got bored of all this so I am leaving." He gave a simple reply.

"What kind of behavior is that?" Hitotsume yelled and most of old Clan Executives started whispering at all sides. "As one of the heirs-"

"I do not remember fulfilling a form to join the Executive committee of a yakuza." He reminded them. "If I don't want to sit on these events, I will not." He turned his head back. "So please, do not invite me again."

"Come on Rihan." His father would not stay quiet at this. "Calm down and sit back here again." There was warmth in his tone and expression. "It is true that some things said here are out-of-line, but it is because as a clan we stick together and have to stand against those who want to harm us." His father guessed what was troubling him.

But he was wrong. While Rihan did not like the way they talked, something else was bothering him.

So he turned his head back and continued to walk away. "Please, keep me out of any clan affairs in the future." If he stayed and told to Shiori any plans the clan may have had for her, it would be betrayal of his clan. If he stayed on the meetings and kept silent, it would be betraying her.  _Sorry father… but I can't sit on these meetings without picking a side.  
_

* * *

_I should have told them to stop._  Rikuo regretted his earlier passivity. Over the years, he had learned that sometimes it was better to let the old executives talk their heart out rather than clash with them in a battle of arguments. It was a simple and cheap way to please them and make them feel important… and truth be told, he did hope that some of them would say something he would consider useful.

But his son lacked that experience and possibly found the whole discussion uncomfortable. Yet, Rikuo could not but feel that there was something moer to it… but then again, he always felt that there was something more with his son.  _I must be getting paranoid._  He sighed.

"Father, I know this was shocking but…" His daughter pulled him back from his thoughts. "…I think it is about time you tell them the big news."

"Yes, you are right." Rikuo nodded and looked back at everyone again.

Daruma noticed it as a sign that the meeting should continue as planned. "Please, lower your voices." Daruma spoke and the other youkai, who were complaining about Rihan's actions, stopped talking and turned their attention back at their Supreme Commander.

"It is time to say what I learned in the States." Rikuo announced and the few voices that were still talking went silent.

Most of them did not know much about the Shin Sekai and many of them did not see them as much of a threat, but they all understood that their Supreme Commander must have seen it as an important issue otherwise he would not have personally gone to the States just to investigate one of their enemies.

"First thing first, the Shin Sekai has a way to create youkai that is vastly different from the Hyaku Monogatari's." He said the first major thing he found out about them.

Naturally, it made the whole room explode in mumbling.  _Wait until you hear the BIG news._  Rikuo waited for a few moments for them to talk it out and then gave Shouei a sign to create some noise to get their attention back.

"I am still unsure how it works, but these guys do not use tales to do it… and if that one youkai we met is to judge by, they have no personality, no character and, by all accounts, no sentiency either. They are like machines."

"Is one even something to judge by?" Hitotsume asked the obvious question.

"Yes, it is. If you ever see it, you will know that this being was… something strange."

"I would not even call it a youkai if I were you." Onieda Mamoru spoke out and everyone, but those who knew about connection between Onieda and the Shin Sekai, looked at him with surprise. "And they are not  _like_  machines. They  _are_  machines."

"And just what do you know about them, Onieda?" Houkou looked at him with suspicion.

"That brings us to the biggest revelation." Rikuo spoke. "The Shin Sekai is just another company under control of the Onieda family." They all looked at him with surprise.  _Well, may as well tell them the rest._ "They are also the descendants of Tsuchimikado branch that fought our clan from the Meiji Era until the end of World War Two."

It took a few moments of silence for everyone to process what he just said and then everyone just exploded again. The Oniedas had a great amount of influence in the human world and they were already a threat to the youkai one, as proved when they attacked the Toono Village.

But to Rikuo's annoyance, the Executives sounded like this was a good news. "Now that we know that Masato is the leader…" Of course, Hitotsume was the one to loudly speak the most naive proposition. "…we only need to hit him and one enemy will be down, right?" The others thought the same thing.

"What a joke!" Mamoru shouted in a loud voice that made everyone turn their attention at him, all with an angry, questioning look. "It was a few years since I left the organization, but at the time they owned or were in process of developing not only those youkai-like creatures, but also spiritual weaponry, spells through occult research, super-soldiers, horrifying curses and even pocket worlds with massive castles and sometimes even cities. There's even a branch that enslaves youkai and intends to use them as slave armies. Don't let me get started on the fact that they might even be able to monitor EVERY phone call, e-mail and video-footage in Japan. Hell, while I was there they even had means to keep surveillance over backwater places so don't think that avoiding technology will keep them in the dark about you. It is possible that in few years they could face the entire JSDF and Nura Clan united and defeat them."

As he spoke, smiles of excitement slowly left the faces of the Executives and they were replaced by expressions of worry.  _Good, they should get to understand the severity of the situation before we continue._

"And now comes the best part!" Mamoru was still not done. "My father could have easily avoided meeting your Supreme Commander and continue acting from secret. The very fact that you know who is behind this organization means that my father deems secrecy to no longer be necessary. That is, the Shin Sekai is ready for an all-out war. And good luck finding ms father who will hive who knows where in Japan and in who knows which world of Fear that he had created."

"This… sounds kinda bad." Hitotsume had to admit.

"And it is bad. All that this young man says is true." Rikuo took over the audience again. "And now we will discuss the details on how we will act in accordance to our three largest enemies."

* * *

The meeting went on for a several more hours, with the Executives, both acting and the retired ones, and Main House discussing the future course of action for the clan and all of its associates. It was tiresome, but Gozumaru knew that it had to be done.

But as tiresome as the meeting got to be, Gozumaru still liked it more than what was to come.

"So, where are you going Benmaru?" Eikichi asked his comrade who fancied fire weapons.

"I did not really check it to be honest." Benmaru shrugged while trying out a cigar. "I will just go with the flow: wherever the ship drops me, I protect."

"Hah, we are the same you and I." Eikichi laughed it off.

"Don't hide your bad memory under the disguise of disinterest." Gozumaru said after entering the courtyard. Looking around, he saw all other members of their clan prepare to leave.

"Oh look, Gen'ei is now using difficult words." Eikichi mocked him with that name again.

"I am Gozumaru, not Gen'ei." He started to feel tired of this antic since the first time Eikichi used it.

"Says the one who now prances with that sword like a trophy of sorts."

"It  _is_  a trophy." Gozumaru said and looked around for Mezumaru.

But that boy found him first. "Gozu!" Mezumaru yelled and ran up to him. "Is the meeting over?"

"Of course it is. Would I be here otherwise?"

"No, I guess not. But why isn't Gyuki-sama with you?" Mezumaru noted.

"He will come here shortly. He just had some words to exchange with a several Executives."

"I see, I see." Mezumaru made an exaggerated nod. "So, where are you and I going to be stationed?"

Gozumaru sighed while thinking how to break the news to him.

"…we are not going to be stationed in the same place?" Mezumaru spoke with a sad expression.

"Right." Gozumaru confirmed his fears. "Gyuki-sama will be staying here as Ritsura's personal advisor and I will be serving to both of them as a bodyguard… and as the group's guardian for Ukiyoe."

"A big and deserving position for the heir." Eikichi noted. "It is good that they realize that Gen'ei is not someone to be messed with."

"But I am next in the hierarchy!" Mezumaru complained about the decision. "I should be with Gyuki-sama too."

"It is because of this that you can't stay with me." Gozumaru gave him a stern look. "You have a more important mission than both me and Gyuki-sama."

"I do?" Mezumaru tilted his head.

"Yes." Gozumaru nodded. "You will be looking for a new home for us and, once you find it, secure it and protect both it and everyone else who can't fight." Gozumaru put a hand on his shoulder. "In other words, you will need to find or create a new home for our clan."

"I…" Mezumaru was taken aback. "This is… a big job!" Still, he seemed to like it. "I will not disappoint Gozu. It will be sad without you, but I will give my best."

"I know you will." Gozumaru said with a smile and then gave him a brotherly hug. "See you, my friend."

* * *

"It is not over!" Gyuki yelled to everyone after they jumped on the ships. Only he and Gozumaru still stood on the ground, with Rikuo and his heiress standing close by. "Our clan may have suffered a great loss in the last battle, but it is not the first time that the Gyuki Group was humbled by worthy warriors."

"And every time, it sprung back up, stronger than before! It shall not be any different this time either! The enemies of the Edo youkai think we are gone and defeated! But we are not, and you will make it clear to them!"

"Yes!" Many voices thundered from the ships.

"Live! Fight! Defend! And most of all keep practicing to make yourself stronger! The Gyuki Group lives and it shall continue so until the end of times! And one day we shall reclaim Nejireme for ourselves!"

And once again, the voices thundered in approval.

* * *

_The first major battle between the Nura clan and the Kyushu Clan was over. Even though the Nura Clan fought well, Mizuchi's manipulations took the day and the Nuras were forced to abandon Mount Nejireme, a fortress that kept them safe for centuries._

_It took minutes for the ambitious in the west to notice the fall of this unconquerable fortress. Now that no terrifying youkai or a hypnotizing mountain stood in their way, they could pass east into Chubu and, from there, to Kantou and Tokyo proper. While the youkai of Chubu had to put much effort into protecting their turfs, reaching the Nura Clan remained nothing more than a dream for most. Many youkai processions that got too close to important territories in Kantou met one member of the Gyuki Group or another. These youkai proved their worth by storming through the enemy ranks, or fully avoiding them, and hit at the head of the procession. Most of these leaders fell in first few strikes and their processions fell apart. The strongest processions… could only put up a small fight._

_But for those with smaller ambitions, there was much to be found east of Nejireme. Chubu, which was already infamous for being home to countless youkai clans, saw the numbers of those clans escalate. This already unstable region became even more chaotic as each night youkai fought amongst themselves._

* * *

 

_And what about Nejireme, which got violated by the Kyushu Clan and many other horrors? Some youkai of the west thought about claiming the ancient mountain for themselves. But all they found was suffering for Nejireme became the forest of horrors and death. It fed on worst memories from present and past and everyone foolish enough to enter had to deal with these horrors either in form of memories… or in form of youkai given life._

_The human towns and villages never forget what happened… and for many humans, this would become a source of entertainment and intrigue. The events would motivate many a human to spread horror stories based on these events or taking place around Nejireme._

_Nejireme attracting horrors and the humans resulted in Nejireme becoming a home to many new species of Urban Legends, which descended from their mountain to harass the humans around and further spread their tales… and sometimes, assaulting the youkai of Chubu and Kantou._

_It did not take long for humans to forget about the relationship between the Gyuki myths and Nejireme. Instead, Nejireme became the Forest of Death and Memories.  
_

* * *

_Those incompetent idiots._  A certain person thought.  _I went through so much trouble to get a few generals of that Kyushu Clan to do me a favor… a favor they did not want to give cheaply._

_Ha! It seemed so promising at first. 'An Orochimaru will do it' was what their message said. And the fool, I, believed them. But who could blame me? The Orochimaru Clan is notable for their assassins._

_One of the siblings… just one of the siblings had to die and the Kyushu clan would have been blamed for it. But the incompetent fool could not even injure one of them! That Orochimaru was downright useless!_

_I need to find another way… ah yes! HE asked me if I got another job for him. He must have liked the reward from our last meeting._

_Indeed… the Nura Clan were hunting for him all these years, but their focus had already shifted to other matters. Yes, hiring him again is a viable option now._

_The last time he did nicely… true, Rihan survived but it was close enough that I have to respect his skill. And he is much, much cheaper than that Orochimaru was._

_Yes… I will ask Gagoze to finish what he started eight years ago.  
_

* * *

The night has fallen, but it did not bother her. The streets of the city were illuminated, but even if they were not it would not have been a bother for her eyes could see well in the dark.

Some of the streets that she had passed through were filled with people, none of whom paid any heed to her, while the others were empty. And then there were some empty streets that only seemed so, but had youkai hide in the darkness. But that was of little issue, for most youkai ran away at sight of an Onmyouji.

After a while, she took out a paper talisman and it turned into ash. It was a spell that most Onmyouji, because they were mainly focused on exorcism, found useless. The spell awoke memories in the land around, allowing her to see the mirages of events that happened at a certain location. She intentionally used a weaker version of the spell because she only needed to go into past less than three decades ago and she was not interested in any but most noteworthy memories.

In most cases, she would see nothing as not many horrifying thing happened in the modern Japan. But she saw a lot, for less than three decades ago the streets of Kyoto were terrorized by youkai serving Hagoromo Gitsune.

While walking through the memory lane, she looked around. She did this for several nights now, hoping she would find something she could use.

And finally she did. She saw skeletal youkai whose one leg was a wheel.  _They are undead… such kind of youkai are usually aligned to the Earth Element._  She liked what she saw so she followed where they went… until she saw them get killed by a headless youkai using strings.  _This must be someone from the Nura Clan._

But she was not interested in the headless youkai. Instead, she lifted the spell and looked around. She noticed several humans hang around, and that would be a problem.

She took out another paper talisman. Even if those people saw it, they would not be able to understand what it meant. But if a fellow Onmyouji saw her use it, they would give her a suspicious look.

The convenient thing about spells was that they did not care about how technologically advanced the world was. If she used a spell that create pitch darkness around an area, it did so even if it meant that all of the streetlights would break.

After the darkness arose, she leaned against a wall and waited. The humans, surprised at what happened, decided to leave. After all, the humans were creatures of the light. Darkness made them uncomfortable, even more so when it appeared under mysterious circumstances. All the drunks, delinquents and couples left the area in less than three minutes.

 _Alright! Now I can begin._  She took out several more talismans and put them on the ground where those undead youkai perished. She was no expert at necromancy, but if she chose the object of the spell well, she could do it appropriately. Necromancy was especially efficient on those whose personality was aligned with the Earth Element in Buddhism. Some of the traits this element represented were stubbornness and resistance to change, and such souls were more likely to answer the call of this spell.

Also, it was more effective on those who already were undead. The souls that already rejected death would do so again if given the chance, unless someone put their souls to rest. But that headless youkai only killed them and that was not enough to put undead spirits to an eternal rest.

And no Onmyouji thought about doing a proper cleansing… and she was not about to do it either. She was just about to do the very opposite.

A great amount of Fear poured out of the circle surrounded by the paper talismans, to the point that it looked like a pyre of black flames. Screeching came soon after and she could see skeletal silhouettes coming from the ground

"Nue!" Some of them shouted. "Even though we fell… you still came to revive us so we could serve you!"

"Nue? What gave you the idea that the Nue came for you." She broke the surprise. "There will be no Nue coming for you."

"What?" Several skulls from within the black pyre looked at her. "Who are you?" And then the tone of their voices started to sound pleased. "A young Onmyouji girl. Your ikigimo will have a good value."

"Well you are late for that." She said with her arms crossed. "More than twenty years passed since your last death." The pyre disappeared and the youkai she had revived started to leave it. "The Nue was revived, but was killed."

"What? Impossible!" The skeletal youkai riding on a wheel now surrounded her from all sides. "There is nobody who can-"

"Nura Rikuo united the youkai world and took him down." She said with a smile. "I hear that he turned into minced meat after his death. That must have been a sight to see."

"You dare mock the mighty Nue?!" The youkai around her had an aura of hostility, but they did not attack. No doubt, they were interested in what else happened since their last death. "Maybe the revival was imperfect. Hagoromo Gitsune will-"

"He betrayed his own mother just after he was reborn." Even though they had no eyeballs, she could feel that they were shocked at what they heard. "Unfortunately for him, the Nuras saved her life. She helped them return him to her womb… just for the record, it was not me who made that up."

"Impossible… Then the Nue is really… And Hagoromo Gitsune had…"

"He is dead for good. But it does not matter to you, I revived you to make you into my Shikigami."

"Now that is a good joke, girl."

"Of course! It would be boring if you just accepted my offer. And I thank you. You see, I was looking for an opportunity to make you pay for trying to kill those poor girls." She said and threw a paper talisman into the air, which immediately turned into a bow. "And by the way, I am an adult." Said the black-haired girl with shoulder-length hair and a pentagram hairpin. "Keikain Ryoko is my name, I suggest that you remember it."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And the arc is now officially over! Yaay!

\- We start by finding out what (or more exactly whom) the Toono youkai were looking for. Seeing as Kunio Yanagida is the author of Toono Monogatari, from where Hiroshi based the Toono Village, it was just fitting that he had some kind of connection. But there is more mystery behind this, as some of you no doubt noticed

\- And we are back in Ukiyoe! Originally, the meeting and all that was planned to happen aboard the ship, but after the Epilogue chapter was split into two, I saw Ukiyoe as a more fitting setting

\- Shiori explained some of the technicalities on how they were able to defeat Bonnouma and what the contract means for Rihan Jr. I suggest you to remember this as the following arcs will be focused quite a bit on the current Hyaku Monogatari game

\- And then the clan meeting… I am not sure how interesting it was, but it summarized some of the plot until now and furthered the plot progression a bit

\- After the fancy outro, we return back to the day we were on and show scenes from two mysterious persons. The first is quite a sinister one and it leaves no hint on who it may be… and if you even know the character. But what matters is that this person was responsible for both Yashagoro's attack and Gagoze's attack eight years ago, which put Rihan on his dark path. And now this person called for Gagoze again…

\- The final scene was from a new character- If you thought that Ryuzan was to be the only major Keikain character, you were wrong ;P And if it isn't obvious from the illustration, she is Yura's kid

\- For those interested or those who don't remember too well, the youkai that Ryoko revived are from ch99


	64. (Ryoko) - Onmyouji's Curses

**Arc VIII: Ryoko**

**Chapter 64**   **– Onmyouji's Curses**

Ryuzan could feel that it was a pretty day the moment he woke up. The warm sunrays touched his forehead, birds singing could be heard from the outside and he managed to wake up just before the intruder in his room could start playing her flute so this time he managed to avoid ridiculous dreams.

 _I must be evolving!_  He thought to himself while Ritsura played her flute made of ice. It was a pretty and nostalgic tune… even if it usually attracted bad dreams into his head.

But then it suddenly stopped, followed with a click of the tongue and Ritsura's words. "You are already awake." She herself spoke in a disappointed tune.

"I woke up at the last moment." Ryuzan, who was currently residing in the youkai residence of the Nura Clan, said while stretching his hands and before yawning. "And you should tone down with your breaks into a boy's room. It is dangerous… not to mention people will start talking." He said and looked at the pretty girl with golden eyes and the white-teal hair.

"In either of the two scenarios, my mom will rush in and kill you." Ritsura said and put the flute inside her sleeping kimono's sleeve.

"You are not even dressed." Ryuzan teased while putting his hands below his head. "Did your come for a  _quickie_  before you put on your kimono or the school uniform?"

"Tz, you grow blunter with each passing day." As usual, she just shrugged off his teases. "If it continues like this, one day mom will really need to rush in and save me from the evil Onmyouji." She said and raised herself back onto her feet.

"And yet you still hang around with me." He also started to rise up. He was enrolled into the same school as Ritsura and Rihan so he had to eat his breakfast and get going. "Admit it, you secretly like me."

"I like you…" While leaving the room, she turned around and spoke with a smile while slowly walking backwards. "…in a certain kind of way." And then she turned back and walked out.

"What a playful Yuki-Onna." He stood up on his legs and stretched himself. He liked her, but no doubt his tendency to tease her made her take him less seriously. But he preferred it that way: the kiss he gave her on their return from Nejireme made him feel awkward and this was his way of coping with it… and possibly hers as well. For as long as it was just a game, there was no need to get serious about it.

But in a way, that was also annoying.

 _Well, all will come in due time._  He put on his school uniform, grabbed the bag and went to eat some breakfast.  _Will I be a nice boy and eat in the great hall… or will I give in to my desires._  He licked his lips and decided to be a meanie.

"Good morning." He said with the brightest smile he could put on.

"Eeek…" Ritsura's mother, Nura Tsurara, was putting dishes on the table and her left eye grew and diminished after she noticed him.

"Ah momma Yuki-Onna, your timing is perfect as always!" He took the bowl from her paralyzed hands and sat down. "This household is truly blessed to have you!"

"What…" Since Ryuzan came to Ukiyoe, Ritsura's mother was cautious of him and for some reason her mind made up all kinds of conspiracies. A good person would prove to her that such thoughts were unwarranted.

But unfortunately for her, Ryuzan had inherited his father's dark and rotten soul. "By the way, there was something that I wanted to ask an expert in ice-based Fears like you!" He spoke while sitting and eating the rice. "If, theoretically, I ended up having to exorcise an ice-using youkai who, theoretically, knew my abilities well, what do you think would be the best course of actions? You know, just theoretically!"

"What are you planning, you evil Onmyouji?!" As expected, she went into frenzy. "What do you intend to do to my daughter?! And get away from this table!"

"Ah, forgive me!" He put on a somber expression and bowed with his head. "Complimenting you out of thin air… you are no doubt feeling very embarrassed right now. Mornings do that to the man, you understand right?"

"No, I-"

"And don't worry." He put his hand above his heart. "I will take good care of your daughter…" And, just for a mere moment, he put on his most mishevious smile. "I will take very good care."

"Y-y-y-you son of the devil!"

"Lower your voice, mom!" And then Ritsura walked into the dining room. "We don't want to start a ruckus just because the youkai thought you were attacked."

"It is just a matter of time until this devil attacks us all!" She spoke out while pointing at Ryuzan. "And he… he… he wants to do things to you!"

"More than half of school does." Ritsura shrugged and sat down at the table, taking one of the bowls into her hands.

"Wha…" Her mother turned red. "THAT IS NO WAY FOR A YOUNG LADY TO TALK! ESPECIALLY NOT IN FRONT OF A BOY… even if he is a devil."

"It is not my fault for being extraordinarily beautiful." Ritsura said and made a dramatic hair flick. "It is a sin, I know."

"Whatever you think about yourself, that is still not a-"

"I, for one, think that this is a beautiful sin to have." Ryuzan cut in and made a compliment. "Actually, you should be even more sinful." He winked at her.

"Why thank you~" Ritsura made a pleased expression. "But I will have to reject your proposal. The world is just not ready for a more sinful version of me."

"Uwawawawa…" Ritsura's mother finally lost her will to fight and just fell down onto her position at the table. "Why are you two getting along? You two should just be a good youkai and a bad Onmyouji and fight it out!"

"Why are you complaining?" Ritsura asked. "Deep inside, he is a nice guy!"

Her mother hit the table with her palm. "And just how do you know what he is like deep inside?"

"What is all this commotion?" Finally, the head of the family entered the dining room.

"Rikuo-sama…" He was met with icy tears of his wife.

"What… is going on here?" Nura Rikuo, in his human form, looked in surprise at his wife's antic. "Ritsura, did you tease your mother again?"

"A little." His daughter confirmed and continued eating. "It is not my fault she is cute when in distress."

"Indeed." Ryuzan, who ate his dish at a slower pace, nodded in approval. "It can be quite… irresistible."

"Please hold back from stealing my wife, Ryuzan." Rikuo said and sat beside his wife. "No matter how cute she may act." He patted her on the head.

"You are all bullying me…" Tsurara said with a deadpan face to which her husband laughed and turned to eating. After an entire minute had passed in silence, she hit her hand on the table again. "Why is he eating at our family table again?" She asked while pointing at Ryuzan. "Rihan should be sitting here, not him! This boy is not a part of our family!"

"Not yet." Ryuzan took care to mutter it under the breath so only Tsurara could hear it. And never to disappoint, she shot a killing glare at him. Being uncertain if she heard it right was probably the only reason she did not react more appropriately to his remark.

"Come on Tsurara. The more people there are at the table the merrier!" Rikuo defended his daughter's friend. "Besides, he has been living with us for two months now. It is clear that he is a good boy."

"Yeah… right." His wife said with an unconvinced look. "So, where is Rihan? I remember you two practicing when I woke up."

"We did, but after we finished sparring he said that he had some  _business_  at the school. More likely, he just preferred the idea of having breakfast with  _that girl_."

"Well, it is natural." Tsurara said with closed eyes and after finally starting to eat. "Still, it does make me feel a bit melancholic."

Ryuzan did not fail to notice how nobody suggested that they could invite her.  _Ritsura's mom complaining about me is still technically in good spirits, but that girl is not much liked here… I still wonder why._

"By the way, your presence here reminds me…" Tsurara turned her attention back at the  _intruder_. "What about that home of yours?"

"A home?" Ritsura asked in confusion.

"Yes, the home his family is lending for him." Tsurara continued. "On the day when he came to Ukiyoe, his father called me and asked me to show him around Ukiyoe… or at least the way from the train station to…" She then mentioned the name of street. "…where he was supposed to live while in Ukiyoe. That is, until certain someone invited him here." She gave her daughter a look.

"Oh? I actually thought that I was saving you from having to find a home to stay at." Ritsura commented.

"I never come unprepared." Ryuzan winked. "But now that you know one of my darkest secrets, will you ask me to leave?"

"Why? It is more fun with you around."

"And pointless." Her mother cut in. "If his family is still paying for it, he could as well live there so the money is not wasted." She looked at Ryuzan once again. "Actually, does your family even know you are staying at a youkai mansion?"

"Aunt Yura does."

""But not your father, huh?"" Rikuo and his wife said at the same time, but while Tsurara had a gloomy expression her husband had an entertained one. "Ryuji would go nuts at this." Rikuo laughed.

"With a good reason. If you are already paying for it, you should stay there."

"It would be more expensive and inconvenient for me." Ryuzan shrugged. "Besides, it was lent to us by the government for any of our Onmyouji to use if we come to Tokyo. So we don't lose money for it."

"By the government?" Ritsura's left eye widened a little.

"The current Prime Minister is a man with a good head on his shoulders." And suddenly Nurarihyon himself appeared at the table eating from his own bowl. "Unlike some men who held this position, he knows about the youkai world and takes a more active part in it. Lending a large house to Koyoto's strongest and one of oldest Onmyouji family is just one of his many moves in this area."

"Of course." Rikuo nodded. "We helped him get elected exactly because of those qualities. Such a person in charge of Japan helps in dealing with some of our enemies."

"The yakuza and their connections are as scary as ever." Ryuzan noted.

"Hmph, it was not easy." Nurarihyon put on a grumpy expression. "Both of the elder Oniedas put on a big fight to get their own candidate elected. Now we know why and using all our connections to not let them get their way was one of our best choices and one of our biggest victories against-"

"Please no politics during breakfast!" Tsurara became seriously annoyed. "At least let the breakfast be time when we don't talk about such matters!"

"Yes, you are right Tsurara." Rikuo nodded.

"A big house for Onmyouji, huh?" Ritsura must have agreed as she immediately returned to the old topic. "I wonder what it is like." She said with a mischievous expression on her face.

Ryuzan was not certain what was on Ritsura's mind at the moment, but her mother letting the sticks fall from her hand made it clear that she jumped at the conclusions again. "An empty house with a girl and a boy, alone, in it…" She muttered. "Oh no… why did I even mention it?"

"By the way, Ryuzan, did Akifusa return to Japan?"

"Not yet." Ryuzan replied. "Nenekirimaru's repairing will need to wait I fear."

"I see." Rikuo sighed. Nenekirimaru was an important sword to both Keikains and the Nuras, even though its power dwindled after he broke during the  _Battle of Spiral Castle_. Ryuzan wondered if it would dwindle again now that Rihan broke it, but somehow he doubted it. The sword, which was originally called Nuekirimaru, accomplished its role to slay the Nue. While his cousin was an eccentric, a part of Ryuzan believed him when he said that the Nue was what the sword cared about the most.

 _Well, not that it matters._  Ryuzan threw a glance at the sword that sat beside Ritsura which carried the same name but was newer and imbued with hopes of the future for both families and was made specifically for the Nuras.  _That reminds me… this sword is still incomplete, is it not?  
_

* * *

In theory, for a Nurarihyon it was easy to sneak into his beloved's home and surprise her. After all, sneaking into people's houses undetected and causing mischief was what actually made Nurarihyons popular amongst the humans. The part about ruling the youkai only mattered to the youkai.

Unfortunately for Rihan, his beloved was more complicated than an average woman. For one, Shiori always had numerous homes she either bought or lent from someone. In and around Ukiyoe alone, there were three of them and constantly moved from one another depending on convenience.

The first one Rihan found out about was also the dullest one: a boring apartment in a boring-looking apartment block. The only interesting part about it was that Hikine guarded all of its hallways and entrances. Since Hikine both disliked and distrusted Rihan, reaching Shiori was a challenge… and Shiori enjoyed Rihan having to fight through so she never stopped her tomcat from standing in Rihan's way.

But she was not there this time.

The second home was the one you would expect from a woman of her stature: a western-styled villa outside, but not far away from, Ukiyoe. It had fountains, a small park inside its walls and its interiors made it look like a palace no matter if you looked at the architecture or the furniture.

However, trying to sneak into such a place was harder than sneaking into the Nura Clan's mansion would have been. Just like the Nura Mansion, it was filled with various youkai (although they were not as much of a merry band as the Nuras were), but it was also protected by various nasty curses. The youkai and curses only tolerated Rihan when he entered in company of Shiori or some of her friends, like Kirie, otherwise most of them would assault him. But due to what kind of youkai he was, this just made him swear that one day he would infiltrate it all the way to its depth one day.

But this time Shiori was at her third home: a room in the dorm inside the campus of the Ukiyoe High. It was a bit disappointing as entering hat one was no challenge at all.

"Hi there, Hikine!" Rihan greeted a black tomcat which sat at the window in the dorm's hallway. "How are you doing?"

But the youkai cat just hissed at him. Since the entire campus was protected by Koko no Kira, who would tolerate no violence inside its school, Hikine could do nothing but watch… although occasionally he did shout with all of his strength just to alert the girls that a boy entered their part of the dorm. But since Rihan had no trouble hiding himself from the girls, it was a pointless action so he rarely did it these days.

And since his rivalry with that tomcat was just so big, he threw him a smile while opening the door to Shiori's room and entering into it. Naturally, Hikine gave him both a killing glare and a hissing objection. No doubt he would have liked to enter and continue keeping guard, but Shiori preferred not having others around when she and Rihan were alone.

But when he entered he could not see Shiori aynwhere, not even on her bed. It took him a moment to notice the sounds of shower and conclude where she was and what she was doing.  _Lucky~_  He thought and sat on the bed, preparing to take revenge he planned for two months.

After five more minutes, the sounds of flowing water ceased. Soon after, a black-haired girl left the bathroom while cleaning herself with a towel. Rihan felt like an Anime character seeing as the towel practically served as an occlusion of the most interesting parts.

He managed to take two photos before the girl finally noticed him. In contrast to her own aggressive personality, she was weak on defensive, so she jumped up when she noticed him, with the towel falling off.

But he successfully took another photo just before she jumped at him. "No photos allowed!"

But he expected that reaction so he grabbed her arms and turned her around, so she was now lying on the bed and he atop of her.

"Oh." She let out before his lips touched hers. She immediately closed her eyes and returned the kiss, her fingers intervening with his.

After half a minute, he pulled his head away. She opened her eyes and sent him a soft smile. It was rare to see her with black hair and for some reason it made him feel nostalgic. "I never thought you were the one to take such kind of photos."

"It was revenge as you did the same to me not long ago." He replied and rolled onto the other part of her bed.

"I see. I guess I deserved it." She said and raised herself up, grabbing the clothes she prepared and put atop a small cupboard.

Even though she would probably not care, Rihan averted his eyes. Some mannerisms remained, even in their current relationship.

It was scary how used Rihan got to his current lifestyle. Some days he spent with the Nura Clan, practicing his Fear and sword fighting skills and sometimes helping his sister and Ryuzan deal with troublemakers in Ukiyoe. However, his relationship with the Clan Executives got even worse since the last meeting and his rejection to help the clan itself so he kept away from anyone not from the Main House.

And other days he hung with Shiori… or Kirie, who was a friend of hers, a tale-maker, a proud Gothic Lolita and the only one from the coalition who was allowed to interact with Rihan. Due to that contract he made with Shiori, both Shiori and Kirie liked to ask him for favors, which usually meant him killing youkai from other coalitions or sabotaging any tales that they tried to make come true.

While there were no major battles between the Nura Clan and Shiori yet, the feuds between the two groups happened on a regular basis throughout Tokyo. Rihan managed to stay away from such occurrences because Shiori never involved him into them while the Nura Clan executives gave their best to actually keep him away from the clan affairs. But he wondered how long this would last… how long it would be until he decided that he could not stand aside and watch. He wondered what he would do then.

Shiori sitting down on the bed just beside him pulled him out of his thoughts. She did not say anything, but just combed her hair. Whenever the comb passed through her hair strands, they turned red.

Rihan closed his eyes again and continued to rest beside her. They had nothing to talk about at the moment, but it did not matter. Just being close to one another was enough for them to feel satisfied.

* * *

"Those two are at it again…" Ritsura said to Ryuzan while gazing upon a duo in front of the mansion's entrance.

"Well, they do have a shaky past."

In front of them were a boy and girl in Ukiyoe high's school uniforms. One was a girl with hair black as shadows, named Heiko, and the other one was Gozumaru.

"I am getting fat?" Heiko looked insulted. "One small chocolate bar will not make me fat!"

"I said you  _might_  get fat if you just eat candies and don't practice your martial skills, you mindless woman!"

"Why would I do exercises? I don't do any fighting myself!"

"This means that even the weakest shit-heads can kick your ass if they get close to you!" Gozumaru continued with his lecture. "If you continue being so pathetic, you will just be a burden to the Night Procession."

"Look who is talking to me." Heiko made a mocking grin. "O mighty warrior, does your back still hurt since that day when I kicked your ass?"

"If you want, I will kick your ass here and now…" He looked at her with hateful eyes.

"Alright, that is enough you two!" Ritsura decided that it was time to pull them away from one another.

"Finally!" Heiko raised her hands into the air. "Now I can stop speaking to this-"

"By the way Heiko, you could use some physical exercises." Ritsura decided to support one of them. "After school, go to the dojo."

"What…?" Heiko turned pale. "But… I wanted to eat a parfait with-"

"Hmph." Gozumaru was pleased with the outcome.

But Ritsura was still not done. "Gozumaru will make a perfect mentor, I am sure!"

"What?!" Both of them yelled at her, but she just walked past them with a smile on her face. She wondered how many days, or even minutes, would pass until these two wrecked the entire dojo.  _Rivalries are so beautiful~_

Naturally, both of them tried to dissuade her while walking behind her, each in their own way.

"Please Aneki, don't let him bully me!" Heiko begged.

"When did I say you are allowed to decide whom I train?" Gozumaru was less polite.

"You suggested the idea, so you take responsibility." Ritsura answered while Ryuzan tried not to snicker at their misfortunes.

"Look, just because I am your bodyguard now doesn't mean that-"

"I don't care~" Ritsura answered and hummed a song as loudly as she could.

After they returned from Nejireme, Ritsura had appointed Heiko, her loyal youkai as her bodyguard. It was a convenient way to both keep her around and get rid of one of her father's bodyguards. Not long after, she decided that Gozumaru was just wasting time at the mansion so she asked her father to appoint him as a bodyguard too. Many girls at the school were thankful, even if he rarely came to the classes.

* * *

"Sakura! Saaya!" Ritsura called the three girls who were waiting for them. "Mayuri!"

"You sure took your time." Saaya complained, grumpy as usual.

"We couldn't help it." Ritsura shrugged and pointed behind her. "These two were arguing again."

"We did not argue for that long." Gozumaru was even grumpier than Saaya. "It is you who just had to buy and eat an family ice cream while sitting at the-"

"Where is Rihan?" Mayuri asked while making sure that nobody else was behind them.

"He went to school early, probably stuffing himself with Araya." Ritsura felt proud for coming up with a sentence that perfectly said all that she thought the two could be doing at the moment.

"I see." Mayuri sighed.

 _Onieda Mayuri, the daughter of our enemy's boss… and the almighty CEO of the Onieda Corporation._  After his secret was up, Onieda Masato did not waste time in proclaiming his retirement and disappearing into the shadows. His daughter, Onieda Mayuri, inherited all of his assets (that is, the ones an average person could know about) even though she was still a minor and even though Onieda Mamoru was the older sibling. The world was set on finding out why Mayuri ended up inheriting everything and countless paparazzi came to Ukiyoe, but the Nuras drove them all away once Mayuri said that she considered turning to home tutoring in order to avoid all the journalists and paparazzi.

Ritsura guessed that the reason for Mayuri getting in front of inheritance line was the fact that Mamoru was an active enemy of his family's main organization while Mayuri was, supposedly, just someone who stood aside.  _Not that it matters. Everything in Onieda Corporations is probably handled by the professionals. Right now, Mayuri is nothing more than a figurehead who has to look nice on TV and newspapers._

Still, some members of the Nura Clan distrusted her and wanted to take Mayuri hostage, but Ritsura and her father dissuaded them from such ideas. Still, they had to compromise so members of the Nura Clan always kept an eye on Mayuri and were ready to act if an order was given. Ritsura prayed that such an order would never have to be given.

* * *

A lone policeman patrolled near Ukiyoe High. He gazed as the children from the Nura Clan entered the campus and noticed that Rihan was not with them, and neither was Shiori. He knew that most likely nothing happened, but it still frustrated him.

He walked past one of the stores and his eyes fell on a reflection. He stopped for a moment to look at it. Even though the glass reflected him, it was not a face he recognized.  _I can put on any kind of human faces… all but the ones resembling my former self._  He sighed at how his own Fear mocked him, but it was still better than having to walk around like a masked freak.

"Ao-Ju." Someone called to him and he turned around. The one he saw was a pretty man in a suit and holding a briefcase, his hair being tied into a small ponytail.

"Ah, Kurotabou." He recognized this youkai. He was from the Nura Clan, a youkai-controlled yakuza to which Rihan belonged. "Do you need something?" He asked while continuing with his little patrol.

"Did you see Young Master?" Kurotabou asked while walking beside him.

"No, I was looking for him myself." Ao-Ju shrugged. "Last time I saw him, he returned to his home."

"He left early in the morning. He said he was going to school."

"Hm, then I do not think that anything bad could have happened." Even though the likelihood of something bad occurring was small, Ao-Ju felt relieved.

"How can you be so sure?"

 _Gods, they are worse worry rats than I am._  "Because, if some intruders came to Ukiyoe, I would have noticed that at least something was strange during my patrols."

"Ah yes, that is part of your Fear, right? Your presence here is quite helpful to us." Kurotabou said while holding his finger under his chin. "By the way, why don't you join the clan? It will be easier to keep a track of young master, not to mention that you already follow behind him."

 _Here we go again._  Ao-Ju was asked that question several times already. Ever since the Nura Clan found out that Rihan made a follower, they took an interest in him and tried to recruit him. "In both my former life and this one, the yakuza just can't shrug of the desire to turn me into a dirty cop."

"We are not trying to turn you into a dirty cop. We are just-"

"That was a joke, Kurotabou-san." Ao-Ju stopped him. "But my answer is still  _no_. I am loyal to the boy, not to the Nura Clan."

"He is part of that clan."

"Don't you guys have some kind of ritual for swearing loyalty? Did he swear loyalty to the clan through it?" Even though Rihan did not talk much about his clan to Ao-Ju, he did mention something like this once.

"Yes, but it is only a matter of time until he commits himself." Kurotabou spoke with voice that held no doubt.

"Well, when that time comes you call me, okay? Then I  _may_  consider it." Ao-Ju slapped Kurotabou's back and then turned around to pass the road, leaving his companion behind.  _They sure do trust you, boy.  
_

* * *

Ritsura sat in the clubroom and looked at everyone who was present.  _Everyone is here, minus Gozumaru who is not even part of the club._  Of course, she included Saaya amongst the club members even though she was not. Mamoru also wasn't present because he had some business at the teacher's office.

None of them were doing anything special, but instead everyone wasted their time by reading or playing games.  _But I still need to get rid of some of these._  She looked towards Ryuzan, who read a Manga, and Sakura, who just sat at the table with her hands stacked together, possibly praying without anyone noticing.  _I need to get rid of Ryuzan because he is the target and of Sakura because she so nice that she would betray my evil plot._

However, Ryuzan would immediately see through her attempts to get rid of him so she had to resort to more indirect means: Shima Ryu, whom she had bought with a promise of dating Heiko.  _I am sorry Heiko_. She said to herself while Shima rose up from his seat and went to sit beside Ryuzan, taking such a position that Sakura could hear him.

"Hey Ryuzan, could we talk for a moment?" Shima asked in a worried tone.

"What is it?" Ryuzan asked back and Sakura, noticing that he was being secretive and worried, turned her attention at him.

"I don't want the others to know because Araya, and maybe others too, would make a ruckus if I said it but…" He pretended to be nervous.

"Is something wrong, Shima?" Sakura asked and got closer to him. Araya noticed them, but Ritsura already asked her to stay away.

"I think one of my friends… might be possessed…" And then he lowered his face and the rest was said in such a low tone that even Ritsura could not eavesdrop without looking suspicious.

The plan was to say that one Shima's acquaintances may have been possessed, which was something that no Exorcist could ignore. Of course, Ryuzan would not fall for it but as long as he was bored, he would go to see what Shima had in store… and just in case, Ritsura told Shima to hide the actual lie with a fake lie. Ritsura had no idea what the fake lie would be, but neither did she care.

Sakura may also not truly fall for it, but she would still go just in case she was wrong.

After three of them rose up and said they had something to do, they left.

"Good, now that they are gone…" Ritsura raised her voice so others would pay her attention and then slammed the table. "Who will go with me to investigate an Onmyouji Mansion?"

"…what?" Mayuri looked at her with a raised brow. "You mean a haunted mansion, right?"

"You mean an Onmyouji mansion where an evil Onmyouji who wants to create an army of the dead resides?" Heiko suggested.

"Or maybe an Onmyouji mansion where a ritual went wrong and is now haunted by Shikigami driven insane, with an epic boss in the center of it?" Araya asked.

"You just want to cause mischief in Ryuzan's home as a revenge for all his teases, don't you?" Rihan correctly guessed what she desired.

"What? How do you know that it is Ryuzan's?"

"He mentioned it to me once." Rihan said and continued reading his book. "Well, even if it is some kind of epic haunted house, I am out. I prefer my days peaceful."

"There is probably something cool in a mansion owned by the Keikain family!" Ritsura did not give up.

"I am also out." Mayuri raised her hand. "I don't think it would be alright to break into someone's house no matter the reason."

"I am-" Heiko started and Ritsura threw her an angry look. "…definitely going there! This is gonna be so cool! Woohoo!"

"That's the spirit." Ritsura nodded and then looked at Araya.

"Do you KNOW for certain that there is something cool inside?" Araya asked to which Ritsura shook her head. "Is it an ancient mansion that Keikains owned for at least a hundred years?" Again, Ritsura shook her head. "Do you know if at least one strong Onmyouji actually lived there recently?" Ritsura shook her head once again. "Then I am not going to waste my time with it."

"What?" Ritsura did not expect Araya to refuse to some. "What else will you do?"

"There is a promising play in one of the theaters. I expect it to be much more interesting than you trashing poor Ryuzan's home."

"Ugh…" She then looked at Saaya.

"No, I am not-"

"Okay, so Heiko and Saaya are going with me!" Ritsura rose up from her seat. "The rest… shame on you!"

"No, I am not-" Saaya rejected to come, but then both Ritsura and Heiko grabbed one of her arms. "Hey, let me go! Why am I the only one who was not asked if I want to come?!"

* * *

"This is it!" Ritsura proclaimed as the three girls, each holding a spray can of different color, stood in front of a house. It had no nameplates, but Ritsura memorized the address that her mother mentioned this morning. "Let us rock this place!"

"Rock this place, huh?" Saaya looked at the spraying can in her hand. "We are not even pretending that there could be anything more, are we?"

"No, we are not. If there was anything interesting here, I would have known by now."  _Besides, neither of you came here because you cared about such things so what's the point?_

"But vandalizing a house… isn't that a bit…" Even Heiko became skeptical.

"This is an  _easy to clean_  spray paint." Ritsura noted. "Besides, our clan will easily clean anything. But enough chatter! Let us go in!"

"Hai…" Heiko followed in a dull mood.

"Are you sure there is nothing in here, Ritsura?" Saaya spoke while they walked. "Now that I think about it, my own luck takes care that everything goes strange if there is chance."

"Of course I am sure!" Ritsura created several lockpicks from ice and took quick care of the lock.

"Aneki, how come you are so good at lockpicking?" Heiko inquired.

"You gotta know such stuff when you have the blood of a Nurarihyon." Ritsura said and opened the door. "See Saaya, everything is normal!" She said after taking a look inside.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Saaya said and put the small can spray into her bag.

"What could possibly-" But just when they all entered the house, a swarm of papers flew from a corner, flew past the three girls and they could hear the doors close. "…huh?"

They all turned around, only to see that the doors and windows had paper talismans taped to them.

"Aneki, I don't think this place is harmless." Heiko said and moved away from the door.

Ritsura did not reply, but instead went to open the door. But when her hand got too close, she felt as if an electric shock zapped her hand to she pulled it away. "Saaya, you try."

"Why me?"

"Because you are a human!" Ritsura explained while caressing her hand. "It is possible that the Keikains put some protection against youkai, but they are not types to do anything against humans."

"I don't think my luck is so good." Saaya slowly moved her hand toward the doorknob. "Ai!" But then she quickly pulled it away. "No, I am not so lucky."

"Stand aside, you two. I think this needs some brute force." Ritsura created a warhammer made of ice and hit the door, but when it got too close the hammer just disappeared. "Tz, it seems like these things dispel anything made by Fear."

"What about your sword, Aneki?" Heiko suggested another option. "It is a sword made to cut through spiritual matters, is it not?"

"I feel stupid for not remembering that myself!" Ritsura said and unsheathed her sword. She then slashed it at the door with all of her strength.

Good news was that the sword was alright and did not break, unlike the ice-hammer. The bad news was that the force Ritsura used to slash at the door seemed to have returned to her twofold so she flew backwards. "Hyaaaah!"

"Maybe we should call Ryuzan?" Saaya suggested.

"This is probably… just a game of his." Ritsura made her guess while raising herself back onto her feet. "If we call him, it may just get worse."

"So what?" Saaya crossed her arms. "We wait until we starve?"

"We investigate this place." Ritsura sheathed her sword and turned around. "And if we find no way out, we call Ryuzan and hope he doesn't make it worse for us. Is that alright?"

"We should just call him and be done with it." Saaya complained with her hand on her forehead. Still, both she and Heiko followed after Ritsura.

When Ritsura opened the door to another room, something that looked like a paper flew from it and hit Heiko's chest. "Huh?" Then, the paper burst in black flames and disappeared. "Eeeek!" Heiko immediately grabbed herself. At first it looked like she tried to grab the part of her that the paper touched, but then she started to scratch herself. "What is this?! What happened to me?" She asked while scratching every part of her body.

"Huh? What? What now?" Ritsura was too surprised to realize what happened. She was certain that there was no Fear there, yet some kind of malignant force attacked Heiko.

"It is a curse!" Saaya said and moved away from the door. "Don't just stand there, do something against the rest!"

"Against the rest?" Ritsura immediately turned around and fully opened the door. What she saw was more paper talismans, each of them releasing a dark aura, fly towards them. "Stand behind me!" Since she was unsure if her sword could be used against what looked like an Onmyouji talisman, Ritsura made a sword of ice and started hitting any piece of paper that she could. Fortunately, whenever she struck one, the piece of paper just burnt away and disappeared.

But there were way too many so she failed to stop several of them. One touched Ritsura and her eyesight got blurry, but she could still keep slashing at most of them.

In meantime, Heiko made a sword out of her shadows and struck at some of them. But her skill was far below Ritsura's so she fared badly against them. Two of the cursed talismans hit her so she started sneezing.

Saaya used her spray can against the talismans and strangely enough, they tried to avoid it. She bought enough time for Ritsura to slash at a few of them, but one managed to reach Saaya. "Damn it, I feel cold!"

"Don't worry!" Ritsura was done preparing her special attack. "It is over!" She threw her sword away and focused on each talisman in her sight. And then she released a storm of hailstorm and all of the cursed talismans got ripped apart.

"What… APCHIHA… was that?" Heiko asked while scratching herself.

"Onmyouji talismans, obviously." Saaya answered while holding her body with both of her hands and shivering as if it were winter. "It is uncommon, but Onmyouji can both lift the curses and cast them."

"This is not Ryuzan's work. Curses are not his specialty, if he even knows how to cast one." Ritsura said and walked forward. "Some kind of evil Onmyouji must have cursed this place… maybe some kind of rival?" She thought of Kashaimaru, but he preferred more direct confrontations.

"I thought of suggesting calling him again…" Saaya sighed and followed after her "…but I guess she wants to prove herself to her boyfriend."

"He is not my boyfriend! As a matter of fact, I came to vandalize this place to make him pay for that kiss, not to prove myself or find out more about him!"

""A kiss?"" Both Saaya and Heiko spoke at the same time.

"Ah…" Ritsura realized what she just let slip. "He tried to kiss me… horny bastard."

"Yeah… right." Saaya gave out one of her rare smiles and even Heiko managed to giggle between her sneezings.

They entered the living room and, fortunately, there was nothing dangerous in it. "Someone lived here recently." Saaya suddenly proclaimed.

"Huh? How do you know?"

"Look at the dust on the table." She pointed her finger at a dusty table. "Now look at the dust on the ground in the corner. Things that needed to be used for living are cleaner than the rest."

"In other words… someone slept here?"

"Yes, but definitely not in the last two weeks. There's way too much dust in tables and alike." Saaya then walked up to a trash can and started rampaging through it. "Hmm… this is interesting, my dear Watson."

"Watson?" Heiko, who did not get the reference, tilted her head and sneezed.

"What did you find, Miss Holmes?" Ritsura asked while wondering how she could touch trash.

"Packages of milk." She took two of them into her hands. "This one expired two weeks ago, this one a month and a half ago." She then looked into the trash can again. "And this package of milk expired a month ago. Someone was here not once but thrice."

"Every two weeks since a month and half ago…" Ritsura thought about it. "Does that mean that this guy is here now? Did he attack us himself?"

"Dust, Ritsura." Saaya reminded her of a small detail. "The tables would be clean now if that person was here. Besides, this person is a woman, not a guy."

"What? How do you know that?"

"Men do not have a reason to buy this." She raised a tampon package from the trash can.

"Oh…" Ritsura thought a bit while holding a finger under her chin. "Maybe Ryuzan has an Onmyouji girlfriend who got angry for being ignored?"

"It is possible, I guess." Saaya finally took her hands out of the trash can and went to wash them.

"What is with this strange book?" Heiko asked and pointed at a red notebook that peacefully stood in middle of a table. "Everything else is where it belongs so why did she leave a notebook here?"

"After all that happened, I'd rather not open it." Ritsura shook her hand. "I mean, this is obviously one big, fat trap."

"But if we want to solve the mystery, we must open it." Saaya suggested.

"Saaya…" Ritsura looked at her. "This is not you."

"Ritsura…" Saaya looked at her. "I am a journalist. It is definitely my style to investigate other people's dirty secrets." And then Saaya's eyes narrowed. "And right now I am very much in the mood."

"Do not open the notebook, Saaya." Ritsura shook her head while looking straight into her eyes. " _You_  are supposed to be the cool, composed member of our little trio. Do not go ruining the team's composition."

Saaya just gazed back at Ritsura… and then her hand opened the book without averting her gaze. And the girls then promptly read what was written inside, in red letters, while malignant black aura sipped out of it.

" _Ryuzan! THREE times did I come here to visit you only to find an unused house and no trace of you! In order to make up for money I wasted on tickets and food, I will laugh at the thought of you dealing with my newest masterpiece!"_

Beside it, there was a poorly drawn image of an angry girl's face with shoulder-length hair and a pentagram on right side of her head.

"Saaya-chan…" Ritsura closed her eyes and spoke while cupboards and doors opened all around them and paper talismans, this time with shining red letter on them, surrounded the three girls. "What have you done?"

"It was worth it." Saaya raised her thumb. "We solved the mystery and found out that Ryuzan had a crazy girlfriend once! This shall make a great article!"The member of the Newspapers club proclaimed.

"Of all people, it had to be you… I admit, me leading you guys here and not calling Ryuzan was stupid, but intentionally triggering an obvious trap…" Ritsura continued as the talismans flew at them.

"My journalist soul still claims that it was definitely worth it!"

"SAAAAAYYYYAAAAAAA!" Ritsura lost her shit, but turned her aggression toward the descending talismans.

And then the window broke.  _What now? Oh wait… weren't the windows barred by those talismans?_

When she turned around, she could see a large snake float in the air through the sea of talismans, after which they all fell on the floor as if they were just normal pieces of paper while the snake disappeared.

"Are you in trouble, ladies?" A boy's voice could be heard from the direction of the broken window.

"Ryu!" Ritsura was happy to actually see him. "And Rihan too?" She said when she noticed her brother behind him.

"You are lucky that your brother rated you out." Ryuzan spoke and jumped into the room. "These curses could be dangerous for you girls." Rihan however stayed outside, seemingly disinterested in what was going on inside.

"And your ex is dangerous for you." Heiko replied back.

"My ex?" Ryuzan looked confused, but then read what was written in the notebook. "Oh… I should have guessed that this retarded piece of shit would come to fool around. Staying at your mansion was a great decision." He said and hit the notebook with such force that it flew from the table. His voice and stature were calm, but it was clear that he was annoyed.

"Then… who is she if not your ex?" Detective Saaya seemed annoyed that her guess was wrong.

"My  _beloved_  cousin." Ryuzan shrugged. "She is nineteen years old, yet she still acts like a spoiled brat from time to time. This entire farce is not even anything special."

"A farce? These things are dangerous!" Ritsura yelled at him.

"It would not have been dangerous for anyone if someone did not break into this place!" Ryuzan gave her an angry look. "These curses are made for me, someone who can easily defend against them!"

"So they are…"

"This is a kind of game the two of us have been playing since we were children!" Ryuzan sighed and turned towards Heiko. "Would you mind giving me that?"

"Ah, yes." Heiko handed the spray can to him. "Sorry for trying to cause a mess."

"I and Ritsura also have ones…" Saaya started but then Ryuzan started using it on the wall. Soon, it became clear that he intended to leave a message for his cousin.

"You damn shorty fuckhead should just take a-" Ritsura started but then was left speechless and for a several moments just looked at it in shock. The other two girls had the same reaction.

A minute later Ryuzan still wrote on the wall while the three of them held one another and shivered at the amount of profanities that this seemingly polite boy wrote on the wall with a straight face. "A boy should never… say something like that… to a girl." One of them spoke while the girls shivered in fear of this evil Onmyouji.

* * *

Rihan and Ritsura walked alone on their way home. Heiko and Saaya decided to go shopping before the late-working mall got closed while Ryuzan decided to return to Shima, whom he left in a bar filled with girls. Of course, Ryuzan lifted the curses before he left them.

The night had already fallen, but to them two it meant nothing for their youkai eyes could see better in the dark then under the sunlight.

"Cousin… cousin… cousin…" Ritsura bit her nails in frustration. "Now that I think about it, he often mentions his cousin."

"So what's her name?"

"I don't remember… but I think he mentioned it once when I was in Kyoto years ago." Ritsura tried to remember it but to no avail. "But she was not in Kyoto while I was there.. she was on a trip or something."

"Well, you can always ask him about her."

"I should… and I should pray that he doesn't lose his shit again." The words written on the wall by Ryuzan were already traumatic enough. "I wonder if I could defeat her…"

"Sister, I don't think that you have a reason to be so jealous of her that you want to attack her."

"Jealous?! Why would I be jealous?!" Ritsura asked with clenched teeth. "I am just-"

"Lower your tone, it is night and some people are sleeping."

"Grrr…" Ritsura growled and turned her attention back to the front of her.  _But still, I wonder what kind of person she is._  Ritsura tried to imagine her based on that poorly drawn image of her head, but she could barely remember the drawing itself. The only thing she remembered was that she had the symbol of Wu Xing, the pentagram, on top of her head.

"Careful sister!" Rihan then grabbed her and she realized that she almost hit into someone who appeared from a corner.

"Ah, sorry." Ritsura immediately apologized and looked up. Under the light of the lamppost, she saw a girl with raven hair and holding a bag on her back. She wore a yellow T-shirt with a brown vest and blue jeans. But what was strange was the way she looked at them two, with wide-open eyes, as if she had seen a ghost. "I… uhm…" Ritsura found it awkward and wondered if she should apologize again or ask what her deal was.

And then the girl smiled. "Sorry for that." The girl apologized. "I should not have walked so fast."

"No, I should have looked where I was going." Ritsura decided that she was a nice person so the polite reply was in order.

"Alright! Then we are both at a fault!" The girl raven-haired offered a compromise. And then she looked at both of the siblings once again. "By the way, what is with these scarves? It is the middle of May." She spoke and went to touch Rihan's scarf, but he moved away from her. "A shy boy is not what I expected."

"Well, you were trying to touch his-" Ritsura started but then felt the girl's fingers touch her scarf.

"Hm, it looks home-made. You must be a part of a loving family. So nice…" The girl smiled while her fingers felt the scarf to the point that some of her fingers rested on Ritsura's skin.

"Okay…" Ritsura started to feel awkward and did the same thing like her brother: she moved away. There were few things as strange as a complete stranger touching your clothes.

"Ah, did I make you two feel uncomfortable? Sorry about that." The mysterious girl smile and started moving towards them. "Well, I'd like to stay and chat but it is late at night so bye bye~" She waved and walked past them.

"Okay… that was weird." Rihan commented after she walked away.

"You can say that again." Ritsura shrugged with her shoulders. "Well, this is Ukiyoe. There are always strange happenings in this town."

"Yes, but still…"

"Let us make a move on before father organizes a search party." Ritsura started walking again and her brother followed. Just out of curiosity, Ritsura tilted her head in order to look at the strange girl again. "Now this is getting creepy." Ritsura muttered after starting to look ahead again.

"What is it now?"

"She is nowhere to be seen…"

* * *

"What was  _that_  about?" A voice asked her as she walked through the town of Ukiyoe.

"What do you mean by  _that_?" She asked the piece of floating paper, a Shikigami.

"Why did you try to touch the scarves of those two?" A different voice asked. "That is just weird."

"The scarves? I was not trying to touch the scarves, but their bodies and this was the most convenient excuse I could come up with." The girl raised the fingers of the hand. Soon after, black aura in form of flames started coming from atop them. "I managed to reach her… but her brother was more cautious."

"They are siblings? Actually, do you know them?" Again a different voice asked, even though it came from the same piece of paper.

"What, you didn't recognize them? At least the boy, with his unique hairstyle should be easily recognizable." Seeing as they still did not realize it, she gave them her answer. "They are Nura Rihan and Nura Ritsura, the son and daughter of the one who killed your beloved Nue."

"Then they deserve whatever curse you put on them, mistress!" The youkai that she had tamed into becoming her Shikigami fully approved of her actions towards those two. "Actually, you should attack them and show them who the big boss is!"

"All in its due time." She put her hand into her pocket and took out her hairpin which she promptly put onto her hair. When her divinations told her that her hairpin would cause unwanted trouble, she could not understand why, though she did put it into her pocket.

She could recognize the traces of her own curses on that girl, even though someone had already lifted them. She did not know what those two were doing in her family's house in Tokyo, but if they saw the drawing in the notebook, then the pentagram would have made it clear that she was the same person as the one who cursed the Keikain family's little Holiday House.

"Why wait? We should attack now and-"

"Patience, guys. We are staying here for a while, so let us enjoy hunting other youkai before embarking on the  _big game_." She said with a face that showed little emotions, although her eyes turned red for a mere moment.

But her Shikigami could feel her inner excitement. "Yes!" The paper Shikigami burst into black flames and soon after a dozen skeletal youkai, whose one leg was a wheel, followed her from behind. They were the  _Mukurowaguruma Gang_  (Corpse-Wheel Carriage Gang), former followers of the Nue and Hagoromo Gitsune. But now they had a new fearsome boss, who had already proven her worth to them. "Let us show these Edo Youkai what true strength is!"

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Welcome to the new arc, folks! Only around a week may have passed since the last chapter in our world, but two months have passed in the story's world. The chapter shows what has changed and what remains the same while also starting a new plot-thread.

\- No doubt some of you noticed the lack of focus on Shin Sekai, Kyushu Clan and other villains. That is intentional as we are taking a small break from global problems

\- I think that I should do something about my tendency to sometimes start a chapter with a character waking up…

\- After the kiss two chapters ago, one wondered what relationship between Ritsura and Ryuzan would be. Conveniently, it got answered in the very first scene. Well, it basically shows what Ryuzan's life at the Nuras is like

\- And Riha-chan finally gets his revenge for what happened in chapter 3 ;P

\- Kirie was mentioned, but some of you may not remember her. Fear not, she will appear in person again soon enough

\- Ryoko already appeared in the last chapter, but now it is clear that she will be an important character (and an antagonist maybe?) in this current little arc, And similar to how Ryuji came to Ukiyoe for Yura and caused trouble, so does Yura's daughter come to Tokyo to visit Ryuji's son and wreck havoc


	65. Evil Shrine Maidens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two months had passed since the battle at Nejireme and the life for Ritsura had returned to its normal, while Rihan lives a different lifestyle. But troubles come to Ukiyoe, the first one being in the form of Ryuzan's enigmatic cousin, Keikain Ryoko

**Chapter 65** **– Evil Shrine Maidens**

Somewhere in Ukiyoe Town, while the sun rose, a girl dressed as a Shrine Maiden stood atop a skyscraper. In her hands she held a black bow and an arrow.

She looked at the distance, at a certain mansion that was rumored to be filled with youkai. Without moving her eyes away, she raised her bow and arrow and aimed at it.  _Too low._  She slowly started to raise her bow and pulled the arrow further.  _No, the mansion is still way too far._  She lowered her bow without letting the arrow fly. She sighed and felt the wind on her cheeks.  _And it is way too windy here…_

She looked towards another skyscraper, this one being closer to the mansion, but not as tall.  _Maybe that one will do better?  
_

* * *

"Yaaawn…" Ryuzan yawned when he woke up.  _Huh? This is not my bed…_  He opened his left eye and noticed that he was resting his head on his hands while sitting at the table.  _Ah yes… I have stayed late studying for the exam next week… and then took a small break and obviously fell asleep._  He then looked at the clock on the table and saw that it was time to get up and eat breakfast.  _Wait, who put a blanket over my shoulders?_

"Oh, so you are finally awake, Ryu?" He could hear a girl's voice from his right side.

"Huh? Ritsura?" He turned his head right, only to see Ritsura with half-open eyes sitting at the other end of the table. "Ritsura… I am sorry for saying this to a girl, but you look horrible." She had black circles under her eyes, thus looking as if she had gotten no sleep. "And why are you here? Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Right now, I am in that state of mind that values sleep as much as I value diamonds and almost as much as I value ice creams." She said and sighed. "I could not get any sleep, Ryu." She spoke in a somber tone. "For the last three nights I could not sleep."

"So you still can't fall asleep?" He remembered her talking about it the day before.

"Yeah. Whenever I manage to fall asleep, I dream of something and immediately wake up." She said and hit the table with her forehead. "And before you ask it again… no, I did not dream anything in particular. The few dreams I remember are random like every other dream is. Getting eaten by a shark, Sakura bringing in a musical orchestra into my room, Gozumaru dancing a polka dance, marrying Mizuchi, joining a circus owned by Gyuki, Toono Clan starting a Rock'n'Roll band, mom growing a moustache… none of them mean anything."

"Yeah… that's right." Ryuzan scratched his head.

"So Ryuzan, please exorcise me!" She raised her head and her eyes looked at him with unmatchable intensity. "Exorcise me until nothing is left."

"…what?"

"It is definitely the work of your cousin! I could not sleep since the day I visited your house and got assaulted by your cousin's curses! It  _must_  be her fault!" She rose up from her seat and walked up to Ryuzan. "You got rid of other curses on me as well as on Saaya and Heiko!"

"I already did all the cleansings. Besides, none of the curses out thee had anything to do with causing dreaming problems."

"I am a desperate woman, Ryu!" She grabbed him by his shoulders. "Now come! Exorcise me!" She started shaking him.

"Calm down Ritsura!"

"Exorcise me! Exorcise me I say!" She shook him more and more forcefully… which soon resulted in Ryuzan falling from his stool and Ritsura falling onto him.

"Ritsura, what kind of thing are you yelling?" Her mother, Tsurara, forcefully opened the door and walked into the room. "Which youkai would ever demand… to…" Her eyes finally fell onto two older teenagers who were lying on the ground in a suspicious position. "Oh…" Her mother blinked several times in only one second. "Oh…" And then she put on a very angry and judgmental expression. "So that's what you meant…" She spoke and started walking towards them.

"No mom, you misu-AKH"

"Young lady, I think we need to have a talk about how a girl of your age should behave. You may have Yuki Onna's and Nurarihyon's blood, but that still does not exclude the need for self-restraint!" Tsurara spoke while walking away and pulling her daughter by her scarf. "And you young man…" She looked at Ryuzan who was rising up onto his feet. "…you should feel ashamed of yourself!" And after saying that and pulling her daughter out of his room, Tsurara forcefully closed the door.

"There is never a normal morning in this house." Ryuzan sighed. "Not that I had it much better in Kyoto."

* * *

"Ahhh…" Karasu Tengu said in pleasing tone while holding a tiny cup of tea. "The Main House's tea is still the best. It is good to be back."

"It is good for all of us to have you return to us." Rikuo, who held a larger cup, agreed with him. "You cannot even fathom how hard it was to keep order in Tokyo without your aid."

"Don't talk like that, Supreme Commander. My sons and daughter are always to help, not to mention that the other Executives have become more helpful in last few years."

"It is all true, but you are still the most experienced in that field. And right now, we need the best of the best here."

"Shiori and the Oniedas, huh?" Karasu Tengu put the cup down.

"And the Kyushu youkai as well." Rikuo's face became grimmer. "They may act bold and confident, but they sure are cunning."

"I warned you about that, supreme Commander." Karasu Tengu reminded him. "While I was staying in Chugoku, I witnessed them using many underhanded tactics." His bird eyes narrowed when he crossed his arms. "And they upped their game since the fall of Nejireme. I am actually worried about leaving Chugoku behind."

"Don't worry, Karasu Tengu. Daruma will be able to continue where you stopped." Rikuo said to which Karasu Tengu nodded. However, it was questionable how much either Karasu Tengu or Daruma could do as they were merely ambassadors there. However, it allowed Rikuo to keep an eye on the region. "But please remind me, what troubles are there now?"

"Plenty. All of the leading clans in the Chugoku Confederation have fallen into some sort of internal strife or another. They were prepared for Mizuchi trying to turn the clans against one another, but they did not expect him to hit closer to their homes." Karasu Tengu then closed his eyes. "Shikoku is also not doing that good, and I bet Mizuchi is behind that too. But there is another worrisome development."

" _That Clan_  had finally started to move?" Rikuo took a smoking pipe. "I still don't really understand what makes you all so worried."

"You are still too young, Supreme Commander. You were born in times when nobody even cares about this youkai anymore. But…"

"Don't worry, I do trust your counsel and have warned everyone about it." Rikuo puffed out a smoke. "Besides, Hagoromo Gitsune considers them a threat as well. And if that stubborn and proud woman openly says such words, than I would be crazy to not heed them."

"Hagoromo Gitsune may be arrogant, but she is a wise woman." Karasu Tengu nodded in approval of her worries. "Oh, I heard that there is another enemy gaining prominence in Tokyo… Kokuhan, was it?"

"We don't know if this youkai is an enemy. Sure, he seems to be related to Shiori, but he may just be another one of her victims… if he even exists."

"With Hyaku Monogatari, it is best to not take chances."

"That's true…" Rikuo nodded. "Well, he alone doesn't matter right now. Dealing with him will be part of our… upcoming actions." Rikuo looked at Karasu Tengu. "I am sorry that I am asking you to start making plans immediately after you came back, but…"

"I understand, Supreme Commander," Karasu Tengu bowed his head. "The sooner we start to make plans to exterminate the Hyaku Monogatari in fullest, the better."

"Indeed." Rikuo nodded and looked at the window. He did not enjoy making plans to deal with Kyushu and the Shin Sekai, but making plans for destruction of this wretched clan gives him a great sense of satisfaction.

* * *

In middle of a large building area, two hundreds youkai stood in anticipation. "Your favorite time of the year has finally come!" One of those youkai stood on a quickly-made podium and shouted as loudly as he could. Every time he finished a sentence, all youkai would yell in approval. "Edo's 367th Test of Manhood is finally upon us!" All youkai shouted in approval once again. A hundred of those youkai stood around the podium while the rest, the audience, sat and flew around them. "Wrestling, rope pulling, crushing stones with your bare Fear… everything that makes a man what he is!"

"Are you ready, Kurotabou?" Aotabou asked his friend and rival while his body trembled from excitement. "Are you ready to find out who is manlier between us two?"

"Hmph, what is there to find out? I am always the best." Kurotabou spoke while tilting his hat, but he smiled like he often did when he and Aotabou challenged one another. "But I guess I will spend a few hours proving it."

"I am surprised you actually came. You always said that you did not care." And then Aotabou's smile grew. "Is it because of your betrothed?"

"I will not deny that I want to make her proud." Kurotabou did not lie.  _For you Natsume, I shall crush them all.  
_

* * *

"The first rounds for all competitions are over!" The announcer screamed as if he held a microphone. "Give special regards to Aotabou-sama, who once again won in each contest's first round! Applause!"

" _Yeaaaahhh!"_

" _Ao my man!"_

" _Crush them all like worms they are!"_

" _I want to have you babies, Ao-sama!"_

" _Where is Raiden? Aotabou alone is not enough!"_

"But don't go home just yet, my friends!" The announcer spoke aloud. "There are many more rounds in all competitions, and it is gonna get even more intense as we make the rules even harsher!"

" _Let's just skip most! Aotabou-sama will win anyway!"_

" _I still want to have your babies!"_

" _Aotabou! Aotabou! Aotabou! WOOOHH!"_

"Besides,  _almost_  everyone got to round two of at least one competition."

" _Almost_ …" Kurotabou repeated that word as he quietly walked away from the improvised  _arena_. "I can't believe… that I lost everywhere…"

"Bah, it is not my fault that everything is made for muscle-heads!" He spoke to himself while, in his human guise, he rode in a subway train.  _As if those savages know what makes a man. If it were a fair battle, rather than some mindless wrestling, I would have won easily. If it were a contest of looks that would woo any woman, I could not lose. If it were a contest of honor, elegance and spiritual purity, I would have had no rival!_

And as if the heavens themselves wanted to make fun of him, the train suddenly stopped and he fall onto a high school girl, with one of his hands falling onto her breast and another, in its attempts to grab onto something, took a hold of her butt.  _Why does this always happen to me?_

The next moment he saw an image of his fiancée looking at him in shock and disappointment while the image of a sexual harasser aired on the TV.  _No, I must not be caught!_

Just before the girl could scream, he pulled away, walked behind her in synch with the turning of her head and moved onto a safe distance.  _Now just act normally, don't prove your guilt by acting strangely…_

After a few moments have passed in relative silence, he concluded that nobody noticed him.  _Phew, this was a close one._  Now that he felt relieved, he remembered that this was how he met Torii… though back then she was a Middle School student and he was caught in the act.

_But am I really safe?_  Now that the imminent threat was gone, he looked to his left.  _Good, nobody is looking at me… not even that poor girl._  He then looked to his right… and, at the other end of the train, saw a shrine maiden stare at him.  _Damn, did a shrine maiden of all people see me?_  He slowly averted his eyes in order to not look any more suspicious.  _I better leave at the next stop._

Fortunately, he did not have to wait for long and he immediately, but with a natural pace, left the train. It was still far away from Ukiyoe, but he was not in hurry.

He walked for several minutes, but did not dare to turn around. But the anxiety was killing him so he stopped at one road and looked around at the  _cars_ … and saw the Shrine Maiden walking in his direction. _Are you kidding me? Did she really notice me?_

When the semaphore turned green, the Buddhist monk continued with his act of running away from the Shinto Shrine Maiden.

_She is still following me…_  When he looked behind himself, he saw that the girl still walked in his direction. He thought for a minute on how he could get away without her noticing and then remembered that he was still in his human guise.  _I can use this…_

He then took a turn into a side street and, while no humans were looking in his direction, returned into his usual apparel of a Buddhist monk. He continued walking forward and entered another crowded street.  _Good, this should have done it._

After five more minutes of walking, an old man walking in opposite direction greeted him. Kurotabou turned his head around to greet him back and then his eyes fell on a Shrine Maiden twenty or more meters away from him.  _You have to be kidding me…_  This time he starred at her for a several moments more. This allowed him to see the modest face of shrine maiden turn into a mischievous grin.

_She is no Shrine Maiden!_  A realization came to him.  _She is an Onmyouji!_  Realizing that a youkai's natural enemy was the one following him, Kurotabou turned around and continued walking.  _She is probably waiting for me to get somewhere with less people so she could attack me._ He clicked his tongue.  _This is getting worse with each passing moment._ There was no doubt anymore: he had to disappear from her sight lest he had to fight her.

A youkai of Kurotabou's caliber did not fear the Onmyouji. Most of them were a threat to smaller and weaker youkai, but most Onmyouji these days were too weak to pose a threat, with the Keikain and Gokadoin being a few of notable exceptions. And a girl of her age was almost never a threat.

But Kurotabou knew better than underestimate her. Even the most experienced Onmyouji would have already attacked him, reacted in the train or at least starred at him with anger or worry while following him.  _But this kid…_  Kurotabou looked behind himself again and saw that she still followed him, with her hands behind her back and a laid-back face lacking in worried.  _She is way too confident for someone of her age._

_Well, I guess it is time to stop fooling around._  Knowing that she would not attack him with so many people around them and that she no doubt expected him to continue with walking like this, Kurotabou moved onto another street and, while he was out of her sight, started to run.  _No matter how fast you are, you are still just a human and can hardly outrun a youkai. Even if you have a Shikigami which could help you, by the time you summon it I will be long gone._

Kurotabou continued running, mostly through the less crowded streets. He tried to run in a straight and diagonal lines in order to not let the distance between them reduce for even a moment.

After full ten minutes of running and making sure that, behind him, nobody was flying or riding a spiritual creature, he decided to stop. He did so in one of streets where youkai lived. There were several such places throughout Japan's cities and the great amount of Fear from youkai living here made human instinctively avoid it, thus being practically invisible to their perception. Granted, it would probably not fool an Onmyouji, but he was far enough that he did not worry about her anymore. He stopped here for another reason entirely.  _I am a bit tired after those contests and this running around… I guess I will drink a few cups at Ranma's and continue with my way to Ukiyoe._ He made his next few plans as he walked through the street, greeting occasional youkai he knew.

"Yo, Mr. Sexual Harasser." A feminine voice spoke in front of him.

"Huh, who is calling me that?" He asked when he saw nobody in front of him.

His answer came in form of a Shrine Maiden appearing from behind a corner and greeting him with a modest woman's smile.

"What?" Kurotabou's eyes widened in amazement. "How did you… Who are you?!"

"A witness, you fake monk." The sleeveless Shrine Maiden, with a strange pentagram hairpin, suddenly held several paper talismans in her hands. In contrast to her condemning words, she seemed entertained. "Now that we are far away from other humans, shall we start acting like a proper Youkai and an Onmyouji… Mister Nura clan's Executive?"

Kurotabou conjured a naginata from inside his clothes and prepared for a fight.  _Seriously, who is she?  
_

* * *

"Finally…" Ritsura sighed after she left her mother's room. She did not believe that she could have gotten any more tired, but the  _important_  conversation that just happened was almost as tiring as one night's lack of sleep.

To make it worse, she was also late for school. It were occurrences like these during which she was reminded that her father was the one who wanted her to have a healthy school life, while her mother just supported her husband and actually cared little about school, just like most youkai. To Nura Tsurara, giving her daughter (again) lessons on a lady's ethical and moral behavior was far more important than school.

_Well, time to go to school._  She fixed the school bag which she wore and, with a clumsy step, continued walking.

"What is this?" She heard some youkai in the corridors ask. She then also noticed that there was a commotion.  _Just another day in the Main House._  But even though her rationality told her that it was nothing special, Ritsura still went to check what was going on.

"Hm?" She looked at the scene in front of her: an arrow dug deep into the floor. While it was true that it was no regular sight, something did intrigue her about it. "It went in deep." She commented after noticing that the arrow wasn't only thrust into the hard wood, but three quarters of it was inside the wood.

"Strange, isn't it?" A frog-youkai commented and tapped the floor. "This is pretty hard wood. Yet the arrow burst through several layers of wall and still managed to get deep like this."

"It went through the wall?" She must have been tired to not immediately realize that there was a hole in the wall. "It couldn't have been work of a human. Is there someone in our clan who uses bow and arrow?"

"Many of us know how to use them, but none of us staying at the Main House are using it as part of our Fears." Nura clan's Jorogumo, a scary woman whose mouth was hidden under a spider-shaped mask and eyes shone with contempt, joined the commotion.

"Is it an attack from the outside then?" Ritsura scratched her chin. "Kyushu maybe?"

"Unlikely, the Kyushu youkai would have used it to kill someone. No, this was something else." Jorogumo sat down on the floor in front of the arrow and put her fingers on the arrow. "Now this is interesting."

"What is interesting?" Nattou-Kozou asked the popular question.

"It is not a normal arrow." And then, in front of their eyes, the arrow disappeared. "It is… spiritual in nature."

"Tz, someone is fooling around again." Feeling tired once again, Ritsura turned her back and started walking away. "Find the troublemaker and teach them that things like these are bad manners."

"As you command, Ojou-sama." Jorogumo bowed behind her. "What are you waiting for? Spread out and find whichever arrogant fool did this!"

Was it because she was tired or because she did not see it as a real threat at the time, Ritsura soon forgot about the mysterious arrow. Unaffiliated and rival youkai who did not dare to attack the Nuras often played pranks, and the boldest amongst them played with fire by making the Main Household of the Nura Clan the target of their pranks. Fortunately, those same fools could rarely suppress their desire to tell everyone about it so the Nuras did not need a long time to find them.

_I wish I could just stay home and rest._  She was sure that even her father would have let her stay, seeing as she did not look best right now, but she decided against it. She  _knew_  this was the work of Ryuzan's cousin, even if he claimed that it could not have been.  _He is missing something. When I get to school and find him, we will-_

"Your mother-daughter talk sure took a while." A male voice spoke when she left the mansion.

_Speak of the devil._  "Ryuzan…" She turned towards the pretty boy who was rising from the porch and put his school bag over his shoulder. "Shouldn't you be at school?" She asked and waited for him to join her before continuing on her relatively long way to her destination.

"If I am already freeloading at your house, I may as well serve as your bodyguard, just like Gozu and Heiko-chan." He winked at her.

"Oh really? I presume that Gozu and Heiko are close by?"

"Since you told me to tell them that you are not coming to school today, they left early." Ryuzan shrugged. "Gozu complained but went anyway if only to keep Rihan safe while Heiko… just got used to school life I guess?"

"Oh, I see." Ritsura shrugged as they went past the gates. "Wait, a second! I never told you to tell them that I won't be coming to school!" Ritsura looked at him with a suspicious expression… but due to her lack of sleep, her face probably did not look much different than few moments ago. "You got rid of them, didn't you?"

"Now, why would I do that?" Ryuzan smirked and got closer to her. "You look a bit tired. Do you need a hand to help you walk?"

_So you just wanted me all for yourself?_ "Haah… boys." Ritsura sighed but rejected to take the bite. "And don't joke about my current state. This is serious."

"I can imagine." Ryuzan erased the joker's expression from his face. "But most of my techniques do not work."

"Most? So you did not try everything?"

"Do I need to remind you that more than half of you is not human? If I am not careful, my exorcism will bring you more harm than good."

"What's the worst that could happen?"

"If it is something too strong or too efficient, death is a possibility." Ryuzan said with a straight face. "The next worst possibility is a permanent wound to your Fear."

"Shit." Ritsura's desire to be exorcised (per literal interpretation, not her mother's) all but disappeared. Wanting to tell him that he should try the next safest one after they return from school, she looked at Ryuzan But she stopped when she saw that he was calling someone.

After several moments, he put the cellphone back into his pocket. "Still nothing."

"Whom were you calling?"

"I was calling my cousin. But she is not answering my calls and only answered one of my mails."

"Oh… What did she say in the mail?"

Ryuzan looked at Ritsura, narrowed his eyes and put out his tongue.

"…what are you doing?"

"I was showing you the emoticon that she sent me." Ryuzan removed that horrid look from his face.

_How… childish._ "How old is she anyway? Fourteen?"

"Nineteen and graduated from High School." Ryuzan made a self-mocking smile. "I can't believe someone like her is older than me… there is no justice in this world."

"Like you are that much better. Anyway, did you tell her that it was urgent?"

"I did."

"And she still doesn't answer?"

"Obviously, she thinks that nothing dangerous was amongst the curses… that or she thinks I am able to get rid of them by myself."

"Did you mention that she had cursed a youkai."

"Not directly… but I am sure that she got the message."

"If she even read it…" Ritsura sighed. "What kind of person is… how is she called again?"

"Ryoko."

_Ryoko… I think I heard that name before._ "What kind of Onmyouji is Ryoko? I have seen several Onmyouji in my life, but never the ones who dealt in curses."

"There are more Onmyouji throwing curses around than you think. But yeah, she was always a black sheep."

Ritsura noticed that Ryuzan's brows lowered as he talked. "You don't like her that much."

"It is not that I dislike her… but she pisses me off."

"How come?"  _And how is that any different from what I said?_

"She is a genius and I am not. All I have I accomplished with hard work alone while she absorbs knowledge like she was born for it and her spiritual energy is just crazy." His brows lowered even further. "And, worst of all, she is an even bigger a hard-worker than I am… There is  _nothing_  worse than competing with a hard-working genius. And no matter how good she becomes, she always acts like she is the weakest girl in the neighborhood and tries to get even stronger." Even the fingers, which dug into his palms, showed how strong his emotions were at the moment. "I don't know what it is, but some kind of obsession drives her."

"Aha." As much as Ritsura was interested in learning more about this girl, she felt like it would have been better to not push the topic anymore.

But she also did not want to look at that angry face. "Uwaaah, I am getting tired again." She allowed herself to yawn and let her head fall onto his shoulder.

"Hey!"

"Help me a bit, Ryu."

"…sure." As expected, he had helped her walk. And just as she hoped, he seemed to have forgotten about it and returned to being the confident boy she liked.

* * *

Kurotabou was an Urban Legend from the early Edo Period, born not by human desire for entertainment but honest and pure wishes of desperate children in need of a protector. As such, he was a guardian of children, but those same children gave him a fearsome ability that also made him one of the most dreadful killers. Even without putting much effort into it, Kurotabou could kill dozens by just releasing his Fear.

But at times like these, that was no advantage. His enemy was a human girl in her late teens. While her Onmyodo made her dangerous, it did not change the fact that physically she was still no more than another fragile human.

Since he did not want to kill her, he did not intend to shower her with his many weapons. Instead, decided to try and hit her with the blunt side of his naginata and look for an opportunity where he could throw his weapons, not to harm her but to scare her.

Or that was his plan. But when he slashed his naginata at her, she gracefully avoided it.  _Was I too slow?_ Although she avoided his strike, he did not look much into it for he thought that his caution made the strike too slow. Since he rarely fought against humans, it was hard to guess how fast and with how much strength he would need to wield his weapons if he did not want to kill them.

He made three more swings, each faster than the last. But she avoided all three, not even looking worried.  _I should be going easy, not play around._  Kurotabou swung his naginata downwards, not aiming at her but at the concrete.  _I apologize to the humans who have to pay and fix this._  The concrete broke, and his naginata with it.

As expected, the Onmyouji girl got distracted. Kurotabou turned around, conjuring another naginata from inside his monkish robes and swung it with five times more strength and speed than the last strike. He prayed that it was not too much.

The girl, who was still distracted, noticed it too late. The naginata was too close for any human to avoid it. The fear alone would make them paralyzed.

And then she ducked down and avoided it. Kurotabou, due to the centuries of accumulated experience, noticed that this was a reflexive move from her part. The girl ran backwards a few steps, her serious and resolute expression never changing.

_Shit, I forgot that this girl managed to outrun me. I don't know how she did that, but maybe the same method gives her inhuman reflexes and speed?_  "I am sorry, Onmyouji… but it seems I have to get serious." Kurotabou fixed his straw-hat and made a decision. "If you don't give up, you might get hurt… or maybe even die."

The girl smiled at the warning. "So we are done playing around?"

* * *

"This is your last warning…" The youkai monk spoke in a more sinister tone. "…get out of here or your safety will not be guaranteed."

Ryoko did not give him a verbal answer and the only part of her body that had moves were the fingers of her both hands which clenched the paper talismans. She did not use them yet, knowing full well that she would need them once this youkai called Kurotabou used one of his techniques. Mukurowaguruma Gang told her what they knew about him so she had an idea of what she could expect. Still, she did not know how it would look like or how dangerous it would be. But seeing as this youkai was a higher-up in the Nura Clan and someone whose weapons killed two Gokadoins, she knew that his warning was no bluff of baseless confidence.

Her life was at stake. But then again, she always put her life at stake.

Suddenly, a chill the likes she had never felt before went through her body. Her breathing became more erratic, her heart skipped faster and faster and her mind started falling into frenzy.

_He is going to use his Fear._  Since she knew that her body and mind just reacted to a youkai releasing its Fear, Ryoko was able to calm down. As an Onmyouji, she was trained in staying calm in front of youkai.  _I can't allow myself to lose here. I must act like I will lose my life if I don't score a proper victory._ Having made that decision, Ryoko crossed her arms and started sipping her spiritual energy into the talismans.

Without any warning, Ryoko's vision was filled with weapons of all kinds. For a moment she was so terrified that she forgot what she planned to do, but when a knife scratched her left cheek she remembered and activated the talismans. A magical barrier shone in front of her, keeping her safe from Kurotabou's weapons.

But that barrier quickly broke.  _You have to be kidding me!_  They were talismans made by uncle Ryuji, a man who had surpassed the legendary Tenkai in art of barrier making.  _Maybe the problem is in me?_ She was good at many areas, but not in arts of creating barriers.

But this was no time to think about barriers. Many weapons stormed past her. Several blades caused wounds over her face, arms and legs, some shallow some deep. A mace even hit her knee, and she could feel the bone breaking.

"This was only one wave." Kurotabou spoke again, while the nearby youkai cheered and applauded. "I am sure that you now understand just how strong my Fear is."

Her face was ruined, her arms burnt from all the wounds and her knee was broken. Her instincts begged her to give up and run away.

"Yes mister. Your Fear is truly terrifying, worthy of all the rumors I heard about you." She spoke while falling onto her knees. "I underestimated you…"

Her body was wrecked… Yet she smiled, for it was of no issue.

* * *

"What?" Kurotabou muttered and, as if in synch, the youkai around went silent. A sinister aura surrounded the girl and Kurotabou could feel chill.

"But you know, mister…" The girl spoke while slowly getting back onto her feet. "We have just begun and it would be a waste of your time if I just turned my tail and ran." She raised her head again to look him into the eyes.

_Is she… even a human?_ Her eyes had changed color. They were no longer brown, but red. The eyes radiated with excitement. The chill Kurotabou felt made it clear that it would get more dangerous from now on. The other youkai must have felt the same for many of them retreated to a safer distance.

"Ah, sorry…" She spoke out and put two fingers onto her forehead, after which she closed her eyes. "I got carried away." And then, as suddenly as it appeared, the sinister black flames disappeared. And when she opened her eyes, they were once again brown and calm. "Since you are holding back, it would be bad manners if I did not do the same."

"What did you say?" For a moment, Kurotabou forgot about the chill he felt and his pride took over. "Are you underestimating me?"

"No way! I even admitted that you are not to be underestimated." Somehow, she acquired another paper talisman without Kurotabou noticing and threw it into the air. Kurotabou prepared to release his weapons at a moment's notice, but the spell she used was not an attack. Instead, a black bow with strange white patterns appeared from this air and fell into her hands. "But I think you are still underestimating me." Once she properly positioned her bow, she raised her other hand and an arrow appeared between her fingers.

_You are right._  She made a mistake for reminding him of that he should not go easy on her. He will wait for her to make an attack and then, before she could prepare another, he would put an end to this fight.

"Tell me, Kurotabou-san, what is it that you  _FEAR_?" As if the word she spoke had some kind of special power, Kurotabou's body and mind kind of… reacted to it. "Do you fear  _death_? Do you maybe fear _age_?  _Sickness_  maybe?" She asked while her eyes looked straight into his. There was nothing special in those other words, but something about the current scene made Kurotabou feel anxious.

_I am a youkai. I fear neither death nor age nor sickness._  He ensured himself, just in case.

"What am I even asking? I should be looking at your origins." Her eyes narrowed. "What you fear is probably becoming as  _weak_  as those you need to protect."

For a mere moment, Kurotabou imagines himself becoming weak and failing to protect children, his beloved and his clan. The feeling was stronger due to him losing in that  _pointless_  competition.

As if reacting to his fears, the arrow burst into black flames and the girl let go of the arrow. It was surprisingly fast, but Kurotabou evaded it. After all, he fought with his all and acted like he fought a fellow youkai, not a human.

_Now is my chance._  Before she could make another attack, Kurotabou looked at her and prepared to throw a stronger weave of weaponry at his enemy.

"What is happening to that tree?" One of the youkai screamed and Kurotabou stopped in order to look behind for a moment. But the scene behind him made him look for a few moments longer.

The arrow that the Onmyouji shoot had hit a large, old tree with large, fat branches rising far into the air. And in front of his eyes, that old and strong tree started breaking under its own weight. The branches started falling one after another and even the trunk broke into two halves, resulting in the tree turning into nothing more than a pile of rubble.

Remembering that the person responsible for this was just behind him, Kurotabou returned his attention to his enemy. The arrow she shoot at him had such a strong aura around it that he knew he would have felt it had she tried to attack while his back was turned to her, but it was still a bad idea to not face in her direction.

The girl showed a good deal of experience by, instead of just shooting an arrow while he seemed defenseless, increasing the distance between them. She was now thrice as far from him as she used to be, and was already aiming at him.

_My attacks become less efficient the further away my target is._  Realizing that this was a bad time to make a proper attack, Kurotabou summoned another naginata and took a defensive posture.  _Although an arrow would technically be even more dangerous at this instance, in this case it just makes it easier for me to defend against it._

While he was not worried about the arrow, he would need to get closer to her in order to properly attack her so he prepared for a sprint. And when she released the arrow, he started running. And when the arrow got close enough, he destroyed it with his naginata. Such a move would have been impossible for a human, but it was doable for him.

But when the arrow exploded into black flames that threatened to envelop him, Kurotabou realized that he had made a huge mistake. He tried to retreat, but the flames reached him.

**弱** _ **弱 弱 弱**_ **弱** _弱_ 弱 弱 **弱**

The Kanji for  _Weak_  filled his vision, and then everything disappeared. There were no wounds inflicted upon him and even his Fear was stable. "What… wasn't something supposed to happen?" While asking himself that, he looked back at the girl. She had a faint smile on her lips, proving that she did what she wanted.

When she raised her hand to create another arrow, Kurotabou forgot about what happened a moment ago and went to run at her again. But after only a few steps, he had to stop.

His naginata felt heavy. His clothes felt heavy. Even his hat felt heavy. And with each passing second, it got heavier.

He became  _weak_.

But he spent too much time wondering what happened to him, for when he raised his head. he saw that the girl healed right in front of his eyes. "It is of no issue." She said after even the deepest wounds disappeared and her leg became straight again. He did not know how she did it, but she had effectively turned the tables around.

_Each time I hesitate, this girl makes use of it._  Even though his strength progressively faded, Kurotabou prepared himself for another sprint.  _No matter what she throws at me and no matter what happens to me, I will attack her with all that I have got._ He let his naginata fall onto the ground and instead summoned a lighter wooden staff.  _But if I don't hurry, I will lose anyway._

The moment he was ready, Kurotabou ran towards the girl. She released another arrow at him and Kurotabou struck it with his weapon. He knew that it would weaken him further, but he had already learned that this girl would abuse his caution so it was a risk he had to take.

_盲 盲_ **盲** 盲  _盲_   _ **盲**_ **盲 盲** _ **盲**_ **盲**

The Kanji for blindness had filled his vision, and once they disappeared his eye-sight started to slowly get worse.  _So she can use different kinds of curses._  But even this problem did not slow him down.

The girl created another arrow and positioned it on the bow. "No you will not!" Kurotabou yelled and, no longer caring about holding back, released a storm of weapons at her. It was fortunate that he did not need good eyesight for this kind of attacks.

But just before the weapons reached him, a paper Shikigami appeared above her and created a strong gust of wind that pushed away many of his weapons. Several of them reached the girl, but only one managed to touch her… and it did nothing else besides inflicting an insignificant scratch on her left shoulder.

_Damn, I forgot that Onmyouji tend to have at least one Shikigami with them!_ His attack having failed, Kurotabou could do nothing else but look at the arrow in her hand start to shine in an orange light, with smoke coming out of it. When the girl released it, Kurotabou could feel that the fight was over.

Still, he struck the arrow. But this time it did not put a curse on him, but had instead exploded. He was pushed away by the sheer force of the explosion and crushed into the ground.

Having remembered that he resolved to not waste time, he tried to get up. But as if the wounds to his body and Fear strengthened the curses, Kurotabou's strength had faded away and his vision became so blurry that in few more moments he would not see anything.

Yet, he smiled. For some reason, he did not fear death and he felt amazedat the way the young Onmyouji fought.  _It is kind of… nostalgic. But why?_

"This was fun, mister." The girl walked up to him and spoke. He could not see her face that well, but he knew she made an innocent smile. But he did manage to notice that she no longer held a bow. "If we fight again sometime, I am sure it will be even more fun… but now I have leave. Bye bye!" And so the Onmyouji left without doing her duty of killing the youkai.

Kurotabou wondered what her objective was. Although she seemingly met him by an accident, the fact that she recognized him as an Executive of the Nura clan made him think that it was no accident that they met. Actually, it may have been that the accident on the train led him to noticing  _her_.  _Somehow, I have a bad feeling about this. She did not kill me, but-_

"What are you doing over here, Kurotabou?" And then he could see Aotabou's silhouette above him. "I don't know what type of a guy did this to you, but you'll bring down the reputation of the Nura Clan's Strike Captains."

… _what is this horrible feeling of a Deja-Vu?  
_

* * *

Only half an hour after having defeated Kurotabou, Ryoko left a store where she bought, and had changed into, some western clothes. After what she did to the Nura Clan's Executive, the Nuras were bound to look for a Shrine Maiden with a pentagram so she had to change her clothes and put the hairpin. It would not be good for her if she was confronted by too many youkai before everything was ready.

But still, she was a sore thumb amongst the other humans around her. The healing and creating the explosive arrow took the toll on her, so she was exhausted both physically and mentally. Every tenths or so step she made was clumsy and her breathing was erratic.

_I have to sit down and rest a bit._  While moving around gave her an illusion that she was putting a distance between herself and the Nuras, she knew that it actually meant nothing. If her guise failed, it would be the same no matter if she sat or walked. So when she found a park and a free bench, she sat down and rested her hand.

_Why am I even doing this?_  The enemy she just fought made her think again about her own intentions.  _It is ridiculous and pointless… and in worst case, it will cause irreparable damage. I should just return to Kyoto._

While second-guessing hr actions, Ryoko took out the small cellphone and checked the missed calls and emails.

Two mails came from her mother, who asked her how she was doing in Tokyo.  _I am doing fine._ She typed what she thought and sent the reply.

Several mails were from her friends from Kyoto.  _Heh._  She smiled when some of them asked which college she was intending to enroll in. Many of her friends still did not believe that she would seriously stay an Onmyouji and not get further education. She typed a few jokes as replies and moved to other mails.

The next one was from Uncle Ryuuji, who asked her to teach his son a lesson if he gets too cuddly with youkai again.  _With pleasure, uncle._  She typed and sent her reply.

Next one was a video mail from Touka, a Shrine Maiden and close friend of Ryoko. Touka said how she wished that she wished that she came to Tokyo with her, but her chores at the Shrine of Inari were just too numerous. So she just wished Ryoko to find Ryuzan and spend some quality time with him.  _Family has to ALWAYS stay together!_  Ryoko's fingers squeezed the cellphone and she immediately moved to other mails.

What remained were a dozen mails and missed calls from Ryuzan who asked her… no, ordered her… to help him lift a curse from his friend that was probably caused by Ryoko's prank.

She clenched her teeth as she passed through them. Her earlier thoughts about going back to Kyoto have become no more than a distant memory.

She would do what she came to do, no matter the costs.

* * *

" _Kurotabou-sama had been defeated!" A youkai screamed while running through streets of Ukiyoe._

" _Another enemy had appeared! Bring out your weapons!"_

" _A cute girl is wrecking chaos in our city!"_

"Geez." Nuregerasu complained while walking through these now chaotic streets. "This is why I rarely leave my mountain… there is always some indecent ruckus around here."

"Then why did you come?" Her companion asked.

"My husband returned from Chugoku and where does he go? To the Main House." Nuregarasu swung her fan around. "I will squash that sorry excuse of a bird even if it has to be done in front of the Supreme Commander."

"Ha, that will be a fun a sight." Her companion said and took a gulp of sake from the cup that she carried around. "Part of me actually misses Ukiyoe and its chaos."

"Hmph, you are no different from my husband. You should come visit your family more often…" Nuregarasu spoke and looked at her smiling companion. "…Setsura."

* * *

**I-I-I-I-I**

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And another chapter of the Ryoko arc is over! After two chapters of teasing, Ryoko gets her debut fight!

\- Originally I planned to have two plot lines intervene in this arc, one with Ritsura, Ryuzan, Ryoko, etc. and another with Rihan, Shiori , Kirie, etc., but instead decided against it and have them happen one after another

\- As usual, the scenes with Tsurara and Ritsura are fun to write. And now grandma had come to the town… oh my…

\- Karasu Tengu has finally returned. I sure missed him as much as I missed Rikuo

\- A person called Kokuhan making a name for himself in Tokyo is a bad news… and even worse news is that another youkai clan had emerged, whose leader is feared by even the great Hagoromo Gitsune

\- Yes, Nura clan has a Jorogumo amongst its ranks. She appeared several times in the clan meetings and although she had a memorable character design, her only role was to stand beside other anti-Rikuo executives

\- A lot of Déjà vu in Kurotabou's scenes. First, the mirror opposite of the scene where Kuro and Ao visited a bar and all women jumped at Kuro, resulting in Ao leaving angry. Then, we have Kuro's luck make him harass a girl on the train… again. And then he gets defeated by a Keikain just like Ao did in canon (Ao even used the exact words that Kurotoabou used in the canon when he found Aotabou)

\- Kurotabou lost the battle against Ryoko, not because he was weaker but because he had too many wrong expectations. Ryoko is not someone whose techniques are Orthodox in the Onmyouji world


	66. Family Issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Karasu Tengu returned from Chugoku, and Setsura also arrived in Ukiyoe. In meantime,Nura Ritsura suffers from sleep deprivation and the cause of her current melancholy had attacked and defeated Kurotabou.

**Chapter 66** **– Family Issues**

"One trouble after another…" Nura Rikuo muttered to himself early in the morning while he walked through the hallways of his household. In contrast to his relaxed pace of walking, the other youkai were running around or talking in loud voices.

To be honest, there was a big issue: one of the Nura Clan's Strike Captains, Kurotabou, had been assaulted and defeated by an unknown Onmyouji last night and only now regained consciousness. Naturally, the youkai became rabid at the idea that such a powerful Onmyouji walked around their turf.

He himself did not see it as much of a reason for worry. Onmyouji often attacked youkai on their turf, but it rarely grew into anything special as most Onmyouji were oblivious about the youkai world. For a long time, even the Keikains were unaware that there were organized youkai clans in Japan Had her victim been someone outside the Nura clan's board of executives, this incident would have ignored by most.

"The Supreme Commander is coming in!" His arrival was announced by some small youkai sitting in front of Kurotabou's room. When he entered, everyone but Kurotabou (who was lying down) and Torii (who still viewed him as a friend) bowed.

"You seem to be in bad shape, Kurotabou." Rikuo said to his comrade. He did not expect him to not be able to even raise his head.  _Maybe this is more serious than I thought?_ If wounds inflicted upon Kurotabou were major, he would have to hunt the Onmyouji down.

"This is not because of the wounds, Supreme Commander." Rikuo must have shown his worry on the face when Kurotabou spoke those words. "It is just the result of an Onmyouji's curse, but I can already feel it going away little by little. None of my actual wounds are dangerous."

"That is good to hear." Rikuo smiled and sat down in front of him. "But still, it is surprising that an Onmyouji managed to bring you to this state." Rikuo then remembered hearing the Onmyouji in question was a girl, or a young woman at best. "Did you hold back?"

"A little, but only at the beginning." Kurotabou gave an honest answer. "But then again, I am pretty sure she too held back." Rikuo could see that Kurotabou's eyes narrowed, probably due to him remembering something. "I am not sure if I would have fared any better had I fought with my all."

"She is that strong?" Rikuo became a bit more worried, seeing as there are few enemies who could stand against Kurotabou's attacks.

"I don't know… it is just a feeling that I have."

"How does she fight?" Rikuo decided to ask the important question, even though he was certain that Karasu Tengu asked it as well.

"She uses a bow and summons arrows. One arrow she used caused an explosion, but most of other arrows inflicted curses. "

"Curses?" Rikuo knew that Onmyouji could both lift and inflict curses, but inflicting curses was not something that honorable Onmyouji liked to do.

"Yes. One made my eyesight worse while another one weakened me… that other one is the reason why I am still down here." Kurotabou let out a small smile. "But those are not the only tricks she has. She also has a Shikigami who could deflect all my attacks without being fully summoned. She also has unusually high reflexes and somehow managed to move faster than I could, though I did not see if she ran, rode a Shikigami or something else." And then Kurotabou put on the worried expression back on. "She can also heal her wounds with incredible speed and… there is something more, but she did not use it."

"Something more?" Rikuo asked hoping he would get an explanation, but Kurotabou just shook his head. "Alright, so what did she look like?"

"Oh yes… strange that Karasu Tengu didn't ask me about it. Well, she…" Kurotabou started but then he stopped and his eyes widened. "What… what does she look like again?"

"So you too, huh?" Rikuo sighed.

"Me too?" Kurotabou looked at Rikuo in confusion.

"Nobody else could remember how she looked like, either. If I had to guess, she used another one of her curses."  _She sure has a plenty of inconvenient abilities._ "But it is not only you guys and your minds. Some of youkai tried to take photos and videos, but all those devices started malfunctioning the moment they started recording her."

"She sounds dangerous." Torii joined into their conversation. "I wonder why she had attacked Kuro."

"Oh yes…" Kurotabou spoke like he remembered something, but for a moment Rikuo swore he could see embarrassment on Kurotabou's face while Torii was still looking at Rikuo. "She knew that I was a part of the Nura Clan."

"An Onmyouji who is well versed in youkai world then… that's quite rare."  _And also quite dangerous._  Rikuo rose back onto his feet. "Well, I will leave you two alone then." He looked at other youkai while saying this.

"Thank-" Kurotabou started but Torii cut in.

"Thank you, Rikuo." Torii said with a large smile. "You heard your boss. Get OUT."

"Hai!" Numerous small youkai immediately ran out of the room. Rikuo smiled and also left the room, leaving Kurotabou to Torii's mercy.

"Supreme Commander…" Not much of a surprise, Karasu Tengu flew to him. "You talked with Kurotabou, didn't you?"

"Yes, the Onmyouji seems quite dangerous and strong."

"We should take action. Who knows what else she could do?"

"This is not the first time, nor the last, that an Onmyouji attacked us." Rikuo disagreed with his opinion. "Besides, it did not happen in Ukiyoe."

"So we will let it… go?"

"We will see what happens next." Unlike Karasu Tengu and many others, one Onmyouji did not worry him. It was natural for youkai to be worried about strong exorcists, but Rikuo was still more human than youkai. "If she does nothing else, we save ourselves unnecessary effort and trouble."

"And if she does attack again?"

"Then we shall deal with her."

* * *

Ryoko slowly walked through a street early in the morning. Dressed in the casual clothes she bought the day before, she was unlikely to be recognized by the youkai of the Nura Clan, especially since she had used a curse that she developed herself.  _But still, there is no saying what kind of youkai watched my fight with Kurotabou. It is possible that someone was unaffected._  Millions of people living in Tokyo and normally finding her would not be an easy thing to do, even for a youkai yakuza.

But right now, she was passing through one of streets where youkai were in abundance… and furthermore, she walked past a place called  _Bakenekoya_. From what her Shikigami told her, it was a bar and a gambling den which youkai frequently visited. It was also a favorite socializing spot for many of the Nura Clan's higher-ups.

As an Onmyouji, she could feel many Fears radiating from that place.  _There are many formidable youkai in here. I guess I could walk in and pretend to be an ignorant human, but if that failed I would be in trouble._

Just to re-assure herself that this was the right place, she looked back at a map on her cellphone. It showed a map of Ukiyoe town, onto which she added marks that together formed a spiral. She zoomed at one of those marks until she got a satellite overview of the area and, to her annoyance, the mark was just above Bakenekoya. Most of the marks were in unimportant locations, but a few like these ones were in inconvenient locations.

So she would have to find a place to change back into her Onmyouji clothes and then take care of this place.

* * *

"Shut up…" Rihan muttered to an annoying sound. "Shut up already…" He spoke, but the alarm on his cellphone did not stop ringing. "Gah, why did I even set an alarm?" He wondered while rubbing his eyes and listening to the annoying ringtone. "Wait… I never set alarms." He never had need for it for the servants woke him up before breakfast.

In other words, someone was calling him. And there was only one person who would consider it appropriate to call someone so early in the morning.  _Shiori…_  He put out his hand to answer the call without raising himself or the cellphone.

" _Good morning, my love~"_ She spoke in a loud noise. Not bringing that thing to his ear was a great decision. With such a start, this was bound to be the day on which he made great decisions, he was sure of it.  _"How is my sugar bear?"_

"What's with that sweet talk?" Rihan asked while raising up and stretching his arms. "Did you do something bad again?"

"… _you sound distant. You are not holding this to your ear, are you?"_

"No." Rihan said and took the uniform that sat right beside his bed, prepared for him by one of the servants.

" _Tz."_  Shiori clicked her tongue.  _"You disappoint me again, Riha-chan."_

"A shame, for I am very proud of myself." He said after starting to dress himself. "So, is there a reason for why you are calling me this early in the morning?"

" _I was bored and lonely."_

"I should have guessed so."

" _You should be apologizing for not being here with me when I woke up."_

"Sorry love, but I can't always be absent from home."

" _I know but… ah, I will be late! We will talk about this at school! Bye bye darling~"_

"Bye bye." He replied after which she ended the call. By now, he was fully dressed and ready to go to school.  _But it is still way too early…_ He thought while going towards the doors of his room. _Well, I will find someone to talk to, at least this house does not lack people._

"Rihan!" And just when he got in front of the door, it slid open. "Grandma is here!" Said a woman with dark-purple hair and red eyes, and who wore a white kimono and a scarf.

"Grandma Setsura?" It was quite a rare sight to see his maternal grandmother. "What are you doing here?"

"Hm." She did not seem to have liked his response as she put a sleeve in front of her mouth and said: "That's not a proper way to address your grandmother."

Rihan sighed. "Good to see you grandmother. How are you doing? Oh, I am so happy to see you after so many years." He was well aware of how artificial it all sounded.

"You did not even try." It was her time to sigh, after which she smiled again. "But oh my, have you grown up. You are becoming as handsome as your grandfather."

_Which grandfather exactly?_  Rihan thought about his namesake as well as the mysterious father of his mother.

"Here, I brought you some gifts." She said and raised one of two bags that she brought with her. "I was unsure of how fast you would age so I bought all kinds of stuff…" She took out some sentai action figures. "Here, you can always tell a lady you are courting that you grew up with this. Girls today love dramatic, pointless stories from boys." After handing him the action figure, she took out a folded, blue yukata. "Here, this should be your number. I heard from your mother that you always wear some stupid, gloomy stuff…"

"It is not stupid." He complained but accepted her gift.

"Girls prefer more vivid colors you know."

_Yes, but my girl has too dark a soul for such preferences…_

His grandmother put her hand into the bag again, suggesting that she was still not done. "But seeing as the girls of today often lack taste, here are some western clothes. I hear Americans love them." She then handed him another folded set of clothes, thankfully in darker colors.

"I am starting to see a pattern here…"

His grandmother ignored his remark. "Here's a short guide in getting a date that I bought on a sale." She handed him a tiny book that he really did not need. "In case a girl you like has a very sweet tooth, here is a very cute phone strap that will allow you to fake having a gentler side." She gave him an innocent looking artifact that she told him should be used for evil. "This may look like a perfume but is actually a very strong aphrodisiac. It works wonders on youkai women and should be even better on human ones." And now she gave him an artifact so evil that it should be sealed in a shrine and surrounded by four statues of Buddha.

_This is getting awkward._  "Just so you know grandma, I already have a girlfriend so I don't need-"

"So? Get some more." She said a matter-of-fact. " _My_  grandson should be above normal men."

_This woman is pure evil._

Fortunately, a certain someone with a lot of authority overheard what she just said. "MOOOOOM!" Suddenly Rihan's mother appeared behind her own mother. Suffice to say, she was red with anger.

"What is it Tsurara?" His grandmother turned towards her daughter. "Don't you see that I and my grandson are bonding?"

"You are spreading bad influence!" Tsurara pointed at her. "Aphrodisiac? Telling him to… to…"

"My goodness, Tsurara." Setsura now turned her fool attention to her daughter. "You used to be such an obedient and nice daughter. What happened to you? You should show respect to your mother, especially after not seeing her for years."

"Which mother sends a little child to go through half Japan and seduce a yakuza?" His mother did not back down. "And then doesn't visit for several decades."

"It is thanks to your mother that you are now happily married to a Lord of Pandemonium." Rihan's grandmother pouted. "You should have more trust in me."

"My maternal instincts tell me that I should not even consider that option." His mother continued with her defiant attitude.

"What a stuck-up woman you have become…" His grandmother sighed and turned around. "Think what you like, but you can do nothing to stop me from seeing my dear grandchildren." She spoke while leaving the room. "Now, I will go see my dear granddaughter who respects me more than-"

"YOU STUPID OLD HAG!"

When Ritsura kicked her grandmother with a flying kick, time stopped so that Rihan and his mother could gaze at the image in front of them in its full glory.

Then the time continued moving and grandma Setsura was pushed onto the ground while Ritsura landed on her feet.

"What was that for?" She asked her granddaughter.

"Haaah?" Ritsura gave her the  _Yakuza-Girl (not Princess) stare_. "After so many years of not visiting, you have decency to ask such a question?"

The  _Yakuza-Girl (not Princess) stare_  must have had an effect as their grandmother looked terrified. "I was busy and could not…"

"Sister, your hair horrible." Her hair looked worse than Kejorou's when she wakes up.

"Oh…" After she heard that, Ritsura looked up, created a comb out of ice and started fixing it. "Ugh, it took me an entire hour to hide the signs of my sleep deprivation with make-up. I completely forgot about my hair…" Still, it took her only a few (quick) moves to fix her hair, after which she made a hair flick.

"…so that's why I could not come, even though I wanted." Their grandma talked without a stop. At least she replaced her shocked expression with a more dignified one. "As a matter of fact, you should know that I also…"

But Ritsura did not pay her any heed and instead grabbed the bag from the floor and started picking through it.

"Oh yes, I brought you some gifts that-"

Ritsura took out a doll.

"Umm…" Her grandmother looked worried again. "I was not sure how fast you aged so-"

"You did not even know how old I was?" Once again, she gave her the  _Yakuza-Girl (not Princess) stare_. Then Ritsura continued rummaging through the bag and said. "28%"

"Huh?" Grandma was confused.

"But since you made that insensitive remark of not knowing how old I and my brother were, I am reducing it to 19%."

"Huh?" Grandma starred in confusion. "19% of what?"

"Of how much these gifts make up for your absence." Ritsura said while pointing at the bag. "Don't bother talking to me until you increase the percentage to the proper value."

"What?" Grandma became angry. "Who do you think you are to-"

"By the way mom…" Ritsura then, insensitively, turned towards her mother. "I will be skipping school today."

" _Look at me while I am talking!"_

"Are you still unable to sleep, dearie?" Their mother asked in a worried tone.

" _Hey!"_

"Yes… I and Ryuzan will continue looking into this."

"I see." The situation was so bad that their mother did not even complain about the resident Onmyouji. "But you really should not be ignoring your grandmother like that."

" _Yeah, tell her!"_

"Ignoring? What are you talking about mom? As far as I am concerned, she is not even here." Ritsura shrugged with her shoulders while Rihan could see the moment when their grandma's heart broke into two halves. "Waiting for years to see her again, but she did not even bother to send a postcard to her grandchildren." And then those two halves got their own halves. "And yet I still believed that she at least cared, but not even knowing how we looked like proves that I was being naive. And her thinking that such cheap toys would make up for it… how ridiculous." The heart kept breaking into tinier and tinier pieces. "I may as well have only one grandmother." By now, their grandmother's heart had fully turned into dust.

"That's a bit… extreme, don't you think?" Their mother commented.

"Ah… sorry, maybe it is. This lack of sleeping makes me INFURIATED!" She suddenly shouted. "Ugh, sorry… I will go find something to calm myself down. See you later, mom and bro." And so, Ritsura walked away, leaving her grandmother paralyzed.

"19%..." Their grandmother spoke. "That means that I need many, many, many more gifts…"

"34%." Rihan said.

"Huh?!" His grandmother turned her head at him and looked in shock.

"34%, grandma. I too am hurt by your insensitivity."  _No way in hell am I letting sister be the only one to get so many gifts!_  Still, he went softer on her so he gave a larger percentage than his sister did.

"I… I…" For a few moments she was rendered speechless, but soon took on her dignified posture again. "You know what, I do not care. You two spoiled brats…" And so she turned around and started walking away.

_Did we go too far?_  And while Rihan contemplated his own and his sister's actions, he heard his grandmother's yell from afar.

" _Hitotsume, give me all the money that you have! Now!"_

A small few moments later another shout be heard.

" _Karasu Tengu, give me money and I will put in a good word to Nuragerasu for you. What? Give me more than this!"_

Soon after, the whole mansion went into chaos due to his grandmother mugging everyone she came across.

"I am feeling sorry for them." His mother mentioned.

"Me too, mom."

* * *

"What's with that face, goblin? You ate too much again?" As usual, her brother greeted her in the friendliest manner possible.

"Ryuji…" Yura muttered and sighed when she saw who waited for her in the dining room. Just seeing his face and hearing his words transferred her from the state of being half-awake to the state of being fully awake and ready to defend against any of his remarks as well as she can. "Why are you here? Where are my husband and kids?"

"I told your husband that Yuko and Kamuri could use some training so he did just that." He explained and Yura had zero doubts that Ryuji intimidated them into doing so. "Ryoko was not even here so I did not need to bother about it."

_Indeed, she is in Ukiyoe right now…_  This made Yura feel anxious, but Ryoko was an adult now so there was nothing that she could do about it. "So, why did you go to such lengths to come here and get rid of my family?" She asked as she sat down at the table.

"I am also your family, goblin." Ryuji said with his trademark expression. "You could at least try to be friendly, you know."

"It is early in the morning Ryuji and I am tired." Yura said while rubbing her face. "I am not in the mood for you games and taunts. So just tell me why you are here."

"You are always tired, goblin. I came to hang around my sister a bit. We are siblings after all."

_He must be bored to waste time like this…_ "So, what is it that you wanted to chat about, brother?"

"I hear that Yuko and Kamuri have managed to summon the Hagun."

"Yes, just yesterday… rumors sure do spread fast." Yura said while the maids put the food onto the table. "We still have to confirm all the facts, but I am positive that the summoning was successful."

Summoning the Hagun was very important in House Keikain, for it proved that the Onmyouji had a great amount of talent. It was actually of such importance that the summoner was immediately made the heir, no matter what kind of competition there was.

"The branch families will not be happy about it." Ryuji sighed. "Not in slightest."

"I know. However, it does not matter."

Ever since the curse of Hagoromo Gitsune was lifted, the branch families have become rowdy. For four centuries members of the branch family, because the main family's male children died at a young age, could rise and join the main family. But now that the curse was gone, many of them feared that such adoptions would no longer be as common and that their other rights would gradually get stripped, so they hoped to at least get someone from the branch family to become the head of the Keikain House.

And this situation was abused by a certain faction inside the Keikain House, the one whom Yura saw as her greatest nemesis. If not for them, Yura was sure that she could have kept branch families at peace.

"But it is their fault if this surprised them." Yura took an egg, broke the shell and had it fall onto her rice. "Both Yuko and Kamuri are talented and had been training at Hagun summoning for years. And I am not saying this just because I am their mother." Indeed, she had trained many of Keikain youth over the years so she knew just how talented her own children were.

"Still, they had probably hoped to have few more years. Yuko and Kamuri are still eleven years old. Even if they manage to train someone to summon the Hagun, they would be overshadowed by the ones who did it at such a young age." Ryuji added and took a rice ball. "But then again, you were also quite young when you summoned the Hagun." For a few moments, there was a relative silence until Ryuji ate his rice ball. "But you did not mention Ryoko in this whole story."

"What's the point? She did not even try her hand at summoning the Hagun." Yura frowned. "Even though I am sure that she would have mastered it by now if she just tried."

"Maybe she had, but keeps it secret?" Ryuji suggested. "Knowing her, she just did not want to end up becoming the heiress. But also knowing her, she would be interested in that kind of techniques."

"It is possible." Yura agreed as Ryoko often trained in secret, mainly because many of the Keikains did not approve of the kind of Onmyoudo that she practiced. "But I doubt it. Hidemoto would have said something if she was able to summon it."

"The chance exists. We should interrogate her once she returns from Tokyo."

"Why are you that interested in her using the Hagun? Like most Keikains, you are not fond of her techniques."

"No, I am not. Curses and such… she is giving us a bad name." Ryuji said with displeasure being obvious on his face. "But the twins are too soft and naive, just like their father… and from you they inherited an incredibly high level of stupidity." Yura frowned when he said that, but he did not care. "At least Ryoko is assertive and would not be thrown around by the rest of the family."

"You are underestimating Yuko and Kamuri." Yura shrugged. "Besides, Ryoko is so disinterested in inheritance that she went out of her way to not learn Hagun."

"Yes, it is a shame that she is still just a brat who doesn't yet understand the importance of all this. We are still in a crisis and-"

"Shut up, brother. Yuko and Kamuri summoning the Hagun is a case for celebration, not your pointless loathing." Yura had to give her best to not point at Ryuji with her chopsticks. "If you are so dissatisfied with the twins, why did you not help your own son in summoning the Hagun?"

"He lacks talent, just like me. No amount of effort would have helped him in summoning the Hagun." Ryuji crossed his arms as she spoke. "Besides, that walking sack of disappointment is more interested in chasing skirts than in being an Onmyouji."

_There we are, being tsun-tsun again._  Yura sighed as she knew that Ryuji had quite a bit of pride in his son, though he would never show it.

"And now he went to Tokyo to deal with the Final Boss of that quest… or should I say the Final Skirt?"

Yura almost spat out the food from her mouth.

"It is not funny." Ryuji said with one of his ugly, trademarked grimaces. "It is a youkai skirt that he is chasing."

" _The final skirt._ " Yura repeated in a dramatic voice and continued giggling for a while longer. Then she noticed her brother looking at her with a melancholic expression, and looking as if he wanted to ask her something. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Ryuji said and averted his eyes, after which he promptly changed the topic. "Hagoromo Gitsune sent a letter."

After hearing that name, Yura stopped laughing. "Is this about… them?"

"Yes it is." Ryuji confirmed her suspicions. "If she is to be believed, the so-called Kitsune Clan had started to move."

* * *

"Hmm…" Setsura muttered while looking at her wallet. "I did improve my economical situation, but it still won't be enough to buy the necessary amount of gifts." She put away her wallet and started thinking about alternatives. "Maybe I could make them something? Or take them somewhere?" After a few moments of thinking and scratching her chin, she realized that it probably wouldn't work. "No, it might be better if I find a part-time job and have the boss give me extra after a fancy dinner and some flirting."

"You are taking this too seriously, mom." Her daughter appeared beside her. "Ritsura was just kidding you know, so you don't need to lend money from everyone here."

"She is angry." Setsura replied to her and went to pour herself some sake. "You want some too?" She offered some to Tsurara.

"I don't want to get pulled into another drinking competition with you, at least not this early." She rejected her offer with a smile. "Maybe she is angry a little, but much of that frustration comes from not getting much sleep."

"Yes, I heard about her sleep deprivation from Karasu Tengu." Setsura sat down and drank some of the sake.  _Still, all she said to me was correct and I can't blame my grandkids for being grumpy at me._  "Do you still not know what the source behind it is?"

"No, we don't. There's a chance that it was an Onmyouji's doing, but as far as we know it could be the doing of an enemy youkai." Tsurara sighed and sat down. "If it does not get taken care of by tonight, we will have to find some Kami or someone else who could help her."

"You should have done that from the start."

"I wanted to, but she is clinging to the idea that her boyfriend can help her." The annoyance on Tsurara's face was obvious. "But if he does not help her by tonight, I am taking a more forceful approach."

"Oh, I see… well, she is a teenager after all." Setsura took another sip of her sake. "Wait, a boyfriend? She has a boyfriend?"

"Well, not formally." Tsurara sighed. "But she hangs around him so often that he may as well be… not to mention that she even had him live with us here." Tsurara averted her eyes, her grimace making it clear that she was not too happy about it. "I am telling you, it is just a matter of time until they… ARGH!" And then she put her hands over her face. Setsura was not sure if it was because she still saw her as her baby-girl… or because she just disliked this boy that much.

"She may be young by a pure Yuki-Onna's standards, but she is her own woman now. You have to accept whatever man she chooses." Setsura lectured her daughter, just like in the good old days before Tsurara became arrogant. Still, she wondered what kind of boy would make her fall for him.  _It better not be some softie._  "So, what kind of youkai is he?"

"A youkai?" Tsurara moved her hands away and looked at her mother. "He is not a youkai."

"A human… I should have guessed it. She may look like a Yuki-Onna, but she is also a Nurarihyon. And like all of them, I guess she has hots for human brides." Setsura poured herself some more sake. Rihan had sympathies for some human girls before he met Yamabuki and Nurarihyon even chose a human woman instead of Setsura, which was something that she would never forget. "He is some kind of very nice guy, am I right?"

"He is an indecent man who should be kicked out of this house." Tsurara said with a cold tone befitting a Yuki-Onna. "He pretends to be a nice boy, but he shows his true colors in front of me. Unfortunately, everyone but me is deceived by that spawn of a devil called Ryuji."

_Who is Ryuji?_  "Come on Tsurara. He is just a human so if he acts inappropriately, show some fangs and he will back down."

"It takes more than that to intimidate an Onmyouji."

"…wait, he is an Onmyouji?"

"Yes."

"An Onmyouji, a youkai's natural enemy, is flirting around with my granddaughter?"

Tsurara nodded.

"I see." Setsura poured sake into the entire cup, drank it all in one gulp and then put down the cup with a loud thump. "Where is he now?"

"Mom, calm dow-"

"Where is the Onmyouji boy?"

"…he is in the guest room."

She knew where that was room was. "Good." And then she rose up and started walking in the direction of his room.

"Mom, wait!" Tsurara followed after her and said something, but Setsura did not listen to her. After five centuries, she finally managed to accomplish her dream of marrying her bloodline into Nura's. She would not stand aside and look as her great-grandchildren end up becoming little Onmyoujis.

"Which room is it?" she asked once she reached the appropriate corridor, and her daughter then pointed at the room in question. Without a delay, she slid the door open with such force that she almost broke the door.

"Huh?" A seventeen years old boy turned around and looked at her. His upper half of his body was bare and in his hands he held a shirt. After a few moments of Setsura and the boy starring at one another, he spoke: "Do you need something miss… Ritsura's cousin?"

Setsura looked him over for a moment, walked up to him.

"Mom, what are you-"

And then she put her hands on his shoulders. "Boy, would you please marry my granddaughter?" She asked the handsome boy.

"MOOOOOM!"

* * *

"We should not be here." Kubinashi said after he and Kejorou made their orders. "We still have to find the one who attacked Kurotabou and-"

"Shut up, Kubinashi." Kejorou, who sat in front of him, cut in. "We have come here to enjoy some free time so don't go thinking about duties and whatever."

"But-"

"Rikuo-sama forbade any action against the mysterious Onmyouji." Kejorou reminded him. "I understand that you are worried, but the Supreme Commander was quite clear."

Kubinashi looked like he wanted to continue complaining, but then sighed and looked down at the table.

"Oh, did you hear? Nuregerasu had visited the Main House last night." Kejorou started a conversation. "It seems that she was very anxious to see her duty-obsessed husband."

"Yes, I have seen her." Kubinashi looked up. "The horrors she inflicted upon Karasu Tengu… why are you looking at me like that?"

"Like what?"

"Like that… you have a face of someone ready to kill."

"You must be imagining it." She closed her eyes and turned her head in another direction.  _I wonder if I will end up like her one day. After all, Kubinashi and Karasu Tengu are equally oblivious about us women._

As a consequence of earlier thoughts and remembering Nuregarasu's treatment of Karasu Tengu, she imagines what she could do to Kubinashi.

"Why are you grinning?"

"No reason."

"Your hair strands are moving like you are intending to strangle me." In defense to the potential threat, Kubinashi's head floated backwards for a few centimeters.

"Oh! Sorry about that." She said with a smile and pulled her hair back.  _You better think this through Kubinashi or you will see how it is like for Karasu Tengu._

But this was no time for ugly thoughts. Even if Kubinashi was unaware of it, this was a date and she would enjoy this date to its fullest, all while trying to finally advance their relationship.  _Ah, I'd wish it was nighttime, it is hard to get romantic and passionate during the day… but night attracts trouble so our date would have definitely been interrupted by someone… of course none of this would be a problem if Kubinashi could only look the other way when trouble starts somewhere._  Kejorou sighed. _They might be dull, but days are much more peaceful._

As if the world itself was staunch on denying her the chance for romance, someone crashed into the bar, breaking the windows and walls.

Kubinashi and Kejorou, as well as most other youkai in the bar, rose up from their seats, and turned towards the source of commotion. There were several youkai, but they moved fast and hit everything they saw, from tables to guests… Kubinashi's head being one of things they hit.

It took a few more moments for Kejorou to see how the attackers looked: they were skeletons on wheels and with weapons in their hands.

"WOOOOO!" One of them yelled. "Is this how you Edo youkai spend your miserable lives? No wonder you are such pathetic nobodies! Come out and face the true youkai!" And with that challenge given, the undead youkai rose out of the bar, breaking several more tables in the process.

Kejorou recognized these youkai. They were not from Edo, but from the capital… they used to serve under Hagoromo Gitsune many years ago. "But… aren't they supposed to be dead?"

"They are…" Kubinashi walked to her side. "I killed them myself."

"Maybe they are…"

"They are not relatives or remnants… they are the exact same people." Kubinashi spoke while taking out his string.

"But how-"

" _These bastards!"_  Someone from the bar shouted after everyone calmed down and was able to think about the situation.

" _How dare they attack us?"_

" _They will pay for what they said!"_

" _Come on guys! Let us beat up these suckers!"_

" _For Edo! For the Nura Clan!"_

And so everyone in the bar, including some of the waitresses, went after them.

"Come on Kejorou, we have to stop them and find out what-"

"Our date… our first date in two months…" It was only then that Kejorou realized what they just did. "I WILL KILL YOU ALL!" And so she joined the crowd.

"Kino, wait!"

* * *

"Whyyyy…" Ryota-Neko rubbed his head after everyone but some of his staff left the bar. "This mess will cost a fortune."

"Calm down, Ryota." The blond waitress, who was already cleaning the bar with her broom, tried to calm him down. "I am sure the Supreme Commander will take care of that."

"I know he would…" Although he knew that he should be helping in cleaning, he was too stressed to do it so he just sat down. "But I don't want to be a beggar."

"So you will pay from your own wallet." She sighed. "Well, your choice."

"But why did they need to do this?" A red-haired kitten asked. "I mean, they could have just yelled a challenge and they would have gotten their fight."

"And once it was all done, they could have eaten here… and maybe played some dice." Saburou Neko added. "Like this, no youkai bar under jurisdiction of the Nura clan will welcome them."

"Yeah, nobody likes vandals… or people who pick a fight with the leading clan"

"Yes, you are right…" Ryota-Neko said while putting his hand over his forehead. "Maybe they wanted to make sure that everyone left the bar? But why would…" And then it came to him… but too late, for another attack came in form of an arrow that flew through a broken window and hit into a wall.

Before Ryota-Neko could shout a warning, a malicious aura spew from the arrow and enveloped the bar. Since he had noticed it in time, Ryota-Neko was able to defend himself from it with his Fear.

However, it was not enough and he fell on the ground, exhausted and feeling sleepy. But his actions were not in vain, for the others fell on the ground and he could see that they were sleeping.  _Those youkai… they were just a distraction… someone is targeting my bar!_  He clenched his teeth and was angry that he did not realize it immediately.  _But why? Why would anyone who has such strong youkai as his allies want to attack my bar?_

And while he was trying to make the head and tail out of the situation, someone entered the bar. It was a girl of short posture and wearing a shrine maiden's uniform. For a moment he wondered if such a girl could really be the villain question, but then he noticed a bow in her hands.

Then he remembered that some Onmyouji girl had attacked Kurotabou, one of Nura clan's strongest youkai, and defeated him. From what he had heard, Kurotabou was still in bed, unable to move.  _So this girl is the one who did it… but why is she here?_

She probably thought he was asleep like the rest, for she paid him no heed. Instead, she looked at her cellphone while walking through the bar, until she stopped moving. After that, she sat down on her knees, put her fingers together and looked like she was reciting something.

And then her eyes turned red and a tattoo appeared at one side of her face. Soon after, a strong, malignant aura filled the bar. Even a youkai like Ryota-Neko, who has seen many fearsome youkai, felt chills. _What is she doing in my bar?_

The malignant aura took a form of black flames and then concentrated around her fingers. She then put one of those fingers on the floor and moved it in circles.  _No, not circles… it is a spiral._

"What…" He could no longer stand it. He knew she was dangerous, but he could not let her cast such a dangerous spell on his bar. "What are you doing?"

The girl stopped moving her fingers for a moment and moved her eyes at him. The look of apathy on her face hurt his youkai pride… and so did the fact that she turned her eyes back onto the floor and continued moving her finger.

"Stop!" Fighting against his exhaustion, he walked towards her. But he did not even move three steps when she rose up, seemingly done with her work. "What… what have you done there?"

Rather than answering his question, the Onmyouji started walking towards him. Part of him wanted to back away, but his youkai pride would not let him.

"Stop right there…" He would not go down without a fight. "I may not be an executive like Kurotabou but-"

"Right now you are harmless." She spoke and raised a paper talisman that appeared between her fingers. "You have seen me and what I was doing here… twice did you see too much." She then threw the talisman at him. "So I will have you disappear." The spell from the talisman enveloped Ryota-Neko but no matter hiw much he tried, his Fear was unable to resist it.

_I… should have stayed down and told the Supreme Commander about what I have seen. Like this I just… I am sorry, everyone._  He cursed his own pride before he disappeared.

* * *

"You should have stayed at home." Ryuzan said to the girl following after him. They both wore their school uniforms, and both were skipping it.

"I can't wait, Ryuuuu…" Ritsura said in a  _shaky tone_. It was clear that the sleep deprivation had started to take a serious toll on her. "Are you sure that this master exorcist will have what you need."

"It is not a Master Exorcist, but a shop selling various trinkets for Onmyouji." Ryuzan reminded her.

"But you said it was speeecial"

"It is special in the way that most of these shops are frauds, while this one in particular is owned by a legitimate Onmyouji and sells stuff that can be used properly." Ryuzan said while holding her arm so her nose and the ground wouldn't meet. "Some of things sold there should help in some techniques I am planning to use on you."

"Will it work?"

"I don't know." He sighed. "But I am getting out of ideas so…" He did not know how to word the next part.

But she knew what he meant. "At this point… I will accept any risks."  _Though my followers may disagree… but that's why I left them all at home._  She stumbled, but he caught her before she could fall down. "Everything is better… than this kind of suffering." Several days of complete sleep deprivation were not a harmless thing, though the pain from it must be felt in order to be fully understood.

"You can barely walk. Should we take a rest?" Ryuzan suggested. "There is a park nearby."

"Alright." Ritsura wanted to reach the shop as soon as possible, but had no energy to fool herself, and anyone else for the matter, into thinking that she was well enough to walk.

"The birds are… so annoying." She said while Ryuzan brought her into the park and helped her sit down on the bench. All noise annoyed her, the birds being no exception. "Damn that stupid cousin of yours."

"We still don't know if it was her." Ryuzan said but she could hear from his voice that he started sharing her doubts.

"Now that I think about it, I don't even know what she looks like." She opened the palm of her hand and offered it to Ryuzan. "Find me some photos so I know what the person I hate looks like."

Ryuzan sighed. "Alright. I have some on my phone so wait a moment until I find them…"

_He has her photos on his phone. How… adorable._  She hated to admit it, but alongside her current grudge she also felt a large amount of jealousy towards this girl.

"Here you are." He said and offered her his cellphone. "There are several photos."

"Okay." She accepted his cellphone and looked at the first photo. "Wait, is this Kashaimaru?" There were three people on the photo, two boys and one girl. They looked like they were posing for a movie poster, with grinning Kashaimaru being in the middle and showcasing the pentagrams on his gloves, Ryuzan being to his right and crossing his arms with his trademark smirk and a girl with a pentagram hairpin standing on his left and touching her hair. "What is this, a movie poster?"

"That was the idea." Ryuzan said with a nostalgic smile. "Me, Kashaimaru and Ryoko… for several years, we were a trio of Onmyouji who kept Kyoto and the surroundings safe… or that was how I and Ryoko liked to imagine it in our younger days. At one point, Kashaimaru decided that we should have our own poster."

"I see…" Ritsura said in a low tone. These days Ryuzan hung around her so often that she forgot how he had his own friends and comrades back in Tokyo… a part of the past that she was not part of.  _But this girl is part of it…_  She looked at the half of face that she could see of this girl, thinking that it looked familiar. "How come I only saw you and Kashaimaru while I was in Kyoto but not her?"

"We weren't  _always_  together." Ryuzan sighed. "Our families often gave us jobs that we had to take care alone or paired with someone else. Back then Ryoko was on one such job… probably."

"Probably?"

"I don't know what job it was, but Ryoko packed her things several hours before you and your clan arrived… but I couldn't find out what job it was." His eyes narrowed. "But both dad and auntie said to not poke my nose deep into it."

"Oh…" Ritsura could see that Ryuzan found something suspicious, but since this was practically another world, she could not follow so she decided to let the issue go. She looked back at the phone and went to the next picture. "You three again?" This time, Ryuzan was in the middle, winking at the photographer, while Ryoko and Ryuzan held his shoulders, smiled at the camera and showed a peace sign. "You guys sure seemed to get along."  _Tz! His talk about not being able to stand her… what a load of crap._

She was sure now: she hated this girl. But she was not about to show her woman's jealousy to him so she pretended to be interested in other things. "Now that I think about it, both you and Kashaimaru are quite scary and…" She remembered more things that he said about her, and it was getting increasingly harder to not show her frustration. "…from what you said about her, she must have been scary too."

"Hah, the youkai of Kyoto called our little trio many names, but my favorite was  _Triple Dragon_." He said with a happy smile… which irked her. "I was the strategist and defender, Kashaimaru was our close-quarters warrior while Ryoko attacked from afar."

_And I am a mere Princess from far-away Tokyo, a character who appears in one episode… gaaah, this sleep deprivation makes me care about stupid things!_  "You sound like a party from an RPG game."

"And we were." His smile then disappeared. "But then I and Kashaimaru got into a fight and it was all over."

Ritsura remembered him talking about it so she did not ask about it again. "Then shouldn't you have turned into a duo?"

"Kashaimaru was the one who kept our group together… without him, me and Ryoko were competing to an unnatural level… not to mention that with us two alone, I felt too insignificant."

"I see…" She hated herself for being glad that it didn't work out. "Another photo of your trio…"

"Yeah… the three of us could not come to terms on who should be in the middle so…"

"…you took three photos." Being annoyed at looking at this woman, she moved to the next picture, only to see it was the same… but with her opening her eyes wide while the boys had mischievous faces.

Before she could ask what was going on, Ryuzan explained the photo. "We were feeling mischievous so he tapped her behind while I pinched it." Ritsura gave him a  _look_  at that comment. "Hey, we are boys… even though he was quite old… so we could not help it." Although he was apologizing, the smile on his face said that eh was very proud of his evil deed.

Ritsura sighed and moved to the next photo.

"And here she is trying to kill us for it."

_Enough about her!_  Ritsura angrily moved to the next few photos only to see more photos of the trio.  _What is this! She is everywhere… oh wait, I asked him for photos of her specifically. Aaaaagh, I am an idiot!_

Remembering her original purpose, she gave the girl a better look. She was dressed as a shrine maiden and had raven hair that reached to just under her shoulders. Of course, there was also the hairpin that looked just like the one from the drawing.  _Why do I feel like I have seen her already?_  "Are you sure that she was not in Kyoto when I was there? Maybe we passed one another at the mansion."

"She was definitely not there." Ryuzan shook his head. "She did not return until the day after you left."

"Hmmm…" She was not convinced so she intended to move onto the next photo. But when she put down her finger to move it, the finger touched her hairpin.

It was then that she remembered that she met this girl while she was dressed in different clothes and lacked the hairpin… and that it was less than a week ago. She remembered meeting a strange girl who played around with her scarf.  _She… she must have put the curse on me back then!_

But before she could tell Ryuzan about it, someone spoke from behind them. "Ryuzan you tsundere, I had no idea that you had my photos on your phone."

She could see Ryuzan suddenly turning around and saying a name aloud. But Ritsura, whose thoughts have been haunted by that girl for several days now, was slower at the uptake. She wanted to prepare herself for seeing her.

She finally turned her head around and saw the girl, dressed in the same clothes as in most of the photos, as she talked to Ryuzan with a smile on her face and with her hands behind her back. Ritsura did not listen to what they were saying and instead looked at her.  _She is the one who brought this sleep deprivation on me… and she is the cousin very dear to Ryuzan._

Finally, the Onmyouji noticed Ritsura and looked at her. "Oh, we meet again. What a coincidence!" She said with a smile on her face while looking Ritsura straight into the eyes.

It was there  _for a small moment… for less than a second…_

It was enough to negate all of the effects that sleep deprivation had on Ritsura… or to be more exact, Ritsura was so terrified that her body made her to forget all about it.

It was a defensive instinct because  _for a small moment… for less than a second…_ Ryoko's eyes shone with malice so strong that Ritsura had no doubt about it: this girl wanted to bring her harm… no matter the costs.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And so another chapter comes to a close. A good part of it is light-hearted comedy, but the last few parts hint at something darker hiding under the sun.

\- good 'ol Setsura, helping her offspring in seducing the opposite gender ;P

-  _Yakuza-Girl (not Princess) stare_  is officially one of Ritsura's many techniques (for those wondering about the  _not Princess_  part, it is a reference to the Mafia Princess trope)

\- Setsura's  _proposal_  to Ryuzan is a reference to Anime  _Mushibugyou_  where the Main Character's father asks a similar thing to one of the female characters after he saw the size of her… buns

\- while writing the scene with Kino and Kubi, I just couldn't help myself but compare Kubi and Karasu Tengu. Here's hoping that Kino has more luck than Nuregarasu XD

\- and the first victim of Ryoko's quest for… something… has fallen

\- she may not want to admit it, but Ritsura is growing quite jealous… but what does Ryoko think of Ritsura?


	67. Modesty in Abundance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long week, Ritsura finally meets face-to-face with the one who cursed her… and the one who might be a rival of the sort?

**What came before:** _After a long week, Ritsura finally meets face-to-face with the one who cursed her… and the one who might be a rival of the sort?_

* * *

**Chapter 67 – Modesty in Abundance**

_Why are they still alive?_  Kubinashi could still not get that question out of his head. He killed these youkai years ago in Kyoto, he was certain of it. Yet now they appeared in Tokyo, caused a mess in one of bars under the protection of the Nura Clan and were now causing even more mess as they retreated from youkai that they had challenged.

 _Could they be the kind of youkai who get resurrected after several years?_   _But even if it were so, why come here?_  Kubinashi knew that many would tell him to focus on stopping these skeletal youkai, but he felt that there was a trap here somewhere.

He considered that they may have come for revenge, but there were several flaws in that theory.  _Why attack so openly? And why not only attack me? As it is, this is not revenge, but suicide._ Kubinashi contemplated while he and several others, who could keep pace with the skeletal youkai, pursued their enemy.  _Also, why are they retreating? And why are they using only through the less crowded streets?_ _And why are they going into circles?_  They passed this street several times already, which made the possibility that they were leading them into a trap less likely.

As several times already, the skeletal youkai finally stopped to strike at the youkai who managed to reach them.

"Kubinashi!" Kejorou spoke his name.

"I know." He replied and released his strings, intending to capture them for questioning.

"There it is!" one of the skeletal gang's youkai shouted and all of them turned their attention at Kubinashi… or more exactly, at his strings. The Fear they used to cut them was fiercer than any attack they used against others, be it for offense or defense. "You will not get us again, you neckless bastard!" One of them shouted and then they all turned around and resumed with their retreating routine.

"Stop and fight, you cowards!" Some of the Nura Clan's youkai yelled and continued the pursuit.

"Kubinashi…" Kejorou spoke his name again.

"I don't have time to prepare a more elaborate attacking pattern." Kubinashi had several ways of using his strings, some more convenient than others for each situation. "But I will get them." He said while looking as the skeletal gang turned around a corner. "But now I am close enough and I have seen how they counter-attack." Kubinashi prepared his strings as he ran. "Once I see them again, it will be over."

But when he saw some of the youkai suddenly stop when they themselves reached the street that the gang entered, Kubinashi knew it would not be that easy.  _What is it now?_  He wondered while looking at his comrade's shocked expressions and the way they turned their eyes and heads in all directions.

When he reached them, he joined them in confusion: the gang disappeared.

"Where did they go? They couldn't have reached the end of the street that soon!" Kejorou was also puzzled. It was a long street without forks or buildings to enter.

"Huh?" They saw some of their comrades appear from the corner at the other end. "Did they take a different route this time?!" They yelled to them, revealing that they were waiting in an ambush. This confirmed for them that they did not get faster and reach the end of the street in less time.

"We lost them." Kubinashi muttered while chewing one of his strings. The fact that an enemy escaped them was not such a problem as the fact that it was an enemy who used to hunt down innocent humans. Rikuo would not like such youkai freely riding around his turf.

"Maybe they are just an illusion?" Kejorou suggested. "Or their resurrection was temporary?"

"I felt their Fears and their attacks, they were not illusions." Kubinashi answered her propositions. "Temporary resurrection is possible… but I doubt it. The ferocity they cut my strings with suggests that they were honestly afraid for their lives.

"So where did they go?" Kejorou pouted. "Can they fly or something?"

"I don't know." Kubinashi scratched his head in frustration.  _Where are they? How did they disappear? Why did they make us run around? Why did they come here? Are they aligned with one of our current enemies?_  Kubinashi was becoming more and more frustrated with each passing moment.

"Kubinashi-sama! Kejorou-sama!" Someone called them from behind. When he turned around, he saw one of cat youkai from the Bakeneko Clan, looking extremely distressed.

 _Oh no… could this be a diversion to pull us away from Bakenekoya? But why would anyone attack Bakenekoya?_  "Did something happen at the bar when we left?"

"We all… suddenly fell asleep! Nobody saw anything at all." The cat youkai spoke while fighting for his breath. It was clear that something more than a simple attack occurred. "Ryota-Neko had disappeared!"

 _Why… would anyone want to harm or kidnap him of all people?_ Few ideas came to Kubinashi's mind, but all of them were just lower thugs who could not possibly persuade the youkai as proud as the Mukurowaguruma Gang to cooperate with them.  _This whole situation is getting more and more confusing!_

None of them noticed a piece of paper, cut into a shape of a human as it was a custom for Shikigami, float away.

* * *

"Hm?" Ryoko blinked while Ritsura still starred at her. "Do I have something on my face?" She asked and her finger grazed her chin.

Her eyes no longer shone with the malice, but Ritsura could not forget about it. "What is your problem with me?" She asked the Onmyouji girl.

"Huh?" Ryoko feigned ignorance.

But Ritsura did not want to play around. She was way too tired for it. "Why did you curse me when we met?"

"What?" Ryuzan was naturally confused. "You two met one another?"

"Ah, you mean that day?" Ryoko smiled again. "That is a strange question to pose to an Onmyouji… when you are a Youkai."

Ritsura still remembered the way she looked at her.  _This is not about me being a Youkai._

"Stop just for a moment, please!" Ryuzan spoke up while Ritsura was still thinking about how she could reply. "Just when did you two meet?"

"What's with that face?" Ryoko turned her attention at him. "You sound and look like a hubbie whose wife and lover just met."

"Hmmm…" Ritsura also looked at him, with a less entertained look in her eyes.

"Oi, don't create misu-"

"I and Rihan met her while walking from the  _Onmyouji Vacation House_." Ritsura looked back at the Onmyouji girl who was still smiling at her. "After which she started being creepy and tried to touch our scarves."

"…though Rihan-chan managed to avoid me." Ryoko admitted.

"So you did curse her?" Ryuzan asked with a bit of reddish color on his face.

Ryoko's smile finally disappeared. "Huh?" She looked at him again. "You mean to say that you  _still_  hadn't removed the curse?" The disappointment in her tone was obvious and, to Ritsura at least, surprising. "It was like… five days. And you still hadn't lifted it?"

"I had no idea that you would-" Ryuzan started but Ryoko did not let him finish.

"The cursed seal I put on her was not even that strong!" Her anger felt sincere. "You lifted stronger curses than the one I used on her." Ryoko now faced him not only with her head, but also with her body. If Ritsura did not know better, she would have thought that Ryoko wanted to attack her younger cousin. "And I went to such lengths to help you, Ryu…"

"Help him?" Ritsura was confused by the last part. "How would cursing me help him?"

Ryoko looked at her with a smiling face once again. "Because I put the cursed seal on such a place…" She put her finger above her chest and then pulled it down, passing between her breasts. "…that he would have to remove your shirt and bra in order to lift it."

"Eh?" It took a moment for Ritsura to check if she didn't misunderstand something. "Eeeeeeh?" And then she turned red from embarrassment. "Why would she do that?" She asked Ryuzan who looked away, his face red as hers.

"Hooh?" Ryoko smiled. "The Ryuzan I know would forcefully strip a girl if he had to lift a curse. He can be such a manner-less man, just like Uncle Ryuji." Ryoko giggled for a moment. "But I guess he is more reserved with some girls."

"He would… or he had?" Ritsura felt that this was a very important question.

"He had. Several times." Unlike the blushing Ryuzan and Ritsura, Ryoko looked as if she was having fun. "Whenever I disliked someone, be it a boy or a girl, I did this just to have the stubborn Ryuzan strip them." She laughed while remembering something. "Nothing is funnier than Ryu stripping someone annoying of their clothes. He is loyal to his job, no doubt in that."

"Hah…" Ritsura was increasingly confused by this girl.

"Anyway…" Finally, a smile on Ryoko's lips was replaced by one of worry. "This means that you didn't get any sleep for days… that can't be healthy." Ryoko sighed. "I should have put something annoying but not dangerous."

_You should have put nothing in the first place!_

"So let me lift the curse now." Ryoko put two of her fingers together and some kind of white flame started coming out of it. "I can remove the curse with less effort than Ryuzan." After saying that, she started moving her finger towards Ritsura's chest.

But Ritsura still remembered the look in Ryoko's eyes so she slapped her hand away. "Sorry, but I trust Ryu more than I trust you."

"Oh, I see." Ryoko smiled and looked at Ryuzan "So she does not mind getting stripped! Good for you Ryu~"

"S-shut up!" Ryuzan was blushing as he replied to his cousin.

 _So there is someone other than Kashaimaru who can push Ryuzan around…_  Ritsura could imagine poor Ryuzan being constantly dominated by these two. "Will you still need items from that Onmyodo shop?" Ritsura asked him.

"Hmmm…" Ryuzan thought while his face jumped from one shade of red to another. "I think I will."

"Then hurry up and buy the stuff you need." Ritsura crossed her arms and threw a glance at his cousin. "I will stay here with Ryoko."

"Are you sure about that?" Ryuzan asked. "If she does something else to you, I will never hear the end of it from Tsurara-san."

"Do you distrust me, Ryu?" Ryoko asked and walked to the front of the bench.

"No." Ryuzan looked as his cousin took his place on the bench. "But both of you have short fuses."

"I promise that I won't do any harm to her… for the rest of the day." She put on a serious expression again. "Now go. She had suffered enough due to my childishness and your shyness."

Ryuzan nodded and then looked at Ritsura. "I will return shortly so… try not to get into a fight with her, okay?" And without waiting for Ritsura's reply, he walked away with a fast pace.

She let a minute pass, enough for Ryuzan to be gone from her field of view. "So…" Ritsura looked at her, not intending to waste even a moment of private time she bought by having Ryuzan leave. "What is your problem with me?"

"What do you mean?" She asked while smiling and not letting any of her earlier malice show up. "I know that we started on a bad footing because of my little curse, but why don't we try to leave that matter behind and start all over again?"

"You really are a girl from Kyoto." The women from Kyoto were known to hide their hostility by acting modest and friendly. The open friendliness was their way of saying to stay away.

"I don't know what 'ya mean." She said in Kyoto accent, her smile still on her face. The fact that she was not even trying to act confused made Ritsura more certain that she was right.

 _Though I MIGHT be over-thinking it…_  "So, what is your relationship with Ryuzan?" Ritsura decided to try and get her answer in a different manner. "He says that you two are on bad terms, but I am not feeling it."

"If you know what buttons to press, you can easily reveal Ryuzan's tsundere side." Ryoko winked. "I may have done it one or two times too many so just mentioning me might put him in that mode."

"So, what is your relationship?"

"What if I said he is a boyfriend of mine?"

"I would ask what exactly you mean by using that ambiguous way of speech."

"I would answer that I liked to say that I had two boyfriends." She answered and Ritsura could guess what two boyfriends she meant.

"Yet you two still feel more like siblings."

"Well, his dad was kind of like my second father." Ryoko shrugged. "So you might not be too wrong about it."

"Yeah, you kind of give Ryuji's vibes." Ritsura came to a certain conclusion. "More so than Ryuzan actually."

"Then you still don't know Ryu well enough." Ryoko smirked again. "Ryu and Uncle Ryuji use different methods for lying, but underneath their exteriors they are almost identical." Immediately after giving that explanation, Ryoko asked her question. "So, what is your relationship?"

"We are a couple." Ritsura lied, hoping to get some kind of reaction.

"Oh, you are?" She asked with a surprised expression, but it was obviously feigned surprise. "Then I want to hear some of it…"

"Some of what?"

"Call Ryuzan some words that would be embarrassing to listen to, but a couple would happily use with one another."

"Huh?"

"Come on… you should have no trouble saying it if you two are truly a couple."

"I… uh…" She remembered her brother and Araya openly using words like  _Darling_  and  _Honey_. It looked easy to say. "Ryuzan.. I mean my d… my ho… my… my…" But now that she tried to do it, she realized that it was everything but easy to say, at least not without turning all red. "GAAHH, I CAN'T SAY IT! I ADMIT THAT I WAS LYYIIIING!"  _How the hell can you speak such words with a straight face and in public, brother? What the hell is wrong with you?!_

"Hahahaha!" Ryoko, in contrast to Ritsura's despair, laughed.

"This is not funny!"

"You deserve it for thinking that you can lie to someone who spent all her childhood with likes of Ryuzan and Uncle Ryuji."

"Yeah, it was stupid of me." Still red in face, Ritsura sighed. She wondered if she would have been in the good mood as well had she not seen  _that_  look on Ryoko's face. _But still, I may have just imagined it…_

"So, what is your relationship?" Ryoko repeated her question.

"You already got your answer." Ritsura pouted.

"You are not a couple, but that doesn't say much." Ryoko shrugged. "Are you just friends, allies of convenience or just shy teenagers?"

"Why would you want to know?"

"Oh, you are blushing." Ryoko noted, to which Ritsura blushed even more. "So you are two shy teens who didn't get to ask one another out?"

"Oh, he asks me that often." Ritsura defended herself, this time with truth.

"He does? Well, guess this is the same even with a girl he has sympathies for."

"Who says I am anything special to him?"

"You probably don't know it, but even after a year had passed Kashaimaru was still able to make him quiet by bringing you into conversation… it did not work with any other girl."

"Heh, the more you know…" Ritsura averted her gaze. She honestly did not know that Ryuzan may have liked her for such a long time.

"So… the problem is in you?" Ryoko tilted her head. "Are you rejecting his advances?"

"It is not a problem." Ritsura crossed her arms. "If I dated every guy who confessed to me, I would have had a harem.

"But I am getting an impression that you are quite warm on him." Ryoko did not give up. "So why not give a doggie the cookie?"

"Dating someone means you lose your friendship status… which is bad if you break up. I value him as a dear friend so I don't want to endanger that relationship for a stupid reason." Ritsura was unsure why she talked so openly about her feelings to this girl. "Besides, I am the heiress of the Nura Clan so I can't just randomly date every boy who catches my attention."

"For the good of the Clan, eh?"

"Yes." Ritsura instinctively replied, after which she noticed that Ryoko's smile had been replaced by a look of annoyance.

"What a stupid reason. But I guess I should have expected that."

"What is the meaning of that?" Ritsura did not like her tone.

"Nothing." Ryoko put on another smile, this one obviously contrived and fake. "I see that Ryu is returning." When she said that, Ritsura looked up and saw Ryuzan walking towards them with a bag in his hand. "So I will take my leave from you, Ritsura-chan."

"Why did you do it?" Ritsura tried asking before she could leave. "I am not buying your earlier answer."

"Hmm…" Ryoko hummed and looked at Ritsura. The young Yuki-Onna shivered a bit, for some of her earlier malice was there once again, but this time mixed with excitement. "I suggest you to train a bit and be prepared for a fight." Ryoko turned her back to Ritsura and started walking away. "You never know when you may find yourself in trouble."

"What is your problem with me?!" Ritsura jumped up and shouted at her, but Ryoko did not reply back. Ritsura could only watch as the girl disappeared from her field of vision and wonder what she was planning.

* * *

"Hmmm…" Setsura sat at the porch outside the Nura clan's mansion and counted all the money that she had collected. "I am making progress… but I am still far away from accomplishing my goal."

"Here, have some of mine Setsura-san." A female voice said and a few bills were thrown in front of Setsura.

"Oh, it is you Kejorou." Setsura looked up and saw Kejorou who soon after sat beside her. "What is this for? I haven't even done anything to you yet."

"Consider it a gesture of friendship." Kejorou winked at her. "Besides, I still have to repay many favors you did for me."

"Then I accept your donation." Setsura said and added Kejorou's money to hers. It did not change her situation much, but every little helped. "So, how are you doing Kejorou?"

"So-so, all is as usual."

"No, I mean how are you doing in your… you know… quest for a man's heart."

"My answer does not change." Kejorou let out a large sigh.

"Still? It had been what… three hundred years?"

"Don't remind me." Kejorou put her fingers on her forehead. "No matter how many signals I and everyone else give him, he is still same as always."

"I hate to suggest this, but maybe-"

"He likes me, I know that." Kejorou guessed what Setsura wanted to say. "That's why I am  _still_  trying."

"You sure have it hard." Setsura let out a sigh herself.

"I know, right?" Kejorou rested her head on palms of her hands. "Rihan-sama married before me  **twice**  and even Rikuo-sama got married and now has two grown-up children… each of who will get it on before me, by the looks of things."

"You have to up your game, Kejorou." Setsura suggested and Kejorou could do nothing but nod. "Oh, I have met the Onmyouji boy Ritsura might like."

"Ryuzan you mean? He seems to like her, but Ritsura-sama is harder to read." Kejorou shrugged. "Or the fact that she looks like you and Tsurara just make me expect someone more open about her feelings."

"Because of our friendship, and the money you gave me, I will ignore that rude remark." Setsura put her sleeve over her mouth. "I am sure it will work out. They are both cute and he is nice and modest like all the  _Brides of Nurarihyons_."

" _Brides of Nurarihyons_?"

"It is the kind of spouses that Nuras like: kind, polite and humble women." Setsura crossed her arms as she explained. "I always wondered what Youhime had and I did not and after Rihan married Yamabuki, I realized it… the Nuras like modest, kind and loyal girls. Even great looks are only second to it." She flicked her hair and she said it. By thinking about it that way, she felt less sorry for losing to Youhime.

"Are you sure you are not over-thinking it?"

"No, I am not. Wakana also fits the criteria and I brought up Tsurara to be that kind of person, and she succeeded too." Setsura felt proud of herself. "That Onmyouji may be a boy, but he fits the criteria."

"Does he now…?" Kejorou averted her gaze. "He is Ryuji's son after all…"

"Who is this Ryuji guy everyone keeps talking about?"

"The greatest liar amongst all of the Onmyouji… but at least he was honest about his opinions on others. But Ryuzan… I am not so sure."

"Well, he better get honest then. Ritsura may like the same brides as her predecessors." Setsura scratched her chin. "Oh yes, I remember Rihan mentioning that he already had a girlfriend. I am not surprised though, he is at that age."

"Uh…" Kejorou's face started turning blue, but Setsura did not notice it.

"Of course, I never doubted that Rihan could do it. I always knew he would be as handsome as the rest of the family. He no doubt found himself a nice and loving woman who will humbly serve him for the rest of her life."

"Nice… humble…" Kejorou got even bluer.

"What is it Kejorou? Are you sick?"

"No, it is just that Ichinoe Araya is a bit…" Kejorou started but then saw something in front of her. She proved that she could actually get bluer. "Actually, I think I am getting sick."

Setsura looked in the same direction and saw an older woman, Wakana, and a red-haired girl with glasses, walk together with some shopping bags. "Oh, is that her?"  _Araya, was it?_

"Yes…" Kejorou said and rose up. "I think I am going to get some rest."

"Yes, you do that. Don't push yourself if you are sick."

"Good luck, Setsura-sama." She said and moved away.

 _Good luck? Ah, she probably talked about my money collecting quest!_  Intending to properly greet the fellow grandmother and Rihan's girl, Setsura rose up and walked to them. "Wakana-chan, I did not see you for ages~"

"Ah, Setsura-san!" Although she was a human in her old days, Wakana still had a lot of energy in her. "You should announce your arrival so I can make something special to eat!"

"Oh?" Not recognizing the Yuki-Onna who just approached them, Araya blinked in confusion.

Setsura decided to use the opportunity to check her up. She was wearing black jeans, a white shirt with some fancy patterns made of pearls and an elegant brown jacket. She also had a cream-colored bag around her shoulder.  _She must be quite wealthy._

"I did not know that Rihan and Ritsura had another sister." The girl added.

"Oh no, darling." Setsura spoke while shinning. "I am their grandmother."

"Fufufu." Wakana giggled. "No matter how much time passes, you are still as gorgeous as always, Setsura-san. But I better hurry to cook something worth of your beauty." Wakana then turned towards Araya and took her shopping bag. "I will take this now, Araya-chan. My grandson should be around here somewhere. Thank you for helping me to carry all these bags."

"I look forward to dinner, Wakana-san." Araya returned a smile and looked as Wakana walked away.

But before she could do anything else, Setsura put her hand on her shoulder. "Now, what do you think about getting in favor with Rihan's grandmother, hm?"

"What do you mean?"

"You see, I got into some monetary trouble and lost my ability to get my grandchildren proper gifts." Setsura tried to hit the girl's charitable part of her soul. "I hate to have to ask you this but… if you helped, I would be happy to remember."  _Come on, help me wealthy girl._

"Oh, is this a loan?"The girl asked with a neutral expression.

"I guess you could call it that. But I prefer the term investment." Setsura tilted her head. "Who, knows maybe I will get to be your grandmother-in-law one day in future. You don't want a cranky old Yuki-Onna on your bad side, right? Fufufu…"  _So, will she get embarrassed or be oblivious?_

"Oh, I see." Araya returned a smile and put the hand inside her jacket. "Will this be enough?" And then she offered her a pack of bills.

"Huh?" It took Setsura a few moments to calculate how much money she was offered. "Ah…"

 _WHAT IS THIS?!_ As a youkai, Setsura did not really care much for money. It was more or less a human invention that had less value in the youkai world. For Setsura, who always found a way to get what she wanted, it had very little actual value.

But it was still  _less value_ , not  _no value_. And this amount of money was so outrageous that a youkai like Setsura not only saw value in it, but got terrified by the sheer amount of it. It was so unnatural that nobody in their right mind would accept it, possibly even if their life depended upon it.  _This much money is way too dangerous!_

"No… this is a bit too much for me." Setsura took a step back.

"Oh no, I insist." The girl still held the money in both of her hands and was offering it to her. "It is an investment and I am investing all this from bottom of my heart." The girl now had less of an innocent expression on her face.

 _Is she a devil?!_ "I reject. I can't possibly rob you like that." Setsura took another step backwards.

"I insist!" The girl took a step forward. "Come on, it is not that much."

"I humbly eject." Setsura took one more step backwards.

"Take it, I insist." The girl now had the look of a cruel yakuza kingpin. " _Is is from the bottom of my heart._ " She said in a very dark and forceful tone.

"A… a… alright…" Unable to fight against that outrageously dangerous amount of money and the money's master, Setsura's hands started moving towards the bills when.

"OUCH!" Someone hit Araya on her head and the money fell onto the ground just before Setsura's fingers could touch it.

_I am saved!_

"Would you please not do that one on my family?" Rihan lectured Araya.

"She asked for it." The girl pouted, her glasses disappearing and somehow appearing in Rihan's hand.

"Huh?" Rihan looked at his grandmother with a judging look while Araya lowered herself down to pick up the money.

"It was just a joke I made because she looked wealthy." Setsura explained herself. "I did not actually care for it… and I definitely did not ask for this much!"

"You should not fool around that much, grandma." Rihan sighed and looked back at Araya. "And you should stop offering people so much money. Do you know what it feels like?"

"Their soul gets torn into pieces and for the rest of their life they are haunted by this money." She explained it perfectly in form of answering a teacher's question. "Even if it is just a gift, they are unable to get over it and their soul practically belongs to me." She made a malicious smile. "Truly, it is adorable."

 _What is adorable in this?! This is pure evil!_  "This is very indignant of you." Setsura said her thoughts in a tad bit different manner.

"Pfh." Araya smirked. "Everyone has their own hobbies and kinks."

 _Rihan, why are you hanging with this evil vixen?! She is completely wrooong!_  Though now that her glasses were removed, she realized that she was very pretty herself.  _Rihan, don't let her looks fool you!_

"Grandma is right. You can be very evil sometimes." Rihan said, but somehow Setsura could feel any substance in those words.

"Do you hate that part of me?" She asked in an, obviously fake, sad tone.

"What do you think?" Rihan gave an ambiguous answer, but his smile said more. "But I am kind of hungry. Let us go grab something to eat."

_Huh? He likes it?_

"Fufu, you are right." Araya said while hitting her stomach and then turned towards Setsura, which made the Yuki-Onna feel a slight discomfort. Araya then put her hand in her bag and took out a wallet. Setsura felt like she would turn pale again, but this time the girl took out a more reasonable amount of money. "Here, a more humble investment." The girl said and pushed the money into Setsura's hands before the older woman could reject it. "See 'ya later, Rihan's grandma."

Then she walked away and grabbed Rihan's arm. "See you later, grandma." The boy weaved to his grandma and started walking away. "What do you want to eat?"

"I am not feeling picky, my love." She said and rested her head onto his shoulder.

 _So there_ _ **are**_ _some deviations. Damn it!_  Setsura sighed and counted the money she got.  _Well, my budget did double but… with such a girlfriend, can I even hope to satisfy my grandson's criteria with gifts?_

_But enough of that, I have to plan my vengeance on that little vixen!  
_

* * *

"Fancy seeing you here." Ryoko, who was resting by lying on the grass, was awaken by a boy's voice. "But you know, before breaking into someone's home, it would be nice of you to ask for it."

"Oh, Kashaimaru…" Ryoko stretched her arms and back, but she remained sitting. "Sorry, I did not want to bother you." Firefox then appeared and jumped onto her lap.

"Still, it would be good courtesy." Kashaimaru sat beside her. "Second, how wise is it to fall asleep outside?"

"I did not intend to fall asleep at this place." She said while petting the little fox.  _The area here is too pretty to not spend a night here._

Since she was about to get on the bad side of the Nuras and potentially Ryuzan's, staying at the Keikain safe-house was not the best idea. So, she came to this place which was owned by the Gokadoins. From what she understood, as part of his apprenticeship, one of their members built it by imitating the Spiral Castle. It was a small place, but had a (very pretty) garden, a house where two or three people could stay and, most important of all, was hidden by the best of Gokadoin Onmyodo so even the strongest youkai could not hope to find it.

"And third…" Although he was officially complaining, Kashaiamaru did not seem bothered by anything. "…it is an even more necessary courtesy to tell one that you have put a youkai in their home's cell."

"Oh, you have seen him?"

"Yes, I did. So, what is he doing there? I think I have seen him in a bar and a gambling den owned by the Nuras."

"He is someone from Bakenekoya. He saw too much so I had him sealed. And since I had no proper seal at hand, I had to put him somewhere before he regained enough Fear to break away." Originally, she had sealed him in one of her paper talismans, but simple paper talismans were only good for sealing weakest youkai. But he Gokadoin cell here was made for keeping youkai imprisoned so she had put him there. "Do not worry. I will let him out once I finish what I came to do."

"So many questions do I have… like why you even captured him and what is it that you want to do."

"He saw something he should not have seen." She said and laid herself back onto the ground. "As for what I came to do… it is going to be something mean." Sinec Ryoko changed her position, Firefox moved up and lay down onto her chest.  _Pervert…_  She thought and petted the little animal.

"Something mean towards Ryuzan?"

"He is not the only target."

"The two close cousins turned enemy… how dramatic!" Kashaimaru clapped. "You are so into it that you are even building a giant cursed seal the entirety of Ukiyoe."

"How do you know that?" Ryoko asked him with a threatening tone. She was sure that nobody could have seen anything.

"Don't get angry, you did a mighty fine job. I only noticed it once I came here." Kashaimaru started with his explanation. "It is just that one of role's of this place was to keep check on our potential enemies."

"And you found out about it by just walking in?"

"No, one of the Shikigami here told me about it."

"What Shikigami?"

"The ones summoned solely to keep watch. They have no need for physical form, which is why you did not see or hear them." Kashaimaru shrugged. "But they will communicate with us of House Gokadoin so when I came here, they reported on someone preparing some large-scale spell."

"I see." Ryoko decided she would try to find them one of these days. There was no ulterior motive to it, just pure curiosity.

"I fear for the Nuras. Your curses are strong enough already, yet alone when cast on such a scale."

She did not ask how he knew that she was targeting the Nuras for the answer was obvious. "So, what do you plan to do about it?" She started to continuously spread and put together the fingers of her right hand. "Will you try to stop me?"

"Now why would I do that?"

"That is a bit of a shame." She put her hand back under her head. "I hoped I would have gotten some fighting practice."

"You'd stand no chance."

"You never know until you try." Although she said that, she was certain that he would have won. Her experience and skill did not reach to his.

"Should you not be asking me if I could join you?" He made a suggestion she expected. "I'd like to play around with Ryuzan."

"Sorry, maybe another time. This is something I have to do alone."

"Yet here you are, hiding at place belonging to my family."

 _Damn, he got me there._ "I meant that I do not seek any help in whatever will be happening."

"In other words, no help in fights?" He guessed to which she nodded. "Well, there is nothing I can do against it, I guess."

"You can enjoy the show."

"One Onmyouji girl takes on the strongest youkai clan in Japan… now you are making me downright envious."

"If you and Ryu hadn't gotten into a fight, the three of us could have taken on anyone."

Kashaimaru sighed. "You will never forgive us for this, will you?"

"No, I will not forgive you boys." She pouted. "Those were very precious times to me."

"All of you women are so sentimental…"

"All of you men are so stupidly proud." She looked at him. "I know you both miss it more than I do. Am I wrong?"

"As if stupidly proud people would ever admit such a thing."

"Hmph." She looked back up at the sky. "So, what are you doing these days?" She decided to change onto a more comfortable topic.

"I-"

"Skip the part where you talk about your romantic adventures."

"Tz." He clicked his tongue. "That is the only par that is fun to listen to."

"I don't care much for it."

"I have been taking down some dangerous youkai and restoring order to some places. Japan is getting increasingly more dangerous."

"Yes, I noticed it." Although the humans ruled the modern world, darkness was on the rise ever since Nura Rihan died, or so she heard as she was way too young to know how it used to be, though she did notice it was slowly getting worse. The younger youkai being increasingly stronger was seen as an omen of dark times that might be coming. "And from what I heard from one of Ryu's mails, you joined up with some shady people."

"You can't accomplish anything without proper allies."

"It will be for nothing if those allies betray you."

"Risks must be taken." Kashaimaru threw himself down on the ground as well. "Akihito and his allies must be stopped at all costs, so I will accept any risks if it means I get a chance to take him down."

"You are still going on about him. No offense, but it is getting boring." She never met this person called Akihito, but Kashaimaru's cousin complex was even stronger than Ryuzan's.

"I wish I could say the same." He said in a melancholic tone, a tone one did not hear often from him. "But let me turn the topic onto you: what are you and Ryuzan doing these days?"

"Why ask me about Ryuzan?"

"He is not really chatty with me."

Ryoko left out a large sigh. "Ryuzan is way too charmed by that Yuki-Onna to do anything if note." He did study a lot more than usual before he left, but that was not an interesting topic to talk about. "My life was mostly boring too: I have been training most of the time, and mentoring my little siblings. Oh, they summoned the Hagun."

"I won't even pretend to know what that is." He said and raised himself up. "But I have to go now."

"What? You just came to say hi?"

"Something like that, yes. How long are you staying in Tokyo?"

"I will be here for a week longer."

"Oh good, then maybe I manage to get in time to watch the fight." He smiled and then weaved at her. "Stay safe. Come Firefox!"

"Bye you two." She greeted him and the fox that followed after him.

And just like that, she was alone again. _I think I will take another nap.  
_

* * *

"The two of you should use your phones more often." Ritsura said while she and Ryuzan gazed upon the wall inside the Keikain family's safehouse. The profanities that Ryuzan had written there days ago were still there, but Ryoko had used her own spray to draw a caricature of her own face with her tongue outside her mouth.

"Hmph." Ryuzan muttered while shaking a spray can in his right hand.

"Ryuzan don't." Ritsura shook her head. "That is childish."

"You go sit somewhere, please." He said and immediately started drawing stuff on  _Ryoko's face_. "I will be with you in a minute."

Ritsura sighed and turned around, leaving Ryuzan to his childish pranks.

But before she even reached a tatami, her thoughts had moved back onto Ryoko.  _What is her deal? No matter how much I think about it, I just can't get a grasp on that girl's character. It is like she can't decide if I am her greatest enemy or a friend._  Although she did not doubt the looks she saw in her eyes a few times, Ritsura also could not doubt Ryoko's sincerity when she acted all worried about Ritsura. _Either way, I am not done with her, that's for sure._  Ritsura threw herself onto a tatami and put a hand over her forehead.  _Telling me to prepare for a fight… why does she want to fight me? Is this a catfight for Ryuzan?_

… _Ryuzan…_ She then remembered that she came to this place with Ryuzan in order to lift the curse that Ryoko cast onto her… and then she remembered one, certain procedure that would be part of it. "Gyah!" She jumped up and touched her chest.  _Good, I do have a bra on today… Phew, it would have been awkward if I had to take of my shirt and had nothing below it._

"Alright, let us get this over with." Ryuzan spoke while entering the room with a bag in his hands. "Sinec Ryoko put the seal onto your chest, you will have take off your shirt." He said and then sat down near her after which he started taking out some strange items from the bag. She did not fail to notice that he was not facing her directly. "And take off your bra too if you have one."

"Eh? Shouldn't taking off my shirt be enough?" Ritsura started sweating.

"Does your bra cover parts of your chest area?" He asked in an unusually rough tone. "If it does, it will get in way as much as your shirt would."

"Ah… ah…" Ritsura's face turned red from embarrassment.

"Don't complain. You are the one who rejected Ryoko's offer." He said while holding some paper talismans between his fingers. "She could have done it in a mere moment and by only using a finger."

"Ahhh…" Part of her regretted not taking Ryoko on her offer, even if that meant getting another kind of curse in return.

"Ritsura, do I need to take if off you?" Ryuzan looked at her from the corner of his eye and putting on a smile. However, it wasn't his usual confident smile, but one that looked forced.

 _He is embarrassed by this as well._  She sighed, put her fingers at bottom of her shirt and took it off. However, she still could not make herself remove her bra… and as a matter of fact, she even crossed her arms above her breasts.

Ryuzan averted his eyes when he saw it, and did not complain. The red on his face suggested that he was not that comfortable with looking at her, though he did throw a glance towards her.

_Heavens, we should just get over it already! It is not like we are going to have sex or anything… GAH, why did I have to think of that?! W-w-w-what if he loses his control and… and…_

"Are you-"

"KYAAAH!" Hearing his words at this very moment startled her.

"…what?"

"Uh, nothing… I just…" Her right hand went to scratch her chin but then she remembered that she was hiding her chest and bra from him so she pulled it back down. "…fell asleep."

"It did not look like-"

"What did you want to ask me?"  _Please don't ask me to take my bra off. Give me a few more moments, please!_

"Are you cold? You were shivering like crazy a few moments ago."

"I am a Yuki-Onna, I can't feel cold." She said and, remembering what she was thinking about a few moments ago, started shivering again. "I just… uh…"  _Come on Ritsura, think of a decent excuse._ "I think my youkai blood is more afraid of Onmyoudo than I originally thought."

"I see." He did not sound like he believed her, but it looked as if he decided to just let it pass. "Well, just think of it as Matoi with my Shikigami. This is going to be far less dangerous."

"Are you sure?"  _…that you want get dangerous on me?_

"Yes, I am sure." He said and returned to handling his items.

 _Actually, can I even trust someone who suddenly kissed me back there on Takarabune?_  She closed her eyes, hoping that not looking at him would make her feel more at ease.

But alas, it did not help much.  _Will I even have energy to defend myself? I am too exhausted to use my Fear so I would be able to do nothing if he decides to grab me and… Yes, even if he kisses me, I lack Fear to freeze his innards… not that it stopped him last time. Ufff… I will be at his mercy if he grabs me and pushes me down. And once I am down, he will kiss more than my mouth… from neck to my chest… and maybe below? Ahh… He will take my skirt off too if it continues and then… and then…_

"Why are you smirking like that?"

"Eh?" She opened her eyes and realized what kind of face she was making.  _Gahhhh… am I a pervert?!_

"Maybe it is better if I don't ask." He said and turned towards her while holding a pack of paper talismans. Having him look straight at her like that made her feel even more embarrassed.

"Do I now have to…"

"No, you can keep your bra for a while longer. If  _you_  are lucky, maybe you won't even have to take it off… but I doubt it." After he said that, the talismans flew up and surrounded her.

She started to feel a strange sensation, and then she felt her chest burning.

"But you will have to move away your arms."

"Alright…" She slowly moved them away and then noticed that there was something that looked like a strange tattoo on her chest. On the place where Ryoko's finger touched her, just below her neck, there were two Kanji (悪夢) that meant  _Nightmare_. They looked as if they were inside a black, hollow sun. From there, several lines were spread down over her body and ended around her bellybutton, and several of those lines led to smaller kanji (悪夢), from where more lines grew. In a way, it looked like a tree. "Is this… the curse?"

"Yes, it is the cursed seal that we will have to remove."

"It is… large." She blinked while admiring it. "Did she make all this with one touch of her finger?"

"No, there should have been nothing but kanji when she put it on you." Ryuzan explained while looking at her with his arms crossed. "Usually, curses weaken over time. One of ways to get around it is to put a cursed seal on someone… tough even those can expire after a while." His eyes narrowed. "Ryoko takes that several miles farther by putting a seal that feeds on your Spiritual Energy or Fear and then grows from it."

"So it… gets stronger over time?"

"Yes." Ryuzan nodded. "And as if that was not enough, she made those seals invisible so you could spend your entire life without knowing about it. You need extraordinary skill to make it show… or know Ryoko's techniques."

"That Ryoko… is dangerous." She felt sweat going down her face. This was something she would not have expected even from Kashaimaru and he was a highly talented Onmyouji. "What would have happened if it was allowed to grow?"

"You would have gone insane in five or so days, not that much from lack of sleep as from the fact that nightmares would start appearing even while you are awake." He looked away, as if feeling ashamed of what his cousin did to her. "And before a week would have passed, the cursed seal would have sucked out all of your Fear and would have started to feed on your life energy which would then have led to your…"

"My death…"

" _I suggest you to train a bit and be prepared for a fight."_

 _Did a monster like that really challenge me for a fight?_  She clenched her teeth. "Please tell me that this is the only thing she is good at."

Ryuzan looked away again. "She is capable of doing far worse than this… and curses are not the only thing she is skilled at."

 _Shit…_  She now understood why Ryuzan may have been so obsessed about her. "Let us get rid of this thing already." She said and looked back down again. She noticed that some of the lines went under her bra. "How will you remove this?"

"Line by line…" He said and took out a small scroll which he then opened and put his fingers on.

"I see…" She put her hands behind her back and unstrapped her bra. Now that it was down, she noticed that none of the lines went too far onto her breasts, though it was probably enough that this could not have been avoided.

"Well… umm… let us get… started." Ryuzan turned as red as tomato when he looked at her.

"Oh…" She completely forgot about it due to the situation, but now she was as red as him. Her arms instinctively went up, but she forced herself to keep them down or else they would have gotten nowhere.

Ryuzan put his finger on one of the kanji that were not below her neck, which made her jump up a little. She felt a certain sensation similar to when his Shikigami fused with her. It was warm and her human and youkai parts of her reacted differently to it: the human part of her felt it to be comforting while the youkai part of her felt a bit scared.

Remembering that a boy was moving his finger around her naked body made her feel a bit of excitement as well, which made those sensations feel more erotic than it normally would have.

But she did not think of it as uncomfortable… and she felt a slight annoyance whenever he moved away to do something related to the ritual which did not include him touching her.

 _I am so shameful…_  She sighed, annoyed at herself. "This makes me kinda tired." She tried to avert her thoughts with a conversation.

"You did not sleep for ages."

"I know but… it feels like my energy is getting swept away even faster now."

"Exorcisms are a bit exhausting for the subject it is done upon."

"I see…"  _This is good I guess…_  She thought while some of his fingers removed the lines on one of her breasts.  _…as_   _my Yuki-Onna blood is getting way too excited by this._ It was ironic how she, who was afraid of him turning aggressive on her, now felt like doing that to him. She felt like she wanted to embrace him, pull him down under her and let her Fear run wild… even if it puts his very life on the line.

"I am getting… sleepy…"

"Then feel free to lie down." Ryuzan seemed to have regained all his composure. "I threw the curse off balance, not to mention it should be focused on fighting my spells."

"Alright… I think I might do just that…" She softly pushed his hand away and lied down. "Don't do anything funny to me…"

"I will try." He said and when she closed her eyes, she fell asleep.

It was a great feeling to finally fall asleep.

* * *

 _She is a Yuko-Onna…_  Now that Ritsura fell asleep, Ryuzan allowed his body a moment to shiver in fear. They look she was giving him for a while was one he never saw her do.

That one look reminded him of all those stories of Yuki-Onnas seducing men, make them spend a night with them and freeze them to death.

And he was not sure how to feel about it. His Fear was instinctual, but he did not think she would have brought him harm.  _But then, what if she got too exited? I have my barriers but…_  At the same time as she was giving him that look, the room became so cold that one would have thought it was winter. And she was supposed to be so exhausted that she could not freeze anything. Just how dangerous could she have been at her full strength?

He was afraid… but at the same time, he was not. While looking at her sleeping face, he remembered that she was still that beautiful and elegant, though also energetic and kind of rough, girl that made him fall in love.

 _I was afraid… yet I am no better._  He sighed and returned to what he was supposed to be doing. Now that she was asleep, he allowed himself to look at her without restraint. Her sleeping face, her naked body and the way she moved whenever she breathed in and out… he felt at bliss as he looked at her.  _I guess I will have to get better with my barriers if I want to keep up with her.  
_

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Well guys, I hope the final part was not too  _warm_ … It is a bit late due to my duties, but a new chapter is here!

\- I apologize if someone expected a fight between the Mukurowaguruma Gang and Kubi. But this chapter was not about fights

\- Ritsura and Ryoko have a nice, little chat. One wonders if they could have been friends if not for… what?

\- Rihan Jr. continues being the family's black sheep, I guess XP

\- Setsura wants revenge… uh-oh, Shiori should watch herself…

\- Luckily for the Nuras, Ryoko rejects Kashaimaru's offer for help. Two members of the  _Triple Dragon_  may have been way too much…

\- The last scene shows us just how dangerous Ryoko's curses could become if untreated. What a dark girl… how did Yura's child ever end up like that?


	68. Food for the Young and the Old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuzan managed to heal Ritsura of her curse, but the one responsible is still running free and preparing a grand plan of some sort. Meanwhile, Setsura looks to get her revenge against a certain over-confident vixen…

 

 **NOTE:** _several traditional Japanese dishes are mentioned in this chapter. Please Google them if you don't know what they are!_

**Chapter 68 – Food for the Young and the Old**

"I don't remember hearing that one before." Hitotsume interrupted Setsura who was playing her shamisen (a Japanese lute-like instrument) early in the morning. "Did you learn it while you were away?" The one-eyed youkai asked while smoking one of his pipes.

"Ah, Hitotsume." She greeted him and continued playing. "No, I always knew this one and played it several times while in this mansion."

"Then why didn't I hear it before?"

"Maybe because you are deaf?" Setsura did not care about being nice towards this man. "Tough I did not play it too often for I am rarely in this kind of mood."

"What does your mood have to do with anything?"

"Every song I play is the reflection of my mood."

"Oh. Well, this one sounds kinda scary."

"That's because it is the music of a vengeful woman." Setsura smiled. "Music fit for a woman planning her revenge to be exact."

"I have this feeling that it is about a certain red-haired rich human brat." Hitotsume did not even need to think about it.

"How did you know?"

"There are very few people in this mansion that she did not manage to piss off." The grimace he made showed that he was not one of those very few people. "Would you like to team up? There are many of us who are looking for a way to get back at her."

"Hmph. The way you worded it makes me think you all failed."

"Some managed to get back at her." Hitotsume said and his eyes looked away, suggesting he was not one of those either. "So what do you say?" He asked and his eye looked back at the woman playing the shamisen.

"No thank you, I think I will do better by myself."

"Hmph, suit yourself." Hitotsume angrily puffed out a cloud of smoke. "But don't later change your mind. We will not let you in on our own plans."

"I am not going be that desperate."

"Helloooo~" A female voice could be heard from one of the hallways.

Hitotsume's face turned blue at hearing it. "Speak of the devil."

"Indeed." Setsura started playing her shamisen more loudly, intending to attract the vixen that was dating her grandson.

And just as planned, the music attracted the prey. "Hm, this is new." The red-haired girl in a high school uniform showed up, with a smug smile on her face.

 _Nobody can resist the temptation of seeing where proper music comes from, especially high-born brats._  "Oh, if it isn't Ichinoe-san…" Retsura looked at her with one eye open but continued playing. "What brings you here this early in the morning?"

"I came so I could go to school with Riha-chan and Ritsu-chin." Ichinoe Araya said and then lowered her gaze.

"Rihan-sama is still asleep." Hitotsume informed the girl that appeared. "Ojou-sama is not at home and will be skipping school today."

"Did she get better?" The girl asked him. "You know, from that sleep deprivation and all."

"From what I hear, that Onmyouji finally managed to heal her."

"That is good to hear." Araya said and started turning back towards the mansion. "Well then-"

 _Oh no, you don't get to leave before we get to talk._  Setsura started playing a different tune, which again made the girl turn around and face her.

"I don't remember ever hearing this one or the last tune." Ichinoe said while putting her hands behind.

"Oh?" Setsura looked at her with one eye open again. "So there still are kids who appreciate real music."

"Is this one of older plays, forgotten by time?" Araya tilted her head. "Or is this something you made yourself?"

"It is mine, but based on some music from older times." Setsura said while closing her eyes and changing to yet another tune. "This one was quite popular during the Edo Period."

"I never heard it."

"It seems to have been forgotten by the humans. The human memory is truly so limited." Setsura spoke while playing.

"Hmmm?" As expected, this remark made Araya try to prove that Setsura had limited memory too. "Do you know…?"

Setsura replied by playing the suggested song.

"What about…"

Setsura played that one as well.

"Then let us hear…"

Setsura replied with another tune and added: "This was mean of you, for the song needs more instruments to be properly played." And then she smiled. "Since magic is last like this, let me play you a remix, as you younglings call it." And Setsura started playing a song she made while using the mentioned one as an inspiration.

"I give up, you are truly knowledgeable." If Araya was disappointed at herself, her smiling face did not show it.

"When you live for centuries, you get quite invested in your hobbies." She opened her eyes and looked at Araya once again. "You seem to have quite refined tastes for someone of your age." Then she stopped playing. "Would you mind showing me what you know?"

"Huh?" The girl did not expect such a question and small signs of distress showed on her face. "No, I don't know how…"

"Come on, it is not like you are on stage. Come on, sit down." Setsura invited her again. "Besides, we got on a wrong foot yesterday and I would really prefer to spend some time with my future granddaughter."

"Uh…" The girl blushed and looked even more distressed than before. Hitotsume, who moved a bit further away, was smiling. "I am… uhm… not sure that…"

 _So she does earnestly love him… one more strike then._ "Come on, sit down." Setsura repeated. "I can show you a few tricks in either case. I am sure Rihan would love to hear you play something."

"Uhhh…" She blushed some more, but still did not accept.

However, she was already beaten. "Come on…" Setsura took her hand and pulled her down, after which she handed her the instrument.

Hitotsume was still smiling when Araya prepared to move her fingers and play, but ran soon after she started using the instrument. The other nearby youkai, both those who looked forward to Setsura's revenge and the innocent youkai who were at the wrong place at the wrong time, ran away. Even Setsura was surprised at how bad the girl was.

Still, the horrible music was beautiful to Setsura's ears, for it humiliated this proud and arrogant girl. Yet still, the fact that the girl continued to try playing it properly, even though she was distressed both by her music and the fact that everyone hated it, made Setsura feel a bit sorry for forcing her to do it. Somehow she doubted that she would continue if Setsura did not bring pleasing Rihan to this.

And as if pouring salt on the wound, Rihan appeared with bed hair and in his sleeping yukata. "What the heck is this horrible music?!" Too late did he see who was playing that music. "Oh… uhm…"

Araya stopped playing when he appeared and just looked at him with her eyes wide open. "Ah…" Tears appeared from the corners of her eyes. "NOOOOO!" Then she screamed and resumed playing it, louder and with much less control. Even Setsura, whose ears heard everything, started to feel pain from it.

"I… I am sorry… I did not mean…" He tried to get out, but he clearly had trouble resisting her ruthless attack-

"GO AWAY!" She screamed at him. "GO EAT! OR SLEEP! WHATEVER! JUST LEAVE MEEEEEE!"

"I…"

"LEEEAVEEEEE!"

"Okay okay…" Rihan started retreating. "We will talk about this later, okay?"

"GO AWAAAAAY!" And when she was certain that he disappeared, she stopped playing. But soon after, still with a depressed expression on her face, she resumed playing and trying to get better.

… _I should have done this while he was not home.  
_

* * *

Nurarihyon was on a mission.

The Arawashi Family, a youkai clan under Nura clan's protection, had acquired several dishes of Fugu, a very expensive food made of pufferfish. It is one of Japanese most celebrated delicacies.

As such, Nurarihyon could not contain his urges to get his hands on it. Yes, the Arawashi Family was under the Nura Clan's protection and Nurarihyon was that clan's founder, but his nature was stronger than him.

He  _had_  to steal one of those dishes. Not buy it or ask for it, but steal it like it fits his nature. He  _had_  to do it.

_True, it won't be that hard. Nobody expects the Nurarihyon to walk in and steal their food. Even if they are cautious of potential thieves, their lack of preparation will make them not noti-_

"STOP RIGHT THERE!" The moment his foot entered the outside market, several members of the Arawashi Family surrounded him. "Oh, it is the First Commander." They relaxed a bit when they recognized him, though they still looked at him with suspicion.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked, acting like he did not come with evil intentions. "Is this how you greet the founder of the clan granting you its protection?"

"We are sorry, Nurarihyon-sama." The four of them bowed. "But we can explain if you will." The blond merchant offered.

"Do so." Nurarihyon said with his arms crossed and still pretending to be innocent.

"As you say." He said and turned towards his four comrades. "Return to your stands and remember to stay ever vigilant." While the others walked away, the blond merchant turned back towards Nurarihyon. "The thing is, we are selling some very expensive merchandise today."

"Really?" Nurarihyon feigned ignorance. "And what dish is that if I may ask?"

"It is…" He pointed at the central stand, which was protected by three scariest members of the Arawashi Family. In middle of it, there were ten dishes of Fugu.

"Oh, it is Fugu."  _My heist!_  "Wait, did you think I would come and steal it?" Nurarihyon made his scariest face and put his hand on his sword.

"Oh no! Of course we did not think that, Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan!" The Arawashi Family member rabidly shook his hands in front of him. "But we have had a  _certain problem_  last few days."

"What kind of problem?"

"Well you see… An Onmyouji is constantly harassing us."

"An Onmyouji is attacking you? Why didn't you report this to the Nura Clan."

"Well, she is not attacking  _us_." He scratched his head. "And the damage was never that bad that we felt like we should report it… I mean, it would be humiliating if we reported every troublemaker to you."

While the youkai of the Arawashi Family spoke, Nurarihyon noticed a young Onmyouji girl in the distance, carrying a plastic bag in her hand.  _Could she be the one he is talking about? No, that would be too convenient._  Still, he decided to ask about it. "This Onmyouji… what is their appearance?"

"It is a young girl with raven hair, a strange hairpin and a 60% disappointment skirt." When he saw confusion on Nurarihyon's face, he explained. "Well you know... 10% disappointment skirt would be a gloriously short mini-skirt while 100% disappointment skirt would cover all of the woman's legs. It is a measure of length." The person he described looked just like the girl who was avoiding the Arawashi Family's gazes by hiding behind other people who were passing by. Even Nurarihyon was impressed by her skills.

 _Why is she sneaking around instead of attacking?_ He wondered while, subtly, looking at the girl who was suspiciously gazing at a stand selling Okonomiyaki (savoury Japanese pancakes made of various ingredients). "And just what did this Onmyouji do to you? If her attacks are regular, someone should have been harmed."

"As I said, she is not attacking  _us_. That is, she is not bringing any physical harm to anybody." While he spoke, the Onmyouji girl threw a coin at the stand, causing noise. When its owner turned around, she rushed forward and started pushing Okonomiyaki into her bag while the people around ignored her. "She is just stealing our merchandise… food to be exact." By the time the stand owner turned around, the girl ducked down and moved away before he could look down.

"She is stealing food?" He asked while the girl took out some ofudas (paper talismans) out of her bag. She returned to hiding in the crows while the stand owner looked around for a thief. "An Onmyouji comes to a market filled with youkai and she steals food?"

"I know! It is pretty strange for an Onmyouji to come only to steal food." The Arawashi youkai shrugged his shoulders while the Onmyouji girl's ofudas released a dark aura. "Well, not that strange I supposed. Onmyouji are not that well paid these days… but what makes it strange is that she  _knows_  that we are youkai."

While a middle-aged couple passed her by, she stickied two ofudas onto each one's back.

The blond youkai, who was still unaware that the Onmyouji girl was in middle of another heist, continued. "I mean, aren't the Onmyouji supposed to protect the humans by attacking us? Never before did I see an Onmyouji intentionally ignore a youkai."

Suddenly, the woman onto whom the girl put her ofuda, turned towards another of Arawashi's stand owners and started hitting him with her bag. Her husband tried to calm her, but she said something and then he attacked the stand owner too. Nurarihyon could see the dark aura around those humans.

During the whole commotion, the Onmyouji girl grabbed some Yakitori from that youkai's stand and Teppanyaki from a non-Arawashi youkai's stand, who went to help the Arawashi youkai who was being attacked.

"And she had been doing that for days now?" Nurarihyon put his fingers under his chin. "Impressive." The commotion seemed to have calmed down and both the human couple and the youkai were now talking to one another.

"It is not impressive, it is annoying." The blond Arawashi youkai said with his hands on his hips. Behind him, the Onmyouji girl was stealing some Croquettes from a youkai who was starring at the human couple and the attacked Arawashi youkai. "And she is definitely coming to attack us today and try to steal our precious Fugu!" As if timing her actions with his words, the Onmyouji girl turned her attention to the stand with Fugu while holding eight ofudas between the fingers of both her hands.

 _Wait, I am supposed to steal that!_  And while Nurarihyon was starring in terror, the Onmyouji girl threw the ofudas into the air. The paper talismans flew into the skies and exploded, creating loud sounds and fireworks.

Humans and the youkai alike looked up, all but Nurarihyon who knew better. The girl was already running at the Fugu stand, obviously prepared to steal the most valuable prize. But the Arawashi youkai, who were already expecting her, looked back down.

"No you will not!" The Arawashi youkai protecting the stand started moving towards her, but the Onmyouji girl just threw one of her ofudas down. They backed away, but it was pointless because the ofuda froze the ground ten meters around itself and the Arawashi youkai fell down. The girl, however, skated on the ice and jumped over the Arawashi youkai.

"No, she is gonna take our Fugu!" The blond youkai, who was talking with Nurarihyon up until then, ran towards her, as did the other Arawashi youkai. Nurarihyon, who wanted that Fugu, also started running.

But they could not possibly come in time so the girl grabbed two plates of Fugu and jumped on top of another stand, holding a plate with Fugu in each hand.

"Give that back to us, you damn thief!" The Arawashi youkai stopped and the blond one yelled at her. "Those two plates cost more than you would!"

The girl just threw them a smirk and started lowering her head at one of the plates.

"No, don't you dare eat that!"

She raised her head up, holding a piece of the dish between her teeth… and then she slurped it and swallowed it up.

Naturally, the Arawashi Family was furious.

"IT IS RUINED!"

"YOU WILL PAY FOR THAT!"

"YOU WILL BE THE ONE TO END ON THAT PLATE!"

Just when they started running, she turned around and started fleeing herself, pushing all kind of things at them. She must have also prepared some traps because Nurarihyon saw some of them slip down or get blown into the air in gusts of wind.

 _She is very talented for her age._  Nurarihyon, who was also pursuing her, had easier time avoiding her traps and he had a good eye for noticing ofudas on the ground, cleverly hidden amongst other paper trash. It did not take long for him to outrun them all and start getting closer to her.  _I will steal them from that girl then!_ He could have taken one from the stand, but losing three plates would have been way too much for the Arawashi Family.

"Yes, the Supreme Commander is gonna catch up to her."

"Go Nurarihyon-sama!"

Nurarihyon decided to give a warning to the girl he was pursuing. "Girl, you better stop or else you will have to deal with Nurarihyon, the most badass youkai in this town!"

The girl turned her head towards him and smiled.  _Is she preparing an attack? If so, she will-_

The girl jumped, turned in midair and threw one of the plates at him.

"Eh?" Nurarihyon caught it and looked in surprise.

The girl did not say anything, but just continued running and showed him a thumbs up.

 _Oooohh…_ Nurarihyon replied by raising his own thumb and smiling.

"THE SUPREME COMMANDER HAD BETRAYED US!"

"PLEASE RETURN THAT TO US, COMMANDER!"

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"

"I am retired!" Nurarihyon shouted back at them while running beside the girl. "Besides, the only reason I came to the market was to steal this!"

"NURARIHYON-SAMAAAAAA!"

"WE WILL GET BOTH OF YOU!"

"YOU  _WILL_  PAY FOR THIS!"

* * *

"Your grandma is evil!" Shiori spoke while she and Rihan were walking back from school. Since it was Saturday, it was over earlier. "She is an evil, evil Yuki-Onna!"

"Yes, you were repeating that part even during the morning." Rihan said while sweating. He feared that she would be angry at him for insulting her music, but instead she was angry at his grandmother.

"And such a smooth, evil woman to boot." Shiori clenched her fist. "By the time I realized it was a trap, it was too late."

"I don't think there was any ulterior motive. She probably just wanted to hear you play…"

"You are very naive, darling."

"Or you are…" Rihan whispered under his breath and then spoke in loudly. "Why didn't you just reject her if you didn't know how to play?"

"Because she brought you into the conversation." Shiori looked down and blushed. "And yet you appeared and heard it."

"Well, it wasn't so…" He started but then she threw him a killing glance. "Okay, it was the most horrible thing I heard in my entire life."

"I know, right?" Shiori made a depressed face. "With one swift strike, she had the entire mansion hear my Banshee Music."

"Well, nobody starts as an expert."

"And she even invited me to come after the school is over… this is horrible."

"Wait, what? If you are that certain that she has something against you, why are you doing as she asks of you?"

"Because if I refused or tried to make up an excuse, it would look like I am running away. It would be a crushing defeat for me…"

"So you will go to her and… what then?"

"I don't have any idea…"

Rihan opened his mouth to say something, but then his cell rang. "It is from Kirie…" He had a bad feeling about this. "Looks like she found some jobs for me and wants me to go see her."

"Then be a good Main Character and listen to what she has to say." Shiori said. "Wait, why are you looking at me like that?"

"Are you the one who asked her to take me away so that-"

"So what if I have?" Shiori looked angry. "Is it so wrong for me to not want to be seen at my worst by my boyfriend?!"

"Let us say that your fears of my grandmother are legit. Then if I am there, she would not-"

"Look, just go!" Shiori shouted and dramatically turned around while the wind blew her hair. "This is my fight, not your…"

"Shiori… does this really deserve such a dramatic scene?"

"Yes! Yes, it does…" After saying that, Shiori started walking away. "Your grandmother is simply such a terrifying opponent. Farewell, my love!"

"…"

* * *

"You are just going to kill me, aren't you?" Shiori said while looking at the butcher's knife in Setsura's hand.

"This is a kitchen knife." Setsura spoke while walking towards Shiori.

"So you are going to dismember me and feed me to the mansion's youkai?"

"Fufufu, maybe… follow me, if you dare." And after saying that, Setsura turned around and started walking away.

"Come on, you have been through worse and more dangerous situations…" Even though she knew that Setsura was planning to humiliate her again, she followed after her.

"Go on, enter it." Setsura pointed at one of the doors.

 _I was here once… what was in there again…_  "You go first."

"No,  _you_  go first." Setsura said in a commanding tone.

"…okay." Shiori slid the door open and walked in. "Oh… NO!" She turned around to flee, but Setsura already stood in the way, blocking her path. "I am not suitable for this!"

"What are you talking about?" Setsura said while closing the door behind her. "This is just a kitchen."

"I can't cook!" Shiori shook her head in desperation. "I admit, I suck! Can I please go home?"

"Pft." Setsura smirked in satisfaction. "Today we are making…"

"No, no, no!" Shiori was on a verge of crying. "Don't make me do that, I beg you!"

But she just continued as if Shiori were not even speaking. "…various food for all the residents of the manor."

"No, if they all eat it…"

"From what I heard, you have been eating many times here in last three years." Setsura pointed her knife at Shiori. "It is bad manners to not return the favor sometime."

"Uh…" Just like that morning, Setsura made arguments against which Shiori could fight without losing her face. "That's true, but…"

"You should be thankful that I am alone here so I will be the only one seeing and laughing at your utter humiliation."

"You… are not even hiding it anymore, are you?" Shiori trembled. "This is all for what I did yesterday, right?"

Setsura made a truly vicious grin and the kitchen had gotten much colder. "The little vixen understands. Good… that pleases me."

Shiori now trembled so much that she wondered if she created an earthquake.

* * *

"Food is ready~" The Onmyouji girl spoke up with her hands stretched. In front of her, there was a blanket with plastic plates that held the food she stole earlier. In middle, there were two plates with Fugu, the main prize. They were eating in someone's backyard, but they were not home so they expected no problems.

And at the opposite side, Nurarihyon sat. "Hehehe, after all that running around, this is truly deserving of glamour."

"I know, right?" The girl said while taking some of the food and eating it. "Stolen food is the best."

"It indeed is!" Nurarihyon took a bite himself. "We are such evil people."

"Fwahahahahaha!" The girl laughed.

"Hahahahahahaha!" Nurarihyon joined her in laughing.

And then they started eating properly.

"But anyway…" Nurarihyon asked after a few minutes. "I hear you have been stealing from them for days. Why?"

"Because trying to steal from those hardass youkai is fun?"

"Yeah, but that can't be the only reason."

"Do you, Nurarihyon-sama, need any other reason?" She asked with a naughty smile.

"Well, I am a youkai. It is my sacred duty to be evil." Nurarihyon put a hand over his chest. "But you are an Onmyouji. Stealing food from youkai is not something that Onmyouji ever do."

"Hmm…" For a moment, she lost her smile. "If you had to guess, what do you think my reasoning would be?"

"You are broke?"

"I admit that my financial situation is bad." The girl shrugged. "And there are few people in Tokyo who would pay an Onmyouji… or at least they are hard to find."

"But you make it sound like it is not the main reason, huh?"Nurarihyon scratched his chin. "Well, I have no other ideas… but may I ask why an Onmyouji is not doing her job? And why is she eating with a youkai right now?"

"My cousin would say that our duty is not killing youkai but guarding the world from evil." She said with a smirk. "And sometimes, that means fighting other Onmyouji, like the Gokadoin."

"Hm?" He was surprised to hear her mention the Gokadoin as there was only one Onmyouji family who opposed them. "Now that I look at you… could you be a Keikain?"

"Yep, I am a Keikain!" She made a wide smile.

"Hm, there was a woman from your family who was friends with my grandson… how was she called again…"

"My mom's name is Yura. Could you mean her?"

"Ah yes, Yura! You look very much like her!" Now that he thought about it, he and Yura were quite good friends too… though unlike this girl, she was unaware that Nurarihyon when they first met. "I forgot to ask… What is your name?"

"Keikain Ryoko is my name, Onmyoudo is my trade."

"And thievery." Nurarihyon added.

"And thievery." Ryoko repeated.

And the two laughed together once again.

"It is so good to have some proper partner in all this." Nurarihyon commented. "It is boring when you are the only one stealing stuff."

"But aren't there other Nurarihyons? Your off-spring, I mean."

"Hmph. My son and grandson played with me while they were kids, but after they grew up they were all  _'That is improper, old man! You can't do that!'_ " Nurarihyon made a mocking grimace while saying that. "My two great-grandchildren were never much into it either. So here I am, all alone…"

"Oh, I see." Ryoko took another bite. "Then maybe we could partner up in future? Together, we could steal some pretty neat stuff!" She then raised her chopsticks. "For example, Hagoromo Gitsune has some glorious dishes in her manor."

"Hagoromo Gitsune? She and her servants would kill us if we broke into her house."

"That just makes it more thrilling, don't you think?" She winked.

"Fufufu, I like your way of thinking, Ryoko!" Nurarihyon returned the grin to her. "I would say that you are very much like me."

"It makes me happy to hear that." She seemed pleased.

"It is very much a compliment, coming from the mighty Nurarihyon." Now that he was done with the appetizer, he turned his attention to the main dish. "And now for the Fugu."

"Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu!"

* * *

"There, now it should be fine!" Shiori said after putting the cooked meat onto a plate. Last two times she overcooked it, but this time it looked good.

"Let me see." Setsura took a piece of meat and put it into her mouth. "I am so glad that I can freeze disgusting food the moment I feel it." She said and spat the chunk of meat right into a trash can.

"What is it now?!" Shiori demanded to know while looking at Setsura emptying the cauldron.

"Did you try eating it?"

"Oh… no I did not."

"Why?"

"Well… I guessed it would be bad."

"You lack of confidence in your skill."

"I don't have any cooking skills."

"Nobody is born with cooking skills, girl. You earn cooking skills." Setsura started lecturing her again. "And if you don't dare trying out your own food means you will forever suck at it."

"Why does it matter?" Shiori pouted. "I can always pay others to do it."

"Oh, I also love when others make food for me. However…" She caught some of them eat that was still in the cauldron with a spoon. "…cooking skills are never useless. You never know when you may need them, and it can feel nice to cook something for yourself or someone you love." She offered her the spoon. "Now eat this or leave."

"Hmmm…" Shiori took the spoon and put the food into her mouth. "Ugh…" And then she spat it out.

"I said eat it." Setsura grabbed the spoon while it was falling and took some more meat.

"I already tried it out! It tastes horrible!"

" _Horrible_  is not a taste." She offered her the spoon again. "Put it in your mouth, chew it properly and then swallow it."

"…why?"

"So you know what makes it horrible, you stupid, little vixen!" This time she put the spoon in front of Shiori's mouth. "Now go  _aaaah_."

"I am not a baby!" Shiori forcefully grabbed the spoon from her.

"You act like one though."

"Hrm." Shiori put the spoon into her mouth before she said something she would regret. She immediately wanted to spit it out, but forced herself to try it out. Of course, the Yuki-Onna looked like she was enjoying the view.  _That damn old woman! Why am I even going on with this?_

"So, what is the problem?" Setsura asked Shiori after she swallowed it and started coughing.

"Feels like the fucking sea."

"There is no reason to use profanities." Setsura scolded her. "If it tastes like the sea, it means you put waaaay too much salt."

"So I need to put less salt… but I thought I put little."

"You used salt as you would use sugar. But you don't need too much salt, especially not from the brand we are using." Setsura her thumb and index finger together. "You need to put little. Put some salt onto your tongue if you still don't have a good feel for it." Setsura then lowered her hand. "So, what else is the problem?"

"It was undercooked." This was the worst part for her.

"Yes, you put it off the stove way too early. You were too worried about overcooking it."

"I overcooked it twice already." Shiori looked at her with annoyance. "And this time I used the time written on a cooking book."

"The cooking book is for humans in small families. We are cooking for hundreds of youkai with more sensitive appetites."

"So how long do I need to cook it?!"

"Until it is cooked." Setsura shrugged. "Put a spoon in, take bit, blow at it and try it out."

"You didn't do it."

"I have been doing this for centuries. I don't need to do that anymore." Her expression then softened. "If it helps, Nurarihyon got sick for an entire week after eating the first meal I made."

"Huh?"

"Your cooking would poison someone for five days, which is still two days better than that. Feel honored." Setsura then turned around and returned to cutting vegetables. "Well, go any try cooking again. The guys are already waiting."

 _So what? It is my fault that you made me cook for an entire house of youkai with ridiculous appetite? Hell, can this taste good to a human at all?_  She wondered while throwing prepared ingredients into the cauldron. Since they expected her to screw up, they only threw few of them.  _It is not my fault that this old hag decided to take vengeance by putting the entire Night Parade at risk. Maybe I should be a proper Sanmoto and poison you all? Ha, wouldn't that be a great tale!_

" _What are you doing?!"_  A man's voice echoed through the kitchen.  _"This many fucking vegetables would make even a vegetarian sick!"_

"Huh? Who is that?" Shiori looked around but could see nobody. "And why do you sound like Gordon Ramsay?"

"Yeah, who entered the kitchen without my permission?" Setsura demanded.

" _I did not enter the kitchen!"_  The voice spoke out.  _"I AM the kitchen! The Hell Kitchen is my name!"_

"Alright, who is making pranks here?" Setsura started arguing with the voice.

On other hand, Shiori realized what was going on and turned pale.

" _YOU are the one making pranks!"_  The smoke in the room started whirling around.  _"Not only are you waiting for the girl to screw up royally before giving her advice, but you are even making her think that someone will eat what she makes. On other hand, the real cooks are making lunch in the newer, larger kitchen."_

"Huh?" Shiori looked at Setsura with suspicion.

"Tz." She clicked her tongue while looking at Shiori. "You should be grateful. If I wanted, I could have made you look like a fool in front of everyone."

 _Well, that is true…_  Shiori felt a bit of grief for being angry a while ago.

"Anyway…" Setsura started walking and looking around. "Where the hell are you hiding, you bastard?"

" _This is not time to play around!"_ The British man's voice continued scolding her.  _"If you don't want to cook, get the fuck out of me! There are those who might want to use me properly!"_

"You are asking for it." Setsura looked as if she was concentrating and then her eyes suddenly widened. "Oh my, this Kitchen  _does_  have its own Fear." Then her eyes looked towards Shiori.

"What is all this commotion?" Suddenly, Tsurara and some other youkai burst into the kitchen, just before Setsura could say something.

" _What the hell is this?"_ The Kitchen became even more irritated.  _"Do I look like fuckin' Dining Room to you people? Get out, I don't want more than five cooks in me!"_

"What… is going on?" Nura Rikuo asked.

" _Oh, Supreme Commander of all youkai!"_  The Kitchen's tone became a bit more respectful, but irritation in it was still very much obvious.  _"I am proud to say that I, a humble kitchen until now, have turned into a youkai. I will help everyone in me to make the best food possible… so forget about that new kitchen and return here, 'kay?"_

"This mansion became much weirder…" Hitotsume commented while Rihan appeared outside the kitchen. When Shiori looked at him, he called her out with his finger.

"Well, it is a youkai mansion." Karasu Tengu joined the conversation while Shiori used the opportunity to sneak out. "I guess it was a matter of time until a room turned into a youkai too."

When Shiori got close enough, Rihan grabbed her by her arm and started pulling away. "What the hell is the meaning of this?"

"Shouldn't you be with Kirie?"

"I told her I will come later." When they were far enough, he stopped and turned towards her. "What the hell just happened?"

"Well you see…" Shiori scratched her cheek. "Several nights ago, I watched this British cooking show where a man visits restaurants and helps them get better, all while verbally assaulting them."

"And then what…?"

"I thought it would be hilarious if a kitchen acted like that man."

"So…"

"I created an urban legend where a person that was hopelessly unable to cook got frustrated and the kitchen came to life, giving everyone advice in cooking while verbally abusing them. Of course, it has the voice of that British man." Shiori made an awkward smile. "I did not choose which kitchen it would be, I just that Netto no Yose spread the tale… and ironically I ended up being the sorry human from that tale." And so she became depressed again.

"Oh for the…" Rihan looked truly pissed. "How did you end up becoming the catalyst? The chance was less than 1%, was it not?"

"Well… the Fear surrounding me tends to start sipping when I get emotional. Usually, it results in me accidentally creating a youkai on the spot. "

"Fear sipping… what if someone noticed it?"

"Don't worry." Shiori tried putting on a smile. "You have heard them! They think it is nothing special."

"It better be." Rihan sighed and then his cellphone rang, but he did not answer it. "Kirie is getting impatient. Answer me in fifteen minutes, else I will think something is wrong, alright?"

"Alright." Shiori nodded and looked over Rihan leaving her. And then she sighed.  _Ugh, I really did it this time._

"You are so lucky that my grandson seems aware of it and still loves you… and that this is enough to keep me silent, at least for a while." She heard Setsura's voice and then felt a cold arm embrace her shoulders. This was enough to make Shiori turn pale. "Well, I don't see another reason why he would be scolding you just after our kitchen turned into a youkai."

"What are you talking about, Setsura-san?" Shiori gave her best to not sound distressed.

"Don't play with me, little vixen." Her fingers touched Shiori above her chest, just where her pendant holding the shard from the  _Mirror of Condemnation_  stood. "Is this how you did it?  _That Clan's_  Fear was definitely coming out from whatever you are carrying around your neck… and for a while, I could see similar Fear surrounding you."

 _She knows?_  Shiori turned her eyes towards Setsura.

"What a dangerous look you are giving me… way to tell someone they are right." Setsura forcefully turned Shiori around and made her walk back towards the kitchen. "We have to tell others what was going on inside the kitchen so you better tone it down or someone else may find out about it."

"And what then? You are just going to let me walk away?"

"And then you and I will have a nice, little chat so I can decide what to do about you." Setsura then gave her a mocking smile. "I must say, you are proving more interesting than I expected."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

It was a long while since I wrote an entire chapter in one day… but here it is. It is quite a light-hearted chapter, but it was very fun to write, especially the Metal Gear Ryoko scene!

\- the leading theme of the chapter is the interaction between first and fourth generation, thus the  _young_  and the  _old_  in the chapter title. Food in the chapter title is having both literal and metaphorical representations

\- sorry for not giving names to songs suggested by Shiori, but my knowledge of those is way too lacking

\- you gotta hand it to Setsura: she is good at subtle aggression

\- mother and daughter, both are getting along with old grampa Nurarihyon XP

\- I never planned for Shiori and Setsura to have any interaction, yet here they are…

\- Nura Clan now practically has Gordon Ramsay stuck in one of their kitchens. They are truly blessed!

\- some might wonder how Setsura is able to recognize Hyaku Monogatari's Fear even though she was never shown interacting with them. Chapter 136 revealed that she and Rihan fought against the Hyaku Monogatari so while she was not participating in the war against Sanmoto Gorozaemon, she participated in the one that came after (and about which we know little about, probably due to the Manga forced to end early)


	69. Kokuhan-sama

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lack of caution has resulted in a catastrophe for Sanmoto Shiori: one of the youkai of the Nura Clan, the Yuki-Onna, Setsura, had discovered her secret, right while the girl was still inside the Nura Clan's mansion… and just after her boyfriend, Rihan, left the house

**Chapter 69 – Kokuhan-sama**

_It is there somewhere… I just know it!_  A twenty three years old woman thought while walking through the night streets with her boyfriend.

"You're making that face again." Her boyfriend spoke and squeezed her nose.

"Ouch!" She slapped his hand away and he laughed. "Don't tease me like that!" She pouted, but the smile on his face made her smile as well, as if it were contagious.

"You leave me no choice." He winked at her and then turned to looking forward once again. "I mean, seriously… you are afraid of some chalked images you have seen."

"Hmmm…" She wished that she had something to reply with, but she had nothing. It was true what he said: she saw some images on one of streets, drawn with chalks, and got scared. It did not get better when she heard about people disappearing after seeing those same pictures, but she did not want to tell him that, for he might think that she was one of those superstitious women who were panicking about any rumor they heard.  _But these chalked pictures… I just have this bad feeling about them._

A few minutes passed, with her looking around every now and then. Her boyfriend must have gotten tired as he spoke up: "So, what was so special about them?"

"Huh?"

"What was so special about those chalked images that you got so worried?" He sighed. "Since you can't get your mind off them, you may as well tell me about it."

"Ah… sure…" She scratched her head. "I didn't find them scary at first… only weird."

"Weird?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Usually, it is children who draw them, but these ones were refined. An adult must have drawn them, not a child."

"I see. Go on."

"Also, they weren't all in the same place." Her eyes narrowed. "I saw one and then another after a while and then another one… put them together, and they tell a story."

"I am surprised you didn't just get scared and turned around."

"I did, and that's where it got really freaky." She pulled his arm closer. "First, I completely changed the direction where I was going. I thought the images were drawn throughout a street, but when I turned into a different one, the story continued."

"Maybe the artist expected you to change streets?"

"But then I turned back and I noticed images I did not see before."  _And the old ones were gone, but if I said that or the fact that all images were gone the next day, he might think that I've gone crazy._

"I see… that artist must have been quite something, to predict your movements like that. Artists sure are impressive." He continued thinking that this was nothing unnatural. "So, what did the images show?"

"I… do not want to talk about it." She said and realized that she dug her fingernails into his arm.

But he acted like he did not feel it. "If you say so." The atmosphere around him got colder and normally she would have been worried about how this was affecting their relationship, but the fear she felt was too strong to worry about this.

_Just forget about it! Just forget about it! Just-_

And then she saw him, standing across a street and looking just like in those images. He was a man dressed as British gentleman from the Victorian era, with a top hat. However, his clothes were pure white… so white that they seemed to shine in the darkness.

Her instincts made her look away, but her rationality then made her look back at him. She thought of telling her boyfriend about it, but when she saw that the white man was missing, she kept her mouth shut.

Still, he must have noticed her behavior. "What is it?" Her boyfriend asked her.

"Nothing, I just… thought I saw an acquaintance, but I was wrong."  _He will think that I am having delusions… gods know, maybe I am deluded!_  It was one thing to feel anxiety, but it was completely another to see something so unnatural.  _But this is near the Ukiyoe Town. I hear many strange rumors about it… could youkai possibly exist in that place?_

_No, that can't be possible! Yeah, that's right! I'm only seeing things due to being afraid!_ She grabbed her boyfriend's arm tighter and closed her eyes.  _If I can't see it, I can't get afraid!_  That was what she thought while her boyfriend stroked her hair.

It seemed like a good idea when she did it, but as time passed keeping her eyes closed became harder. That is, the sensation of Fear made her more and more anxious. Only for a moment, she allowed herself to open her eyes… and she looked across a street and saw the man in white waving at her, just like in those pictures.

She suspected it earlier, but now she was sure of it: the chalked images were telling her what was going to happen to her.

Soon, the third drawing's prediction came true: from the corner of her eye, she saw the man in white inside a bar, looking at her. But when she blinked, he was gone.

"He is here…" Tears started coming out of her eyes.

"Who is here?"

"He is here… he is here…" She knew that it would have been better to explain it to him properly, but she could not make herself calm down. She was overwhelmed with Fear.

"Come on, let us hurry back home… Taxi!"

"No, in the fourth drawing…" And when she saw Taxi going in her direction, she saw the man in white in the backseat. "NOOOOO!" She screamed and started running.

"Hey, wait!"

* * *

 

"Poor thing." Kokuhan muttered to himself while standing atop a lamp and looking at a youkai haunting a couple. It should be noted that by 'poor thing' he meant both the young woman who was out of her mind from Fear… and the youkai haunting her.

_Come on, attack already._  Kokuhan thought while following them around, but staying far away to not interrupt the event. The youkai in question played with its prey, like all youkai did. After all, the youkai fed on the fear that the humans felt.

_Most of Kirie's Tales follow the same template: she draws some images with chalks, those images turn into a youkai that searches for fitting prey and shows itself as those images. Several days later, that youkai would attack its victim in the manner drawn by Kirie._

This youkai already killed several humans, but this was to be his last hunt. Once Kokuhan reached him, he would put an end to its pitiable existence.

* * *

 

By now, even her boyfriend was afraid. She did not know if he had seen the demon, but there was something strange in the air… something unnatural that made one afraid for no obvious reason.  _It is as if… a demon was announcing its arrival!_

"We are going to die…" She spoke out words on instinct, tears streaming out of her eyes. "The white gentleman will come, open his large mouth and tear us to pieces!"

"Don't be afraid!" Her boyfriend squeezed her hand as he pulled her with him. "We need to stay strong!"

"What good would that do?"

"I don't know! But it wants us to be afraid, so we should try not giving in to him."

"That's true, I guess." She said mildly. She did not expect him to be so brave at this time.  _He is so dependable… I am so sorry for pulling you into this._

But his courage did not save them, as the youkai in question appeared from behind a corner in front of them. Alongside his white, Victorian clothes, he had no face, but a monocle clung where his eyes was supposed to be. He also had furry hands with claws, as if he were a beast. With his right hand he held a cane that had a blade at the bottom of it.

And when he lowered his collar, on his faceless head a mouth could be seen… a mouth with fangs which then stretched unnaturally, revealing small tentacles. No doubt, this was supposed to be used to eat them.

"Stay behind me!" Her boyfriend yelled and grabbed a lid from a trash can. She was not sure if he wanted to use it as a weapon or as a shield, but it was a tool nonetheless.

_But it is useless… because he is…_

The youkai, whose white clothes shone in the darkness, raised his cane and quickly moved towards them. It did not walk, but fly. If she had to describe it, she would say that he moved like smoke.

It went to stab her boyfriend, but in such a way that even he could block his attack. But her boyfriend did not put the lid in front of himself, but instead hit the bladed cane downwards and then, while the youkai was surprised, hit its face with the lid.

Of course, it did no noticeable damage to the youkai, who just moved past him and tried to stab him from behind. He turned around to defend against the youkai, slashing away the cane once again… but this time the youkai grabbed the lid with its left hand and broke it with its fingers alone.

She looked in horror as the youkai slashed at her boyfriend, hitting him into the shoulder. "NOOOO!" She screamed when she saw blood seeping from the wound.

Fortunately, the wound was not deep… or unfortunately, for the youkai did it so it could torture its pray before devouring it. But just when the youkai raised its claws and aimed them at the man's neck, something hit the youkai and threw it right into the trash.

"You did well, for a human man." A young boy in black jacket and pants appeared beside the couple. His eyes were gold and his black-white hair defied gravity, while in his hands he held a sheathed sword. "You two take a rest or run away." He said while unsheathing his sword. "I'll deal with this fake Brit."

Her boyfriend opened his mouth to ask something, probably the boy's identity, but then the youkai in white roared. "HYAAAAAAARGHHH!" It flew up, grabbed its bladed cane and gracefully rushed at the boy.

The speed the white youkai moved with was outrageous for the humans who witnessed it, but the boy had no trouble keeping up with it. The white youkai swung its cane from all directions, but the boy deflected each of its attack with the sword… which he held with one hand. "Come on, where's your elegance?" The boy asked the youkai while still defending against its rapid attacks. "If you dress like a gentleman, at least fight like one. I think it's called… dueling, right?" He said and put the left hand on his hips, in a proper duelist fashion.

This must have made the evil youkai angrier, for its attacks became even more dangerous. Now it moved around while slashing towards the boy, but the boy never gave him a spot he could attack.

"Hey, are you trying to sneak up to them?" The boy suddenly said and ran forward, putting himself between the youkai and the human couple which was so entranced by the unnatural fight that they did not even notice what the evil youkai was trying to do. "Quite cunning, but it makes me kinda jealous."

Then the boy went into offensive and slashed at the youkai, pushing him away from the human couple.

"Hrrrr…" The youkai started releasing strange sounds while defending. "GRAAAAAHHHHH!" A strange, black aura engulfed its cane and when he swung it, it broke the boy's sword.

"No…" The woman put hands in front of her mouth. She was unsure if she was terrified that her savior lost his weapon or because she was afraid for the boy.

But the boy did not seem as worried. "Oh." Was all that he said after the sword broke. But if there was any hope in him still being able to fight, it was crushed when the white youkai grabbed his neck and flew up with the boy.

The white-clothed youkai tried to stab the boy in the air, but the boy was able to defend himself by simply pushing the cane away whenever it got too close. "You should have gone with a proper sword." He mocked the youkai, which then threw him downwards.

"HRAAAAHK!" The youkai roared and flung downwards, intending to stab the boy while he is unable to move.

_He is done for…_

But the boy once again proved his resourcefulness just when the youkai got close to him: he grabbed the cane with both of his hands, pulled it down and then kicked the youkai in the face… and then immediately grabbed him by the neck with his legs and pulled him down. The unnatural actions resulted in the white youkai hitting the concrete, while the boy used his body to soften his own fall.

The boy grabbed the falling cane and stabbed it right into the youkai's neck.

The youkai raised its head and looked at the couple one last time, before its face fell down and he turned into white dust.

_Chalks… it is the dust from chalks…_

* * *

 

_And so another tale passes into oblivion._  Kokuhan thought to himself as he looked at the breeze taking away what remained from the youkai.  _Well, most of it._  He saw the shiny, white top hat flutter down, which he caught it with his hand.

"Uh… umm…" He saw a female muttering near him. When he turned his face around, he saw that the couple was standing again and holding to one another.

"You did well." Kokuhan smiled as he looked at the man. "I was almost late, so good work with such a lame weapon."

"Thank you…" The man spoke. "Not for the compliments I mean… but for saving us."

_You are thanking a villain you know._  "Here." He said and threw the top hat towards them. "Take this as a souvenir." The woman caught the top hat and, while she and her lover were looking at it, Kokuhan used the opportunity to move away.

"What a stylish man, fufu." A woman's voice laughed at him the moment he returned to the street. "Heroes do love making sudden intros and outros."

Kokuhan looked at a short girl dressed in wide, black dress and with white hair. "Oh, if it isn't Kirie."  _So she actually bothered to appear in person this time._

"Hi, Kokuhan-sama." She weaved at him. "Or should I say… Rihan-sama?"

* * *

"Ahhhh…" Setsura let out a voice of pleasure as she dipped into the large bathtub. "Even as a Yuki-Onna, I do really enjoy a nice bath." After several moments of silence, she opened one of her eyes and looked at the red haired girl still standing far away and holding a towel in front of her. "Come on, it is large tub."

"Mhmmm…" The girl looked away for a several moments, but then walked up to the bathtub and put the towel away, after which she entered the bathtub and sat on the opposite end from Setsura. As per the Yuki-Onna's request, she had to leave the locket behind, lest she somehow used it against her.

_Hooh, she is quite a looker._  Without the glasses, which would have been fine if they had some style to them, she looked even prettier. Setsura could recognize traces of make-up on her face, and knowing her status it was probably some very expensive make-up, but it did not seem like there was much of it, meaning that she did not use make-up to make herself pretty, but to make herself prettier.  _Even her chest area is quite something to look at… no wonder Rihan tolerates this little vixen's horrible personality._  She also had a tattoo on one of her shoulders, but Setsura tried not to look at it. Fear enveloped it and there was a chance that it would curse whoever saw what was written or drawn there.

"Come on, get closer." Setsura invited her.

"Huh?" She looked like she had just insulted her honored ancestors. "Why would I have to do that?"

"The bathroom is the most private part of the mansion but the number of atrociously perverted youkai in this house is still pretty significant."  _In other words, if someone stalks us, it is more likely that they might overhear something sensitive if you stay so far away and we have to talk loudly._

The girl must have gotten her message as she bit her lip and, with clear dissatisfaction on her face, moved closer to Setsura, until their shoulders almost touched.

"There, there!" Setsura put an arm around the girl's shoulders, which made her shiver. "Isn't a nice, warm bath great after hours spent in a kitchen?"

"Shouldn't Yuki-Onnas dislike hot baths?"

"We do like cold but as long as we keep control over our Fear, we can enjoy a regular hot bath too." Setsura winked. "Besides, danger makes it more interesting."

"Is that so…" the girl muttered and looked away.

"But let us go onto important topics miss…"

"Ichinoe Araya." She said the name that Setsura already knew.

"I doubt you are called that in the youkai world."

The girl threw her an angry glare, as if threatening her. But when she saw that Setsura remained unaffected by it, she gave her another name. "Sanmoto Shiori, but please refrain from using it." She said and looked away.

"Sure thing." Setsura shrugged. "So… what are you to us?"

"An enemy." The girl answered without beating around the bush.

_What a blunt little vixen…_  "So, what are you doing here then?"  _And why shouldn't I tell others about you?_

"I am a classmate and friend of your grandchildren and am also known for my affection for youkai folklore. It would be suspicious if I was not here."

"That's one way to look at it." Setsura nodded, though she did not like the fact that a potential enemy was walking freely through the Nura Clan' mansion. "Do my grandchildren know about you?"

"Rihan does, but not Ritsura." She looked at Setsura again. "Unlike Rihan, your granddaughter would not see me as kindly if she knew who I was."

_My grandson knows, that's for sure…_  "Does he know you are an enemy? Or are you manipulating my airheaded grandson?" She intentionally used an insult.

"No, because he is  _not_  stupid." Shiori answered in a fiery tone. "He is aware of everything."

"I like that reaction." Setsura mentioned with a smile. It was just another confirmation that this girl's love for her grandson was legitimate. "But why is he hiding your secret from our family?" She asked the most important question.

Shiori took a few moments to answer this one. "Love."

_There's more to it, but she doesn't want to say it._  "He loves you that much?"

"He loves me and his family." She added. "The sooner the Nuras find out about me, the sooner would… things get complicated."

_Is she some kind of big shot?_  "Have you thought about-"

"I am enemy for the Nuras, nothing will change that." The girl said with a determined look. "If you don't know that, then you were away from this place for a long time."

_And Rihan knows that… geez, what did you get yourself into, boy?_

"So, what are you going to do?" Shiori asked, probably meaning to ask if she would tell others about it.

"I am going to…" But Setsura gave her a different answer. "…perform a physical check-up of course!" The elder Yuki-Onna said with a smile.  _After all, I have yet to decide what to do with this information._

"Eh?" The girl did not seem to have expected such an answer and cautiously started moving away.

"I have to check if you are really worthy of my beloved grandson." She said with shaking fingers.  _Also, I enjoy humiliating arrogant little vixens like you._

"Uhhh… no…" She whispered, probably fearing she would attract others by screaming, and immediately turned around to flee.

However, Setsura immediately grabbed her and pulled her towards herself. "Don't get shy on me now, Shiori-chan~" She spoke while she held her with one arm and playing with the girl's red bangs with the other hand.

"Please let me go…"

"Come on, don't be like that. I hear they do this regularly in school nowadays." Setsura said and grabbed her breast. "Ohoho, quite squishy…" And then she stroked her skin. "And such a soft skin… being young sure is nice~"

"Stop this, please!"

"By the way... you are not a virgin, are you?"

"So what?" The way she reacted confirmed the bluff.  _Ufufufufu, you have advanced farther away than I anticipated, Rihan._  "You checked what you wanted, now please let me go." Shiori tried to fight her way out, but the human girl was overpowered by the youkai woman holding her.

"Oh no darling, we are just getting started." Setsura pulled her back and put a hand under the girl's chin. "Besides, it is my duty as the older woman to teach a young woman like you some lessons."

"L-l-l-lessons? What kind of l-l-l-lessons could we possibly have here?"She asked while her body shook.

"Lessons about handling a man of course~" Setsura said and put her hands around the young girl's body, one ending on her chest area and another just above her legs. "You should be grateful to have someone with hundreds of years of experience teach you such things. Very few other human girls get such a luxury, you know." She suggestively whispered into Shiori's ear.

"N-n-n-n-n-n-no…" Shiori shook her head and blushed to an unnatural level. "P-p-p-p-p-please no…"

"We will start today's lesson with..."

"NOOOOOOOO!"

* * *

"Brrrr…" Rihan shivered as he sat at a table on a terrace. "I have a strange feeling that Shiori is in need of my protection."

"Is that a lover's intuition?" Kirie, who sat in front of him with a glass of cola, wondered. "Or were you away from her for so long that you are getting nervous?"

"It is a lover's intuition." Rihan nodded. "Effects of desperation should not be surfacing for thirteen more hours."

"Whoa, so honest and self-aware!" Kirie seemed impressed. "Doesn't that mean that you should end you date with me and go to Ichinoe-san's aid?"

"On other hand, I also have this strange feeling that the consequences of her current distress would be very beneficial for me."

"That's weird."

"I know, right?"

"Well, I will take it that this means our date will last a while longer."

"Sure, if you don't mind my girl killing you out of jealousy." Rihan teased the Goth girl.

"Wouldn't she kill you too?"

"No, she loves me too much. She would just lock me in a cellar."

"Oooh, you sure do like to live dangerously."

"A man needs excitement in his life." Rihan shrugged. "In any case, why don't we discuss the youkai I have slain today?"

"Sure." Kirie accepted and went to drink some of the cola through a straw.

"It was a youkai you have created, right?" Rihan spoke while using his Fear to make everyone in their surroundings not pay them any attention. "Why did you send me to do it?"

As per agreement he and Shiori made, Rihan had become her Coalition's Main Character (a title he thought sounded pretty lame). Using a name  _Kokuhan_ , he was sent to mix into other Tales, usually killing youkai related to them or born from them. Most often the youkai he slew belonged to other coalitions, but many belonged to Shiori's.

"Because the Tale that supported his existence was on verge of disappearance." Kirie said and pushed the now empty glass away. "As its creator, I could not stand and watch it suffer."

"Why did you not save that youkai?"

Kirie sighed. "Rihan… no, Kokuhan-sama… what do you think happens to a youkai whose Tale is forgotten and who did not collect enough Fear?"

"As humans forget about them, youkai weaken. Thus, youkai have to haunt humans and make them remember."  _Though killing and other ugly actions are not necessary, a thing Father never fails to mention._

"And what would happen if you have less Fear than you can keep producing?" Kirie put her hands together. "What if the number of humans who still keep your Tale in their minds could be counted to only a few dozen?"

"Hmmm…" Rihan wondered about it himself. "They would disappear. After all, youkai are made out of Fear and if that Fear is gone…"

"That is the final result, but what happens as you get closer and closer to that point?" She did not wait for his answer but instead asked another question. "The youkai you slew… did he say anything?"

"From what I have seen, he could not speak. He just roared, like a beast."

"On the second day since he was born, he brought me cookies and some expensive English tea." She spoke with melancholy in her eyes, though the tone of her voice did not change. "It was nice until he started cracking jokes. I swear, British humor is fun on TV, but when they start using it on you… ugh, I get exhausted just remembering it." Her head fell down on the table. "And many of his earlier victims he did not even kill… he just annoyed them with jokes."

"I can hardly imagine him like that." He commented, trying to imagine the beast from earlier acting like a proper British gentleman and cracking jokes. He also imagined him following that couple around and trying to humor them.

"First ones to forget about him were the ones who imagined him telling jokes. He got so stuck up that he did not even react when I told them to him." She raised her head back up. "Few days later, only people still keeping his tale in mind were the ones who imagined him as a merciless killer. I guess it is fortunate that he saved that girl from a car crash before he turned into such kind of youkai."

"And then only those imagining him as a monster remained, huh?"

"Not those… only one more woman kept his story in her mind." Kirie tilted her head. "All his personality, all his abilities… they all became a projection of only one person… a woman who lacked creativity to imagine him as anything else but a mindless beast."

"I see… and had I not killed him, he would have perished after killing her."

"Perishing would have been nice… but no, he would still exist, but lacking a body and a working mind. He would exist, yet not. It would have been an ugly fate that which I did not want him to suffer."

"And so you hired me to kill him."

"Villains and monsters should die by hands of a hero… or any other meaningful character. For all young youkai who have no hope to collect enough Fear to become a proper youkai, this is the most satisfactory ending."

"Well, that's kind of sad." Rihan sighed.  _Basically, for these young youkai, be they artificially created or not, there is a time limit. If you don't collect enough Fear and end up forgotten, you suffer a fate worse than death._  In contrast, youkai whose species have been popular for centuries, collecting Fear meant getting stronger as individuals while in worst case they would just be weak.

"May I ask you a question too, Rihan-sama?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Just what are you? A hero? Or a villain?"

"What do you mean?"

"Usually, you deal with tales as a proper hero. You slay evil and show sympathy for the humans." She tilted her head again. "Yet, you work with those who harass those humans, like a villain."

_That's true. I acted like a savior to that couple, but right now I am socializing with a woman who created countless murderous youkai… and I am in love with an even eviler woman._

_Yet, I do not feel bad about it._  In old times, until he fought Bonnouma, he forced himself to feel empathy. Human common sense, his father's lessons… everything was for the sake of making himself think like a normal human would. It was this obsession which, in the end, made him vulnerable to Shoumen Kongo.

But now, he was accepting of that cold-hearted part of himself and even felt more comfortable around people like Kirie than around the youkai he grew up with.  _In the end, I am a villain. And it is fine, for this way I can be with her._

"The fact that I am hanging with guys like you makes it pretty clear that I am not a hero." He leaned against his seat. "Kokuhan is a kind of youkai who will take an evil option if he finds it interesting or has some other reason to do it. But if there is none, he will just do what any other proper person would do."

"Is that so?" A male voice spoke and both Kirie and Rihan turned towards the young man who appeared beside them. He wore a suit with a tie and generally looked like a young businessman. "Hi Kirie, long time no see."

"It was only four days, Ishikawa." Kirie greeted him and then looked at confused Rihan. "Oh, you two did not meet yet? This is Ishikawa Kaito, another of the Players from our Coalition."

"…and another one who would like to use your services, Kokuhan-sama." Kaito revealed with a smile and sat beside Kirie.

"It must be something special since you came personally."

"Really? Kirie-san seems to be doing it personally tonight."

"Hmph!" Kirie prepared to explain it. "Unlike you, me and Shiori have style so-"

"She is a woman who fancies me so she can't help it." Rihan gave the real reason after which Kirie turned to stone. "Men usually don't bother but just send a mail."

"Hahahaha!" Ishikawa started laughing. "Are you really a Main Character? Aren't they supposed to be oblivious about how girls feel about them?"

Kirie turned red, which fit her current, black clothes. "Hey, don't you get wrong ideas!" Kirie had a tendency to be easily embarrassed when she was teased in front of others.

"Sometimes I wonder about it too." Rihan shrugged, completely ignoring Kirie's denials.

"You are getting a completely wrong idea about me, Kokuhan-sama!"

"Am I?" Having expected that answer, he had already moved to a seat beside her and put a hand under her chin. "Maybe I should take a better look at you?"

"Eh?" Kirie blushed to her ears and, after a few moments of Rihan's intensive starring at her, jumped away. "You gigolo! Shiori-sama will hear about this!" She shouted while steam came out of her ears and ran away.

"You forgot your Gothbrella!" Rihan shouted and raised her umbrella while she ran back towards him.

"Don't make up words!" She grabbed the umbrella and returned to running away.

"Well, this was a fun event." Ishikawa commented while Rihan returned to his former seat. "But won't Shiori-sama get angry at you?"

"I feel this need to make her jealous. Who knows? Maybe I even cause a catfight."

"Haha. That would be a sight to see."

"So, what is it that you want?"

"Nothing specific." Ishikawa said, put his hand under his suit and took out a piece of paper. "Here." He offered it to Rihan in a businesslike-manner, by holding it with his both hands.

"Hm?" Rihan accepted it with only one hand. "This is an address. What is it for?"

"A graffiti."

"A graffiti?"

"Just like how Kirie creates her tales by using chalks, I create my own by using sprays."

"To think such a well dressed man would indulge himself in vandalism…"

"Have you ever tried to work in an office? I would go crazy without having something to go wild on." Ishikawa explained without an ounce of guilt.

"So this is one of your Tales?" Rihan was annoyed by the idea of having to do the same kind of dirty work again. "A failure I presume?"

"Oh no! Shiori-sama and Kirie-chan have soft womanly hearts, but as far as I am concerned, a youkai I create is responsible for himself. Also, a person like you is above such silly jobs."

_I don't like this man._

"As a matter of fact, the youkai in question is one of my greatest successes. He collected enough Fear to no longer have to worry about being forgotten, and the beliefs humans have about him are varied enough that he is able to make his own decisions."

"So why are you sending me at him? You want a youkai like that to die?"

"Come on now, I just want the very best for my child. Having his Tale meet the Tale of Kokuhan-sama should be a great honor for him!"

"Does he know I am coming?"

"It is not in my nature to give spoilers, even to my own creations."

"Is that how your greatest creations are rewarded?" Rihan was annoyed by this man. "By sending a killer after them without even a warning?"

"Kokuhan-sama, are you a One-Trick Pony?" Ishikawa asked with an intrigued face. But before Rihan could reply back to him, he rose up from his seat and continued talking. "Well, I told you all that you need to know. Go to that place if you accept the Tale I am offering you, Kokuhan-sama." The well-dressed man bowed and left.

_A One-Trick Pony?_  Rihan wondered what he meant while looking at the address he was given.  _Well, I will go there tomorrow night.  
_

* * *

"Ahhhh… it sure was a nice bath." Setsura spoke after leaving the bathroom. "Wouldn't you agree, Araya-chan?"

"Uhhhh… sure…" The girl walked out with movements befitting a drunkard. "Can I leave now?"

"Yes, you can."

"Thank you, Setsura-sama…" And so, the girl walked away, with her dignity as a woman crushed to pieces.

_Still, it might be best to tell at least someone in charge about her._  Setsura did not like the idea of betraying her and Rihan's trust, but she was still a threat to the clan.

And just as if answering her summons, youkai Rikuo appeared in the hall, accompanied by Karasu Tengu. "What is the deal with that girl? She looks as if she had a bath with a devil."

"Ah, if that isn't my beloved son-in-law?" Setsura greeted him.

"Oh, Setsura." Only now did Rikuo notice her.

"Did you manage to collect enough money for the young masters?" Karasu Tengu asked her the important question.

"It is progressing at a steady pace."  _Uh, I actually forgot about it due to that girl._  "So, what are you two doing?" She asked and joined them in their walk.

"Nothing special, Karasu Tengu is just giving me reports on our enemies." Rikuo explained.

"Not that there is much to report, most of them seem to be bidding their time." Karasu Tengu added. "It is mostly Shiori's gang that openly causes trouble, but even they are being cautious."

"Shiori?"  _Wait, she is actually some kind of bigshot? I thought she was just a spy._

"She leads another group of Hyaku Monogatari remnants." Karasu Tengu continued explaining. "We did not pay much attention to her until few months ago when she started causing trouble, both to us and to the other clans."

"Wait, just how dangerous is this woman?"

"She is very dangerous." It was Rikuo's time to talk. "She has a strong force in Tokyo, which means she poses the most direct threat to our clan. What is more, she went to prove her strength by attacking each and every clan in Japan in a single day."

"Huh? Is something like that even possible?"

"It is, if you only use few youkai." Rikuo crossed his arms. "Each major youkai yakuza in Japan was attacked by a small force that targeted an important member of their clan." Rikuo's face got even colder. "In Chubu, two entire clans had been annihilated. Yatagarasu's own home was ransacked while he was still in it. The heir of the Tenka Fubu Clan was burnt alive, alongside his bodyguards. Tamazuki also seems to have suffered an attack, but that guy is too proud to talk about it."

"She also attacked the Kyushu Clan, even though they aren't yakuza." Karasu Tengu added. "One of Mizuchi's sons was murdered, alongside an entire army of skilled youkai and a member of the Tsukumo Clan. From what we heard, they were all rotting when they were found, even if they were killed less than an hour ago." But then Karasu Tengu looked pleased. "Mizuchi blamed us for it even though she left a message. The Kyushu embarrassed themselves when it was revealed that everyone was attacked. Ha!"

And then, time froze for Setsura.  _W-w-w-w-w-wait a second! I spent an entire day bullying a person who could orchestrate such a grand attack?! A person whose minions are able to take down a Tsukumo and an entire army and an entire Night Parade accompanying it?!_ She suddenly imagine herself getting burnt to death or rotting alive, similar to events just described by Karasu Tengu. Suddenly, Shiori's threatening glances did not seem as harmless.  _I think it might be wise to get into her good graces before it is too late._

_Wait, what am I thinking? I should just tell Rikuo about it!_

She opened her mouth to talk, but Rikuo was quicker. "She is arrogant and evil, just like the rest of her wretched clan." He spoke in a rough tone, sounding like a true yakuza kingpin. "Of all our enemies, she is the one who should get dealt with first, and without mercy."

_What's with this suddenly hateful tone? Is this really the man who forgave Gyuki and Hagoromo Gitsune?_ "What did she do to you?"

"She did nothing to us… yet. But I don't intend to wait for her to do so, especially since it is clear that she plans something against us."

"Well, you sound quite hateful for someone who did nothing to you."

"I still remember the slaughters that her clan committed over humans of Tokyo… and don't make me talk about the cowardly murder of my father." Rikuo looked at her, with fire in his eyes. "And she is none the better than the rest of her wretched clan. Countless innocent humans and youkai have lost their lives to her little games, I have confirmed that much." He looked away again. "Father killed Sanmoto, but the clan survived. Father defeated them after three hundred years of fighting, but the clan survived. We killed almost all of their leaders during the Tokyo Tag, but the wretched clan is still alive. But this time, it won't be like that."

"What do you mean?"

"We are preparing for a final war against them and I expect to give the order in few months. Once it is given, the Nura Clan will stay actively at war with the Hyaku Monogatari until ALL of their members and associates are dead. No matter their position in the clan and no matter if they are youkai or human. Even when only one underling remains, we will hunt him down as if he were the Nue himself."

_In other words, you want a total annihilation._  "Didn't you say that she also attacked the Kyushu? Why not just leave her be?" Her mind went to her grandson.  _Rikuo, you should not do this… the consequences will be higher than you think._

But he gave her an angry look. "When I ascended to the leadership of the Nura Clan, I swore that I would not forgive anyone who intentionally harmed the humans. Of all youkai clans, the Hyaku Monogatari are the absolute worst in this regard." Rikuo increase the pace he was walking. "I will show them no mercy."

"As you say, Supreme Commander. See you later then." Setsura said and stopped walking with him and Karasu Tengu.

_I can't believe I forgot… even if he looks as a youkai, most of his blood is human._ Although she heard how dangerous Shiori was, she no longer had any intention of telling Rikuo about her as it was now clear that his forgiving and merciful personality was not affordable by everyone.  _Tz, I can't believe that I came to like that little vixen… though I am also doing this for Rihan._

But it was not only his human blood that supported this. The youkai they passed heard Rikuo's words and were now whispering amongst themselves.

Unlike Setsura, they were excited about their Supreme Commander's zeal. It was not because they would destroy some evil group, but because the very idea of annihilating an enemy was exciting.  _The number of youkai who will oppose the Supreme Commander's decision… I probably wouldn't need all the fingers of my hand to count them all._

"Hmph, that Rikuo…" It seemed like Nurarihyon too overheard his grandson's speech. "…I told him many times not to act like an ally of justice, but he does not listen."

She was glad to hear that Nurarihyon did not approve of it, but not surprised. "He did say that he swore an oath."

"Hmph, that he did. It is a stupid oath for a youkai to make." Nurarihyon crossed his arms. "In time, I fear he will get to learn why."

Her mind went to the girl whose identity she decided not to reveal to Rikuo… and more importantly to that girl's lover, who was Rikuo's own son.  _Sooner than you think. I don't know what will happen in future or what side Rihan intends to take but one way or another, this will result in a tragedy.  
_

* * *

"Who keeps doing this?" Nattou Kozou asked in annoyance while starring at something at the courtyard of the Nura Clan's mansion.

"I am glad that nobody was hit by it." Another small youkai commented while starring at an arrow, stabbed right into the ground.

"But isn't it just a matter of time until something happens? I think I will stay indoors for a while…"

But it was not only the small youkai that assembled around it.

"Tz, whoever it is, they are playing with us!" Hitotsume spoke as if he was personally insulted.

"Could it have been the same guys that attacked… that Bakeneko Bar or whatever it is called?" Jorogumo wondered.

"Those guys were more violent than this." The youkai executive Mottainai Obake, a youkai who looked like a rice ball, gave his own input.

Rihan, who was looking from the distance, had his own theories.  _Could this have been one of Shiori's guys?_ But he soon lost interest in that mystery and continued walking towards his home.  _Well, Gorozaemon, the Oniedas and the Kyushu youkai would not fool around like this so I doubt it is a threat._

"Oi, Rihan! Come here for a moment." He barely entered the mansion when his maternal grandmother called to him.

_Granny, couldn't you wait until I remove my shoes?_  He looked at the red-eyes Yuki-Onna who was walking towards him. "What is it, grandma?"

"Rihan…" She put her hands on his shoulders. "…you love your grandma, right?"

"…umm, yes."

"I don't want to be burnt alive nor do I want to rot alive."

"Yes, that is natural."  _What does this have to do with anything?_

"I know I can be hard to deal with sometimes, but I want the best for everyone."

"…"

"So please, put in a good word about me to that vix… I mean, Araya-chan, alright?" She stroked his hair and walked away.

_Sometimes I feel like she is from a completely different planet._  Rihan breathed out a big sigh and did what he always did when he could not understand what went through his grandmother's head: act like nothing happened.  _I think I will go to bed, maybe read some comics on my phone._

"Young Master, it is good to see you." A deep voice of a man spoke out not long after he got back on his way.

"Oh, Gyuki…" Rihan looked at the old youkai who joined him in his stroll. "It was a while since we had a chance to speak, even though we are living in the same mansion. How are you doing?"  _Great, I forgot to keep an eye for him. Now he will lecture me again._

"I am doing well, thank you young master." Gyuki nodded. "But I am worried about you."

"And just why are you worried about me?"

"The news of you having defeated Bonnouma proved to everyone that you truly do posses a magnificent Fear. But…" Gyuki looked at him with strictness in his eyes. "…if you do not groom that Fear, it will weaken."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Defeating Bonnouma was a great achievement, but also the only noteworthy one you ever did. Many of us hoped that this would be the first in many to come, but ever since we returned to Ukiyoe, you did little to strengthen your Fear."

"Shouldn't you be telling this to nee-san instead? Unlike me, she cares for every aspect of our clan."

"You remind me of your father in his younger days, young master." Gyuki said with closed eyes. "Whatever your position in the clan may be, you are still a youkai. If you don't strengthen your own Fear, you will lack strength when you need it the most."

_Tz, can't argue with that._  Although he did do jobs for Shiori, he had to admit that nothing special happened.  _Well, it isn't Shiori's fault that most of our enemies are cowards._ This may have been the first time that he was looking forward to the hell that was called Summer and the holidays that came with it, if only so he could be free from school get some time to seek worthy enemies.

"I see in your eyes that you are worried about it yourself." Gyuki nodded. "Why don't you seek some of troublemakers that plague our turf these days?"

"Which troublemakers?"

"There are many, mostly from the Hyaku Monogatari." Gyuki crossed his arms. "There is Hikine whose capture could lead us to Shiori. Kashima Reiko has also become wilder these days and it would do you good to take down an enemy who evaded us for decades. However, she is one of five strongest Urban Legends so I'd advise going against her without some allies." As if he remembered something, Gyuki changed the topic a bit. "Speaking of which, you should also work on building your own Night Parade."

Rihan felt like avoiding his topic, for he did not want to lie that he had none.  _That would be an insult to Ao-Ju._ "I should build my Fear first."

"The clan can…"

"No, I will not take the clan's aid. My own parade should be created by me, not by my father."

"You would still be the one to build it as only you can make them loyal to you. But I understand if you don't want to use shortcuts."

"Thank you. So, are there any other youkai I should know of?" Be it to slay them for Fear or to add them to his Night Parade, such names would be useful.

"There are many, but as far as Tokyo goes… hmm, there seems to be some young Urban Legend who is slowly making a name for himself. He is strong enough to warrant your attention but young enough to be a safe prey for you. His name was… Kokuhan if I remember right."

Rihan was glad that Gyuki was looking in another direction when he smirked.  _If I break a mirror, will you be satisfied?_  "Well, three names are enough. I will see if I can make use of it." Rihan stopped when he reached his room. "Thank you for the advice, see you another time."

"I am glad I could be of help." Gyuki bowed. "I wish you a… good night's sleep." And after saying those words, Gyuki left.  _No doubt he thinks that a youkai should not sleep at night._

Happy that he had managed to reach his room, and thus his peace, he entered it.  _Kokuhan is out of question for obvious reasons and Hikine is too important for Shiori's safety… though I would love nothing more than to beat up that annoying cat!_  He threw his jacket at the floor and threw himself at his tatami mattress.  _That leaves Kashima Reiko… she is quite a strong youkai from what I hear. It would be interesting to find her and have a-_  Only then did he notice something from the corner of his eye.

"Who-" He jumped up when he realized that someone was sitting in the corner of his room. But he calmed down when he saw who it was "Uh… Araya-chan?"

His red-haired girlfriend was sitting on her knees and looking at him. Without saying a word, she crawled to him and threw herself into his embrace. This kind of intimacy was normal for them… though in this mansion it had another purpose: making sure that nobody gets to hear what they say to one another.

After a minute of silence during which his lover just rested her head on his chest, Rihan decided to ask why she was in his room. "What are you doing here?"

"Your grandmother knows who I am."

"Huh?" Rihan felt his body grow colder.

"For some reason she is keeping quiet... but I am not sure if she will keep doing it." She dug her face into his chest. "I thought of leaving, but I got too nervous whenever I saw a youkai."

"So you feared that you would look too suspicious if you walked past all those youkai so instead you just hid in my room."

The nod she gave him confirmed that he knew her quite well.

_My goodness…_ "Do you want me to take you home?" He asked though he somehow knew the answer to that question as well.

"No." she shook her head. "I can't show fear." She put her hand below her neck, thus showing that it was not Setsura or the Nuras that she should not show Fear, but to that mirror. "I will be staying the night here."

"Well, nee-san's room is free so-"

"I said here." She tapped the tatami. "If something happens, I want you to be close! Besides, I want to…"

"You want to… what?"

"Uhh… nothing." She shook her head. "You will see… maybe… in any case, I am not moving from here until I know for certain that it is safe."

"Wait… if others find out about it, there will be a fiasco…"

She gave him a small kiss. "We will cross that bridge if we come to it."

"Yeah… sure…" Rihan sighed, hoping that he gets out of this alive. "But I will need to talk about this with grandma."  _Why is she keeping it quiet?_   _I should find out what she is thinking and make sure she does not tell anyone about it…_  "Oh, and did she do anything to you? Like blackmail or…"

"Oh… um…" for some reason, Shiori turned red and looked away. "No, she is…" And then she made a strange smile. "…not so bad…"

_Wait… what… but this kind of look... should be reserved for me_ _…_

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Another chapter of the Ryoko Arc done, but this one was special: it had neither Ryoko nor was the plot related to her. Instead, it was focused on two characters who were side-lined during this current arc.

\- name Kokuhan was mentioned several chapters ago, and it did not look like many guessed that Kokuhan was actually Rihan. It makes sense for him to use a different name while working with Shiori, and the name itself means "Dark Counterpart"

\- Shiori Vs. Setsura: 1:3

\- Ishikawa Kaito isn't a new character. He actually appeared once, way back in chapter 11

\- Shiori's attack on all (most actually) youkai clans in Japan was planned even during the Nejireme arc, but I never got around showing it properly (besides the Plaguesdoctor's attack that is). Sorry for having to learn about it through a character's words

\- And Rikuo reveals his intent to crush the Hyaku Monogatari once and for all. It is natural, both due to what they did to the Nuras and due to the fact that they are the very opposite of the Nuras by their very nature… and because the Nuras should be getting sick of them. Yet, this is a build-up for something larger. It also relates to his oath, which while an absolute good for the humans, is quite controversial in the youkai world


	70. Three Cups of Sake

**Chapter 70 – Three Cups of Sake**

_Hiding the identity of a dangerous enemy from the Supreme commander… now that I think about it, that's borderline treachery._  As she sat down and slowly drunk some of her favorite sake, Setsura thought about what she did  _not_  do.  _But telling him about it would mean betraying my grandson, my own flesh and blood._

Even though Setsura was no longer an active member of the clan, she swore loyalty to it and was even granted a turf and association of her own to govern. She could not simply pretend like nothing was going on.  _I should at least look into this girl._   _Maybe that would allow me to be more accepting of my decision… or convince me to change it._

From what she heard from Karasu Tengu a while ago, she had a good idea on how dangerous Shiori was.  _But that isn't so important. What matters is how much of a threat her guise poses to our clan's safety. If she puts the rest of my family at risk, then I will not show her mercy._

_But how do I learn more in short time without raising suspicion? If a retired Yuki-Onna suddenly starts asking about Shiori, it might raise suspicion. So what could I possibly do…?_

"Ahhh!" Her answer came in form of her daughter walking into the room while holding her head. "Where is she?!"

"Oh, Tsurara." Setsura greeted her daughter, but Tsurara just walked around the room, not paying any attention to her mother.

"One night. Fine. I can trust her that much." Tsurara talked while circling around the room. "But she still hasn't returned! What is she doing? Is she moving into that boy's house?" And then she started intensively rubbing her head. "Damn adolescence! I knew that I should have sent the elite warriors of our clan to go and carry her back here!"

"Ahhh…" Setsura sighed, created an ice cube atop her palm and threw it right into Tsurara's head.

"Ouch!" This finally made her daughter aware that she was not alone. "Mother? What was that for?!"

"Stop fooling around and keep me company." She replied while sipping some more sake into her cup.

"I am not fooling around! I am worried that my daughter might do something indecent and irreversible!"

"What a worrywart you are. I mean, imagine if I was like you…"

"You sent a little child to join a youkai yakuza and did not even bother to check up on her."  _Momma Tsurara_  brought up an old complaint once again. "Do not use yourself as a role model of a proper mother."

"My daughter ended up marrying the strongest and hottest youkai in Japan. She is envy of all youkai women in Edo and beyond." Setsura said and took a sip of her sake. "And that makes me a perfect mom."

"No it-"

"Besides, why do you care about what she does with boys? She's been an adult for four years now." After all, youkai were considered adults once they reached their thirteenth birthday.

"Thirteen is not the age of adulthood." Tsurara said with crossed arms.

"Since when did my daughter start measuring adulthood in human years?"

"Since she came to a conclusion that thirteen years is too little even for a youkai. Times change, mother." She said and changed the topic before Setsura could add anything. "Besides, I don't like that boy."

_She is avoiding the topic._ "Why? He is handsome and well-mannered."

"Well-mannered…" Tsurara's face turned blue. "Is everyone in this house naive? He is Ryuji's son for heaven's sake!"

"Oh, you seem to know a lot about my grandchildren's crushes. Come on, let us talk." She grabbed Tsurara's hand and pulled her downwards. "Why don't you tell me more about that boy?"  _And, more importantly, about Ichinoe Araya. But it would be better to not rush… besides, I am interested in that boy too._

"What is there to say?"Fortunately, Tsurara did not need convincing. "His father was an ill-mannered man who valued lies and mocked everyone he saw. But at least he never his true personality. His son is the same, but hides his true nature… towards most people."

"And you are not one of them?"

"Pft, I guess he does not bother because I never trusted him."

"That is a bad reason to dislike him, Tsurara." Setsura offered a cup of her sake to her daughter, but Tsurara shook her head. "As a matter of fact, that makes him perfect. Deception is the Fear of the Nuras as well."

"The Nuras are honorable and chivalrous."

"And who says he isn't?"

Tsurara bit her lip and changed the topic. "Besides, since when do you support relationships between humans and youkai? And more so, between a youkai and an Onmyouji? They are our natural enemies!"

_Something's weird…_ "Are you drawing for straws?"

"What are you talking about?"

" _Rikuo-sama had befriended an Onmyouji and her family. It sounds outrageous, but they are actually not so bad._ " Setsura recited words from her memory, to which Tsurara's eyes widened. "You said something like that in one of mails you sent me many years ago. And isn't that boy from that same family?"

Tsurara looked at her for a while before answering. "They are not bad, but that does not mean I am comfortable with it."

"Well, deal with it. She may be a Yuki-Onna and resemble you and me, but her heart is still that of a Nurarihyon. And Nurarihyons tend to get close to unusual people."

"Like when the First chose to marry a human woman?" Tsurara poked at her.

"Exactly." Setsura tried to show how she let go of it with her tone, but somehow she still ended up sounding frustrated. "But let us get back to the topic. What else can you tell me about that boy?"

"What else is there to say? He is a lying, ill-mannered Onmyouji who wants to abduct my daughter!"

_Not that again._  "How strong is he? What does he do in his free time? How is he courting my granddaughter? What is his favorite food?"

"Why do you want to know such useless things?"

"I have to know about what kind of person might end up becoming my grandson-in-law." When she used that term, Tsurara's entire body shook.

"He is strong enough to face most of the Gyuki Group and beat them up." Tsurara said grudgingly. "No doubt they went easy but…"

"…that's still quite an achievement!" Setsura clapped her hands. "He is truly worthy of fathering the rest of my descendants!"

"MOM!"¨

"What?"  _This is getting fun._  "He is handsome and strong. We have to keep that in family."

"You… why can't you… don't you have any… GAHH!" After some mumbling, Tsurara just gave up and let her head fall on the table.

"Let us put an end to joking around. Tell me, what is the matter Tsurara?"

"They are both still kids… and kids are prone to making stupid mistakes."

"I guess it is a valid reason for worry." Setsura had to admit it, even though she was sure that Ritsura knew what she was doing. "Have you tried calling them?"

"I called five times." Tsurara raised her head and pulled a cellphone from somewhere. "Nobody answered." She spoke while typing on it. She then put the cellphone onto her ear, thought her face showed that she did not expect anyone to answer.  _I hope she does not get even more depressed._

But someone answered.  _"Hello?"_  It was a boy's voice.

"Ryuzan? Why are you answering my daughter's phone?"

" _Well, she is sleeping. I had lifted the curse, you know."_

"It was about time." Tsurara raised herself up onto her feet and put a hand on her hip. "Why hasn't she still returned home?"

" _Well-"_

"Did you do something to her?"

"… _as a matter of fact, I did."_

"What?" Tsurara's eyes widened in surprise. "What were you two doing all this time?"

" _We were alone at night time… you know how it goes, mother."_

"Why-"

" _Yes, I am sure I now have the right to call you mother!"_

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Tsurara exploded. "Wait, are you lying? You are lying, aren't you?"

" _She has quite a birthmark on her chest."_ Ryuzan gave her some evidence. Still though, Setsura had a feeling that it was just another of those famous deceptions that Tsurara talked about.

But Tsurara must have fallen for it as all emotion left her face and she just starred in front of her.

" _Hello? Mother, are you-"_

And then she ended the call.

"Uhm, Tsurara…" Setsura started. "I think they just-"

"Silence." Her daughter said and fell onto her knees, thus returning back into a sitting position at the table. "Give me that." She then grabbed Setsura's bottle and cup, poured herself so much sake that some of it spilled on the table and started drinking.

"Well… it was sure some time since we drank together." Setsura just accepted the situation and grabbed another bottle and cup. "Let us drink in honor of-"

"Finish that sentence and I swear I will kill you."

* * *

"Hmmm…" Ritsura woke up.  _This is not my bed…_  Still lying, she stretched her arms and yawned.  _Ah yes, I am at Ryuzan's place._

"Hello?" She heard Ryuzan talking.

"Hello." She muttered back at him.

"Well, she is sleeping. I had lifted the curse, you know." He continued talking.

_Oh, he is talking on a phone… but to whom?_

"Well…" He started but was cut off by what sounded like a lot of angry mumbling. "…as a matter of fact, I did." He then replied with defiance in his tone.

_He only talks like that to few people, usually to my mom._

"Night time, alone… you know how it goes, mother." He spoke words that made it clear that he was poking her mother in the most sensitive spots. "Yes, I am sure I now have the right to call you Mother!"

_Tz, I should stop him before he created more misunderstandings… but I am still so tired._

"She has quite a birthmark on her chest."

This reply made Ritsura immediately remember what happened before she fell asleep… and especially the part about her being naked.  _Gaaaaah!_  She immediately jumped up and, when the blanket fell off her, saw that she was still like that.

Ryuzan must have heard her because he pointed at something just beside the tatami mattress on which she was lying.  _My clothes!_  She immediately grabbed those and started dressing.

"Hello? Mother, are you… hmm, seems like she hung up."

"You…" Ritsura hit him on his head with her elbow with all her strength (which was limited as she was still tired). "What the hell were you telling her?!"

"I just played along with her accu-" Then he noticed how angry Ritsura was getting. "I mean… sorry…"

"Why do you always taunt my Mom?"

"Why does she always accuse me of every crime on this world?"

The girl acted like she did not hear his reply. "And all that while I was not there to record her cute reactions?! Geez!"

"Ah yes… that's the actual problem." Ryuzan looked away with a sweat drop on his face. "So, are you feeling better now?"

"Not really." Ritsura raised herself up and started shrugging with her shoulders. "But I better go back home… especially after what you said to Mom. I don't want her to burst in with a bulldozer."

"Yes, you better hurry up."

"Me? You won't be coming?" For a moment she felt disappointment, but then she remembered the awkwardness from last night. "Yeah, Mom might kill you unless I manage to clear the things up."

"Actually, it is because I have something else to do."

"Oh, I see…" She wondered if she should talk a bit with him, but whenever she looked him in the eyes, she felt her throat turn dry. "So I better go…" Her legs started moving. "I'll call you when it's safe!" And then she turned around in order to avoid the threat of looking him in the eyes. "Bye!"

"Bye, stay careful."

She surprised herself by how quickly she left the house. "Ahhh…" She sighed and leaned with her back at the door. "I act like a child… it is not like anything actually happened." She put her hands on her face.

* * *

_She may act confident and bold all the time, but even she would feel awkward after that._  Ryuzan sighed while walking towards the living room. Like her, he too felt awkward and tried to stay at a distance.  _I should have told her to trust Ryoko. Then she could have lifted the curse in a moment and all would have been like always._

"She is already gone? You could have at least made her a meal." A feminine voice said. It was only then that Ryuzan realized that someone turned on the TV.

"What the…" He hastened his pace and barged into the living room. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

"What?" Ryoko, who was dressed in western clothes and lying across a sofa, watching TV, answered him. "This safe house is for all the Keikains to use and last time I checked, I am still a Keikain." She said and continued browsing through the TV channels.

"When did you come?"

"While you were guarding your Yuki-Onna… well, while you were napping in a sitting position beside her."

"She is not my Yuki-Onna."

"I have seen that she is not." She said with a large smile.

_You little…_  "I repeat: what the fuck are you doing here?"

"Should I repeat my answer?" She asked and pointed at herself.

"Unless someone fried your head, you know what I mean." He sat on the table beside her. "I don't know where you were staying this week, but it surely wasn't here."

"I stayed here a few times, but I guess you wouldn't know."

"And then you sneak into the house while I and one of your victims were in it. So, what are you doing here?"

"I felt like spending some time with my dear cousin." She smirked. "And maybe with the girl of his dreams too."

"Knowing Ritsura, she would not have been as meek this time."

"All the more fun." Ryoko shrugged.

"You really want to stir trouble with her, don't you?" Ryuzan shook his head in annoyance. "Tell me, my dear cousin, what the hell are you planning?"

"Who says I am planning anything?"

"Don't joke with me. You attacked one of bosses of the Nura Clan, are probably responsible for the attack on a youkai bar, have cursed Ritsura and tried to curse her brother."

"I have also stolen food from native youkai."

"You do that wherever you go. I expect the youkai of Ukiyoe will also start complaining to our family about your lack of ethical Onmyouji behavior." Ryuzan explained while rubbing his forehead. "Now, answer the question."

"I am planning a full-out assault on the Nura Clan's heirs."

"…" After a few moments of failed attempts to find a lie in her tone and behavior, Ryuzan rose up and went to kitchen. There, he drank some water and washed his face before returning back. "YOU ARE PLANNING WHAT?!"

"I am planning an assault on the strongest youkai group in Japan." She spoke while moving into a sitting position. "Would you like to join me?"

"Is something wrong with your head?"

"You are a boy. You should be more excited about this than I."

"You think the Nura Clan's youkai will just stand aside while you attack their commander's heirs? They would kill you just for thinking about it!"

"The Ryuzan I knew would find this idea interesting. Is this what love does to a man?" She leaned against the sofa. "What you want is hopeless and you know it."

The words she spoke took him by surprise. "What are you talking about now?"

"I am talking about your dreamy relationship with Nura Ritsura." She said and turned off the TV. "An Onmyouji and a youkai… as if that wasn't enough, she is someone who is to inherit the Nura Clan whereas you are to get your own Branch Family to protect one of the seals in Kyoto."

"You…" He wanted to say something, but before he could think of anything, she continued.

"Or are you just chasing her skirt for one night after which you will give up on her?"

"No, I would not do that." His eyes narrowed while looking into hers. "Besides, she is-"

"She is special? Unfortunately, that just makes it tragic." She spoke in serious tone and with a serious expression on her face. Unlike the conversation before, it was clear that she was not taunting or mocking him.

"And just what is tragic about it?"

"That it is hopeless. One is supposed to have little Nuras running around their house while the other is supposed to have little Keikains running around their house."

"I will not deny that I like her… but you are actually talking about-"

"But that's exactly what you want from her. You don't want to spend a night with her, but your entire life. Maybe you won't admit it to yourself, but that's how it is." Her eyes narrowed. "If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me."

"You…" Ryuzan tried to come up with answer. "You are… wrong." He told a lie while looking straight at her, making sure that there are no signs that what he said was untrue.

"You lie." As usual, she did not fall for it.

"Tz." He clicked his tongue and looked away.

"So do you have a plan for how you would make it work out?" She raised one of her brows. "Oh I know! Why don't you give up on becoming a head of the Keikain House's branch family and on your profession?"

"That will not…"

"That will never happen. You are a proud Onmyouji and a proud member of the Keikain family." She rose from her seat. "So how will you make it work, I wonder?" She said and started walking around. "Oh, maybe you could help her sibling inherit the clan? That would make her free."

"I would not even consider something like that. Becoming the Fourth Commander is her dream."

"Was that jealousy I heard in your voice?" She smiled. "Between you and her clan, she would not choose you… and you know it. Yet, you can't hate it for you are supposed to support the one you love. Love can be so contradictory."

_Stop talking, damn you…_  "Is this why you are attacking the Nura Clan? Envy?"

"Envy for what?" Ryoko raised her brow. "If I wanted you that badly, I would have said yes to your confession. True, it was strange to hear that I was a boy's second most loved girl but I could have rolled with it I guess."

"Uhhh…" Ryuzan felt embarrassed by just remembering it. "I was tired and stupid…"  _And worst of all, I am not even sure if I wasn't taken seriously or just plain-out rejected._ He also hoped that Ritsura would never find out about it.

"Stupid? Oh, that definitely. Nobody says stuff like that out of the blue. But then again, it made it fun." Ryoko laughed. "I thought you hated me, but I was your second most loved girl… wait, was I supposed to be a reserve in case your thing with Ritsura did not work out?"

"No, it was not."  _At best, it was my last attempt to find someone else to like._  "But would you answer the question?"

"You mean if I am attacking because I am jealous of her?" She spoke with a smile. "Of course I am not. The world does not revolve around you." She jumped onto the sofa and stroked his hair. "I have my eyes on Ritsura and Rihan for other reasons."

_Too close…_ Ryuzan tried to keep his heart from thumping by thinking about something else. "And what are those reasons? And what does it have to do with my and Ritsura's relationship?"

"Nothing. I just felt sorry for you two." She said and jumped down on the floor again.

"Answer the first question: why are you attacking the Nuras?"

"How much more obvious should I make my avoidance to answer?" She smiled and then moved away. "Now, I will go make us dinner. I hope you don't mind some spicy curry?"

"Curry for dinner?" He knew he should have pressed her for more answers, but their earlier conversation tired him out. The ugly truth she forced him to look at, even though he knew about it, was exhausting for him.

"We Onmyouji work at night."

"But I intend to go to sleep."

"Well you won't be sleeping. We have work to do."

"I am not helping you in your stupid assault."

"This is not about it. This is a legitimate job no Onmyouji should reject."

"And what job is that? Taking care of disorderly youkai is done by the Nuras."

"Obviously, they don't do such a good job." Ryoko shrugged. "Besides, the target is not a youkai."

"Then who is it?"

"It is someone who creates youkai. A man called Ishikawa Kaito."

* * *

"I can't believe it…" Tsurara was still weeping. "I will kill that boy."

"Yes, you said it seven times already." Setsura complained at her daughter. "Can we  _please_  change the subject?"

"Change the subject?" Tsurara looked as if her mother just said something outrageous. "Do you not care about Ritsura's decency?"

"I care as much as she cares… which is to say she can do whatever she damn well pleases." Setsura pointed a finger at her daughter. "You should be happy that she finally found someone to love. She sure took her sweet time."

"But-"

"No buts! Let us change the subject! These are  _your mother's_  orders!" Setsura tried putting on her strictest expression. "Are we clear?" She added when she saw her daughter opening her mouth.

"…" After a few moments of silence, Tsurara looked down and gave in. "Okay… but it does not mean I am alright with it."

"Here, drink another cup."  _The setting is prepared and she is drunk. We can now go onto the actual worrisome relationship._ "Why don't we talk about your other child? Rihan also has a sweetheart."

"Yes, he is…" Tsurara rolled her eyes while saying those words. "We are all so fortunate."

"Will you now complain about her as well?"

"Just so you know, I have a higher tolerance to Ichinoe Araya than most in this house!" She said and put a hand above her chest. "Some of the youkai here cry at the thought of a possibility of that relationship being permanent."

"Why? What is the problem?"

"Didn't you have to deal with her shenanigans already? It was something about… lending money or something if I heard it right?"

"I already got my revenge… thrice."

"Woah… really?" Tsurara looked amazed. "Mom, you are amazing."

"Tsurara, you're drunk."

"No, I am not… alright I am but that is not why I am saying this!"

"What is the problem with her anyway? Even Kejorou spoke of her as if she was the second coming of Sanmoto Gorozaemon."  _Oh shit, why did I say this? I have to be more careful!_

"Allow me to quote Hitotsume on this one." Tsurara started and drank another cup of sake before continuing. "She is an arrogant and obnoxious, little, smartass, petty human who thinks high of herself just because she is rich and read a few books."

_She is also a dangerous woman who kills people but I better not say that._

"Now I don't think she is that bad… but I must admit, she can get very obnoxious. Good thing you taught her a lesson, mom."

_Yes. And now I must pray she doesn't kill me for it._  "Alright, she has a horrible personality. What else do you know about her?"

"Mom, I am drunk. Ask me something more specific."

"Alright… for starters, why aren't you raging about her and Rihan? Unlike Ryuzan and Ritsura, they are actually cuddling all the time."

"It is just innocent love." Tsurara shrugged. "Alright, maybe they are being a bit too public with their behavior but…"

"…but? Come on Tsurara, there is a greater chance of Rihan getting too far than Ritsura!"

"I know but… Rihan was always depressed and all that since… that day eight years ago…" Tsurara quickly opened another bottle and drank directly from it. "He looks happy and that means the world to me."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense."  _I wonder if you would you say the same if you knew who she really is. In any case, let us see what they know about her social standing._ "But she seems really rich. I mean, the amount of money she offered me was outrageous."

"Yeah, so?"

"Isn't it weird? Such a rich girl lives in some petty town in Tokyo? Why?"

"She isn't the only rich person here." Tsurara shrugged like it was nothing special. "The Kiyotsugus have been living here for generations and Oniedas also moved in." She explained while pouring herself some more sake. "Ukiyoe is, for obvious reasons, filled with youkai. This kind of attracts the rich people who have nothing better to do than playing with fire… in this case, fire being the youkai."

"That is true."  _Now that I think about it, many rich people have come here in their youth but left when they grew up and got actual responsibilities._  "But what about her parents and family? Do they also live in Ukiyoe?"

"From what she told us, her family is dead and she is the head of her family…. Whatever it may be called."

"Shouldn't it be Ichinoe?"

"No." Tsurara shook her head. "As you know, we check on every unusual person who comes to Ukiyoe or any town close to us."

"It is common sense for a yakuza group. Rich and influential people can make good allies… or dangerous enemies."

"Yes. Kiyotsugu family is our ally, while the likes of Sanmoto Gorozaemon and Onieda Masato are our enemies."

"And what is Ichinoe Araya?"

"She is arguably Ritsura's best friend and Rihan's girlfriend so I guess she would be an ally." Tsurara shrugged. "But we can't say for sure because we know nothing about her family."

"That sounds suspicious."

"Not really. Nowadays, several rich families use false names to hide themselves from the public eye. Otherwise, they could not attend school without fear of paparazzi… or gods forbid, criminals looking to make a winning by collecting ransoms."

_In other words, you know nothing of value about her._  Setsura thought while sipping her sake.  _That does not make this any easier.  
_

* * *

"Wow. It's been quite a while since I saw your two groups hanging together." Ritsura said when she arrived back at the mansion.

"Young Mistress!" The Tsukumogami of the Tsurara Clan were first to greet and surround her from all sides. "We were starting to get worried about you!"

"We were just discussing if we should organize a search through the entire Ukiyoe for you." One of the youkai from the Arawashi Family spoke while the others weaved at her. "We heard Tsurara-nee-san was worried about you."

"Come on, I knew to be absent for days."  _Although that was in bad, olden times._

"Yeah, but I think the boy who kept you company made her extra worried." Oryou, one of the Tsukumogami, explained.

"An Onmyouji boy." The Arawashi youkai now looked annoyed. "Who knows what funny ideas he could get?"

_Well, for better or worse, he did not get any funny ideas._ "But what're you all doing here?" Both the Tsurara Clan and the Arawashi Family were her mother's subordinates and while the Tsukumogami of the Tsurara Clan served in the mansion, the Arawashi Family only came during major celebrations. "My mother's birthday has passed months ago, as did mine."

"Oh no, that's not what we are here for." Another of the Arawashi youkai, an old geezer, joined the conversation. "We actually came to visit the Commander."

"You came for Dad? Why, did something happen?"

"We are having some Onmyouji trouble." The younger one continued. "And we need the problem… exorcised."

"Onmyouji trouble?" Ritsura had a bad feeling about it. "Is that trouble short, with raven-black hair and does she wear a strange pentagram on her head?"

The two Arawashi youkai looked at one another in amazement and then nodded. "Yes, that's right!" The younger one confirmed it.

"Keikain Ryoko…" Ritsura shook her head in annoyance. "So she attacked you guys?"  _And since when do the stubborn Arawashi youkai beg for help?_  "Was someone harmed?"

"If only. Combat is honorable, no matter if you win or lose." The younger one sighed. "For days now, she just stole food from us."

"She… stole food?"

"Humiliating." He shook his head and his brows shivered. "It feels so damn humiliating to have an Onmyouji rob you. Usually, they attack and then we kick their asses."

"Hah!" The old geezer was annoyed in a different way. "If that little rat dared attack us, she would see how little worth she has."

_I am not so sure._  "Yeah, but if it is only food theft, why… come here?"  _And by doing so tell everyone about it?_

"We are here because Nurarihyon-sama joined forces with that Onmyouji girl." The old Arawashi youkai has a similar expression that Nurarihyon often had. "We did not come to ask for help. We just want to complain about him helping  _her_."

"Are you telling me that gramps stumbled upon her during a food theft and could not resist his nature and ended up in joining her in food theft?"

"That… seems more probable than all the ideas we thought of." The younger youkai scratched his head. "I guess… we kind of forgot that Nurarihyon-sama likes stealing food."

"Well, good thing you came to report it. I'll need to have a talk with gramps." Ritsura sighed. "And stay careful. That girl is more dangerous than you think."

"She just steals food." The old youkai noted.

"She is also terrifyingly skilled in curses, defeated Kurotabou and was probably the one behind the attack on Bakenekoya." Although there was no proof for it, Ritsura had a hunch that Ryoko was behind it. "She is strange, but also very dangerous when serious."

"That does sound bad… Alright, we will be more careful from now on."

"Good. So, are you staying here? Grandma has come to visit, which is quite a rare occurrence."

"Oh no, we will be waiting for Setsura-nee-san to come to us. We have already prepared the booze." The younger Arawashi winked. "Tsurara-nee-san will come too of course, and we hope you will be there to join the fun."

"I'll try to be there." Ritsura smiled and resumed walking. "Well, see you later guys!"

"See you, Ritsura-nee-san!"

_Ryoko… ever since she came to Ukiyoe, she has been absolutely everywhere. I feel like she is trying to force her way into my life!_

_Oh no… Am I getting jealous again? It is all about Ryuzan, isn't it?_  And so, once again, her thoughts returned to the state where they were just before she met up with her mother's subordinates.  _He will think I am angry at him. The next I know, he will be in relationship with that damn Onmyouji girl!_

_Gah! We are not a couple! Why do I even care? I have no intentions of being in a relationship with him anyway!_  She wondered while walking into her room to change.  _But I guess that doesn't mean we couldn't have… AHHH! What am I thinking? Damn it Ritsura, you need to stay a decent woman!_

_I need to get my mind off these things…_ She left her room. Now dressed into her kimono, she went to go and see what interesting had happened while she was gone.

"Ritsura!" It was not much of a surprise to hear her mother calling for her.

"Yes, Mom I'am here!"  _Oh goodie, now comes the time for explaining._

"There you are!" Her mother appeared, red in face.

"Mom?" At first Ritsura thought her mother was incredibly angry, but when she saw how she had trouble standing, she realized that something else was going on. "Are you drunk?"

"Both of us are!" Ritsura's grandmother appeared from around the corner.

"Come with us, little lady." Her mother said and pulled Ritsura away.

"What? Where are you taking me?"

"What a stupid question." Tsurara then joined in by pulling Ritsura's other arm. "It is boring with only two of us."

Ritsura was moved into a nearby room and pushed down on a table with several opened, and many more still closed, bottles of sake. "Uhh…"  _I think I can see where this is going._

"Come on, don't be shy." Her mother pushed a sake cup into her hand.

Soon after, Setsura started pouring sake into it. "You are past thirteen, which means you are old enough to drink with us."

"I am a bit tired and I really should be- UHMM!" Ritsura tried to get herself out of this predicament, but then her mother just forced her to drink. "Ahhh! Strong!"

"Yes, it is quite good!" Her grandmother immediately started pouring more.

"No, that's not what I meant."

"Admit it. It is good." Her mother said and let the grandmother pour her some too. "Come on, all together!"

"Wai-" Ritsura wanted to complain, but when the other two raised their cups, she did the same.

"""Ahhh!""" All three of them let out.

"Alright, this was enough." Ritsura tried to rise up, but her mother and grandmother grabbed her and pulled her back down.

"Where are you going?" Her mother asked.

"Yeah! You have to tell us all that happened last night… before your mother sobers up and becomes hysterical."

"I am not hysterical!" Tsurara complained and poured her daughter some sake. "I am just a responsible and worried mommy! And besides, even now I don't-"

"Nothing happened." Ritsura shrugged and, for some reason, telling these words made her drink that sake.

"Don't kid with me, little lady." Her mother pushed her face into Ritsura's. "Ryuzan has said that-"

"-he knows that I have a birthmark on a certain place. Yes, of course he does! The exorcising procedure required me to take my top off because a certain bitch put the curse there. But  _nothing_  else happened!"

"Oh, that's good." For a several moments, her mother seemed pleased. But then she looked slightly disappointed. "Which one of you chickened out?"

"You are too drunk, Mom!"

"I am not!"

"Why else would you say something like that?!" By the time Ritsura realized she was getting hysterical, it was too late. "Am I really a chicken?" She asked and raised her cup, obviously wanting it filled.

"You are not, dear." Setsura stroked her hair. "Come on. Drink a bit more so you get better."

"Since when is reserving myself for a hangover a good thing?" Ritsura asked and drank the sake she got. "Ahhh… this is a damn good drink."

"I know, right?"

* * *

"You are still awake, Wakana?" Nurarihyon greeted his daughter-in-law.

"Ah, Father!" The human woman gave him a large smile. "Tsurara-chan's friends were looking for you."

"I know. I passed them by."

"Did you let them notice you?"

"Of course not." Nurarihyon shook his hand as if trying to make flies leave. "They are angry at me."

"Ooooh…" Wakana put a finger on her chin as if realizing something. "They did mention something about their food getting stolen. You should not do that, father."

"They will have to live with it." Naturally, Nurarihyon did not care about troubles that his habits caused to others. "Now, where is my grandson?"

"He is in the meeting room." Wakana said and pointed at the hallway with her thumb. "But there aren't many guests."

"Must be a meeting of his closest compatriots then." Nurarihyon said and started walking. "Well, good night, Wakana."

"Good night, Father!" His daughter-in-law waved at him as he left.

" _Hey gramps, can I ask you for a favor?"_  He remembered that well-mannered Onmyouji's words.  _"Could you take this to…the Nura clan's Supreme Commander?"_

_I really wish to open it._  Nurarihyon took out the envelope and looked at it.  _And in my younger days I would have. But this wax seal is radiating with spiritual energy. I doubt that even I could get away unscathed if I opened it._

So with a slight feeling of annoyance, he went to give his grandson, the only one who could safely open the seal, this letter. Still, he was curious about what could possibly be so important that it would be sealed like that.  _After what she did to the Arawashi Family, it is possible that it is just another prank… but you never know._

When Nurarihyon arrived in the meeting hall, he found most of those he expected to see. The meeting was, as usual, led by his grandson, right now in his youkai form, and the ones participating were Shouei, Aotabou, Kurotabou, Kubinashi, Kappa and Yami. Zen and Tsurara were missing, but in their stead there were Karasu Tengu and Gyuki, both of whom were Nurarihyon's sworn subordinates instead of Rikuo's.

"Gramps, we were just talking about you." His grandson immediately noticed him. _Tz, I can't even hide from him anymore._

"Oh really? Did I do something?"

"You stole from others again." Rikuo must have been stressed because he immediately put his hand on his forehead. "And if that wasn't bad enough, you stole from one of our vassal clans."

"Oh, like that was the first time." Although he was accused of heinous crimes, Nurarihyon just sat beside his grandson. "Three months ago I stole all the sake from Bakenekoya."

"That was you?"

"You still didn't realize it?"

"You… ah, nevermind!" Rikuo put a hand on his forehead once again. "Why were you in cahoots with an Onmyouji?"

"She is a nice girl."

"And someone who has been attacking our clan for last few days." Aotabou spoke out. "You should tell us where to find her!"

"As if I could possibly know that. We stole some food, ate it in someone's garden and went our ways." Nurarihyon spoke while igniting his pipe. "Is she the subject of this meeting?"

"She indeed is, First Commander." Karasu Tengu flew up to him. "I don't know what impression she left on you, but Ryota Neko disappeared after an attack that we suspect was somehow orchestrated by her."

"Wasn't that place attacked by Kyoto youkai?"

"Yes, it was." Kubinashi was the one to speak this time. "But we doubt that two enemies would suddenly appear at the same time, not to mention those youkai disappeared without trace."

"Some Onmyouji can summon youkai." Gyuki joined the conversation. "It is possible that they were summoned from hell and then returned back there."

"Hm, interesting." Nurarihyon mumbled and took out the envelope. "Then you will find this interesting, Rikuo."

"What is this?" Rikuo accepted the envelope that his grandfather offered him.

"The Onmyouji girl that our clan is terrified of has told me to hand this to you." Nurarihyon said and took a smoke. "She went quite far too keep it secure."

"Yes, I can see that it the way seal is cursed."

"Rikuo-sama!" Kurotabou jumped up. "Do not open it! Who knows what curses might hide there?"

"I agree, Supreme Commander." Karasu Tengu flew to Rikuo's side. "Let one of us open and read it."

But Rikuo must have still had some of his grandfather's mentality because he removed the wax seal without any forewarning. The others tenses up for a moment, but looked relieved when nothing happened.

On other hand, Rikuo's eyes widened immediately when he looked at the letter inside. Nurarihyon leaned in order to see what was written there, but his plan was ruined when Rikuo rose up. "The meeting is dismissed."

"What?" Everyone was surprised. "But we had just started!"

"It is dismissed." Rikuo returned the letter into the envelope and started walking. "This Onmyouji is a member of the Keikain family so leave her alone for now. I will give direct orders soon, once I am done reading this."

And so, Nura Rikuo left the room and loudly closed the door behind him.

"…what was in that letter?" Aotabou was, just like everyone else, surprised.

"Damn, I should have peeked earlier." Nurarihyon was just annoyed.

* * *

"What's wrong about being a chicken anyway?" Ritsura spoke under the influence of alcohol. "Chickens are cute and funny."

"Come on, Ritsura! You should be trying to be a hen." Her grandmother was also a bit drunk, though she held her drink better than the other two did. "And lay eggs… from which my great-grandchildren will hatch."

"We have talked about this, mom!" Tsurara seemed angry. "Besides, she can't even lay eggs."

"Are you telling me I am not old enough?" Ritsura looked at her mother.

"Yes I am! Now shut up and drink your sake."

"Yes, yes…" Ritsura gave in and drank up. "Wait, what Mother tells her seventeen year old to drink alcohol?"

"Drunk youkai mommas." Tsurara answered and drank her share.

"Now wait here, Tsurara." Setsura raised a complaint. "As the older women, we should be teaching Ritsura how to get a guy."

"But I don't really-" Ritsura started but was cut off.

"Very funny, Mom."

"What is funny about it?" Setsura looked insulted.

"Pft." Tsurara turned towards her own daughter. "She has been trying to seduce Nurarihyon-sama for a century and Rihan-sama for three. She is a horrible role model."

"Why you…" Setsura was angry enough to accidentally freeze the whole floor around them. "You had it easy. I had many women to fight against."

"I had to deal with two dangerous women and several less dangerous-looking ones… but you could never underestimate them, oh no."

"Oh really?" This caught Ritsura's attention. "Who were those women?"

"Well, there was that rich snake Rinko… I am sure she tried to buy Rikuo-sama's affection at some point, even if I can't prove it." Tsurara started telling her story while slowly drinking. "Then there was that cat from Bakenekoya. She was never very close to Rikuo-sama, but you can never underestimate the bar-wenches." The alcohol must have made Tsurara less cautious about her choice of words.

"Indeed." Setsura nodded in approval. "They know where to strike at a man."

"Then there was Hagoromo Gitsune. She was way too sweet towards Rikuo-sama."

"Did you fight against her for Rikuo-sama's affection?"

"She is alive so obviously she did not have to." Setsura noted.

"Thank you for having so much faith in me, Mom." Tsurara tried to smile, but it made her seem even drunker. "But the most direct threat was Ienaga Kana."

Ritsura found the name familiar. "Kana… are you talking about Saaya's mom?"

"Yes, I am." Tsurara nodded. " _Miss Look At Me, I am Cute_  was Rikuo-sama's childhood friend and always tried to stay close to him, even joining a club she had no interest in." Tsurara's eye narrowed with each passing word. "But what was truly annoying was the fact that Rikuo-sama also liked staying close to her. Heck, while he was younger he hated hanging around us and hung around her instead."

"How did you snatch him from her?" Setsura asked.

"I tried being cuter and more supportive than she." Tsurara did not look very proud though. "But mostly, it was time. As Rikuo-sama grew, he spent more time with the clan and less with the humans. Also, Kana's fear of youkai did not help. In the end, he chose me over her and I never dared to ask why."

"I see."  _So, technically, Saaya was close to being in my place. 'Miss Normal' will be so happy to know about that._  "Who was the other woman?"

"The other one…" Tsurara looked even more annoyed. "She moved from Kyoto to Ukiyoe. If Kana was a muscular brute standing in my way for Rikuo's affections, she was a marathon runner."

"Huh?" Ritsura did not understand the comparison. "What does that even mean?"

It was her grandmother who answered this question. "She means that Kana was someone she had to defeat in order to win Rikuo's affections while this other woman was someone who appeared out of sudden and stole his heart." Setsura looked away. "Like Youhime…"

"No, that would be a Thief." Tsurara shook her head. "Marathon Runner is someone who appears out of sudden and works her way up." Tsurara took a larger sip of sake before continuing. "In this case, she started as an unaware enemy, became a friend for whom Rikuo would risk his life, then they became phone buddies, fought together against the Gokadoin… uhhh…"

"But in the end you won and became the wife." Ritsura cut to the chase.

"Yep, I was the one Rikuo-sama gave his love to. But just like with Kana, I wonder if it was the situation that helped me… if it would be different if she were not the head of an Onmyouji clan."

"She was an Onmyouji?"

"Yes, a Keikain… just like that brat whom you fancy."

"I don't… fancy him…" Ritsura had to admit that her mind went to Ryuzan before her mother even confirmed it.

"Yeah right." Tsurara rolled her eyes and took another sip. "In any case, she is that brat's aunt and is now the strongest Onmyouji in Kyoto, if not in entire Japan."

"Ah… I had no idea that Keikain Yura was such a threat to you." Seeing as her mother did not correct her, the woman in question really was that woman. "I wonder if my and Ryoko's relationship is a repeat of history…" Ritsura spoke her thoughts aloud.  _But am I not the Marathon Runner in this case?_

"Ryoko? Where did you meet that woman's daughter?" Tsurara out down her sake cup.

"Well… she is in Ukiyoe and was the one who cursed me with that sleep deprivation." Ritsura scratched her head. "She is also the one behind some of the troubles in the town."

"She… she is the one who did that to you?!" Tsurara pushed her head towards Ritsura. "Did you teach her a lesson?"

"No, I first had to get rid of the curse…"

"And then you will teach that Onmyouji a lesson?"

"Well… maybe."

"What is with that half-hearted response?" Her mother pushed her face closer. "Where is your Youkai pride?"

"Yeah, where is it?" Setsura joined her daughter in this matter. "Are you afraid of one small Onmyouji?"

_I kind of am. She is scary._

"What's going on here?" Fortunately, someone barged into the room, freeing Ritsura from having to answer the inquiries. "Are you girls… drunk?"

"Rikuo-sama!" Tsurara put her hands on her face. "I am sorry, I am drunk…"

"Daddy!" Ritsura greeted him. "I missed you sooo much!"

"Oh, Supreme Commander." Setsura raised her cup. "Do you want to join us?"

"No, thank you." Ritsura's father shook his head. "Why are you all drinking?"

"We are bonding!" Setsura answered. "Really, you and Rihan should join us too. May as well bring Nurarihyon-sama."

"You still don't give up, do you?" Tsurara whispered to which Setsura replied by hitting her with her elbow.

"Sorry, but I have to reject. I just had to see Ritsura."

"Me?" For a moment, Ritsura was confused but then she realized why he would have wanted to see her. "Oh yes… I am fine, Ryuzan lifted the curse."

"Yes, I know. He was nice enough to send me a mail about it." Her father smiled. He tried to walk towards them, but almost fell on his nose due to the frozen floor. "Do you know about the recent Onmyouji attacks?"

"Yes…"  _Why is he bringing up clan issues to me?_  "It was done by Ryoko, Ryuzan's cousin."

"I know. In any case, with the Shin Sekai, the Kyushu and the Hyaku Monogatari, I now also have to deal with another dangerous upstart."

_Another upstart? And dangerous enough to be put in the same category as those three?_ Ritsura wondered who it might be.

"As such, I have no time for lesser troublemakers." Rikuo spoke and only then did Ritsura realize that her father was looking at her all the time. "So I would like you and Rihan to deal with any lesser troublemakers."

"Wait… you are actually giving me responsibilities?" Ritsura could not believe her ears.

"Yes. I am sure you will do well." Rikuo nodded and put his hand on the door. "And no, this does not mean that you are…"

"…the Underboss." Ritsura sighed. "Yeah I know."  _Well, this is a start…_

"Are you already leaving?" Setsura asked.

"Yes, I have important business to attend to. Maybe we can drink together another time." Rikuo said and turned around. "See you ladies."

"Well, that was sudden." Ritsura scratched her head.  _But this might be for the best. Now, Ryoko is mine alone._

 

* * *

"Ukiyoe Town…" A figure mumbled atop a skyscraper. He wore a black suit and a hat, along with sunglasses. "…the home of the infamous Nura Clan." He gazed down upon the illuminated night streets, wondering how many of those people were actually youkai. "Alright guys…" He turned behind, looking at some youkai hidden in the shadows. "…you know the drill: each one of us takes down one of the Nura Clan's Executive."

"Remember: none of us are allowed to fail!"

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And another chapter comes to a close. I hope you guys weren't too bored by it, but it had to be written.

\- the main theme of this chapter are the relationships. While the main focus was on Ryuzan and Ritsura, it was not the only one

\- Ryoko confronts Ryuzan about some harsh realities, as well as reveals that Ryuzan confessed to her once (what? You didn't actually believe that guy when he said that there was nothing between him and Ryoko? :P ). Let us see what happens from here on out...

\- Ishikawa Kaito's name appears again, this time on Ryoko's lips. Looks like Shiori and Rihan won't be able to avoid the invading Onmyouji for long either

\- yaay, Wakana appeared!

\- Strange letters, mysterious upstarts and plans to attack the Nura Clan's executives... the weather is getting stormier again


	71. Sunday Blues

**Chapter 71 – Sunday Blues**

"Hm, hm, hm…" Kiyotsugu Saaya hummed to herself while combing her hair, early in the morning. "There, I look quite nice if I say so myself." She spoke while looking at the mirror in her room.

"Now, I feel like I forgot something… ah yes, my new earrings." She took a small, black box that sat on her table and put the earrings on. "I can't wait to show them to others later in the day."

"Now, I feel like I forgot something… ah yes, my favorite golden necklace." She took out a small necklace from a similar little box and put the necklace on

"Now, I feel like I forgot something… ah yes, I have to check the news." She took out her cellphone and quickly checked over her Internet feed. "Hm, nothing interesting happened. That's rare."

"Now, I feel like I forgot something… ah yes, kick Ritsura's ass." Remembering the most important thing that she almost forgot, Saaya rose up from her chair and walked to the middle of her room. "One, two…" She started jumping up and down. "…and three!" And then she kicked the girl who slept on the floor.

"YIKES!" Naturally, a strong kick into her behind woke Nura Ritsura up. "That was uncalled for." She complained and fell back down.

"As is you sleeping in my room." Saaya said with a smile. "Now please do tell: what are you doing in my room early in the morning and reeking of alcohol?"

"I got drunk last night." Ritsura said with her eyes closed.

"And came to my room in the morning?"

"It was still dark when I came here."

"Let me rephrase: why did a drunken Yuki-Onna decide to break into  _my_  house and sleep in  _my_  room?" Saaya inquired while waving her hands in several directions.

"I dunno…" Ritsura finally made herself rise up into a sitting position, after which she stretched her arms and legs. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"A good idea? Why would something like that ever be a good idea?" Saaya felt it increasingly hard to keep up her composure.

"First I went to Ryuzan's place to tell him what I think about me being a chicken, but the place was desolate so… I came here."

"No, you don't get it…" A frustrated Saaya shook her head. "Why did you come to my room? Why did you think it would be a good idea?"

"I wanted to let you know that yesterday was my big day!" Ritsura said while trying to stand up onto her feet. "Ughh… I am still having a hangover."

"Okay." Saaya shrugged her shoulders. "Now I know that yesterday you had some kind of a big day and that now you are suffering from a hangover. Now leave."

"Wait, you should ask why the day yesterday was big for me."

"I really don't care." Saaya shook her head. "But you will force me to hear it anyway, right?" Saaya sighed and went to leave her room. "You can talk while we walk."

"You are right. This is a big place." Ritsura ran to her side and walked (or more exactly sauntered) alongside Saaya. "After seventeen painful years, Dad finally decided to give me some proper responsibilities! Isn't that amazing?"

"Yeah, it truly is." Saaya wondered where her three youkai manservants were and even considered telling them to throw Ritsura out of the house. "I am so happy that I want others to feel the same happiness. Woohoo." Saaya talked in a cold, disinterested voice. "Why don't you hurry up and tell the others?"

"Oh Saaya, even in this situation you act like you don't care." Ritsura softly hit her with her elbow.

"Why did I have to be the first one to hear it anyway?"

"Well, Araya was supposed to be the first, but she wasn't answering her calls and I still don't have any idea where she lives."

_I will need to ask her how she does that._

"So I went to my second best friend, the one who was friends with me since kindergarten." Ritsura put her hands above her chest.

"Couldn't you just have sent an e-mail?" Saaya asked when the two girls entered an empty dining room.

"You know, you really should work on your attitude." Ritsura lectured her while walking around the dining room and investigating various objects. "What made you like that anyway?"

"You obviously don't know my parents well enough."

"Don't blame them all the time. Oh, look at this…" Ritsura stopped at a framed photograph that hung on the wall. "Wow, you were such a cute girl and you even knew how to smile. Did you dye your hair color when you turned emo?"

"I am not emo." Saaya walked to the photograph. "Besides, you knew me since kindergarten remember. I always had black hair and this attitude."

"The photograph says otherwise, which just makes this… mysterious." Ritsura took a closer look at the photo. "Wait, you must be older than me! I mean, Dad and his friends are here too and-"

"I feel that I need to mention that this is my mom."

"Oh… that makes sense." Ritsura scratched her chin. "If you smiled and dyed your hair brown, you would look just like her."

"Wow, what an interesting piece of information." Saaya rolled her eyes and turned around. "Just where are my Mom and Dad?"

"I hear some sounds from the hallway." Ritsura noted.

"Dad must be doing something stupid again." Saaya sighed and left the dining room, with Ritsura in tow.

Soon, they found Saaya's parents who were gazing at something on the wall.

"Hm, this is truly astonishing! It is truly worthy of my master!" Saaya's father spoke in a happy tone. "Don't you agree?" He asked his wife.

"Yes! It is truly beautiful!"

"What the…" Ritsura's pupils widened. "I must still be drunk…"

"Oh no…" Saaya had to give her best to not fall onto her knees due to desperation. "I hate it when they do this… this is much worse than the youkai antics."

On the wall, her father had hung a giant European renaissance painting showing Nura Rikuo dressed in high-class 17th century western clothes. The clothes were dark blue, with red ends on the sleeves and golden buttons in the middle. He himself stood proudly, with one hand sitting on a fancy table and another holding an out-of-place Japanese sword, more specifically the original Nenekirimaru.

"Ah! Saaya-kun! Ritsura-kun!" Saaya's father noticed them. "Don't you two agree that this painting is amazing?"

"Well… umm…" Ritsura started sweating. "I am sure that Dad would feel… honored."

"Dad, what the hell is this? This must have cost a fortune!"

"It was worth every yen!"

"No, it was not." Saaya looked at her mother who finally moved her eyes away from the painting. "Mom, please… you can't possibly like this!"

"Well… umm…" Her mother blushed and looked aside while scratching her cheek. "The hallway felt kind of empty and… it is a nice painting." And then her eyes turned back at it.

"Hey Saaya…" Ritsura started whispering into Saaya's ear. "I heard your Mom once had a crush on my dad. Do you think that she still-"

"Both of them do." Saaya put her hand on the forehead.

"Oh… well umm… I have to say that a picture made in Japanese style would have been more fitting." Ritsura tried to start a chit-chat about this.

"You should see the Ukiyoe painting in our old home. It is drawn on walls and shows the entire history of your clan. I think it is, altogether, half a mile long."

"…seriously?" Ritsura added to which Saaya just nodded. "Well then… I must say that you have a surprisingly bright and cheerful personality."

* * *

"Hmmm…" Rihan woke up, his head still lying on the pillow. Even though he was sleepy, he remembered what occurred last night well and moved his arm onto the other half of his bed, but he found nobody there. "Why did you get up?" He asked sleepily the moment he heard sounds of ruffling close by.

"It is morning, love." Shiori replied. "Speaking of which… good morning."

"Good morning to you too, love." Rihan opened one of his eyes and looked towards the girl in his room. He saw her pulling a zipper on a black miniskirt. She already wore a long-sleeve red shirt with a golden smiley and held a black, feminine vest over her left arm. "When did you bring those clothes here?"

"I brought them here a month ago." She answered and started putting on her vest.

"A month ago?" He rose up with the upper half of his body and leaned against his right elbow. "Where do you keep them?"

"Well here." She knocked onto one of his closets. "I thought that you have already seen the female sets of clothes I put in it."

"No, I keep only my old clothes in there. Why are you keeping your clothes in my closet?"

"In case I stay a night at your place of course." She said matter-of-factly.

"If someone saw your clothes in there, they would think you wanted to move in with me."  _Actually, they'd more likely think that I've a cross-dressing fetish, but let's try to stay optimistic._

"If you weren't living in my enemy's house, maybe I would." She said in a lower tone. "By the way, I keep boy's clothes in my homes too."

"Why, thank you for buying me clothes." Rihan sighed and let himself fall down onto his futon. "I'm afraid we're becoming more and more like a married couple." He whispered to himself.

But his girlfriend heard him. "I'll pretend I didn't hear you saying that you're being afraid of that." Shiori commented while combing her hair in front of a mirror. "In any case, it seems thatyour father had finally given you and Ritsu-chin a real task. Congratulations."

"Huh? What task?"

"The task is taking care of an Onmyouji who is causing trouble to your clan."

"And how do you know that?"

"Ritsu-chin sent me a mail and asked me to inform you about it." She looked at him while still combing. "So? Will you help her?"

"No, sis is more than able to take care of it herself."

"She feared you would say that." She turned back at the mirror and returned the comb into a small drawer, ownership of which she had probably claimed for herself.

"Anyway…" Rihan rubbed his eyes. "Why would she inform  _you_  about it?"

"Because she wanted to invite me to go out with her and, while she was at it, asked me to ask you a redundant question." Shiori said and started using lip balm.

"You two are going out?"

"Are you jealous?" She asked after squeezing her lips. "She invited Saaya, Sakura, Heiko and me to go out with her. She said she has to look the part."

"What part?"

"Hmph, boys." Shiori was not done with her morning make-up as she took out some nail-polish.

"What? She is not going out on a date."

"You are right. This is something far more important than a date." Shiori explained while checking out her nails. "To quote Ritsu-chin: ' _My hair needs to be washed and made silkier._ ' As if her hair isn't unnaturally silky already." Shiori threw in a comment while rolling her eyes. "' _I also need to buy a new kimono, this one is showing its age. And some make-up too, I don't really like the old one. And what nail polish do you think I should use? Ah, we will talk about it later! Oh, I am getting so excited!_ '"

"You girls are crazy." Rihan said and stretched his hands. It was time to get out of his bed.

"We girls are beautiful."

"You sure are."

"Fufu." Shiori was flattered but made a slightly angry face when she looked at him. "Love, put on something. What if someone, like you mom, rushed into the room and saw you like that?" Shaking her head, she put her nail polish back into the drawer that she claimed for herself. "And don't forget to talk with your grandmother."

"As you say, honey." Rihan sighed. "And please do tell me… when did we get married? Because this atmosphere sure feels like we got married at some point."

"We are still just a normal couple, love."

* * *

" _How did you find out that this guy…" Ryuzan started asking a question to Ryoko, who walked alongside him during a night in a residential part of a town near Ukiyoe. He tried to remember the name that Ryoko mentioned earlier, but then gave up on it. "How did you find out that he was creating youkai?"_

" _Do you remember that lesson on Hyaku Monogatari that uncle Ryuji gave us several years ago?"_

" _He is my father." Ryuzan started feeling nauseous from just remembering his face. "I assure you that for every lesson he gave you, he gave me the same one six times."_

" _Good. I noticed some eerie drawings around Tokyo, some done by chalks and some by sprays. All of them had Fear sipping from them."_

" _So you concluded that they were created by the Hyaku Monogatari?"_

" _Of course. After the Nura Clan, they are the most prominent youkai group in Tokyo. In any case, since I discovered them, I was investigating…"_

" _Really? And you still had time to cause trouble to the Nuras."_

" _I did not expect to find anything." Ryoko explained. "I saw a strange young man last night and my divination suggested that he was the one I was looking for. But…" Ryoko's eyes narrowed._

" _But what?"_

" _How come I found him in so little time while the Nuras are still oblivious about him?" Ryoko spoke what was on Ryuzan's mind._

" _Do you think that it might be a trap?"_

" _It's possible." Ryoko nodded. "But I can't let him run around and cause death to the humans. We must… Oh, here we are."_

" _Hmm… it doesn't look suspicious at all." Ryuzan voiced an opinion while starring at a two-story house surrounded by a ruined stone fence and an overgrown garden. Some of its roof had fallen off, the color of the facade had turned into pale blue and the windows were broken, with the one near a lamppost seemingly having blood splatters on it, and the lamppost in question flickered. "No, nothing suspicious here. We'll find no youkai in this place."_

" _Ryuzan, I am the sassy one here." Ryoko mentioned while putting her hands on her hips and starring at the house. "The house itself is possessed by a youkai and I have seen several other youkai come in and out of it."_

_While she spoke, the doors of the house slowly opened and both of them felt a growing interest in entering it. "Obviously, these youkai don't understand that we're Onmyouji."_

" _Urban Legends tend to be bad about these things." Ryoko shrugged. "But then again, their lack of fear towards us makes them immune to simpler spells."_

" _Onmyouji are rarely present in urban legends that people spread." Ryuzan quoted his father. "Some of the youkai born from urban legends that I've met did not even know what an Onmyouji even is." While he talked, the door of the house started shaking left and right with an increasing speed. 'I think it's getting impatient.' Ryuzan thought to himself._

" _In that case…" Ryoko threw one of her ofudas (paper talismans) into the air which then turned into her favorite bow. "…let's show it what we're made of." She aimed the bow at the door after which a flaming arrow created itself between her fingers. The door started closing, but Ryoko was faster and the arrow went in, causing an explosion._

" _Graaaah!" A deep scream could be heard before the Fear enveloping the house disappeared. However, various malicious auras started being radiated from inside, suggesting that there were still other youkai to be exorcised._

" _By the way, why are you wearing that?" Ryoko turned towards him, intentionally ignoring the Fears inside the house._

" _Are you going to complain about my clothes?" In past, he wore more traditional black clothes, similar to ones his father and some other Onmyouji wore instead of the more traditional uniforms. But before he moved to Tokyo, he changed his attire to more modern ones._

" _Yes, I am." Ryoko held the bow downwards. "When exorcising, you should be dressed as an Onmyouji." Then she waved one of her arms, in front of her. "Like what I am wearing."_

" _These are Onmyouji clothes." Ryuzan showed her his gloves. "These gloves are more useful than ofudas and my great jacket has many pockets where I can store my trinkets."_

" _They are still not the proper Onmyouji attire."_

" _Hmph. Your obsession with tradition just makes it harder for us to combat the new youkai."_

" _What is that supposed to mean?"_

" _The old uniforms instill fear into old youkai, but to Urban Legends we look as clowns from a bygone era." While he spoke, Ryoko's face slowly turned red. "They work fine in Kyoto, but in Tokyo? Oh no… even the humans laugh at us, let alone Urban Legends."_

" _So what if young youkai laugh? We're there to kill them, not fancy their tastes."_

" _You still don't get it." Ryuzan sighed and shook his head. "What I'm trying to do is get on with the times and showing these Urban Legends and other young youkai that the Onmyouji threat is eternal. If more of us went like this in front of both youkai and humans, even urban legends would have Onmyouji saving the day." He explained and started looking over his female partner._

" _Oh… I see where this is going." Ryoko commented with a deadpan expression resembling her mother's._

" _A small black jacket with a bow tie… no, we can just use that hairpin instead… a blue or black miniskirt and magical, black tights. I am not sure if some feminine boots or black shows would fit you more." He also realized that he might be spending too much time with Rihan… or at least spending too much time discussing the beauty of nicely dressed girls with him._

" _What makes you think that I would ever let you dress me like that?"_

" _I will find a way." Ryuzan winked and then turned back towards the house. "These guys seem to be getting impatient so I better go and clean them up."_

" _We're both going in."_

" _Oh no, you are not going." Ryuzan shook his head as well as his index finger. "As if our different colors weren't enough, even our styles are way too different. This lack of symmetry would make us look like a circus."_

" _You-" Ryoko started but Ryuzan grabbed both of her shoulders. "Huh?" And then he started spinning her around. "Hyaaaah!" After several spins, he pushed her towards a lamppost and Ryoko hit it. "Yikes!"_

" _See you later, cousin!" Ryuzan said and ran at the house. He raised both of his hands, summoning two of his Shikigami._

" _Wait for me!" Ryoko, who hit her head and was sick from all the spinning, tried to follow after him but it would take a while for her to recover enough to properly join the fight._

_It began with fun… but what they found inside was all but fun._

* * *

Ryuzan remembered all that happened last night, or more exactly very early in the morning, while lying on his futon. He was not even sure if he was wake or half-dreaming.

He looked aside and saw another futon, albeit empty, few meters away which made him blush a little.  _There are several rooms in this place yet she still stays in the same room as a guy. If I didn't know better, I would think that she lacks common sense._  It was the second time in three days that he was in a sensitive situation with another girl. At least he was used to this one.  _It's like I've become a main character in an Anime, with me being the oblivious or incapable male, lead character._

While wondering who would be the main female character, he got up and dressed. Since it was Sunday, he could immediately dress into his  _working uniform_  which, he hoped, would annoy Ryoko.

He slid the room's door open while thinking about what he would be eating for breakfast. His answer came in form of an alluring smell.  _Well, of course… she got out of the bed first._  It was an unwritten rule between them that the one who woke up first would make breakfast.

As expected, he found Ryoko in the kitchen, wearing an apron and cooking some simple meals. "Good morning, darling~" She greeted him without looking towards him.

"First, I am not your darling." He said, though he knew she would not listen to it. She always spoke like that when one of them was cooking the meals. "And second: look at me. If this was someone else, he could have attacked you while you trustfully kept your back turned at him." After admonishing her for lack of caution, he sat down in front of the table.

She threw a small glance at him, as well as a smile. "There! I have seen you now." After saying that, she returned to cooking. "It will be done soon."

"Good to know." He sighed and looked at her, more specifically at her body moving around and her hair shaking in the rhythm.  _A cute girl in an apron is making breakfast for me. Some people would kill me to be in my place right now._

He and Ryoko weren't away from one another for long. He did not leave Kyoto that long ago and Ryoko got too caught up in some kind of research, but still relatively little time had passed since the two of them hang around one another. Yet, even though they knew one another for their entire lives, the little time they were separated felt long.  _Did I get that used to life in Ukiyoe?_

Their little youkai hunt was nothing special, but it did remind Ryuzan of what it felt like to be an Exorcist and hunt down unruly youkai. Even though Ritsura often took him out to beat up some youkai who caused troubles to humans or the Nura Clan, it felt more like a gang attack than what Onmyouji were supposed to do.

But it also reminded him of his inferiority complex. He did most of the killing while Ryoko barely shot a few arrows. But it was not her actions that got to him, but the lack of them. He was not sure if she just tried not to mix too much into his business or if she did not find the situation dangerous enough, but whatever it was irked him. He knew it was childish, but he was always envious of her. His father said that he overestimated her and maybe he was right, but Ryuzan could not control how he felt about it. He did not have such ability.

When they grew up, he actually wished that he had the ability to control his emotions, because atop his inferiority complex he also started to find her attractive. So her presence brought him annoyance and joy at the same time. Kashaimaru liked to joke that he was an  _M_.

"The food is done!" Ryoko said and he looked as she elegantly brought him food in both hands."I am not sure if it is as good as your Yuki-Onna's food, but it should be good enough."

"For the hundredth time, she is not my Yuki-Onna." Ryuzan took the plate into his hands. "Besides, she does not know how to cook."

"Oh well, I guess she's busy." This was all that Ryoko said, and Ryuzan felt a bit let down for her not being more demeaning towards Ritsura.  _Do I really enjoy the idea of two girls fighting over me? I guess I do._

They spent the breakfast in silence. It was not due to the table ethics, but because last night the two of them got into an argument.

* * *

_It began with fun… but what they found inside was all but fun._

_Neither Ryoko nor Ryuzan had enough experience under their belts to stop themselves from being horrified. What once used to be a living room was now a bone yard: bones of countless humans, and several youkai, were dispersed around it. The skulls told a lot about horrors that befell many of these victims: some skulls were crushed in half, some were filled with holes and so on._

" _Were they all killed by the youkai possessing the house?" Ryoko wondered._

" _No." Ryuzan shook his head. He did not know what that youkai did to humans that answered his calls, but he was sure he was not the only one guilty. "These people died in different ways but a youkai rarely changes its methods of killing. After all, it is a signature that serves to boost their Fears."_

" _So why are all the bones here? Did the other youkai we kill bring their victims inside?"_

" _Yes, I think so. I believe these bones are their trophies."_

" _Disgusting." Ryoko clenched her teeth. "Utterly disgusting."_

" _This man… Ishikawa Kaito… how did you connect him to this place?"_

" _He was spraying the same story on several different locations, and that story led me to this place." Ryoko put her hands together. "I feared some humans would have died but this… how did the Nuras fail to find this place?"_

" _The Nuras destroy the places like these all the time." Following her lead, Ryuzan also put his hands together. "The main problem is that the Hyaku Monogatari has inexhaustible manpower."_

_After he said those words, both of them went silent and started praying for the souls that had passed away._

" _You are wrong, Ryuzan." Ryoko, who was the first to start praying, was the first to finish. "Their numbers aren't inexhaustible."_

_Ryuzan knew what she meant, but he still decided to ask. "What do you mean?"_

" _You know exactly what I mean: kill the ones who create youkai and the numbers will cease to grow."_

" _We are Onmyouji." Ryuzan reminded her. "Killing youkai is part of our work, but killing humans is murder."_

" _Killing innocents, be they human or youkai, is murder. Remember, you told it to many of our clients." Although her tone was natural, the glare she gave him was judgmental._

" _I did it to save lives."_

" _And I do it to save lives too. The youkai that are created do not matter. Even if we do nothing, most of them would perish from the lack of Fear." She walked further into what once used to be the living room. "These youkai answer to the masters who created them, with inability to oppose their will. The humans here are the one and only culprit group, not the petty youkai whom we just slew."_

" _You remind me of Kashaimaru."_

" _From what you told me, Kashaimaru killed some ignorant idiots. These people are not ignorant idiots." Ryoko crossed her arms and gazed on the floor, all while her back was still turned towards Ryuzan. "When the need arises, Keikain House slays humans. Remember who the one who slew a human, Tenkai, was."_

" _I know." Ryuzan closed his eyes. "My father killed his idol to save auntie Yura." And then he opened them again. "But that man was supposed to be dead."_

" _You are grasping for straws. The real problem you have here is the fact that the idea of killing humans makes you feel uncomfortable, even if those humans are eviler than most youkai."_

_Ryuzan could not deny it. "Don't you feel uncomfortable?"_

" _No." She said it in a scarily cold tone. "Humans and youkai are all the same to me."_

" _I wonder if you will say the same if the day comes when you have to kill." Ryuzan suggested._

_Ryoko took a few moments to reply. "I guess we will have to wait and see."_

_Ryuzan sighed. "You are nothing like auntie Yura." Even though she was not one of the bigots in the Keikain House, Ryoko's mom still claimed that humans were, by nature, good while the youkai were, by nature, evil. "I wonder what she would say if she were to hear you."_

" _She would be furious… even more so if Yuko or Kamuri said it. After all, youkai are our archenemies, not humans, no matter how wretched they might be." Ryoko continued walking around, respectfully avoiding the bones of the deceased. Ryuzan had a bad feeling that she wanted to remember each bone she saw in this place, but he doubted that she could see much in the dark. "But you know… these humans are more of an antithesis to us than any youkai."_

" _How so?" Ryuzan asked with crossed arms._

" _We destroy youkai, they create youkai." The explaining did not take long. "If we find a trace of any of them, we should do our best to end them."_

" _I see… you are quite serious about this." Ryuzan took a few steps forward, but did not enter fully into the room. "Does this mean that you will cease your hostilities towards the Nuras?"_

_Much to his surprise, Ryoko did not answer immediately. "It will be a while until I am ready to deal with them. I can take down Ishikawa by then."_

" _There are more of these people in Tokyo. So I will ask again: will you cease your hostilities?"_

_Ryoko turned towards Ryuzan. The stare she gave him was chilling. She looked at him with her eyes, but they were so widely opened that it looked like she was possessed by a demon. What was more, her eyes turned crimson. "Don't be ridiculous." She said in a rough tone._

' _You are dabbling too much in the forbidden arts, cousin.'_   _He wanted to say those words aloud, but bit his tongue. From experience he knew that such comments just put her in bad mood. 'I still can't understand why auntie lets you, and only you, get away with this.'_

_Still, the look in her eyes was scary. There were only two reasons why Ryuzan was able to keep his face composed: this was not the first time he saw that look in her eyes… and he was very good at keeping his true thoughts from showing on his face._

* * *

"So?" Ryoko's words broke his journey through the memory lane. "What are you going to do?"

"Huh?"

"Stop thinking about your Yuki-Onna for a moment!" Ryoko pouted. "I am asking you about what have you decided to do with Ishikawa Kaito. Will you help me take down this bastard or not?"

"Ah, that." Ryuzan looked down at his food while thinking about his reply. "Of course I will help you. That crazy bastard needs to be taken down."

"Hmm?" Her eyes narrowed, suggesting that she doubted his sincerity. "Ah well." Then she shrugged and returned to eating.

And then the bell rang, surprising both of them. "Who could it be?"

"How would I know?" Ryoko seemed annoyed. "I don't have any acquaintances here so they must be here for you. Maybe it is the Nuras?"

But the answer came together with second doorbell. "Police! Open up!"

The two cousins looked at one another and then quickly rose up to open it, with Ryoko also cleaning her mouth with a tissue.

When they opened the door, they were greeted by a young policeman holding a small notebook. In distance behind him, few kids and an adult were looking at them with interest.

"What is the matter, officer?" Ryoko, the older one, asked.

The policeman did not immediately reply but looked her up from head to toe. Ryuzan wanted to inquire about his actions, but then he did the same to him. "Hmmm…" The policeman mumbled and then turned around. "Please come with me."

Once again, the cousins looked at one another in confusion. But they had no choice but to follow so they did it.

They did not need to walk for too long. In less than a minute, they reached another house and saw a detailed graffiti on it, surrounded by many interested humans.

Both of them turned pale at this graffiti drawn by spray cans. It showed both of them, down to the slightest detail, arguing with one another. Red-eyed Ryoko was standing in the darkness and amongst the bones while Ryuzan was standing outside and illuminated by moonlight. Around both of them, the youkai they slew that night were drawn, showing anguish on their faces and serving as a frame to the drawing.

Then there were also words around each of the cousins. He first read the words around himself.

_Halved Morals_

_Halved Ethics_

_Halved Heart_

_With a weak resolution_

_He stands firm_

_Holding a mask of lies_

It felt like an insult, but to Ryuzan this meant that the artist in question somehow knew him, or more specifically his spirit, well.

Next, he read the words around Ryoko.

_As a result of an accident_

_A Heart ruled by Envy and Insecurity_

_Continuously seeking a Purpose_

_Where she does not belong_

He had no time to think about what those words meant as there were more urgent issues.

The policeman, naturally, suspected the two of them for this act of vandalism. But neither of the cousins paid him much heed and instead they started looking around with their eyes, looking for the actual culprit.

Soon, Ryoko hit Ryuzan with her elbow and pointed at one of the humans with her eyes. Ryuzan followed her and saw a young man in the business suit. He was standing further away from the others and, unlike everyone else, did not seem confused. Instead, there was a smile of entertainment on his face.

Even if Ryoko did not point at him, Ryuzan would have known this man's name, which was Ishikawa Kaito.  _He knows we are searching for him!_ Ryuzan bit his lip.  _Is this a threat? A challenge? In either case, we are in danger._

But he did not look at him for too long as there was someone else who stole his attention. That person was a schoolgirl dressed in a very old sailor uniform and sitting on a wheelchair, with a blanket sitting where her feet were supposed to be. Her face was decorated by a malicious smirk and her entire body was radiating Fear.

_Oh no… this is bad…_  Ryuzan recognized this girl as well. She never came to Kyoto, but Keikain archives had drawings of her looks based on eyewitness accounts.  _One of the five strongest Urban Legends of the modern times… Kashima Reiko.  
_

* * *

"Grandma?" Rihan knocked on the doors of a guest room. "Are you in there?"

"Yeah, I am." She answered in a rough tone. "Come on in."

Rihan slid the door and entered her room, after which he closed the doors. "Are you alright, grandma?" He asked the not-so-old-looking woman who sat on the floor and held her forehead with two fingers.

"I'm as alright as a woman suffering from a hangover can be." Setsura said and rose up onto her feet. "I can guess what you came to talk about. Give me a moment." She weaved her arm and froze the ceiling in thick layer of ice. "There, this should keep us safe from prying ears."

"Thank you, Grandmother."

"Don't thank me. You and I have quite a few things to talk about!" Now that there wasn't anyone who could hear her, she became more aggressive. "Just what do you think you are doing?"

"Please be more specific."

"Don't be sarcastic with me!" The room's temperature fell down intensely. "Be grateful that I am keeping your and that girl's asses safe, else now you would be locked in a room and she might be dead."

"You're right… sorry." He thought it would better to not look meek, but now he realized that he could not act like that towards someone who took his side even though she did not need to.

"And thank you." She reminded him of another thing he had to say.

"And thank you."

"Good." She crossed her arms and nodded. "Now do tell me: why did you make an enemy of the clan your loved one?"

"I fell in love. That's all there is to it."

"You fell in love? You couldn't resist that vixen's charms?"

"Depends on what you mean by charms." Rihan shrugged. "If you mean that she ensnared me, it's the opposite. She gave her best to make me dislike her."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?"

"She intentionally pissed me off, was rude when it was uncalled for, intentionally spoke insensitively and all that jazz. It all started when I started showing interest in her many years ago. It was only few months ago that I found out that she was trying to push me away."

"I see… I can't believe a woman would try not to get it on with you, but I guess everything is possible." She said and sighed. "So? Did you know who she was when you fell in love with her?"

"Not when I fell in love with her, neither the first nor the second time." He admitted. "But I knew who she was when I went on a first date with her… after which she and I had a bit of fallout."

"What kind of fallout?"

"It is not important." He was not sure how he would explain that he tried to kill her. "A day later, we started dating."

"You sure took your sweet time in thinking it through. Oh, this headache…" His grandmother put her hand on her forehead. "Are you aware of what courting this woman means?"

"I am dating someone who murders humans."

"What? You listen to your father's blabbering too much. Ugh, the headache is getting worse." She said and leaned against the wall. "Well, it's related to the problem. She is an enemy of the clan and, from what I've heard, there is no hope for peace."

"I know." Rihan crossed his arms.

"So? What do you think will happen?"

"That I don't know."

"Yet you still date her?"

"Yes, I do."

"I can't believe this… what is with you Nurarihyons and your choice in women?" She finally moved her hands away from her forehead and looked at him. "So? What will you do when your family and your lover start trying to kill one another?"

Rihan did not answer that question.

But that was an answer in itself. "I see." His grandmother closed her eyes and started walking. "Have you considered persuading her to stop doing what she does?"

"You mean persuading her to… well, not be evil?" He asked to which she nodded. "Heh."

"What are you smiling at?"

"I'm smiling because I realized that I'd try to get her back on her path if she went astray and tried becoming a good girl." He said with a self-mocking smile and then noticed her looking at him in a strange way. "Well, being a good girl doesn't suit her at all."

"You two are… ugh…" Setsura seemed to have gotten another headache. "I can't believe what you are saying. Forget your father. If your grandfather could hear you, he too would be disappointed."

"I'm my own person, not the second coming of my grandfather." Words like those always irked him. "Even though our names are spoken the same way, we are different people." His fingernails dug into the palms of his hands. "Stop trying to turn me into someone I'm not."

"Rihan, that is not what I meant." The expression on his grandmother's face turned to worry.

"It is. Everyone means that. Rihan you need to be like this. Rihan you need to be like that. Rihan, our clan's Fear is this." His teeth clenched. "I ended up killing a comrade because I was trying to follow… I almost killed the girl I loved for some pointless philosophy."

"Rihan…" His grandmother took a step towards him.

"I don't feel compassion. I don't feel fulfilled when I save people." He looked down. "Yet I like killing. I like seeing myself as someone feared, not respected. I am a bad guy, I know-"

"Rihan, stop." Suddenly, he felt a cold embrace of his grandmother. "Don't talk like that."

"But I am…"

"You are a youkai. Human blood flows through your veins, but so does the blood of the ayakashi. There is nothing to feel ashamed of."

"She is evil but… she's the only one in front of whom I can be what I am." He returned the embrace, "Please, don't take her away from me."

Setsura sighed while tapping his back. "I won't boy… I won't."

* * *

"Sorry I am late!" Sakura shouted as she ran towards the other girls.

"No worries, the day is long." Ritsura consoled her before she could continue apologizing. "Besides, the others haven't arrived either."

"Really?" Sakura looked around in confusion. "But we were supposed to meet ten minutes ago."

"Indeed." Ritsura shrugged. "And now we are waiting only for Araya."

"For Araya-chan? But where are Saaya-chan and Heiko-chan?"

"Heiko is busy and will be joining us later." Ritsura explained. "Saaya had already scheduled a meeting with her other friends so she won't be joining us at all."

"Oh, I see…" For some reason, Sakura looked letdown. "Oh!" Then she saw someone behind Ritsura and smiled. "Looks like we have a substitute?"

"Hm?" Ritsura looked around and saw Araya weaving at her, with Wakana walking beside her. "Grandma? What are you doing here?"

"I was preparing to go shopping for some groceries when Araya-chan asked me to join you." She explained. "But I don't think young ladies like you would want an old granny like me around."

"Oh no, you would be welcome." Sakura spoke out.

"Hm?" Wakana looked at Sakura. "I think I saw you at the house once, but I don't think we talked."

"No, we didn't." Sakura scratched the back of her head. "I am Kibiki Sakura, Ritsura-chan's friend." She bowed and introduced herself in a sweet tone. "Glad to make your acquaintance."

"Nice to get to know you." Wakana replied in an equally sweet tone and bowed. "I am Nura Wakana, Ritsura-chan's grandmother."

Somewhere during their conversation, Araya had sneaked up to Ritsura. "I think I might get a toothache from standing near these two angels."

"Tell me about it." Ritsura was of a similar opinion. "Good thing Mom wasn't here. Otherwise we would have gotten a moe storm."

"Not all of us are here." Araya continued whispering.

"Heiko will come later."

"And ex-President?"

"She is hanging with her muggle friends."

"Are you kidding? Even for something as important as this?"

"I don't think she considers it that important." Ritsura sighed. "Though I do wish she was with us."  _And I wish I knew what made her stop hanging with us in the first place. I am sure she has her reasons, but I wish I knew what they are._

* * *

"Wow!" Saaya shouted in astonishment as she looked over a terrace at the top of a very tall building. "The view is amazing."

"I know, right?" One of her friends agreed. "I am surprised a rich girl like you did not know about this place."

"Tokyo is a big city." Saaya said and continued looking, even though all of her friends were sitting at the table, which was fitting seeing as they visited a restaurant targeted for youths.

But it was not the promenade that made her stand here and view the gray landscape. It was because part of her still regretted not accepting Ritsura's invitation.  _She looked so happy._

She could still get in time to join them. Yet, she had no intentions of doing so. It was an important day for Ritsura, but that was the more of a reason.

So she would stay here. She would chat, smile and laugh with her more normal friends.

" _What an obviously fake smile."_  She remembered words that Rihan once told her.  _"Just keep doing it. I am sure it will make you happy."_  He continued with a sarcastic remark.

_Shut up! Why do you have to haunt me now?_  She pulled some bangs of her hair, hoping a little pain would turn her thoughts in another direction.  _This is an important occasion too._ Yet, she could not remember which one of her friends present here celebrated and even what exactly was being celebrated. She had forgotten.

"What are you doing, Saaya?" They seemed to have noticed Saaya pulling her own hair.

"Ah nothing…" Saaya turned around after letting her hair go. "I am just being stressed about something." She said with a smile.

"What are you being stressed about?" The only boy in the group asked.

"Nothing… it is nothing." She waved her hand, hoping they would return to whatever they were talking about.

But at least one of them did not want to let it go just yet. "I have seen her with the cold princess this morning." She said as if whispering, but her tone was loud as usual.

"Ah, that explains everything." The second girl replied. "You should not let them do that, Saaya-chan."

"Do what?" Saaya asked.

"Let them bully you, of course." The boy explained. "I know you try to be friends with everyone, but those guys are always trying to pull you into… their things."

_Trying to be friends with everyone… yeah, they probably think I am doing that for being nice._

"We are talking about that  _Supernatural Investigation Club_ , right?" The third girl said and rolled her eyes while pronouncing the club's name. "What a bunch of freaks."

_What did you say?_

"I know, right?" The first girl had the same opinion. "Oniedas, Ichinoe and Nuras… spoiled, rich kids sure have nothing better to do than hunt children's stories." She said all that with a smile, as if thinking that such an opinion made her superior to them.

Even if she actually agreed, the second girl did not say anything but instead looked at Saaya with a worried look on her face. She once badmouthed them and had to deal with Saaya afterwards.

If she hoped Saaya would let it go this time, she was wrong.

And this time Saaya was not in mood to just pick her stuff and move.  _I let Ritsura go for this?_  "Look who's talking." She looked at the one who called her friends spoiled, rich kids. "Months ago a certain someone paid a first-year to sleep with her and then dumped him so hard that he fell in depression. Would you know anything about that freak?" The growingly pale skin on that girl's face made her feel happy.

"Saaya!" The girl who called Saaya's friends freaks jumped up. "How can you say that to the one who is celebrating-" She was furious, but she turned into a chicken the moment Saaya looked at her.

"I am taking it that you're trying to accuse me of bullying?" Saaya smirked. "You, the queen bitch of bullies? How much did our shy classmates have to pay you to keep them safe from finding pins in their shoes, their tables scribbled with insults and getting beaten up after school? And all that was known to several of your closest friends… none of which are here." Saaya tilted her head. "That is, until Ritsura showed you how ugly after school fights could get?"

"That is-" The school bully turned red from fury.

But the foolish girl underestimated the intel that the Newspapers Club's honorary member could collect. "Ah, you did it again with that new transfer student, though you wisely pulled back after I indirectly reminded you of it." Saaya pointed her thumb at her. "I wonder what would happen if someone, accidentally of course, spilled it."

"No…" The girl's fury turned to legitimate fear. Even a non-youkai like Saaya could feel it. "It was only one time, she would not-"

"She said that if you bully someone even once more, you would get scarred for life." Saaya said that and started walking away. "And you better not make light of threats that the yakuza make. They are not known for going back on their word."

From a corner of her eye, she saw her fall down onto her seat. All three girls looked at one another in shock, none of them obviously being aware of these things. The boy too seemed shocked, and followed after Saaya.  _Oh great…_  Saaya was not happy about him doing so.

"I can't believe that." He started blabbering. "I thought they were nice girls yet-"

"Don't flatter yourself." Saaya cut in before she could get nausea from his words.

"What?"

"Mugging an old man, driving without a license and drunk, seriously beating up someone who made a joke on your account…" Saaya listed some of his crimes while walking down the stairs. "You have more dirty laundry then those three combined."

She stopped going down when she realized that he was not going after her. Interested in what kind of expression he made, she turned around. "How do you know all that?"

"I am a member of the newspapers club. People like me like to dig up dirty laundry and interesting things." She put out her tongue.

"Why… if you knew all that… why did you even befriend us?"

"Everyone in the school has skeletons in their closets and I have found most of them. Besides…" She looked away. "You said I was nice towards everyone, but you were wrong. I have only a handful of friends, the rest of you are just there to fill my free time. I couldn't care less about any of you." And after saying those words, she left him behind her and continued descending down the stairs.

_Truly, the people I decided to hang around today are some of the worse assholes around._  Saaya sighed. Those people, as she had mentioned, meant nothing to her. She hung around them to fool herself into thinking that she was alright, even to the point that she pretended to not know their true natures. But seeing as she did not help them in their lives, she did not see it as a problem. After all, they were friends only in name.  _Well, time to find someone else to hang around with._

For a moment, she thought about finding Ritsura and her gang.

But she immediately tossed that thought away.

* * *

_This is awkward._  Heiko, who sat on a bench, glanced at Kazuo, an unusually old Amefurikozo sitting beside her.  _And that half-dead look again… ahhh, it is so hard to start a conversation when he looks like that!_

But as his nee-san, she had to try and talk. "Ummm… It's quite nice here." She said while they looked over a small park.

"It is gray and dull." He said. "And it stinks of smog."

"Well… that's true I guess." She agreed with him, even if it meant lying. She herself got quite fond of Tokyo. "But the people are nice."

"The humans are duller than those villagers at home." He said and looked at countless people walking down the streets.

"Well… what about the youkai?"

"I am surprised at how childish the youkai of the Nura Clan are." He was obviously unimpressed. "I will be glad when I return home."

"Are you sure that you won't stay?" She wondered why she asked that. Unlike his younger brother, who quickly befriended the other eternal kids in the Nura clan, Kazuo never made a place for himself. As a matter of fact, Heiko had rarely seen him in Ukiyoe and sometimes wondered if he returned back home on several occasions.

"I am only staying here until I am sure you will fit in."

"I will be fine."

"I wonder about that." He looked at her. "Did you tell your mistress that-"

"I will tell her about it." She looked at him and added: "You stay quiet about it."

"Alright." Even though he sometimes stole the role of an older sibling, he accepted her authority when she got angry. "Are you sure that you want to stay here?"

"Yes. I like the Nuras." She smiled.  _And following aneki will make me stronger._  "You know, if you tried to fit in, then maybe you would come to-"

"Hey…" Kazuo suddenly rose from the bench and looked at his left. "Isn't that guy from your clan?"

"Who?" Heiko asked and then turned her head. She saw Omukade in the sky, a youkai who looked like a red dragon with wide, asymmetrical eyes. "Yes, he is actually one of the Executives."

"What is he doing?"

"He is… flying around?" Omukade often randomly flew around the air, but this time he flew around the same spot, flying up and down every now and then. "Wait, he is fighting!" She realized after a while and then, as if confirming her suspicions, something that looked like vines flew up and enwrapped the draconic youkai. "We have to go and help him!" She said and started running in his direction.

"Do we really have to?" Kazuo asked while following after her.

"Of course we do! He is technically my boss!"

The area above which Omukade fought was the park where Heiko and Kazuo were sitting. It was a small park so it did not take long until they reached the battlefield.

But when they arrived, it was too late: Omukade had been defeated and was lying atop a tree. He was breathing, but his reddish skin had bleeding wound around it.

"Omukade-sama!" She started running, but Kazuo had immediately grabbed her and pulled her back.

"Nee-san, look around you!"

"Huh?" When she did as he asked, she realized that this wasn't the park that she walked through several times. A large tree where Omukade was lying in should not have been there.

And then she realized that Omukade was not lying in a tree. Instead, he was held by its branches, some of which were stabbed into his flesh and moving in strange ways. The trees roots were also all over the place, sticking out of the ground and slowly moving around.

"Nee-san, what the hell is this?"

"This tree is a youkai." She already met a youkai of the same type and exchanged several words with her. This was a different person, and this youkai's Fear was much stronger. "This is a Blood-sucking Tree."

"Are we going to fight it?" Kazuo asked when he saw her taking out her mirror. "I mean, it is still daytime."

"The nice, normal trees make for a lot of shade." She explained with a shivering smile.

"You know that your Fear does not work that way." Kazuo sighed and walked in front of her. "Your Fear is supposed to be used for interiors."

"What are you doing?"

"Protecting you of course." He said and confronted the large tree. "you make yourself useful and bring someone to help me."

"But-"

"Think about what is more likely to bring victory: your weak Fear or Fear from someone who can actually fight." His tone left no room for questioning. "And then go and bring someone useful."

"…alright." She had to agree: her Fear was not appropriate for this situation. "You better stay safe!"

"Of course." She heard him say when she turned around to find help.

* * *

Saaya aimlessly walked around the town for hours, only occasionally stopping to sit somewhere in order to check the news and forums on her cellphone.

She saw some acquaintances with whom she could have hung around, but she did not do so.

She had ample chances to join Ritsura, but she did not do so.

And now she was walking back home, using her legs instead of public transport. She drank some apple juice, wondering what she would do back at home. It was a boring day and she was not in mood for any more of it.

But not long after she reached Ukiyoe Town, she stumbled upon an acquaintance. "What are you doing, Keikain-san?" She asked a boy who was touching a lamppost and ignoring the glances of people walking past him.

"Oh, it's Saaya." He looked at her for a moment and then returned to looking at the lamp and touching it. "I am just checking something."

"Please stop doing that."  _You look like someone with a lamp fetish._

"Shouldn't you be asking  _what_  I am doing?"

"Not until you stop touching that lamp post." She shook her head.

"I am not sure what your problem is, but okay." He moved away from it and faced Saaya.

"So? What were you doing there?"

"I thought I saw some kind of spell on it." When he saw that she was getting confused, he shook his head. "Forget it. This is something between my cousin and me."

"Alright." She sighed and put on a smile. "If you are not busy, would you keep me company on my way home?"

"I am always up for walking with cute girls." He accepted her offer and they started walking. "So what are you doing all by yourself?"

"I was with some acquaintances."  _Until several hours ago._

"Are they good friends of yours?" He asked her a strange question.

"Yes, they are." She lied.

"You lie." He said with a smile.

"Wow, what Ritsura said was true. You are good at it." She put her hands behind her. "If you would join my club, I am sure our interviews would get much more substantial."

"It is an alluring offer, but I am an Onmyouji."

"An Onmyouji who lives at a youkai manor."

"You got me there." He laughed and scratched his cheek.

"And an Onmyouji who does chores for them."

"Don't tell my Dad that or I will be expelled from the family." He asked in a joking tone.

"And you date a half-youkai girl."

"Actually I don't." His bright mood got a little darker.

"Oh, that is interesting." She said and ceased looking at him. "So, what does an Onmyouji do nowadays? I doubt that you are attacking the Nuras."

"I accidentally attacked few of them when I just arrived. Quite embarrassing I must say…" He looked down. "Or more exactly, they attacked me and I just beat them up." And then he looked back up. "But nowadays, I argue with my dear cousin and search for evil youkai."

"Maybe I could help you somehow?" She looked at him again, with a smile. "I am quite knowledgeable."

"Doubt it." He sent her a bittersweet smile. "Right now, I'm just walking around searching for my enemy."

"What enemy?" She tilted her head.

"Do you, by some chance, know a man going by the name Ishikawa Kaito?"

"Ishikawa Kaito? The one who voiced-"

"No, not the voice actor but someone living in Ukiyoe."

"Oh… hmmm…" She thought about it for a while. "No, it does not come to mind."

"Ughhh…" He sounded frustrated. "I saw him with a dangerous youkai this morning, but he left before I could go after him." He probably noticed the worry on her face so he added: "Just for the record, he is a very bad guy."

"Oh, I see."  _So he is a youkai, huh?_  "Well, my home is in this direction." She said when they reached a fork in the road.

"Are you sure that you don't need an Onmyouji to keep you safe?"

"No, it is still daytime." She rejected his offer.

"Alright, let me rephrase: are you up for a date? I hear you are quite a youkai magnet."

"Well that is just mean." She closed her eyes and put out her tongue. "Well, see you tomorrow at school." She said and turned away.

"See you! And keep safe from youkai under your bed."

"Haha." She said and kept walking. "So, what will I do now…?" She wondered while her boredom was reaching a new height. "I am home!" She shouted after going through the door.

She did not even get to take out her shoes when she saw a certain something in the hall. In comparison to  _that_ , the renaissance painting from this morning was a triviality and a welcome addition to her home. It was actually so big that her parents did not even hear her.

"Are you still angry for me wasting money on it, Kana?" Her father asked his wife on whose shoulders he rested his arm.

"I am… a little." She said while starring in front of her in bliss. "This is… umm, quite detailed!"

"I know, right?" He laughed. "Nothing shows our Master in so much glory as a proper 3D representation!"

"You have to be kidding me…" Saaya whispered to herself while looking at a statue that was put in the main hall. Actually, it was two statues on one podium, each showing one of two forms of Nura Rikuo, each of whom faced the other with their back. Youkai Rikuo held a western spear while the human Rikuo held a parchment, and both of them were pointing at something in the sky (or in this case, the ceiling) and wearing togas like all those old Roman statues… and like in the good old Roman style, they were quite revealing.

"Oh, Saaya-kun!" Her father finally noticed her and turned towards her, letting his wife go. "What do you think? It is amazing, is it not?" He asked while her mother walked several steps forward and looked at the statue from a certain angle, blushing in the process.

"Dad… this is…" She wanted to lecture him, but then realized that she was tired, bored and it was all pointless anyway. "Ah forget it!" She shouted and ran upstairs.

"Oh, you are going to tell your friends about it?"

Saaya did not reply but just ran into her room where she took her bag containing a camera, paper and other necessities for her club activities and ran back.

"Oh yes, you really should take a photo of it!" Her father misunderstood her intentions again. "Wait, where are you going? The statue is this way!"

"I am going out!" She turned backwards and shouted. "And you better get rid of that thing by the time I get back!" She gave an order, which he would not listen to, and left the house.

It did not take long to catch up to Ryuzan. "Saaya?" He looked at her in surprise.

"I changed my mind." She walked past him and pulled him by his hand. "Let us go on that date."

"…alright, but what is that bag for?"

"For club activities." She answered. "Now let us go find us some youkai."

It was an annoying day for her in many ways so she at least decided to do what she, even after so many years, found the most fun.

"Wait a second… three girls?" Ryuzan started saying weird things. "I  _am_  a main character of some Anime!"

"…what are you talking about?" She also remembered how much she actually missed unusual people.

She would hit herself on the head tomorrow, but right now she was so frustrated and in need of something she enjoyed that she did not care.

* * *

**Author Notes:**

**-** Look who we have here! Saaya-kun!:D After a long while, I can finally give her some quality time and start exploring her. It is quite strange that she was so stubborn at not being with Ritsura, but she seems to have her reasons

\- Our pal Rihan found out that if you have a girlfriend, you may wake up someday and realize that she moved into your home

\- Kaito seems to have fun with the current events. And look, Reiko appeared again!

\- What started as a talk about Shiori ended up in Rihan losing his cool and blabbering about some things that were on his mind

\- Lesson of the day: don't piss off Kiyotsugu Saaya. She may look cute and nice, but she knows stuff!

\- Long time no see Kazuo! Dear Lord, the characters who appeared in only one or two chapters sure have started coming out of their closets!

\- Oh lookie, another Blood Tree! Poor dragon-kun though…

\- Kana-chan, where are you looking?

\- Ends up that, as much as she tries to hide it, Saaya is actually her parent's daughter

\- Ryuzan is close to being seen as sweet by Tsurara's, Yura's and Kana's daughters. The most interesting part is: I was not even aware of it until after I finished writing the last scene... Ritsura may inherit the clan from Rikuo, but Ryuzan might inherit something om a higher level XP


	72. Demons in Black

 

**Chapter 72 – Demons in Black**

"Why, when you most need it, the world doesn't explode and end once and for all?" Rihan wondered in his room, with his head pushed deep into a pillow.

In his sixteen years of life, and amongst them the three years of having to deal with Shiori, this was possibly his most humiliating day in his life. The accursed emotions finally leveled up their evil intent and had him act like a crybaby in front of his own grandmother. And even more embarrassing than his tears were the words he spoke.

"Forever and ever, I'll be known as Rihan the Wimpy." He told himself. "Isn't there some Shinigami-sama in need of victims? I'd do anything to become one."

And then a cellphone rang.

"So now gods are arranging their services via phones? Who knew?" Rihan joked to himself and answered the phone. "Hello?"

" _Hello there, Kokuhan-sama! Kaito here!"_

"You're not Amaterasu-sama."

"… _huh?"_

"Forget it. It is just a joke I told to myself." Rihan sighed and raised himself up into sitting position. "What do you need, Kaito?"

" _Remember that tale I asked you to explore?"_

"Yes, I do. What about it? It's too late to change your mind, if that's what you called me for."

" _Change my mind? Heavens no, quite the opposite! I just called to ask you if you could hurry up with it."_

"I'll get to it when I feel like it."

" _Still, I would ask you to deal with it tonight."_

"Why the hurry? Did your tale's Fear start to crumble?"

" _Heavens no! I would never send you to deal with a failure!"_ He answered and reminded Rihan why he disliked Kaito. _"This is about me. There is a chance that my reign of terror meets a swift end soon."_ He explained in his usual, cheerful tone.  _"You know what it is to feel like you might die before seeing the final episode of your favorite TV series."_

"No, I really don't." Rihan said while his eyes grew sharper. "Who is after you? Another coalition? The Shin Sekai?"

" _Some outsiders… And if they get chatty, even your entire clan might be after me."_

"Does that have anything to do with me?"

" _Not really… although you might find yourself overwhelmed soon. There is more than one tale that I want you to participate in."_

"I'll not be fighting my clan for you, just so you know."

" _If I forced you to fight them, Shiori would have my head. No, I just want you to be there to hog the glory before your sister or… someone else does. You should not have complaints about that, right?"_

"Oh my dear friend, it's not Shiori you should be afraid of. If you try to force my hand in the direction I don't like, you'll feel what it's like to be a side character in horror story. But fine, I'll consider hurrying it up. You better not disappoint me." And after saying that, Rihan ended the call.  _Looks like things will get messy soon enough._ For some reason, he was smiling as he thought about that.

* * *

 _How does one fight a blood-sucking tree with water?_  Kazuo wondered while eyeing the large tree. Neither he nor the tree were moving or attacking, but he could feel that the Tree was doing  _something_. Its roots and branches would not move otherwise.  _I should have run away with Heiko._

Slowly, as to not startle the tree, Kazuo put his hand inside his shirt. It took him a while to find his fake smoking pipe because he was not used to western clothing, but after what felt like eternity, he found it.

The tree did not attack, but its roots and branches moved at a slower pace. It did not have any eyes, but Kazuo knew that it was watching him.

Kazuo hoped that the tree would at least wait until he breathed into the pipe, but the boy heard something on the ground just when he took in his breath. He jumped away from where he was standing, stopping what he was intending to do.

He saw thick roots come out of the ground, trying to grab him.  _This tree is fast… but forget about it, are you telling me that it grew all of these while we were starring at one another?_ This fight would not be easy, he was sure of it now. He looked at the dragon that was held by the tree's branches.  _But I don't need to defeat the tree. I need to save him… but that will only be possible if he can still muster enough strength to fly away._

Basically, there were two strategies. One was the original plan: delay the Jubokko (Blood Tree) until Heiko brings help.

But that plan put the Executive's life in danger. Even right now, the Blood Tree was sucking his blood. So the other strategy was to rush in, save him and hope that he has enough strength to fly them both away.

Kazuo doubted that the second strategy was unlikely to succeed seeing as the Executive looked in no state to fly. But if he died because Kazuo was too cautious, the boy would never be able to forgive himself.

Thus, he  _had_  to go into offensive. But what did the offense mean in this situation when Kazuo had to give his best to avoid the roots that were jumping out of the ground? Ignoring everything and running at the tree was  _not_  an option, for if one of those roots caught him, it would suck his blood.

Finally, Kazuo landed atop a small rock. It would not keep him safe for long, but it was still better than raw ground. It would take a few seconds more to get caught this way, time which might prove decisive.

As quickly as he could, Kazuo took a deep breath and released air into his pipe, releasing countless bubbles. There was only one chance at this, and he had to succeed. Should this fail, he was unsure what else he could do to beat the tree.

He jumped away from the rock, just before his leg was caught by a blood-sucking root. He sent the bubbles around, most of them at the ground. From the corner of his eye, he could see that the roots slowed down a little.  _The tree is getting worried._  While still running, Kazuo took in another deep breath and released more bubbles. Most of these, he sent in the direction of the tree.

He then made the bubbles, both the ones on the ground and the ones that got close to the tree, explode. They were unlikely to do any damage to this old and sturdy tree, but he got what he wanted: the blood Tree got startled.

 _The next attack would require more Fear._  Still running, he took a deep breath and released more bubbles. These ones were fewer in numbers and were much whiter.

The tree, which realized that the last attack was not worth caution, was now bolder. It sent its branches at Kazuo, who was now only two meters away from it.

And then the boy made the new bubbles explode. He could not use this attack more than twice when at his full strength, but when he did they were much more destructive. Here, they destroyed several of the tree's branches and made the others move away… conveniently releasing its prey.

"FLY!" Kazuo shouted and jumped at the dragon, praying that he hears him.

The dragon, Omukade, opened his eyes and flew up with Kazuo, away from the blood-sucking tree. His flying was unstable, but Kazuo hoped it would take them far away.

And then Omukade started falling. "I am… sorry." He muttered and the two fell down onto the hard ground.

 _Oh no…_  Kazuo tried to rise up, although he knew that he could do nothing anymore. Even if he could, by the time he regained his balance, the roots would catch him and he would get his blood sucked. So he closed his eyes while raising, hoping to not see what would happen.

But nothing happened.  _What is going on?_  Kazuo opened his eyes and was surprised to see the tree shrinking in front of him. It took an entire minute or two for the tree to be done transforming.

And its new form was an old man with small white beard and a cane… though the cane was actually just a part of his hand. He wore elegant black jacket and pants, as well as a black hat and black sunglasses atop of it.

"Are you alright boy?" He asked Kazuo from afar, with a raspy, old man's voice. As a tree he may have looked magnificent, but in his human form he looked frail and pitiable. "Forgive me for being rough. My eyes are not what they used to be so until you got close, I did not realize that you are just a boy." The old explained and bowed his head.

Kazuo did not care about answering his questions, or he had too many of his own. "Who the hell are you?"

"I am a Jubokko." The old man was more than happy to answer. "Or if you need a name… I don't really have one, but my comrades call me Hiroki (Big Tree)."

"It sure is a fitting name…" Kazuo muttered to himself and then raised his tone again. "Why are you attacking the Nuras?"

"It is complicated…" Hiroki took a few moments to think about his answer. "I guess you could say… pride?"

"Pride?"

"Yes, pride. Me and my comrades wanted to prove our strength before… well, that is a boringly long story." Hiroki shrugged. "Now I ask thee: do you intend to fight me any further? I proved my strength by defeating Omukade-dono, but I have no quarrel with you. And forgive me if I have to say it, but I don't think a kid with such weak Fear as yours stands a chance."

The boyish side of Kazuo wanted to rage and threaten him. But long ago, he learned better than to listen to such urges. "I am not one of the Nura clan youkai so I have no quarrel with you either. But still, someone dear to me is a part of their clan and they were good to me so I will not allow you to suck any more blood from this youkai."

"Do not worry, I have no quarrel with him either, now that he is down. So, may I go?"

"I'd be happy to see you disappear."

"I thank thee." Hiroki raised his hat and bowed. "I wish good fortune upon ye in days to follow." And then the  _Big Tree_  turned around and started leaving.

_And so I have been defeated again, huh? Ah, who cares as long as I am fine?_

"Kazuo-san." A female voice spoke from behind him and the boy turned around to see a female tengu. He did not remember her name. "And Omukade-sama… what happened?"

"A Blood Tree attacked him." Kazuo shrugged his shoulders. "I tried to help, but all I could do was free him from his branches."

"I see… where did he go?"

"I don't know… I am safe because I played dead." Kazuo lied. Hiroki spared him and Kazuo felt like he owed him one for it. Still, in order to not cause trouble to Heiko, he had to play it safe. "But he could not have gone far. He is in form of an old man."

"I see. I will start looking after him. Please, keep Omukade-sama safe until the others come." The female youkai said and flew up and some crows followed after her while other crows flew lower, between the trees.

Kazuo was sure that, with so many crows searching for him, Hiroki would be caught and Kazuo's warning would have been for naught. Such an old man could not have possibly gone far in so little time. Even if he turned into a tree, that female youkai should have known the area well enough to see a tree that should not be there and probably even feel the Fear.

Yet, somehow, nobody found him.

* * *

"Hmmm…" In one of the shops for female accessories, Ritsura stood in front of a large mirror with a large, white hat on her head. "Hmmmm…" She changed her pose from standing with her hands on hips to one with crossed legs, raised head and with fingers under her chin. "No, I am still looking like I have gone on a summer vacation to Italy." Ritsura put the hat back onto a shelf and continued browsing the other items in the shop.

She was not alone. Araya was checking some purses and always complained about them being too large, too small or, in rare occurrences when the size was just right, she complained about it being too colorful. Sakura was focused on simple jewelry, mostly the ones which had shapes of crosses. Ritsura's grandmother, Wakana, just stood at the side and had a chat with the shop's owner. Beside her, two bags filled with clothes sat, showcasing that she already bought a lot of things.

That is not to say that the girls did not find something to buy for themselves. Sakura bought silver cross necklace as well as two books, one titled  _"The Kyushu Folklore"_ and another one titled  _"Secrets of Western Exorcism"_. Araya bought a fiendish mask, two shirts (with long sleeves of course) and several stocks from some desperate tycoon who was passing by in his limo. Ritsura bought two kimonos, some hair shampoo, a schedule for manicuring, some movies, a book titled  _"Swag for Dummies"_ , two wallets, a pair of earrings, six T-shirts, four skirts, a snowflake-shaped necklace, three different perfumes, four lip balms, two cute cellphone straps and a small  _few_  other things, all of which she had already sent to her room via the youkai from her clan.

 _Hm, I could use a new purse._  Having decided what to check next, Ritsura went to the same part of the shop where Araya was still checking the purses.

"You still haven't found a good enough purse, Ichinoe?" Ritsura asked and started checking out a cream-colored purse.

"My tastes are hard to please, Ritsu-chin." Araya answered while checking out a small, black purse.

"That manly purse sure won't please them."

"Hm, you are right. Too masculine." Araya said and just threw it back onto its shelf.

"What do you need a purse for anyway? I mean, you throw away both the small and large ones."

"I am not sure myself. I only know that I want a useful purse."

"Did you ever take my brother shopping with that attitude?"

"Once." Araya confirmed and turned to checking over glasses. "He went spirited away. Men just can't understand our needs."

"That's true." Remembering that she could buy some glasses too, Ritsura went and immediately found some blue sunglasses that she liked. "This goes into the basket!"

"By the way, I was wondering…" Araya started while trying out red sunglasses. "Why didn't you invite Mayuri? She is the  _Queen of Shopping_."

"I wish I could, but she is not even in the town… or in Japan for the matter." Ritsura explained while checking out some sunglasses.

"Ah yes, a store chain with majority ownage of her family is expanding into South Korea so she is Seoul this weekend." Araya mentioned with narrowed eyes.

"Why do you seem so frustrated?"

"It is not about her. It is just that I and Oniedas are rivals and this means more competition for my companies in Korea."

"You rich people and your rivalries." Ritsura commented and put down the glasses.

"They are still better than some clans still killing one another in 21st century." Araya gave her opinion while putting the red sunglasses into the basket. "What the heck is she doing?" Araya asked and pointed at Sakura with her chin.

Sakura was rubbing one of the talismans with a wet handkerchief. "I'll check it out." Ritsura, who was done checking glasses, said and started moving. "Sakura-chan, what are you doing?"

"I'm exorcising." The girl explained.

"Eh?"

"This jewelry's cursed. Actually, many items in this shop are cursed." Sakura said, looked behind to confirm that nobody was watching and turned to another item. "I'm not sure what curse it is, but it's my duty to clean this stuff."

"Ahh…" Ritsura guessed that she knew why these items might have been cursed. "This shop is partially owned by  _them_ , I think."

"Hm?" Sakura looked at Ritsura with curiosity, but the Yuki-Onna did not have time to reply.

"Well if it isn't Ojou-sama!" A man's voice called to her.

 _Speak of the wolf…_ Recognizing the voice, Ritsura turned around and greeted the youkai who entered the shop. "Good to see you, Sorobanbou-sama." Ritsura greeted one of her clan's Executives.

The youkai who entered rivaled her grandfather in both stature and size of his head, but also wore small glasses… but as fragile as he looked, some dangerous looking men surrounded him whenever he was walking outside. He was Sorobanbou, a youkai who was part of Nurarihyon's Hyaki Yakou and the chairman of the Youkai Merchant Union, which was the most important source of Nura Clan's monetary income and the association through which the Nura Clan controlled the companies it owned. As such, Sorobanbou and the Youkai Merchant Confederation held an important and irreplaceable position within the Nura Clan.

And as all youkai merchants, Sorobanbou and his gang often used dirty tricks to make money. But just like how his Fear stopped humans from noticing his looks, so did Fear stop humans from noticing these dirty tricks.

"Are the items we provide to your satisfaction, Ojou-sama?" He asked her and bowed in respect. Since he was a close friend of Hitotsume Nyudo, he was also one of Ritsura's first supporters.

"They are, but I have a small question." Ritsura spoke and raised her index finger. "Are the items in this shop… tampered with, so to say?"

"I see that you noticed it." Sorobandou nodded. "Yes, you're right. But I assure you, it is harmless and just makes the humans more attracted to the idea of visiting the same shop again. But the effect is not that strong or long-lasting."

"That's good to know. I just wanted to be sure that someone wasn't sabotaging you." Ritsura threw a glance at Sakura who returned to  _cleaning_  the items.  _I'll need to stop her._ "Anyway, it's rare to see you on the streets or visiting such a minor shop. What gives?"

"The Union is having an important meeting at one of our hotels. As its Chairman, I have to attend it." He explained with hands behind his back. "And on my way there, I heard that you were visiting one of our shops so I just checked in to see if everything is fine."

"Well, thank you for your consideration. By the way, did you walk? Why didn't you take a car?"

"You know that I dislike them. As long as everything is at the walking distance, I prefer to walk." He explained and then one of his bodyguards whispered something into his ear. "My men are reminding me that we need to hurry. I apologize, but I have to go."

"Well, be on your way then. See you back home."

"Indeed. I hope our shops continue to satisfy you, Ojou-sama." And after that, Sorobanbou turned around and walked away, followed by his bodyguards.

"Miss, what are you doing?" One of the shop's workers shouted.

"Ugh… did you know that these items might be cursed?" Sakura, who had to hide the fact that she was an exorcist, was making excuses. "I know because… I just checked a book and…"

"As if I'm buying that! Now answer: why are you washing our stuff?"

"Oh my, Sakura-chan seems to be in trouble." Ritsura's grandmother spoke and ran to Sakura's side.

 _Geez, I better clean this misunderstanding._  With a sigh, Ritsura turned around and opened her mouth to speak.

But then she immediately turned around and looked through the shop's window. A young woman of short, white and black hair walked past it, wearing a black suit, more fitting to a man than a woman, along with a black hat and black sunglasses, like a Mafioso from a gangster movie.

Soon, she left Ritsura's field of vision, but the girl still felt tense.  _She emits Fear and walked in Sorobanbou's direction… is she one of his bodyguards?_

Then Ritsura turned around again and walked towards Sakura.  _I have to clear this up and then… I have a bad feeling about that woman.  
_

* * *

Sorobanbou and his guards had already left the streets and were riding in the elevator towards the highest floor of a relatively humble hotel. Yet, Sorobanbou still did not feel at ease so the fingers of his crossed arms dug into his skin.

"You seem tense., Sorobanbou-sama." One of his bodyguards noted, his head having turned into a mantis's since they entered the elevator.

"I am fine." He lied to them. In truth, he felt like he was being followed. But whenever he turned around he saw no one and whenever he sent someone to check it up, nobody was found. "You guys stay alert."

"We always are." The mantis replied back. "Especially now."

"So you too felt it?"

"A youkai was definitely influencing us with their Fear." The other bodyguard, a fishlike youkai, confirmed Sorobanbou's doubts. "I don't know how they hid from us, but they certainly plan to attack."

"But why?" The mantis crossed his arms. "Who dare attack the chairman of the Youkai Merchant Union? That's like declaring war on the Nura Clan while being able to gain nothing out of it."

"Maybe it is someone else from the Union? There is always someone-"

"I'll have you stop there." Sorobanbou cut in. "You are slandering my comrades. Besides, if one of them wanted to replace me, they would play by the rules."

"Still, you were the Union's leader for more than four centuries." The fish youkai noted. "They could feel like there is no playing by the rules."

"Then they would be stupid. I always find a way to keep everyone satisfied. Even if what they need was fame and Fear rivaling mine, I would find a way to help them." Being friends to all was the secret to Sorobanbou's success. It was his belief that, for a blooming and lasting business, good relations with everyone were necessary. Sorobanbou did not spare money and effort from keeping good tabs with everyone. "Whoever wants to attack us is not one of us."

* * *

Hyouhaku slowly walked out of the hotel. She had already seen towards which floor her target was going.  _The highest floor… they did not even try to keep a low profile. Hmph, I just can't understand these stupid southerners._

 _And damn is it hot!_  Hyouhaku generally did not like warm temperatures as she was not used to them, but these black clothes did not help in feeling comfy.  _Stupid Hanae and his pointless obsession at being stylish. How does that muttering coward always persuade me to go with his ideas?_

 _Well, it doesn't matter._  Hyouhaku put a hand on her hat and put it between her teeth so that it would not get in the way of what she was about to do. Then she spread her arms and claws sprung out of her fingers.

And then she jumped towards the hotel and her claws, sharp as blade and strong as diamond, struck into the cement. With grace and inhuman speed, she climbed up, floor by floor. Unlike most things she did these days, this was one of few things that made her feel good. Even though the sun was hot, this climbing reminded her of old days when she climbed snow-covered mountains.

But it soon came to an end as she reached the top floor. Not wasting any time, she jumped up and broke through the window with her feet and landed on her feet. She rose up, but not before she took the hat from her teeth and put it back onto her head.

Several tough-looking youkai dressed in black suits stood right in front of her, with several more joining them. Behind them, the top members of the Youkai Merchant Union sat and stood, some afraid and others looking with interest and certainty that the intruder would quickly be dealt with.

But Hyouhaku was not worried or interested in the merchants. She put her hands in the pockets and looked the bodyguards over. "Well, you look strong enough I guess… well, anything's better than those wimps."

* * *

"But you know, I am quite surprised Hitotsume-sama." Houkou said while sitting inside a youkai carriage. The two of them were headed for Sorobanbou's hotel as an answer to his suspicions that he might attacked.

"What do you mean?" The one-eyed youkai with a smoking pipe in his mouth asked.

"You hear that Omukade-sama was attacked and youkai immediately run out to join the battle only for you to look disappointed when you heard that it was all over." Houkou noted. "And then you get a mail from Sorobanbou that he might be attacked and now we are rushing to help him."

"What is there to be surprised about?" Hitotsume looked frustrated. "We are all allies."

"Yet from what I heard, you never cared to support Rikuo-sama in his battles. What 's that about?"

"Tz, you younglings. Just so you know, I fought with Nurarihyon-sama in all his battles and stood side by side with the Second as well!"

"I know, but that does not change the fact that it looked like you have… gone soft."

"Soft? You think I have gone soft?"

"Please calm down, Hitotsume-sama." Houkou wondered if Hitotsume regretted allowing him to join on his way to Sorobanbou. "I said it looked that way, not that you have gone soft."

"Don't pretend that there is a difference. But fine, I'll let it pass." With his teeth still clenched, Hitotsume breathed out a large smoke. "But yes, I admit that I was not very active in the Third's little campaigns. But I never liked the Third so I never felt like I should waste my Fear for him."

"Hm, somehow I thought that was it." Houkou put his fingers under his chin. "But why? I admit that the Third's morals are questionable, but he is still a powerful youkai."

"I joined the Nura Clan not that long since it was formed. I already saw two great youkai in action and fought for them with my life on the line. Then the Second died and the Third became our leader. The Second's followers loved him, but few of us who were there since the clan was formed followed after him." Hitotsume looked outside. "I and many others joined the clan because we thought it would one day come to rule Japan. But I did not think the Third had it in him to do so… and I wasn't wrong." Hitotsume took another smoke. "The Grand Assembly… we could have forced all those youkai to bow to us and make them follow the Third… but the Third did not care."

"He still managed to make all those unruly youkai join up together."

"That just makes it more frustrating as it means he could have made it move further. But no, the Third thinks that this is the best outcome."

"I see." Houkou nodded with crossed arms. He saw both sides of the argument and, though he agreed that the thought of the Nura clan ruling over the entire Japan sounded glorious, he also saw the wisdom behind Rikuo's actions. Though not revered, Rikuo is trusted by all those youkai. Were he more aggressive, those youkai would be more wary of him and thus less likely to help him against the many enemies that the Nura Clan faced these days.

But Hitotsume's opinions were in synch with the rest of the older clans. Since Houkou was part of their faction, he would keep these thoughts to himself.

He opened his mouth to ask something, but then their carriage turned around and he felt that they were falling. "What is going on?"

"I doooon't knooow!" The carriage answered. "I feeeel… ahhh…" The carriage's wiling stopped when they hit the ground. Thankfully, they were not high enough for either of them to be killed.

Both Houkou and Hitotsume ran out of the carriage. But just when they took third step outside, something sharp attacked them from behind. Houkou was agile enough to immediately jump away, but Hitotsume was not so lucky and when Houkou turned around, he saw the old youkai coughing and falling onto his knees.

And behind him, atop the unconscious carriage, stood a boy of Ritsura's age, dressed in stylish black clothes, complete with a black hat and sunglasses. "I'm… sorry for this cowardly attack… b-but…" Although his clothes suggested that he tried to look cool, his muttering made him sound kind of lame. "…but I'm not sure I could deal with… two executives at once. I'm sorry… I'm really sorry." He spoke and bowed while Hitotsume's coughing got progressively worse.

"COUGH! You bastard… Houkou-dono, give him… one for me…" And then Hitotsume lost consciousness and fell down.

"What happened to him?" Houkou asked the stylish figure while checking his surroundings.  _There are several trees here and a lack of humans… good._ "Did you kill him?"

"Heavens, no! I mean, I am attacking you and all but…" The enemy scratched his cheek and tried not to look Houkou into the eyes. "I just needed to beat up an executive or two… but I guess he doesn't count because it wasn't… a fair fight." The youkai raised his head and tried to look Houkou into the eyes, but when they made eye-contact, he averted his eyes at the ground. "I… I'm sorry, but I will have to… take care of you."

"You're one of lamest youkai I ever had the pleasure to meet." Houkou snarled with annoyance.

"I… am sorry for that." The youkai in front put his fingers together and made a little bow with his head. "I have a problem with… shyness."

"Oh for the… would you just attack already?"

"Ah sorry, I will get to it… now." The youkai in front crossed his hands and various trash and leaves in front of him started flying up.

 _A wind-manipulating youkai._  Houkou confirmed one of his suspicions when the avoided the sharp slashes done by the wind. When he started feeling sick, he was certain that he knew who stood in front of him. "You are a Muchi, a youkai from Shikoku manipulating winds and poisons." Houkou said. "A Muchi called… Hanae, am I right?"

"Ah… you know?" The young youkai looked surprised.

"Of course I know. I took care to research dangerous youkai, and your uncle proved his worth when he devastated Hihi-sama's clan. COUGH!" Houkou explained and started coughing. "And Hanae… was a member of the Muchi Clan in Shikoku and for a while the heir to it."

"I am… honored that you know about me."

"Honored? COUGH! I know about you because you are a pathetic fool who was expelled for betraying Tamazuki." Houkou tried to buy some time for his technique to be over. "I talk about you with contempt and pity." Granted, he also took pleasure in taunting person like him… and he also hoped that Hanae would get angry and lose his cool.

But even this much could not shake Hanae. "I see…" He bowed again. "I'm sorry that you think that… and I'm truly sorry that someone like me will have to defeat you. You deserve better than that."

 _You. Piss. Me. Off._  "Do I look like as if I will be defeated soon?" Houkou spread his arms and looked at Hanae with a clear face. "Does it look like you did anything to me?"

"You… you are not poisoned anymore?" Hanae scratched his head. "How come?"

"As if I would tell you how… well I guess I can say that your Fear is weak compared to mine. Not that surprising, coming from someone with such lack of dignity like you."

"Ah… I see. Truly, you are a youkai of great wit and strength." Hanae bowed his head again. "I am even more ashamed that someone like me will have to defeat you."

"For someone with such critical lack of confidence in his attitude, your words are sure filled with it."

"Sorry…" Hanae said and put his hand on his hat. Immediately after, gusts of wind flew from him and towards Houkou.

Houkou evaded them and started running towards Hanae. The poison affected him, but he connected his Fear to the spirits of the trees and other plants around him. All plants had some medical properties and, as a Houkou, he could use them to heal any poison and, if he used his Fear well enough, even more serious wounds would regenerate. Practically, he was using all potential of herbs without actually having to eat them or put them onto his body.

This was also how he healed himself from Hanae's first attack. The reason he had to buy time was to spread his Fear around large enough area in order to connect with enough natural spirits.

His claws were getting closer to Hanae… yet the shy youkai just looked at Houkou, his hand still atop his hat. In contrast to his attitude, the young youkai was confident in himself.

And when Houkou's claws were only three meters away from Hanae, Houkou could no longer move and fell down onto the ground. "What-" He started asking a question, but then vomited blood.

 _But poison should have been negated by herbs…_ And then, when he forced the plants to heal him and his vision started blurring, did he realize that doing so just increase the amount of poison in his body. "You… you have…"

"I am sorry… you see, I have also made some research about you guys too and… I know you Houkous are originally spirits of trees so I guessed that if something healed you, it must have been the trees so… I poisoned all the plants in the area. I know killing plants is… wrong… but I had to do it."

Houkou's body started trembling and he felt cold. He could not speak anymore and saw nothing, and even his sense of hearing was getting worse.

"I am sorry… but you are defeated."

It was then that Houkou understood that there was no contradiction in what he learned about the Muchi known as Hanae. He was a youkai with extremely humble behavior and with lack of confidence… but he was also a prodigy in his own clan. Someone who so quickly realized how Houkou healed himself must have been quite something.

"Here, I will leave cures for you and Hitotsume-dono. Again, I am very, very…"

But Houkou did not hear him finish his apology as his vision faded and he could not hear anything anymore.

* * *

Ritsura was starring at the hotel in front of her. There was no commotion, but that meant little, especially since Sorobanbou notified others in the clan that he might have been followed. Although she still felt guilty for leaving the others even though she was the one who invited them to this shopping trip, she had to go and check up on Sorobanbou.

Prepared for the worst, she walked into the hotel and used the elevator to go to the top floor. It took several annoying minutes to finally reach the top floor and several steps to reach the meeting room.

The whole room was in a mess, but Ritsura was prepared for it so she walked in with dignity. The leaders of the Merchant Union were terrified and shaking at one end of the room. They were surprised to see her, but Ritsura paid them no heed.

The other end of the room was the one she had to worry about. Youkai who were responsible for guarding the Merchant youkai were lying on the floor, bleeding from many wounds but none of them dead. One of the bodyguards, with head of a mantis, was still standing and fighting someone. But his body blocked whomever he fought.

But even that fight was over and he fell onto the floor and Ritsura could see that his enemy was a youkai dressed as the girl she saw earlier, but her appearance was slightly difference. Her nails were long and looked as cat's claws. Her ears were also those of a cat, as were her eyes.

"You are quite strong… for a Bakeneko (monster cat)." Ritsura commented with her arms crossed.

"Hm?" Only now did the girl notice Ritsura. "Ah, the great and mighty Ojou-sama of the Nura Clan has arrived herself." The Bakeneko girl put her hands on her hips. "And I find your words insulting. I truly hope you're not comparing those pathetic Bakenekos from your clan with the likes of us, the Bakeneko from Hokkaido."

"Hokkaido, huh? That explains a lot." The island of Hokkaido was ruled by a clan of Bakenekos near the town of Takasu. While in Toono, Ritsura heard a lot about them, especially about their strength. Even in Ukiyoe she heard about them several times and their leader was one of the most prominent guests in the Grand Assembly that her father had called in order to combat the Gokadoins.

So what she said was right: the Bakeneko Clan serving the Nuras could not be compared with the Hokkaido's Bakeneko Clan. Still, Ritsura was annoyed by her remarks which were uncalled for. "What is your clan doing this far south?"

"My  _former_  clan is still way up North." The Bakeneko fixed her hat.

"So you are not one of them anymore. Perfect…" Ritsura started rubbing her hands and walked toward the Bakeneko girl. "Then I won't need to hold back. What is your name?"

"Hyouhaku is my name." She introduced herself and prepared to cut Ritsura with her claws.

"Why are you attacking the Merchant Union?" Ritsura asked and then remembered the news she heard a little while ago. "Actually, some youkai dressed in similar fashion to yours have attacked three of my clan's executives. Who the hell are you guys and what do you want… Haku?"

"Hm, if you have to ask me that, it means that Hiroki and Hanae have accomplished their task." Haku guessed correctly.

"So you want to defeat Sorobanbou, huh?" Ritsura asked and looked at the merchant youkai for a moment. He stood with others and looked concerned, but also healthy.

"No, that guy is a joke." Haku revealed and Ritsura looked back at her again. "But someone like him should have youkai strong enough to compensate… and there would be many of them during a meeting like this."

"So it is the strength you guys are after." Ritsura raised one eye. "Why? And whom do you serve?"

"Yes, it is strength we needed… or more exactly, we had to prove our own strength before our Master made their move. That way, the Nura Clan will know that our strength is true." Haku explained and looked Ritsura over with sharp eyes. Ritsura had no doubts that she was not talking because she wanted to, but because she was planning a strategy. "As for who our Master is… that I cannot tell."

"Fine." Ritsura said and took out the yoyo that she bought from the Youkai Salesman months ago, during the battle again Shiori. Since she did not bring her sword with her, this was her best weapon at the moment. "Then why don't you prove your own strength by battling me?"

"I should not be attacking a member of the main family under any circumstances but…" Although she said that, Haku lowered herself onto all fours, like a cat prepared to jump at an enemy. "…I guess that just exchanging several blows would not be too much." After finishing her sentence, Haku ran at Ritsura with her claws raised high and ready to strike down at her.

Ritsura released her yoyo and whose rope could be controlled by its owner's thoughts. Haku avoided it easily, but Ritsura froze the floor under her so she had trouble keeping balance.

The yoyo changed directions and ice spikes sprung out of its rope, ready to shred Hyouhaku. But the Bakeneko jumped up and turned her body in the air. She avoided the yoyo's second attack and landed on her claws… or more exactly, she slashed the ice with the claws before landing. One large fragment of ice was, no doubt intentionally, hurdled in Ritsura's direction.

Ritsura moved her body to the left and caught the fragment with her hand without losing sight of her enemy. But the dexterity and agility of the Bakeneko girl was impressive and she avoided each of the strikes without much trouble. Finally, she cut the rope and the yoyo fell onto the floor and immediately sprinted towards Ritsura.

But Ritsura was neither surprised nor worried by this turn of events. She created a spiky mace in her hands and swung it to block Haku's attack. Haku's strength was on such a level that the weapon broke. But had Ritsura created a sword or some other thin weapon, she would probably not have managed to evade the Bakeneko's attack.

Ritsura started freezing the space around her and then slashed at Haku with another ice mace, but the Bakeneko jumped backwards, avoiding the slash.

"As expected, the main family is formidable." Hyouhaku straightened herself up and complimented her enemy. "If I continued to fight, I would have to fight with all of my strength … but I am not allowed that." And then she turned in the direction of the broken window.

Ritsura realized what she planned to do. "Hey, wait a min-" But Haku did not wait for Ritsura's question and jumped out of the window. Ritsura ran after her and looked down at the Bakeneko who safely landed on her feet, even from this height, and quickly ran away. "Tz, she got away."

"So it is over, huh?" Sorobanbou said behind her. "I wonder which group she belonged to."

Ritsura did not reply. She was not completely sure about it, but there was something in Hyouhaku's Fear that did not feel like it belonged to a youkai… and thus she guessed which group she belonged to.

Or more exactly, she guessed whom she served.

* * *

This was a very frustrating day for Keikain Ryoko, who walked through the streets of Ukiyoe Town while sun set behind her back.

After midnight, she got herself into a fight with her cousin Ryuzan. After she woke up, Kaito showed himself in front of them but neither she nor Ryuzan could do anything to him until long after he was gone.

And most of all, he knew something about her and she had to know what exactly.

She and Ryuzan were still searching for him, but to no avail. He could have been anywhere in Tokyo, which meant that she could not find him until he showed himself. She thought about finding out where he lived and worked, but she was unsure if anyone would know.  _I might need to ask the Nuras for help. Dealing with Kaito has priority over my petty rivalries._

And there was another thing she was frustrated about… a thing she delayed to deal with until she was able to.

She closed her eyes and she felt that several youkai appeared around her. "What is the meaning of this?" She asked and opened her now red eyes. Three youkai, all of them dressed in black suits, bowed with their heads on the ground. "Hiroki, Hyouhaku, Hanae… I thought I told you to stay in Kyoto until I summoned you."

The three of them were not all bowed in front of her. Instead, Hyouhaku was positioned behind Ryoko's left leg, Hiroki to Ryoko's left side and Hanae in front of her.

This positioning represented the Wu Xing star where Hyouhaku was aligned to the Metal element, Hiroki to the Water element and Hanae to the Wood element. The ones representing Earth and Fire stayed behind in Kyoto, leading the lesser Shikigami and keeping the city safe or doing missions in their Master's, Ryoko's, place. If the other two were here, one would be standing behind Ryoko's right leg and the other right to Ryoko.

"We apologize, Ryoko-sama." Hanae spoke. "We understand that the three of us had to rest and wait to be summoned, but…"

"But what?"

Hiroki was the next to speak. "We had to prove our strength to the Nuras. We had to prove that even without the Spiral Curse you have prepared, we could stand against them."

"And for that you, my trump cards, have revealed yourselves to them? For your pride, you endangered my ambitions?" There was a reason why she had taken only one of her weaker Shikigami with her.

Hyouhaku was the next to talk. "It is all for you, Ryoko-sama."

And then Hanae ended it. "Our prides are nothing but fragments of your pride. What we really wanted to protect was your dignity and pride."

Ryoko starred for a while and thought about what they said, and then sighed. "I guess that, no matter how many times I call you Shikigami, you guys are still youkai in your hearts."

Hanae raised his head and smiled. "It is you who allowed us to stay as such."

Ryoko put her hand on her forehead. "Yeah, I guess so. It was my mistake to think you would wait for me like nice little guardian spirits." Then she lowered her hand and smiled. "And it would be a mistake to punish you for that." But then her smile faded again. "So, what did you do? Nothing stupid I hope."

"I took down Omukade, one of the Executives of the Nura Clan." Hiroki was the first to report. "I also fought a strange Amefurikozou, but I did not harm him."

Hanae was the next to speak. "I took down Hitotsume-sama and Houkou-sama… and a youkai carriage that drove them."

"Two, huh? As expected from the leader of all my Shikigami." Ryoko mentioned with a smile and then looked at Hyouhaku who looked like she was sweating. Seeing as there were very few things that made Hyouhaku sweat like that, Ryoko was worried. "And what about you?"

"I attacked the Youkai Merchant Union, the source of money for the Nura Clan. I did not take down any of their leaders as they were weak but I fought their formidable bodyguards. And…"

"And what?"

"I… kind of fought against Ritsura-sama…" And then she lowered her head at the ground. "I am sorry! I know the siblings are to be left to you… I promise that we did nothing else but exchange a few blows."

 _Ah, I wonder why I am the only one getting such a humble treatment from you._  "Fine, I don't care. Rise up you guys, you did well... even if it was something I did not ask for. And since you're already here, I have a job for you." As per Ryoko's order, they raised themselves up. "There is a human that I want you to find for me…"

* * *

**Author Notes:**

It was a long while since the last chapter, wasn't it? Sorry for that, but February and September tend to be like that for me :(

All in all, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. It had three short fights and introduced three of five strongest youkai serving Ryoko as Shikigami, thus bringing the size of Ryoko faction in Ukiyoe to five.

You might be confused about some of their elements, especially with Hanae being Wood instead of Hiroki (who is a tree). Water represents things like time, coldness, winter, shadows… you could say that it represents old age. Well, there might be some more but let's not spoil stuff ;)

On other hand, other than itself, Wood also represents winds, air, acid, poison, windy climates, youth, etc., all in all, many things fitting to Hanae. Thus, he is more Wood than our Blood Wood :P

And all three leave hints that their characters are more than random enemies for the Nuras. Hanae and Hyouhaku, for example, have both left their own clans and somehow ended up becoming loyal servants to an Onmyouji. How did all that happen, I wonder?

 


	73. The Endless Thief

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Whatever Keikain Ryoko wants to accomplish in Ukiyoe, it will have to wait: the young Keikain Onmyouji had put her sights on Ishikawa Kaito, one of Hyaku Monogatari's Tale Creators. However, he is aware of it and has decided to put one of his greatest Tales into motion...

 

 

**Chapter 73 – The Endless Thief**

_He moved across the cemented streets of Tokyo. But, he was not walking. It was more like flying, yet not really like flying either for he could not actually soar in the skies._

_If he had to describe it, he moved like a ghost. And that was exactly what he might have been. He was unsure himself._

_It was dusk now. It was not as pleasant as night, but neither was it as irritating as the daylight. Why did he dislike the daylight again? He did not know… maybe it was because he was no longer a human? He stopped for a moment and looked at a car's window. He wore what looked like a tattered, brown robe. He had unkempt long black hair and his face was young, but so filled with wrinkles that it looked like some fairy made him suddenly age fifty years._

_He continued moving. He wished it was night. Night made him feel pleasant, filled him with energy and made his job easier. But nights were short, as was his patience. He could not allow himself to waste time. If daylight was only a little less irritating, he would be hunting for entire days._

_Indeed, he could not waste time._

_He did not want to waste time._

_He moved amongst the humans, easily avoiding their gazes. Many would notice him, but he would be gone from their vision after they blinked. After that, foolish humans deluded themselves into thinking that they saw nothing and then they immediately forgot him and would never again even think about what they saw._

_But even while just moving around, he did not waste time. His right hand, which was unnaturally long and of ashen black color, moved around. He stole many things from the people he passed by: jewelry, cellphones, notebooks, keys… many things left their pockets and got devoured by his arm._

_But material things were not enough. The one he collected all this for desired more. Her growing envy was not so easy to satisfy._

_So from time to time, his arm stabbed into the backside of human necks. The humans would shiver, but once he pulled his arm back, they would go on with their lives, though their faces showed confusion. They knew that something precious was taken from them, but could not understand how that was possible._

_He looked down at his arm and gazed as it devoured something that looked like colorful flames. Sometimes those flames were memories, other times they were fragments of souls. Whenever his arms devoured those, he could see memories that he stole._

_But those memories were not for him. No, they were for_ _**her** _ _. She loved memories and souls the most, especially of women that she could never be._

_For her he stole. He stole everything, be they material things or something more precious. And he stole endlessly, which was what somehow gained him a name._

_He was the_ _**Endless Thief** _ _, a petty creature whose greed could not be satisfied, living for the one whose envy was boundless._

* * *

"Endless Thief, huh?" Rihan muttered to himself while walking behind a certain high school. The students had already left the school grounds but, just like him, there were tourists who sneaked onto the campus in order to check Ishikawa Kaito's work of art (although unlike him they did not know who the author was).

_The Endless Thief_ , those were the words written beside a person in brown, ragged robes, with a disfigured face and an unnaturally long, black arm.

That figure was drawn on several places. In one, he was moving around human-like silhouettes. On another, he was breaking into a house and leaving with money and jewelry. On yet another he was stabbing hearts out of humans, though the faceless humans were drawn as if they were unaware of it.

And then there was one where he was kneeling and offering the jewelries and hearts to a pair of black hands. But whoever he was offering it to was not drawn… or more exactly, that part was drawn on the corner of the school and it looked like part of the art piece was just cut off.  _Greed and Envy_  were the words that have been written beside that part.

This was not the first time that Rihan heard about this youkai.

One or two times, he heard the name be said by the youkai of the Nura Clan. They were worried about another urban legend appearing near Ukiyoe Town, but did not see it as a threat worth dealing with while numerous more dangerous enemies lurked around.

The humans around him right now were another source of information. He could guess the strength of his Fear by looking at how impressed they were about the tale on the walls of the school. But the tales humans told him were numerous and Rihan was unsure which one was the true interpretation of the tale on the wall. In the end, he decided to ignore the human beliefs. With such number of tales spread by the humans, the youkai in question could do and be anything. That was the benefit of such diverse interpretations.

But whatever kind of youkai the Endless Thief was now, he would still be linked by the Tale on the wall. If he had broken from it, the art piece would not return the night after being cleaned by janitors, nor would Rihan be able to feel Fear from it.

So the best way to understand what kind of youkai this person was would be to properly check over the painting. He could even ask the humans for some ideas…

And then a strict, young voice declared something from behind him. "You are trespassing, kids!" When Rihan turned around, he saw some younger male and female cops. "Leave immediately!"

" _Whaaat?"_  Naturally, the humans complained.

" _Why?"_

" _What is the problem with just checking this out?"_

" _Me and my girl came all the way from Hokkaido for this, you know!"_

But the Police did not seem touched by their wailings. The female cop decided to make several scary suggestions. "Now that I think about it, the superintendent did say that only great numbers of people could re-draw this piece of vandalism in a single night." The people did not need long to realize where she was going with it, as seen by their growingly pale faces. "How intriguing…"

"Now now, I am sure they are just innocent tourists." The male one continued by playing the  _good cop_  and giving them the chance to leave. "But still, you people need to leave."

"Yes officer!" Many of them said and all of them started leaving, including Rihan.  _Well, I can sneak back later, but I guess I will have to discuss my ideas with the Nura Clan._  He was annoyed at that thought.

But the two policemen had different ideas and they stood in his way. "Please, stay here." The female cop said and looked onto the ground.

"Hmm?" Rihan muttered after noticing that they were strangely courteous towards him.

And when all the humans left, they showed their true colors by bowing. "Kokuhan-sama, we hope you are faring well." They both said at the same time.

"Who the heck are you guys?" Rihan asked while blinking.

"Our names are unimportant." The male one said and both of them straightened up. Rihan also felt that they released some Fear, only enough to make it clear that they were not human.

"We are just lowly Officers serving out great Superintendent, Ao-Ju." The female added. "And as such, we are also your servants, Commissioner Kokuhan-sama."

_When the heck did Ao-Ju get a youkai clan made of police wanna-bes? And do they really need to call me Commissioner?_

But Rihan did not ask any of those questions. "So, what do you guys need from me?"

"We noticed that you seem to be investigating the Endless Thief." The male one explained.

"Do you know something about him?" Rihan asked instinctively but then remembered that Ao-Ju complained about him a few times as well.

"We are currently trying to hunt down this lowly thief." The female explained with contempt. "And Superintendent is getting close on his trail and told us to call you about it. Would you like to go to the station?"

_They also have a station? Next you will tell me that they even got their hands on police vehicles._  And just as that thought crossed his mind, he noticed two police cars near the school gates.  _Ao-Ju, you have a lot of explaining to do._

* * *

_Kiyotsugu Saaya…_  Ryuzan glanced at the black-haired girl who walked beside him while she was checking a camera. Just like Shima Ryu, she was also a completely normal human amongst Ritsura's circle of friends. But even though she was normal, she was still a mystery to Ryuzan.

She was the member of Ukiyoe High's  _Journalist Club_ , but in past used to be the president of the Ukiyoe Middle School's  _Supernatural Investigation Club_. Ryuzan never found out about the reason why she left. Several times he heard her complain about youkai, but Ryuzan felt like that were a bad lie. True, she seemed grumpy about such topics, but her eyes shone whenever she heard  _anything_  interesting, including things about youkai.

What was most mysterious was her relationship with Ritsura. If Ryuzan had to use a term, it would be a  _love-hate_  relationship where Saaya openly avoided her but other times felt like one of Ritsura's closest friends. Yet, it was not really a tsundereish relationship: sometimes, the distance between them felt outright cold.

Ryuzan, who in his nature wanted to understand all kinds of personalities, saw the cracking of this mystery as a challenge and a good method to learn more about these two girls.

"So, Saaya-chan…" He decided to start a conversation once he noticed that she calmed down from whatever made her upset. "Where are we going?"

"I thought you had an idea, Onmyouji-san." Saaya commented. "So I just walked beside you."

"My idea was just to walk around and check if I see something happening." Ryuzan explained. Truth be told, he and Ryoko were looking for Kaito. But since he knew nothing about him (even his name might have been fake), there was no way to find him. Judging by what happened this morning and knowing how Hyaku Monogatari operated, most likely Kaito would throw him and Ryoko clues whenever he felt like it.

"Oh, I see." Saaya looked up at the sky for a while and then made her own suggestion. "What do you say that we check a large mansion on Ukiyoe's outskirts? It is supposed to be demolished in few months, but it attracts youkai from time to time."

"You came up with an idea fairly quickly."

"Of course. It belonged to my Dad." Saaya put her camera into her bag. "Well, to my granddad to be precise. He was a bit of a megalomaniac."

"A megalomaniac?"

"You will understand when you see it." Saaya put her palm across her face. "I'm so glad that Dad sold it to the city."

"Alright, let's go there then. You lead the way."

* * *

"Here we are." Ritsura said in an exhausted tone, holding her long sword in her hand and with Heiko following after her, who also looked exhausted.

"Welcome back~" Wakana and Sakura said at the same time while Araya just smiled with naughty pleasure.  _'You are late, Ritsu-chin!' is what you want to tell me, right?_

The three females were there where Ritsura left them: in a small restaurant around a round table. There were some plates in front of them, all empty but the ones reserved for Ritsura and Heiko.

"Good evening, Heiko-chan~" Wakana greeted the girl who was not with them earlier. "I am glad that you managed to join us." The cheerful grandma said while Heiko and Ritsura sat down on their respective seats.

"And you Ritsura…" Araya also decided to speak. "…why did you bring your sword here?"

"With how lucky I am, I'll get into another fight before the day is over." Ritsura said and let the sword lean against the table. "So I had Heiko bring it to me."

"Did something happen?" Sakura seemed worried.

"Nothing special. It's just another set of fools trying their luck against our clan."  _Though these guys seemed quite capable._  "I'm surprised that you guys are still here. I thought you'd have gone somewhere else by now." Ritsura changed the topic. She did not want to talk about  _important things_.

"We couldn't really leave without you, senpai." Sakura scratched her cheek. "So we decided to wait and chat."

"Hmmm?" Ritsura raised an eyebrow. "What interesting things did you chat about?"

"A bit about how you are always busy with the clan." Araya answered. "But I have this weird feeling that you're not in the mood to discuss that."

"That's right!" Wakana nodded in approval. "Let us discuss something more fun!" She said and put her hands together. "Here's a question that an old granny like me has to ask when she looks at young kids: what is it that you gals want to do when you grow up?" She first looked at her own granddaughter.

"I need to become a strong youkai, worthy of inheriting my clan." Ritsura said as if that were the only answer to this question.

"Of course." For some reason her grandmother sounded a bit disappointed. "What about you, Araya-chan?"

"Same as Ritsu-chin, I have a big inheritance to take care of." Araya said while putting her hand into her pocket. "Basically, I want to become a famous businesswoman." She said and took out a cellphone. "If Mayu-chan were here, I wonder if she would say the same."

_I wonder about that too. Unlike me and Araya, Mayuri did not seem to have cared much about her family._   _But then again, she did accept to take over her family's companies when her cowardly dad ran into hiding._

This time, Wakana looked at Sakura. "I don't know what profession I will follow." Sakura said once her eyes met Wakana's. "But either way, I want to become a good person. Kind of like you, Wakana-san."

"Thank you for the compliment." Wakana put a hand in front of her mouth. "Becoming a good person, huh? I wish more people made that their goal."

"Y-yes." Sakura said and looked down.

Wakana's eyes then fell onto Heiko. "Well…" Heiko looked away and scratched her cheek. "I want to become a strong youkai and…"

"Sorry girls." Suddenly, Araya rose up and put the cellphone into her pocket. "But I have to go."

"What for?" Ritsura asked.

"Business." Araya shrugged and turned around. "Something important has come up so… bye!" And so the red-haired girl went off, with a fast step.

"I wonder what that is about…" Sakura asked.

"I guess it is something that a businesswoman needs to care about." Ritsura guessed and everyone nodded. "Continue, minion."

"As you say, Aneki…" Heiko sighed. "I want to become a strong youkai and… find out what happened to my sisters, Aiko and Shizuko."

"You have sisters?" Wakana asked with a smile, not realizing that they had passed away. Ritsura remembered her telling her about them on one occasion so she knew.

And Heiko did not ruin the atmosphere. "Yes. It is something that bothered me for a while."

"What-" Wakana started but Ritsura cut in, not wanting words related to death to be mentioned.

"Didn't you say that you gave up on finding out about it?"

"I did, but…" Heiko started playing with her fingers. "It was before I had any way of learning anything. I thought that if I went off that… I was scared." She then raised her head again and looked at Ritsura. "However, if I become stronger then… I will have no reason to not investigate."

"I see." Ritsura smiled. "Don't worry, Heiko. We will find out what happened." Ritsura assured her.

Heiko smiled. "Thank you, Aneki."

"Ahhh!" Wakana looked happy. "It is so beautiful to see such strong friendship."

"What about you, Wakana-san?" Sakura decided that Wakana also has to talk about it. "What did you want to become?"

"Ah, my dreams were not very exciting." Wakana said. "I only wanted a happy life and a cool husband." When she mentioned her husband, her smile wavered for a split second.

Heiko noticed it too. "I heard what happened. It must be hard for you."

"A bit. But then again, I always knew that he would leave before me. I did not think it would be that soon though…" Wakana looked down, still trying to hold on her smile. Then she looked up again, her smile bright once again. "But I still have my beautiful and cool son and grandchildren, as well as the youkai that hold my late husband dear. Besides, I will see him soon myself."

_Please don't say such depressing things with such a smile._

"And, what about you?" Wakana looked at the place where Araya sat a while ago. "What do you want to be?"

_Huh?_ Only then did Ritsura realize that someone was there.  _Did Araya return?_ But when she turned her head, she felt like she turned into a colorless character, just like in all those animated series.

"You know… Onmyouji things." Ryoko said while Ritsura and Heiko looked at the intruder in shock. "I want to become a greater Onmyouji than even Abe no Seimei." She said with a smirk. "It is a long way and I may never meet it, but it is a fun goal."

"Ah, that sure does sound fun." Wakana tilted her head.

_What is she doing here?!_  Ritsura looked at Heiko, but she just shrugged her shoulders and looked as confused as Ritsura.  _Did neither of us notice her come?_

"I guess it would be rude not to talk as well." A piece of paper flew from Ryoko's sleeve and turned into a young man dressed in black suit. "I am Hanae and I seek to serve my mistress as a proper, loyal Shikigami." He said while bowing.

"Senpai…" Sakura started whispering to Ritsura. "Are they your friends?"

"No." Ritsura said in a frustrated tone. Then she looked at her grandmother. "Grandma, it is getting late and it seems that an acquaintance of mine needs me for something."

"Oh, I see." Wakana nodded. "I guess I should hurry back and help others make dinner."

"Sakura-chan, you go with her." Ritsura said and looked her into the eyes.

"I understand." Sakura nodded, understanding that the Yuki-Onna was worried about her grandmother's safety.

"I guess you girls have a lot to talk about." Wakana nodded and looked at Ryoko. "I hope you get to hang around with us sometime."

"Who knows?" Ryoko shrugged.

"Alright, you girls have fun." Wakana weaved and left with Sakura.

The three girls continued to sit down, while the youkai Hanae stood behind his mistress. Ritsura's eyes jumped between Ryoko, Hanae and Heiko.

And only when Heiko nodded, suggesting that Wakana and Sakura have left, did Ritsura speak. "What the hell are you doing here, Onmyouji-musume?"

"What's with that harsh tone, Ritsura?" Ryoko put her fingers together. "We came to apologize you know." She then looked at Hanae from the corner of her eye. "Right?"

"Yes." Hanae nodded. He then looked at Ritsura and bowed. "I am apologizing for what I and my two companions did earlier today. It was uncalled for."

_So they were with Ryoko, just as I suspected._   _Damn, why does she have such strong Shikigami at her side?_

"And I apologize for my Shikigami acting out of line." Ryoko leaned against her seat. "They were supposed to be in Kyoto, but they got some funny ideas about protecting my pride."

"And just how could that happen? Even I know a little about Shikigami." Ritsura said and put her fingers atop her sword's hilt. "I take it that these three attackers, and possibly those Kyoto youkai who attacked Bakenekoya, used to be youkai." Ritsura's eyes shrunk. "Doesn't an Onmyouji need to force a youkai into submission in order to turn him into a Shikigami? In that case, how could they possibly act against your orders?"

"An Onmyouji does not  _need_  to tame a youkai." Ryoko explained. "It is just ill-advised to not do it. After all, connecting yourself with a naturally malignant spirit is dangerous."

"Yet you do an ill-advised thing." Ritsura noted to which Ryoko nodded.  _Yura-san, did you adopt this person? She is nothing like you!_ "So, what do you need?" Ritsura's fingers slowly enveloped her sword's hilt. She doubted that an Onmyouji would attack in a place like this, but Ryoko always found a way to surprise her. "I don't think an apology is why you came here."

"Indeed, I am not here for apologies." Ryoko said and offered her hand to Ritsura. "I came for a temporary ceasefire and an alliance."

This was one of things Ritsura did not expect. "Just what are you thinking, Onmyouji-musume? You were jumping at mine and my clan's feet since you came to Ukiyoe and now you make such an outrageous offer."

"As an Onmyouji, it is my duty to smite evil. As the heiress of youkai clan that's sworn to protect humans and youkai, your duty is also to smite evil in and around Ukiyoe." Ryoko continued while still holding her hand in front of Ritsura. "Trust me, I would love nothing more than to properly engage you in combat. But that's only my second priority."

"I see… let me say I believe you. What evil are you talking about?"

"A Tale-creator of Hyaku Monogatari who has already ended many lives." Ryoko's smile became a bit more malicious. "Do we have a deal?"

_Hyaku Monogatari, huh?_ Ritsura took a few moments to consider her offer. It did not take long for her to make a decision. "I am not shaking your hand." Ritsura said and rose up. "But we have a deal."

"I see" Ryoko pulled her hand back and rose up as well. "I am glad we came to an agreement."

Still though, Ritsura did not trust her.  _But it will be a good opportunity to see her in action._

* * *

_They were after him again._

_Why though? He could understand if it were humans that haunted him, but why did other monsters try to hunt him down?_

_And there were even two groups of them._

_One were monsters who claimed this city as their own, as if Tokyo was such a small place that monsters had to fight for right to persecute humans. They called themselves the Nura Clan and attacked him many times._

_But other times, like today, he was being hunted by another group. They always approached him dressed as cops, only to reveal that they were in fact monsters just like him. He thought that he was done with cops when he realized that he was no longer a human, but in reality it had just gotten worse as now he was being hunted by cops who actually tried to kill him._

_They did not feel as dangerous as that other group, but he was a thief and a thief fears the cops. He could not stand them, and he was pretty sure that they could not stand him either._

_He jumped onto a highway. He had no trouble avoiding the cars and he knew that the cops were not nearly as dexterous as he._

_And he was right. The two monsters that were after him tried to follow him. One tried to avoid cars like he did, but only got hit by one. The other made a better plan and ran atop a railing, but the Endless Thief took out one of items he stole and threw it at him, successfully making him fall down._

_But with each passing night, the monsters that hunted him became more organized and dangerous, and that went for both groups. He could already see more of those monstrous cops wait for him in several directions that he could take._

_He will manage to flee from them, like he always did. But he wondered what would happen if their leader, the one whom they call the Blue Beast (Ao-Ju) appears._

_And something told him that this beast was not the top boss of this group of monsters. He felt that there was someone more menacing… and that this person was already looking for him._

* * *

The two  _policemen_  took Rihan to their  _station_  in a  _police car_. Due to its proximity to Ukiyoe Town, he passed this town several times in the past, but he never saw that police station before. As a matter of fact, what was now a small police station used to be an even smaller, vacant house.

He remembered that house and Ao-Ju's connection to it.

" _Are you sure that you want to live here?"_  Rihan asked Ao-Ju two weeks after they arrived from Nejireme.  _"I or Shiori could find you a better place to stay at."_

" _Yes I am, chief."_  Ao-Ju confirmed to him.  _"This place used to be a youkai hideout during the Bakumatsu Period, you know."_

" _Really?"_ Rihan never heard about that and he wondered why Ao-Ju cared.

" _When I used to be a boy, I liked stories about people and spirits who preserved order. And I was especially fond of one about a station where youkai cops of Bakumatsu period stayed and from where they fought the bad guys."_ Ao-Ju explained to Rihan.  _"Very few know about it, and I know only because of a picture book that was in my family for generations. After talking with Shiori-sama, I found out that this place used to be that station… until the Tales about it got virtually forgotten."_

" _And then they perished and this skeleton remains."_

" _That's right. Eventually, humans tried to turn it into a regular house, but everyone left because it was haunted. I guess the station fights to survive and does not want to become some unimportant house."_ Pride could be heard from Ao-Ju's words back then. _"You can call me sentimental, but I would like to live here."_

At that time, Rihan could feel small traces of Fear coming from that house. Now, Fear was sipping out in much higher quantities.  _It has turned back into a real youkai._

"After me, Commissioner." The female officer said.

_Please stop calling me that._  Rihan continued after her, even though he felt a bit nervous about entering a haunted police station. After all, he was son of the most dangerous yakuza kingpin in the youkai world. Still, the Station did not seem to mind his presence.

The station was fairly small so it did not take long for them to reach Ao-Ju's office. "Good to see you, chief!" Ao-Ju greeted him from his table, which was filled with newspapers and police reports, as well as a half-eaten hamburger.  _Is he imitating stereotypical cops from movies?_

"This is quite a nice place, Ao-Ju." Rihan sat in front of him, on a stool offered by one of the officers who brought him here. "And you have some nice new followers too. How come you never told me about it?"

"Ahh… you see, chief…" Ao-Ju scratched the back of his head. "Maybe I should just tell you the long story."

"How long is it?"

"Not very long, and I guess you already guessed some things." Ao-Ju put his hands back onto the table. "You remember what I told you about this station's past, right?"

"I remember some of it, yes."

"Well, ends up that this station feeds on the Fear of law-enforcers who call this place their home. And as my Fear grew, so did the Station's Fear grow." While speaking, Ao-Ju rose from his seat and walked to the window which was covered by blinds. "With each passing day, the house grew and more and more resembled a proper police station." He said and pushed some of the blinds away to look through the window.

_Would you please stop acting like a movie cop?_

"After three days, I woke up to find out that I had an office. A day later, I got my own water machine. Then even the toilet and electricity started working. Wish I got those first…" Ao-Ju sighed. "Then youkai who used to call this place home started re-appearing and following me around. It took a while for them to be able to speak properly however." Ao-Ju finally moved away from the window. "Then we got prison cells, police cars… and I guess we will get more stuff as our Fear grows."

A young male officer, who was with them in the office, spoke up. "This era is amazing! Much better than the Tokugawa times!" He spoke with a wide smile. "I hope we get a CSI office soon! DNA analysis, fingerprints, autopsies… man, this era is so beautiful! No villain will be able to flee from our grasp."

_Yeah, and I am sure my family will be happy about a bunch of youkai cops growing strong on their turf..._

"In any case…" Ao-Ju sat down again. "I hoped to show it to you after it grew some more. You know, to leave a better first impression."

"No, I think this is already good enough."

"No, don't say that chief! You deserve better!" Ao-Ju hit his own chest. "Your sister may have her little mafiosos, but you'll have a proper police organization serving you! Who knows, maybe we even arrest her one day!"

_I fear that would bring more trouble than good._  "It all looks very promising and Im proud of you. But, I doubt that this is why you called me here."

"Ah yes, you are right. I got a little nervous…" Ao-Ju started rummaging through the papers on the table. "Now where did I put that?"

"You should ask the station to give you something for archiving."

"No Station can save me from my own messiness. Ah, here it is!" Ao-Ju raised a yellow, thick envelope and handed it to Rihan. "Here it is, chief."

"Hm?" Rihan accepted the envelope and checked what was written on it. " _Reports on the Endless Thief_."

"He is quite an annoying guy." Ao-Ju crossed his arms. "I guess that you are hunting him on behalf of Shiori-sama?"

"More on behalf of one of her underlings." Rihan said and opened the envelope. "What about you guys? Why are you after him?"

"Well, it started with pickpocketing, burglary, bank robbery and being a royal pain in the ass…"

Rihan looked up at him. "Sounds more like a job for human cops. I mean, why bother with someone like him when there are more dangerous youkai out there?"

"The first report you should see lists the amount of money we predict he has stolen since his Tale became active."

Rihan looked down again. He raised a brow when he checked the overall number as well as the daily average.

"Indeed." Ao-Ju nodded as he noticed the look on Rihan's face. "But if it remained only at that, I would be telling you to not bother with him. However…"

"I saw the graffiti on the wall." Rihan moved his away from the report. "Did he start killing humans and stealing their hearts?"

"No, not exactly. The graffiti was metaphorical, I think." Ao-Ju shook his head. "Since a week ago, he upped his game and started stealing souls and memories of the humans. Men and women, elderly and children… everyone became a target at some point." Ao-Ju crossed his fingers and Rihan could see worry through the eye-holes of his mask. "But his  _favorites_  are girls below fourteen years of age." He said word  _favorites_  as if he was unsure about it.

"Sounds like he has some wretched tastes." He commented and returned to checking over the other reports.

"No, I don't think that's it. My officers, as well as I on one occasion, confirmed that they lost less than the others. It is as if he goes easy on them." Ao-Ju looked up at Rihan. "It is contradictory, don't you think?"

"But you sound you might know why." Rihan said and his eyes fell on something interesting. "Hm? He might be working with or for someone." Rihan looked up, thinking about the graffiti. "I think I saw something…"

"There is a photo of the graffiti in there."

"Oh?" Rihan rushed through the papers and found the photo. "He is giving his loot to some black hands…"

"It is his master, I think." Ao-Ju noted. "Judging by the graffiti and some of the tales we found on the Internet, he seems to exist for someone else."

"For whom?"

"We don't know. There are all kinds of tales on the Internet." Ao-Ju shrugged his shoulders. "Those reports contain some of the more popular ones. However, I am not sure how much it matters."

"Because whoever his master is, it does not change what they are." Rihan added. "Still, it might be good to know."

"Maybe."

"Hm?" Rihan's eyes noticed something interesting while he checked over a summary on Endless Thief's profile. "He does not kill?"

"That's right. Many times we, and even some youkai form your clan, engaged him. But he never fought back, only ran away."

"Then he must be damn good at running."

"Too good, and he is quite cunning. We tried all kinds of traps, but he avoided them all.. I fear it is near impossible to take him down like this."

"So what do you suggest?"

"Attack his master, of course." Ao-Ju sounded like he finally came to the interesting stuff.

"And I have a feeling that you know where to find them."

"Yes." Ao-Ju nodded. "He was cautious, but it is impossible to avoid being followed for so many weeks." Ao-Ju opened a map that sat on his table. On it, there were several red circles, most of which were one in another. "We never manage to follow him all the way to his hideout, but we were able to reduce the radius on where he might be hiding with each passing day." Ao-Ju's finger landed before a red x. "And this place looks like it would be it: a huge abandoned mansion, larger than your own."

"I see…"  _I know this place. Hm, it makes a perfect youkai lair, that's for sure._  "So? Did you raid the place?"

"I and my men went there three nights ago, but… when we got near it, two malignant, strong Fears enveloped the area. They threatened us and I did not dare to attack. I might have survived, but I am not sure about my men who still haven't recovered their Fear from ages long gone."

"Two Fears, huh? I guess the Endless Thief wanted to fight alongside whoever his master was." Rihan smirked and put down the envelope. "And you say that the Fears are strong?"

"I knew you would be excited about it." Somehow, Rihan knew that Ao-Ju smiled. "So? Shall you and I go then, chief?"

"Of course! Let us not leave Kaito waiting."

* * *

"…and then I return home to find out that my dad was not satisfied with the renaissance portrait. No, he commissioned a statue as well." Saaya complained while she and Ryuzan drove in a bus. "Seriously, who commissions statues of their friends?"

"Rich admirers I suppose."  _I want to meet her father. He sounds like a fun man._

"And the worst thing is, mom just lets it go whenever Nura-san is concerned. What good is pushing common sense onto dad when she ignores it on his lamest obsessions?"

Not knowing what would be a proper reply, Ryuzan just shrugged with his shoulders.

"I just can't have a normal life, can I?" Saaya sighed.

"Do you even desire a normal life?"

"I do." She answered without hesitation.

"Yet you're going with me to visit a potential youkai lair with an Onmyouji."  _Although I am not sure if we will even find anything there._

"I don't deny that I'm intrigued. But I'm intrigued by all mysteries, be they supernatural or human." She looked at him and smiled. "This is why I'm an amateurish journalist."

"You used to be the member of the Supernatural Investigation Club once."

"In past, while I was younger. Maybe I was more interested in such things in the past." She explained to him. "Well, interest was only part of it. Ritsura and Shima pulled me into it and I just went along with my childhood friends." She said, looking at him.

_Finally, a chance!_  "Hm, you and Ritsura sure do seem to have an interesting relationship."

Saaya put on an insulted expression and did not reply to his query.

"Is something wrong, Saaya-chan?"

"You are such a wretched man, Ryuzan-dono."

"…what?"

"You invite a girl onto a date and then interrogate her about another girl. Do you know how I'm feeling right now?"

"Wait, I-" He tried to apologize, but he was cut off when she hit the seat and pushed her face closer to him.

"You should take a girl's feelings into consideration! If you just stopped me and asked about Ritsura, I would feel better." She hit the seat again. "Come on, apologize. Even if it's not an actual date, you have to be considerate."

"Sure, I… wait a second." He calmed down. "That's an act.."  _And not even a good one. Ugh, I fell for bad acting..._

Her face softened and she smiled. "Ah damn, I'm not so good at this." She said and pulled back. "But I honestly was annoyed by you beating around the bush. You should have just come out and asked me about it, not have me try to find topics of conversation."

"How… did you guess what I wanted to ask you about?"

"I did not guess that. I'm not that smart you know." Saaya shrugged.

"So what did you guess?" He asked but she just shrugged. "Come on, tell me."

"You are even more interested in this than in me and Ritsura." She noted.

"Of course. I am a professional liar and manipulator." Ryuzan boasted. "If there are flaws, I must know about it."

"Hahaha! I like how you are honest about that. Sure, I'll tell you then." She winked. "First, I noticed that there was something you wanted to know. On how, it's experience: I kind of put my nose everywhere and many people in the school know about it. Now a question for you: what does that lead us to?"

"People asking you about stuff."

"Half-true. They never ask me outright because most know that I am not the kind of girl who would normally reveal other people's secrets, so they try to lead me to spit it out." Her eyes glanced away. "Took me a while to realize that though. In past, I caused trouble to some people because some guys managed to make me blabber too much."

"And you noticed such an attitude in me?"

"Yep." She smiled again. "You were passive, your eyes moved around all the time and you were asking simple questions."

"Hm, I'll need to work on that then…"

"So diligent… but in your defense, it was harder to notice than with others. With you, I only had doubts and actually thought I was imagining it. It was at the end where you failed. "

"How did I fail?"

"Because your pride got the better of you, I guess."

"My pride?"

"You may not realize it, but you're a proud man, Keikain-kun. I saw it at school as well: whenever a ploy of yours succeeds, you smile like a child."

"I did not smile now."

"Not openly you didn't." She pointed at his eyes with her finger. "But your eyes shone when I mentioned Ritsura."

Ryuzan realized what she meant. "Ah… I see. I guess I really am proud when I succeed." He sighed. "My damn old man put me through some harsh trials so when I succeed in something… well, I get too giddy I guess."

She smiled at that comment. "You do."

"But you sure do know a lot about body language. It's impressive."

"Not really." She shook her head. "As I mentioned, I got burnt by not being cautious. So I went onto the Internet and read some articles on body language. Body language can be really scary you know…"

"I know. Youkai lost their lives because of it." He winked. "But I must say… I didn't know that you were paying attention to my body even while at school."

"W-what?" This made her blush and pout. "You were just being too damn obvious. That's all." She crossed her arms and looked away.

"And now that I think about it…" In his quest to avenge his pride, Ryuzan continued to tease her. "Ritsura and Araya did note that you visited the club more often since I became a member."

"Uhh…" This made her cheeks even redder. "No, you misu… you know what? I won't even reply to this." She crossed her arms and her face regained its usual color. "Shouldn't we return to what you  _wanted_ to discuss? Did you actually forget about it?"

"As a matter of fact, I actually did." He smiled at her. "You can be an interesting person to talk to."

"Hm." She blushed again. "Where did we stop?"

"I wanted to ask about your and Ritsura's relationship." He answered, though part of him wanted to return to the earlier topic.  _Well, it is better not to push it._

"What about it?"

"It is strange. On one hand you pretend to be on bad terms, on other you are on good terms but between you too, there is a strange and cold distance."

"I'll answer one after another if you don't mind." She leaned against her seat. "I\m the only one who looks like I am on bad terms with her, she is overly friendly with me."

"Yeah, I guess I did not word it good."

"In any case, it's because our relationship in past was… very bad."

"What do you mean? And how long ago?"

"Look at him asking for details… in kindergarten if you really want to know." She pressed a finger against her forehead. "I don't really remember those days that well, but the two of us hated one another until we got into a fight. For some reason, she became overly friendly with me since then, but I needed some time to warm up to her. I guess I got used to how we behaved towards one another so we just continued with it."

"I feel like you are not telling me the entire story…"

"I am telling you my side." She shrugged. "I don't know why Ritsura got friendly toward me… actually, I don't know why she changed since then so I guess you would better ask her."

"She changed?"

"Maybe… maybe not. It was many years ago and I must have imagined it." She explained, still avoiding the issue. "All in all, we're friends now. If I was threatened, she would rush to help me and if she was in trouble, I would try to help her if I could."

"Yet you have this coldness between you."

"True, there is." She put her hands in front of her mouth. "Which is again my fault."

"What do you mean?"

"How should I say it… I wish I could forget about her and the youkai forever." She said something atrocious with a scarily natural tone of voice. "A strange thing for a friend to say, wouldn't you agree? It's more fitting for enemies."

"…did something happen between you two?"

"Not between us, just to us." For a slight moment, her eyes shook. But she then forced a smile onto her lips. "Yes, something happened… it is a long story and I am not in the mood to tell it to you."

_Whatever it is, she does not want to talk much about it._ "Maybe you could give me a short version?"

"I could, but it would confuse you."

"I will take the risk."

"Fine." She looked at him. "There was someone I held dear to me." She took a break and continued only after a short silence. "And she killed him."

"…what?"

"Don't get it wrong, I don't blame her." She looked through the window of the bus. "But I got tired of it all… after that."

"Saaya-chan, what-"

"Come on." She rose up from her seat and put her bag around her shoulder. "We are getting off on this station." And then she hastily walked away, making it clear that she did not want to talk about it anymore.

_Looks like this is more complicated than I anticipated._ Ryuzan rose up and followed after her, wondering how he would make her tell her more.

* * *

"Rihan… ah sorry, Kokuhan-sama…" Ishikawa Kaito mused while sitting in front of a large table and playing with a pencil. "Getting him to go to the old Kiyotsugu manor was the easiest for obvious reasons."

He looked at Shiori who sat at the head of the table, looking at him with her red eyes. "Yet they're not the only ones." She noted.

"How did you get the Kiyotsugu girl to go there?" Kirie, who was also with them, asked him.

"It was a gamble." He shrugged. "Today is the anniversary when her dear friend got killed. She often comes to the mansion, but fears going into it. She fears bad memories coming to her, you see."

"And what would you have done if she did not go there?"

"I would have made  _IT_  and the Endless Thief kidnap her and bring her there. Fortunately, we were able to avoid the Damsel cliché." He shrugged. "But I still have to make my prime pieces go there. I managed to make them ally with one another by using myself as bait and now I have to hope that they catch the clues I left for them."

"The prime pieces…" Shiori spoke up again. "You are talking about Ritsura and that Onmyouji girl who started causing trouble in Ukiyoe?" When Kaito nodded, she continued. "You seem quite interested in that Onmyouji girl's and Ritsura's rivalry. Why is that?"

"Come on, Shiori-sama." Kaito smiled. "Do you really want me to give you spoilers?" He crossed his arms. "What is important is seeing how our dear heroes will deal with the monster hiding in the mansion… and, more importantly, what dark desires it brings out of them."

* * *

" _I was not followed this time." The Endless Thief said while gazing through a window. "I don't like this."_

_She softly roared behind him._

" _No, it does not mean that they have given up. It only means that they know where I was going so there was no longer a need to bother following me."_

_She released another inhuman sound._

" _Yes… I will protect you, even if I have to kill. This time… Yes, this time I shall protect you."_

_He turned around and stretched his arm. A small heap of jewels that he stole this day appeared on palm of his hand. He threw it in her direction. He did not hear the sounds of jewels falling onto the floor. Instead, the sound he heard was that of something falling into a thick liquid._

" _Thank you… Onii-chan." She spoke the only words she knew and then roared._

" _So you still want to go out, huh?" He sighed._

_Up until now, he managed to force her to stay here. But he could feel her hunger and knew that what he brought to her was not enough anymore. He knew that the next time he left the lair, she would leave as well._

" _Yes… once I deal with them, I guess I could take you on a walk."_

_He honestly felt sorry for those she would feed on. But, she is his little sister and her well-being takes priority to the well-being of strangers.  
_

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And another chapter is over. It is a bit boring, but that's what you get with build-up chapters

\- Yeah, I put an omake at the start of the chapter. Hopefully, people who missed the fact that there is a new poll will now be aware of it ;P

\- It was a long while since Heiko's sisters were mentioned, wasn't it? (for those interested, some of Heiko's background was revealed in chapter 24)

\- Kaito's Tale is starting to be revealed, as are the main characters in it. Three pairs of characters are now going to the same location, all while a Shounen Villain Brigade stares at them from sidelines

\- Two new original Urban Legends have been introduced, ready to clash

\- Ao-Ju, the most popular secondary character of this fic, now has a police station and lackeys! Maybe this is because you guys fed him a lot of Fear during the last poll?

\- The drama between Ritsura and Saaya slowly unveils...


	74. The Thief's Lair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryuzan and Saaya go to investigate a youkai, without knowing the dangers that awaits them. Rihan and Ao-Ju go to the same place and destiny is bound to bring Ritsura and Ryoko there as well

**What came before:** _Ryuzan and Saaya go to investigate a youkai, without knowing the dangers that awaits them. Rihan and Ao-Ju go to the same place and destiny is bound to bring Ritsura and Ryoko there as well_

* * *

**Chapter 74 – The Thief's Lair**

_This is a story that happened not such a long time ago._

_Also, it isn't really the kind of story that wasn't heard before. But I, Ishikawa Kaito, am the father of the Endless Thief. And I guess it is my responsibility to tell this boring, boring story that gave birth to something dull yet something that caught on with the mindless masses._

_Japan is a nice place, as we all know. Sure, it has its faults but at the end of the day, your life will be good. Even if the worst happens, social services will help you. It is such a nice place that it is outright boring. Maybe that's why we have so many NEETs?_

_But thankfully, some people are such wretched creatures that they willingly make their own lives, and the lives around them, painful._

_One such person is a failure of a man. In past, he was your typical, boring geek. He got the highest grades in Elementary, Middle and high School. He finished the College as one of its best students. He even won some international rewards._

_He was so damn good and smart that immediately after graduating from the college he started his own business. The business bloomed and for several years he enjoyed many a luxury in life. He even found himself a good wife, with a boringly nice personality and without faults. She gave him two equally boring children, a son and a daughter._

_And then it got fun! You see, the business started going bad. For two years he tried to save the business, but not only did he fail but all of his decisions just made it worse. In the end, all he gained was a life in poverty and a life in a small, dirty house._

_And then his lovely wife got hit by a car. As a cream on top, they never found who hit her. The driver was lucky that it was nighttime so nobody saw his car registrations._

_And so our great hero lost his business, his wife, his self-confidence and even what was left of his good nature. And what do you do in that case? Why, resort to alcoholism of course! Sometimes slap, punch and kick your remaining children. After all, who could stand those whining off-springs eh?_

_Yet it could have been avoided. A proper, humble person would ask the social services for help. It wouldn't make you a rich person, but you and your kids at least get some kind of a proper life. But no, he was a proud person. He hung his diplomas, certificates and awards on the wall, worshiping them as if they were his gods and only loves. A man like him needs no charity._

_But alas, I am losing myself here. This man is not the main character of this tale, but just a mere plot device for the actual main characters: his son and daughter, whom we mentioned before._

_So let me get to them and leave this failure of a side character behind…  
_

* * *

"This place is… huge." Ryuzan passed this place several times and always felt awkward around it. It reminded him a bit of the Nura Clan's walled mansion, but this one was a bit larger and built in western style. It was now obviously abandoned, giving the place an eerie feeling at night. "How did you guys even manage to build this thing in Tokyo?"

"We never built it in  _Tokyo_." Saaya started explaining. "It was built at the very start of the Edo Period by the first member of the Kiyoemon family, who was granted this luxury by Tokugawa Ieyasu himself, if our family chronicles are to be believed. Back then it was far away from Edo, but of course became part of that city as it grew."

"But this doesn't look like an Edo Period mansion."

"That's because it got destroyed by fire during the World War 2 and only got restored several years after the war." She then sighed. "And just like the rest of my family, my honored ancestor was a fan of epic proportions. In his case, his love was for western architecture and so he decided that he wanted a fancy western mansion."

"But… this large?"

"Oh sorry, I lied. He wanted a castle." Saaya shook her head. "He argued with the local government for months and only got the right to rebuild it in full size. But no castles, they said. And thank the gods for it…"

"But still… all this for one family?"

"Well, there were also cousins and all that." Saaya shrugged. "But by the time Dad became the family head, everyone found a home somewhere else. After that, there really was no reason to hold such a large place and Dad had sold it to the city." Saaya put her hands on her hips. "The local authorities are still considering what to do with it, but most likely it will be demolished in order to make place for more useful structures. Homes like these don't fit modern Tokyo, after all." She then turned her gaze at him. "But until then, some young youkai branded this place as their home."

"And your family did not hire an exorcist to cleanse it? Or why haven't they just asked the Nuras to sort the place out?"

"My Dad would never do that. Several times he even went here to interview the denizens of this place." She then turned her gaze back at the mansion. "And yes, sometimes that puts his life on the line. Thankfully, he is always smart enough to bring some aid." And then she went towards the mansion.

"His actions kind of remind me of yours right now, Saaya-chan."

"No comment."

_Like father, like daughter._ Ryuzan sighed and went after her, hoping that nothing too terrible was staying inside.

* * *

"Onii-chan…" She started, but her big brother already knew what was going on.

"Yes, I can feel it too. Someone has arrived." Her brother rose from his seat and looked at her. "You stay here for now. If something happens, call me."

"Yes, Onii-chan~" She said even though she lacked a mouth and tongue. She was a monster, but it was not that bad as her brother had become one as well.

She starred as he slowly left the room, leaving her alone once again.

"You can't do this alone, Onii-chan." She mumbled to herself and let her power envelop the area around the pretty mansion. "If more come, you will be in danger." The youkai who used to live here called that power ' _Fear'_ , but she felt more like that power was her arms and legs.

And it was her mouth as well, for she used it to feed upon the humans and monsters. "Time to help Onii-chan and feed while I am at it! Hihihi!"

* * *

A cashier was browsing through the money that was collected on this day. He looked at the manager who was bleeding beside him, but he then moved his gaze away. Even if he gets arrested the day after, at least for this night he would enjoy his life, just like the other people did.

_A woman was driving a car when she noticed another woman in blue walking. She remembered that her first love, whom she still did not forget and still loved dearly, was stolen by a girl in blue T-shirt. As always, she thought about driving her car into her and this time the desire was stronger than ever before. And then she realized that her thoughts were rotten and promised herself to save herself._

A middle-aged drunk walked past a jewelry store. His eyes fell on the jewelry inside and the owner preparing to close the shop, his back turned to the exit. Many times did the drunk wonder about using this opportunity, but always gave up because he feared ending in the jail again. But this time, his envy took the better of him so he went inside, hit the owner on the head and went to make himself rich.

_A high school girl walked behind a large western mansion with a smirk on her face. She just took care to get her friend into trouble, a proper punishment for a nerd. But her envious satisfaction grew stronger and stronger, until she felt like she was a monster. That realization made room for guilt so she took out her cellphone and decided to fix the things, even if it meant that a great punishment awaited her._

Two men walked near a creepy mansion. They were going back from work together. Suddenly, one of them remembered that his colleague got a raise in his wages while he did not. He grabbed a pencil from his pocket and prepared to stab it into the other man's shoulder.

But then something hit him in the back and he fell unconscious.

The other man looked down. He did not know what happened, but his mind was filled with the thoughts about how much smarter this man was in comparison to him. So he raised his foot, hoping to crush his skull.

Then something hit him as well, and he lost consciousness.

" _Who is ruining my dinner?! I must help my Onii-chan, you bozos!"  
_

* * *

"Both of them, huh?" Ao-Ju lowered his pistols. "And both of them look like office workers to boot. They always seem to have the most darkness in their hearts." Ao-Ju looked towards Rihan. "The humans should really work on improving the quality of work for the office workers."

Rihan raised a brow. "You don't seem too surprised about all this." He could feel a presence of Fear around them. It was nothing special for youkai of their caliber, but was enough to affect the humans.

"I read about this in reports. Some of my officers stumbled upon this very same Fear." Ao-Ju gunned down another human in the distance, an old man who was running with a bag of jewelry. "Close to this area, an unknown Fear was affecting the humans. Some became so envious that they committed all kinds of crimes, while the others somehow ended up becoming better people. As usual, more people became criminals."

"The Fear is coming from the mansion." Rihan noted. "Is this the work of the Endless Thief?"

"I don't think so." Ao-Ju said and pulled his trigger at someone while the two of them walked. "The Endless Thief is… well, a thief. I take it that this is the Master that we talked about. If only we noticed the connection between this Fear and the Endless Thief…"

"What more can you tell me about this Fear?"

"It affects the humans in certain ways, similar to what happened in my hometown. But unlike the events there, not everyone turns crazy. That's all we know."

"There must be some kind of pattern here. Think."

"Hmmm… a pattern you say… ah yes! Judging by the humans my cops interviewed, the key word here would be depression… or maybe hate… no, envy! Yes, I'd say that envy is the keyword here."

"Hmmm…" Rihan scratched his chin. "Envy huh? Maybe the Endless Thief steals to satisfy this person's envy?"

"In that case, maybe the Master is a little girl. That would explain why he often stole memories from young girls."

"I agree with that theory." Rihan nodded. "Well, you keep this neighborhood in peace." Rihan then turned towards the mansion. "I will go inside and face the Endless Thief and his Master."

"Alone? Are you sure, Chief?"

"Yeah, I am. You do what you do best: keep order. And I'll do what I do best."

"In that case, can I ask a favor?"

"What favor?"

"This Fear seems to be spreading. I hate to say this, but maybe we should ask your clan for help for I doubt that I could protect the entire area."

"You're right." Rihan took out his cellphone. "I will send a mail to my sister. Oh, I got a mail?"

Rihan's eyes shrunk when he saw that it was from Kaito. And when he opened it, he sighed.

" _Could you please ask your sister to come here?"_

"Just what the heck are you plotting, Kaito…?"

* * *

_So as I said before, we have a brother and a sister, whose lives their father saved from being dull._

_The sister was a mere child. She was seven years of age I think. She wasn't the best student, so her father pulled her out of school. Said she was worthless and should not embarrass his good name or something. Indeed, he was a very lovable guy._

_Her brother was about ten years older. He went to school from time to time, but generally lived the life of a petty thief. He would steal wallets in public trains, toys from stores, school books from other kids, and so on. All those, he would bring to his baby sister. He did not know any other way to make her smile. Well, he would also talk to her about the other people's lives, mainly because they did not even have a TV._

_And the only thing that could make him smile was his little sister's smile. But let's be honest: with such a sorry life, you didn't really have many other reasons to smile._

_Then one day he returned home, holding a bag of some children's magazines and some dolls. But he did not find her in her room. No, he found her in the living room, lying on the floor while their father was walking around and sweating._

_She was bothering him about something half an hour ago, he said. Wanted to go out or asked for food, the boy did not even remember. But those were the usual reasons why she complained and why he beat her up._

_But this time his clap was fatal. He somehow managed to hit her so hard that he broke her neck. And now he wondered where to hide the body._

_But once his own son stabbed the knife right into the back of his neck, hiding his daughter's body was the last thing on his mind. Well, not that many things would be on his mind after that…_

* * *

"This place is eerie." said the boy.

"As an Onmyouji, shouldn't you have gotten used to this long ago?" Saaya wondered while the two of them slowly walked through the derelict mansion.

"That's exactly why I think that this place is eerie." Ryuzan mentioned while carefully looking around.

"Why so?"

"There are no youkai around." He explained. "Abandoned places like these  _always_  attract youkai. A place of this size would become a lair to many of them."

"Yet, there are none."

"True." Ryuzan opened one of the doors and looked inside. "Yet I can feel the presence of a strong Fear so at least one youkai should be around here."

"And you believe that this youkai kills whoever else tries to make a home in this place?"

"Exactly." Not finding anything in the room, Ryuzan closed the door. "But if he is such a strong youkai to regularly kill any intruders, why didn't he make some of the lesser youkai into his underlings?"

"Hmmm…" Saaya tilted her head. "Correct me if I am wrong, but aren't Urban Legends less social than the older youkai?"

"Tz." Ryuzan clicked his tongue. "You're right. I keep forgetting that this is not Kyoto." By their nature, Urban Legends were uninterested in cooperating with other youkai, or more precisely they were incapable of it. There were several exceptions of course, but most of their organizations were held together by the likes of Ishikawa Kaito and Sanmoto Shiori.

"Since you seem to be forgetful, may I recommend that you summon a Shikigami? You know, just to be on the safe side."

"Usually, I delay summoning them so that the enemy would not know what kind of Shikigami I have." Ryuzan sighed but then raised his hands. "But I have to keep you safe so you're right."

"Oh!" As he started his summoning procedure, Saaya jumped in front of him, her camera ready for action. She clicked the camera when the kanji on his yang glove shone and she clicked several times again after the Tiger was summoned. "Yes, this is good…"

_Did I just fall into her trap?_

"Come on." Saaya tilted her head. "Let's check the upper floors."

"Don't even think about going first." Ryuzan hastened his pace so he could walk in front of Saaya. "It wouldn't be fun for you if a youkai attacked the first person who appeared in front of it."

"It would also not be fun if I got snatched while your back are turned at me."

"They'd need to get past my Shikigami first." He used his thumb to point behind him. "The enemy would need to be at least on Nura Rikuo's level to silently dispose of this Shikigami." He explained while the three of them walked up a staircase.

"That Shikigami is so strong?"

"He is just tough and perceptive. If someone tries to get to you from behind, I will be able to react."

"I see… oh, let us take the left way."

"Fine." Ryuzan followed the route she pointed out. "Be careful Saaya-chan, they're close." He could feel the chill which humans always felt just before being attacked.

"I know… I can feel it too."

They reached a large door. "What is behind this, Saaya-chan?"

"A large hall."

"That means that there will be a lot of space to move around." Ryuzan commented, not sure if it was good or bad for him. Depending on what kind of enemy he faced, a hallway would be more advantageous for him than a hall.

Using his right leg, he kicked the door open and he entered the large hall.

"Saaya-chan, you stay behind." It was dangerous for her to be here, but he was unable to leave her anywhere else.  _I should have asked Ryoko or Ritsura to go with us. It'll be hard to deal with an enemy and protect a regular human, all at the same time._

"Alright." She said from behind him.

_I can feel Fear in this place._ "He is here." He said to her, thus warning her that this place was not as empty as it looked.

_The next in line for my summoning was the Rabbit. Unless the enemy tried corrupting my mind or was someone with a kind personality that I could talk with, this Shikigami will be useless._

Since he could not see the enemy, Ryuzan closed his eyes and focused on his other senses. Thinking that he heard something from his left, he opened his eyes, turned in that direction and put his hands together, creating a barrier.

It was the right call, for someone struck right into the barrier. Thanks to the light that shone through the windows, Ryuzan could see that the enemy was dressed in some ragged, brown clothes but not his face. Ryuzan could also see his arm, which was black and radiated an unnatural energy.  _You don't need to be an Onmyouji to realize that this arm is bad news._

The attacked jumped backwards and ran away, almost making no sound.

_Damn, it's someone agile._  Ryuzan slowly started walking backwards, to the hallway.  _If I could lure him into a narrow place, I would be at an advantage._

"ROAARRRR!" He could head the Tiger from behind.

"Kyaah!" He could also her Saaya screaming.

"Saaya-chan!" He turned around, but saw that both were still fine and that the enemy was running in another direction.

"I'm fine, Keikain-kun." Saaya assured him.

_So he tried to get to her… and was unable to beat my Shikigami._  This allowed him to make a better estimation of the enemy's strength.  _I'm still unsure what that arm does, but obviously it's not enough to beat my Shikigami. But I am weaker than the Tiger so that isn't much of an assurance…_

The enemy must have thought that as well for he did not go towards Saaya and the Tiger again. Instead, he circled around Ryuzan, moving as if he were floating. Ryuzan tried following him with his eyes, but was aware that he could not turn with the appropriate speed.  _He would most likely try to attack my back, as that's where I am most vulnerable. But that's also where I am expecting him, so he could try attacking me from left or right just to surprise me._  Anxious, Ryuzan started sweating.

The black-armed youkai ran to his left, going for surprise rather than taking the obvious route. Ryuzan put his hands together to block his attack with a barrier, but the youkai jumped up and tried striking Ryuzan's back with his right arm. But Ryuzan reflexively moved forward, thus avoiding the contact.  _This guy's tricky._

Ryuzan turned towards at the enemy, who now just stood in the place.

"You are not a monster." The youkai spoke. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"I am a professional youkai exterminator." Ryuzan smirked. "What about you, mister?"

"I'm a mere thief." The Fear started sipping from the youkai and he rushed forward. "Well, it was only a matter of time until humans came after me!"

Ryuzan blocked his attack but the youkai let it be and continued running. He ran at the wall, using it to jump up towards a chandelier.

Ryuzan turned upwards, ready to defend. The youkai stretched the palm of his hand and several gold bars appeared between him and Ryuzan, falling at the young Onmyouji. Since his barrier could only protect from youkai attacks, Ryuzan was forced to jump away.

But the youkai was faster and before Ryuzan could even turn at his enemy, the youkai stabbed his arm into Ryuzan.

"Keikain-kun!" He could hear Saaya screaming. And from the corner of his eye, he could see his Shikigami running to Ryuzan's aid.

"Ah." Ryuzan did not feel any physical pain, but his head hurt.

"I believe that she would enjoy your knowledge of Onmyodo." And after saying those words, the youkai pulled his arm away.

Ryuzan tried thinking about what to do next… and then he realized that all the knowledge of Onmyodo that he collected throughout his life was gone.

And then came a kick to his guts.

* * *

After all the praises that she heard from Ritsura, Saaya forgot one little, but important, thing: even the strongest man in the world can be defeated, let alone a young Onmyouji like Ryuzan.

Her eyes were wide open as she gazed Ryuzan and the youkai who was kicking him in the guts. The Tiger, who had moved to protect his conjurer, had disappeared in front of Saaya's eyes.

_Oh no… I am done for._  Saaya gulped while thinking about what this dangerous youkai would do to her.  _What should I do… run away? I couldn't outrun that thing if I was the world champion in athletics!_

_What else… what would Dad do? No, I don't think that fanboying and interviewing would get me anywhere, Dad!_

_I won't even try thinking about what Ritsura would do._

_Yes, I need a human… a human… what would Ryuzan do? Uhm, I am not able to use Onmyodo… oh wait!_

She took in a deep, deep breath. As far as Saaya was concerned, it was an outright stupid plan. But since she had no better choice or time to make up something better, she had to go with it.

She moved her foot inside and hit the floor as hard as she could. "Ha! You did well, youkai!" She exclaimed, crossing her arms in the process.

"What?" One of them asked, or maybe both.

"My apprentice fought well but, alas, he was arrogant." She started walking in hopes that this way it would be harder to notice that her knees were shaking. "It was about time that someone taught him humility."

"Who are you guys?" The youkai raised his black arm. It was clear that he prepared to strike at her.

"Don't be hasty." She raised her palm. "We don't want something bad to happen to… you know."  _What was his name again?_

"You… you know about  _her_?" He took a step backwards.

_About whom?_  "Yes, of course we do." Saaya looked away as keeping her face cool and composed in this situation was a painful exercise. "As a matter of fact, my best apprentices are going after  _her_." _Whoever she is._

"You bastards!" Saaya jumped up when he shouted. "You cowards!" But he was looking around, not at her, so he did not notice.

"I would not recommend you to strike at me." Saaya took out visit card from her pocket and held it like an Onmyouji. "A fight against me will take quite a while… too much if you see to save your precious…"  _…someone._  "But we can compromise."

"What?"

"As stupid as my apprentice is, I don't want him harmed. He is full of potential you see. So if you let him go… and redo whatever you have done to him… I will let you go."

For a while, he just stared at her. Saaya felt like she was about to burst from the tension.  _He is going to beat me up! He will notice that all this is just a bluff!_

"You promise?" He finally asked.

"Yes." She said immediately.  _Yes! Yes, whatever! Just leave, please!_

"Fine!" The youkai put his arm in front of him and some white flames rose out and went towards Ryuzan. The youkai did not waste time and immediately ran away, gazing at the two of them in order to make sure that they did not break the promise.

When he was gone, Saaya fell onto her knees. "I… can't believe this…"

"That was some damn fine lying Saaya-chan." Ryuzan rose up, holding himself onto his guts. He moved one of his hands and looked at it, and then smiled. "Reminds me of just how pretty that art is."

"Please let us leave before he returns."

"As you say… Master."

"Shut up." She hit her face with her hands. "I don't want to go through that ever again!"

"You are right." Ryuzan offered her his hand. "This guy is dangerous. It will be for the best if I take you to safety and-"

Without any forewarning, just before Saaya was to take his hand, something large crushed through the window.

Saaya recognized what it was… or, more precisely, who it was.  _Is that… the Nura clan's youkai carriage?_

"Kyaaah!" And then three girls fell out of it screaming.

"Kyaaah!" Saaya was taken aback so she jumped up and screamed as well. "Ritsura? Heiko-chan? And…"  _Who is this third girl?_

"Ryoko…" Ryuzan said in tone of a man who had given up on life.

"Ouch, ouch…" Ryoko was the first to rise onto her feet. "Oh, Ryuzan…"

"Fancy meeting you here! And just what are you doing in this place?" Ritsura was the next to rise up. Her eyes then fell onto Saaya. "Immoral activities."

"No." Saaya said in a cold tone and shook her head.

"Ryu!" Ryoko looked at him.

"What now?"

"You should have sent me a mail! I would have delayed the Yuk-"

"No! Don't get the wrong ideas here!" Ryuzan put his hand on his forehead.

"Ryuz-" Ritsura started, but Ryuzan cut in.

"Both of you, shut up until I tell you to talk!" He said in such a loud tone that Saaya feared about the youkai from before returning. The Yuki-Onna and the shrine maiden opened their mouths to talk, but then closed them. "Heiko-chan." Ryuzan looked at the third girl, who was lying with her face on the floor.

"Heiko-chan's had enough…" She spoke in third person.

"There is a dangerous youkai here. Please take Saaya-chan to safety."

"Oh!" Somehow, that invigorated the Kage-Onna. "Are you telling me that I can leave the company of these two?" She asked while sitting on her knees and while pointing at each girl with thumbs on her hands. The two girls behind looked angry, but they remained silent.

"Yes, I am. Please hurry." Ryuzan looked back at Saaya. "I'll check on you later, just to see if you're cursed or not."

"Why would I be cursed?"

"I'm feeling another youkai's Fear around this place. So I'll-"

"No!" Ritsura broke her vow of silence. "No, you won't! I know how you do your exorcising! The Onmyouji-musume will do that, not you!" Ritsura shouted, her face completely red.

Saaya did not fail to notice that Ritsura's reaction made Ryuzan smile, but soon after he put on a facade.

"Fine. Ryo will do it." He acted disgruntled. "Heiko-chan, would you please? Time is of essence."

"Yes!" Heiko ran to Saaya and took her hand. "Come on, Saaya-chan."

"Alright!" Saaya nodded and looked behind while leaving. "You guys be careful, alright?"

The ones who remained behind nodded.

* * *

Saaya barely left the room when Ryuzan grinned and looked towards Ritsura. "Are you jealous, Ritsura-chan?"

"No, I'm just… A man shouldn't do that kind of exorcism to a woman."

"Nope, you are definitely jealous~" This time the accusation came from Ryoko. "You don't want him to touch another woman's body but yours~" She spoke while hiding her mouth with her hand.

"Gyaaah! I'll freeze you both if you don't shut up!" Ritsura hit the floor with her foot.

"Can I please leave before you start freezing, Ojou-sama?" The youkai carriage, who remained silent all this time, asked Ritsura.

"Yeah you can. But-"

"Farewell Ojou-sama! Good luck!" The Youkai Carriage turned around and flew away as fast as it could.

Naturally, Ryuzan noticed that strange behavior. "First Heiko-chan, and now him… just what the heck did the two of you do?"

""We just can't get along."" The two girls said at the same time.

"Hey, stop stealing my one-liners, Onmyouji-musume!" Ritsura roared at the Onmyouji girl.

"It was an accident. Please calm down, Ritsura-chan." Ryoko waved her hand. "But more importantly, what happened here?" Ryoko looked at Ryuzan. "You looked like you fought a kickboxer."

"I got kicked alright. The youkai I fought against was no joke." Ryuzan shrugged. "But I'm still not done asking questions. Why are you two together?"

"What a stupid question, Ryu." Ryoko put her hands on her hips. "This is no time for petty squabbles. We have to find Ishikawa Kaito and beat him to a notch."

"Wait… does Ishikawa Kaito have something to do with this place?"

"We aren't sure yet." Ritsura shrugged her shoulders. "Rihan called me and said that something dangerous was going on here."

"Rihan is here?"

"You did not meet?" Ritsura tilted her head. "Wait, why were you and Saaya in this place?"

"She asked me to clean the mansion from youkai." Ryuzan shrugged. "I did not expect anything on a such high level though…"

"What happened?" Ryoko asked him. "Whom did you fight?"

"I don't know. It's some guy with a strange, black arm. When it struck me, he stole all my memories about Onmyodo."

"What?" Both of the girls were surprised. "Does that mean that you-"

"No, I am fine. A little bit of bluffing and he returned it to me." Ryuzan looked into the darkness in the mansion. "I won't go into details, but he's thinking that someone is attacking someone in this place."

_A youkai with a black arm…_ "This youkai… what else can you tell me about him?"

"Well, he's quick and… he somehow managed to make a lot of gold bars appear from inside his arm."

Ritsura clicked her tongue. "The Endless Thief. So this is where he was hiding… Yes, this is, without doubt, one of Hyaku Monogatari's creations. "

It was clear that Ryoko and Ryuzan wanted to ask Ritsura some questions, but time for talking was over.

" _You know Onii-chan?"_ A spooky, childish voice spoke from above them. _"That's no good… No good… NO GOOD!"_

The trio looked up and they saw a thick, black mist with a pair of small, red eyes in middle of it.

" _NOBODY TOUCHES MY ONII-CHAN! DO YOU HEAR ME?!"_

And, before any of them could react, the menacing youkai descended upon them.

* * *

_So what happened to the boy after he killed his father and avenged his little sister? Did his story end? No, it just began!_

_He burned his house down, with bodies of his father and sister still inside. It was the best funeral he could give, for he was now a murderer. He took a few things from the house before he burnt it, most importantly the framed photo of his sister._

_He wandered around, without a proper aim and only stopping to eat something. He did not know what to do with his life, until he met me. I suggested that since he can't live in the present and has no future, he should live in the past. And that's what he did._

_Soon, his life returned to its old self. He stole from others and brought it to whatever place he called home at the moment. He put the things he stole down under his sister's photo and talked to her about people he met and saw. At nights, he also screamed at his father, just like in the old days._

_Basically, my advice turned him insane. In yet other words, I saved him._

_Yet even I did not expect what came after: his constant whining for his sister and his sacrifices brought her soul back to the world of the living. I wonder what his reaction was when he found the thick blackness that his sister had been turned into._

_Whatever it was, it motivated him. He stole more and more, and got bolder and bolder. He even forgot to feed, so at some point he died… but both his soul and body continued hanging to this world and he became able to do things nobody else could._

_He would go and become an Urban Legend, whose tales were told across Japan. Even the police bought it, naively believing that the young thief whom they once knew was not the same person as the Endless Thief._

_And then he would meet the mysterious swordsman Kokuhan, the youkai who sought to rule the darkness of the modern world, and this tale came to an end._

_I wonder what kind of end it will be…  
_

* * *

She was not there.

His sister was not in the room where he left her.

_Those damn Onmyouji!_  The Endless Thief frantically looked around for a trace of where his sister might have been taken.  _Where did they take her? Wait. Don't tell me that they've… that they've…_

As he thought about the worst, his eyes gazed out of the window. What he saw were several humans lying and sitting on the ground.  _No, she's fine._

He clicked his tongue in annoyance, for his sister had gone somewhere without him knowing.  _But then where're the other Onmyouji?_ And then he punched the wall.  _I've been had! Now that I think about it, that girl didn't demonstrate any kind of power._  The fear of losing  _her_  made him so worried that not only did he leave the Onmyouji and that girl behind, but he even gave the Onmyouji his power back.

He turned around and started running. He had to eliminate those two as soon as possible, lest they alerted others about him. He could take care of that boy again, but he was not as sure about being able to take down a dozen of those like him.

And then his face hit into something in the empty hallway.  _What… was that?_  In front of him stood a boy in black-white tracksuit, with black hair that defied gravity.  _Where did he come from? He wasn't standing there a moment ago!_

The Endless Thief decided to attack, but hesitated when he saw that the boy had a sword in his hands. The boy looked at him with golden eyes and a menacing smirk on his face. He turned the sword in his hand and went to strike at the Endless Thief with the sword's hilt.  _This boy… I can feel that he is… strong!_  Too awed to move, the Endless Thief was struck into his abdomen and thrown away.

"You seem to be in a hurry." The boy spoke. "If it's about your… hm, I think she called you Onii-chan so it would be your sister, right? Well, she had gone to fight some of my… acquaintances in the main hall."

Having been reminded of his sister and the fact that she was in danger rewrote Endless Thief's awe with murderous resolve. "Move away." He threatened the boy.

"So now you're riled up? You're ready to save your little sister, I suppose?" The boy's smile widened. "Good." He stretched his hand and invited him with his fingers. "Come here, Thief."

* * *

Heiko had led Saaya to a taxi and was now on her way back to the mansion.

But just as her eyes fell on the mansion, she started feeling cold all over her body. A strong Fear was filling the place, to the point that it was getting suffocating.

_What is going on here?_  She gulped. This Fear felt familiar, for she had felt it just a while ago. It filled the mansion and its surroundings, but other than making some humans lose their temper, it did nothing. For a youkai, it was harmless.

But it was harmless no more. By now, it had become terrifying.

"Heiko-chan, is that you?" She heard a man's voice.

She turned in the voice's direction. "Ao-Ju?" She recognized the youkai as an acquaintance of her master's brother. "What're you doing here?"

"I'm preparing for a fight." The masked policeman ran to her. "The one who released this Fear is still within that mansion. But… I've a bad feeling that I will soon need my guns."

"What do you know about this Fear?"

"I know that it's coming from that mansion, but I already told you that." He looked around, as if searching or an enemy. "Originally, it made the humans feel great envy and the Chief told me to stay here and keep the humans in line."

"Chief?"

"I'm talking about Rihan-sama."

"Ah yes, right."

"Anyway…" Seemingly, he had more to talk about. "The effects of the Fear changed a while ago."

"What do you mean?"

"Come with me." He took her into his hands and jumped up before she could complain. Soon, they were on top of a building's roof. "Look down there." He let her down and pointed at a human in the distance.

The human walked slowly, his hands hanging and swinging as he walked and he was not even standing straight. Then he stopped and soon after, fell onto his knees, gazing down at the ground.

"What happened to him?" Heiko then looked around and saw that there were several more humans around them. And all of them were either on their knees or lying on the floor, walking just like that man did a while ago or had just gotten into the area of the Fear's effect and started suffering the same effects. "What is happening to them?"

"It looks like the youkai responsible for this changed the way they use their Fear." Ao-Ju explained. "They're no longer making the humans envious. Now, they were robbing humans."

"Robbing them of what?"

"Of their… spirits I suppose? The humans are losing their ambitions and confidence."

"So it's feeding on their souls?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Then we should go to the mansion and-"

"No. Let our Masters deal with them." Ao-Ju looked around, once again looking for a non-existent enemy. "It is just an instinct but… I think we will be needed here."

"Bu-" Heiko opened her mouth to complain, but Ao-Ju's body stiffened and he raised his palm, telling her to stop.

"Do you hear it?"

"Hear what?" Heiko wondered, but then she heard it… the voice of a little girl.

" _I am so hungry… so needy."_

" _I want everything. They have everything."_

" _I take. Yes, I take."_

" _Mine. Mine. Mine! Mine. Everything is mine."_

" _Give it to me."_

" _Give it to me!"_

" _Rise up!"_

" _Give yourself to envy! Give yourself to me!"_

" _Rise up and bring me more!"_

" _More!"_

" _More!"_

" _More!"_

"Heiko-chan, we might need your shadows." Ao-Ju said while the two of them looked down.

"I know." She said and gulped.

Dark fiery creatures were coming out of the mouths of affected humans. They had red eyes, a bald head, arms and a torso… and were completely black.

They immediately started flying around, attacking any humans they could see. Ao-Ju and Heiko watched as they entered the human bodies and left them with another one of them.

And the two youkai jumped down to take care of the infection before it spread further.

 

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- Kaito's story here is not fully original but is based on a story of one of characters from the  _Kira Kira_ Visual Novel. But that only goes for the father, not the kids. And, just in this guy's defense, the bad dad from  _Kira Kira_  was much worse

\- In the Anime adaptation, Kiyotsugu mentioned that his manor was larger than Rikuo's. That was the inspiration for the setting of this chapter

\- At this point, I wonder if any youkai can beat Saaya-chan in an (un)fair combat ;P

\- Any day now I expect Shoumen Kongo and Sanmoto Gorozaemon to file a Copyright Infringement against Ishikawa Kaito

\- ch74 was, like so many chapters, split into two. But this time it wasn't size of the chapter that was the reason for the split: having just one chapter to deal with the current conflict felt underwhelming


	75. Envy's Mockery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rihan, Ryuzan, Ritsura and Ryoko have all found themselves fighting the same duo of enemies: the Urban Legends Endless Thief and his sister, the addicts to Envy

**What came before:** _Rihan, Ryuzan, Ritsura and Ryoko have all found themselves fighting the same duo of enemies: the Urban Legends Endless Thief and his sister, the addicts to Envy_

* * *

**Chapter 75 – Envy's Mockery**

Heiko was already starting to feel exhausted from all the fighting. Unfortunately, there was no time for resting.

She was standing atop a truck and as far as her eyes could see, two groups of shadowy figures fought one another. One group was made out of the shadowy demons created by whatever kind of youkai hid in the derelict mansion, each of them looking like silhouettes of bald men. The other group was made of shadows created by Kage-Onna Heiko. They were of different shapes and resembled youkai which Heiko met throughout her life, but all of them were merely shadowy silhouettes. For weak creatures like these, that was more than enough.

She and her shadow army were not alone however. Ao-Ju filled the creatures with his bullets and some youkai policemen, which seemed to admire him, helped. Heiko could also see some of the real youkai fight the shadowy figures, though she was unable to discern if they were from the Nura Clan or not. It probably did not even matter.

From edge of her sight, she saw one of ghastly enemies fly towards her. She did not even flinch and before he could get close enough for an attack, a shadow resembling Gozumaru struck it down and went to attack another enemy.  _I called for real Gozumaru to join us, but it will take a while for him to get here._

She looked at the mansion one more time.  _Aneki, I hope you and those Onmyouji deal with whoever is causing this and fast. We can't hold these guys here forever._  Heiko then turned her sight back at the battlefield and raised her mirror, preparing to create more shadows to replace the ones that had fallen.

* * *

" _I won't let you harm Onii-chan!"_  A formless black mass of Fear rushed at Ritsura. But the Yuki-Onna just swung her blade and slashed the enemy in two halves.

And as usual, the whining youkai just got together and whined some more.  _"Why can I not kill you?"_

"Ryuzan, why can't she just die?" Ritsura asked the male Onmyouji, towards whom the enemy youkai was now flying at. "We beat up and slashed this pathetic youkai in all ways possible, but she's still alive. This is getting pointless!"

"I am not really sure." Ryuzan formed a barrier, which caused the enemy to hit into it and fly away while crying. "But she seems kind of… incomplete?"

"What do you mean by that?" Ritsura asked him, but someone else answered the question.

"Look at her." Ryoko, who held a bow in her hand, pointed at the youkai who was now rushing at the female Onmyouji. "She doesn't even have a proper body. She is literally just a mass of Fear into whom someone put a soul."

" _This time you'll die for sure!"_  The youkai proclaimed, but then a shining arrow found between Ryoko's fingers. Naturally, she struck the youkai with it, making it fly all the way onto the other end of hall.  _"Nyaaaaah!"_

"But that should make it easier to kill her." Ryuzan suggested but then changed his mind. " _Unless_  there was something forcing her to stay alive…"

"Yeah, I think so too." Ryoko released another arrow at the youkai before she could get too close to them. "It is probably the same thing that created it in the first place."

"Someone's Tale?" Ritsura wondered.

"No." Ryuzan shook his head. "Judging by notes that my father wrote while he investigated the Hyaku Monogatari, a Tale that is too weak to give a youkai even a basic form would be unable to protect it from even the weakest attacks."

"Yet it's here, and can't die…" Ryoko sighed.

"Maybe it doesn't exist because of a Tale?" Ritsura made another suggestion. "Maybe it's something else?"

" _I want to kill you! Just one of you will be enough!"_ The youkai shouted while rushing at Ryoko, who just avoided it by side stepping

"Like what?" Ryoko asked as she looked at Ritsura, who kicked the youkai onto yet another end of the hall.

"She can't stop talking about her Onii-chan." Ritsura shrugged. "Maybe there's something there?"

"Hmmm… "It was Ryuzan's time to talk. "Now that I think about it, her brother was very protective about her."

"Hm, then he might be the anchor keeping her alive." Ryoko scratched her head. "My first idea is to kill him, but I am not sure that it would be safe."

"Why not?" Ritsura tilted her head.

Ryuzan answered this one. "It they care about one another so much that she exists in such a state, the hate she could feel might be enormous and turn her into a true, vicious youkai."

"So what should we do? Ask her to politely die?" Ritsura was getting tired of this discussion.

"In situations like these, it is Onmyouji's job to find a less forceful way to exorcise a youkai." Ryoko noted. "Well, putting spirits to rest instead of slaying them should by all right be our modus operandi, but alas…" Ryoko sighed and stopped talking before she brought the conversation onto another topic.

The youkai was once again flying towards them and the three of them prepared to push it away again.

But then blue flames appeared in the air in front of them and even the formless youkai stopped its attack to gaze at the strange appearance.

"What is happening now?" Ritsura pouted.

The flames soon turned into a half-cracked skull, smeared with spray paints of various colors. Its right eye was human while on its left, where half of the skull was missing, a small blue flame stood acting as another eye.

"I am glad to meet you, Nura Ritsura." A voice of a young male came out of the skull as it stared at Ritsura. "Glad to meet you too, Keikain Ryuzan-san. You are a bit boring, but kind of cool." The skull spoke while looking at him and then it gazed upon Ryoko. "You too, Ryoko-chan. Did I ever say how much I am fascinated by your very existence?"

"And just who the hell are you?" Ritsura demanded to know.

But Ryoko made a guess. "Ishikawa Kaito… or whatever you are called in reality." The female Onmyouji said, her eyes showing murderous intent.

"That is interesting." The skull flew back a little. "I am surprised that you already recognized me."

"Don't pay it much heed. It was just a hunch."

"That just makes it more fascinating." The skull spoke and flew up a bit.

"How come you aren't here in person?" Ryuzan asked. "You weren't so shy this morning."

"I really did want to be here in person, believe me. I even asked Reiko-chan to guard me." The skull spoke while floating around them. "But, alas, Shiori-sama called for a meeting and since I am member of her council, so to say, I had to attend. It is annoying when even my hobbies feel like a businessman's life." And then the skull acted like it jumped up. "But one of our fellow councilmen created this very interesting and convenient Tale which allows us to appear near the places where our creations are active in form of skulls… or in forms of mini Gorozaemons if you want a joke. So now I am trying it out."

"Interesting." Ritsura commented and pointed behind the skull. "Is that also your creation?"

"What?" The skull turned around and Ritsura used that opportunity to crush it by throwing an ice spike.

"You're annoying." She said to which the two Onmyouji nodded. "You're  _very_  annoying." She said when the skull got back together.

"Did you really expect it to be that easy?" Kaito asked.

"It was worth a try." Ritsura shrugged.

"Heh." The skull flew to the formless youkai's side while still gazing at the trio. "I apologize for this fight feeling so underwhelming. Her Tale's actually not that weak, but I kind of blocked all that Fear from coming to her side."

"Why would you do that?" Ryuzan inquired.

"Filtering, my friend. Filtering." Cracks started appearing on the skull. "Unlike the Endless Thief, there was nothing definitive about her Tale. After all, there was only a hand on the graffiti that I drew." Cracks continued to appear on the skull, with Fear seeping out of it. "As a result, the humans had various beliefs in what this little girl was and I had to remove some downright shitty stuff, including the stuff that didn't fit the real story. But now, I'll be releasing the filtered Fear to her. So ladies and gentlemen…  _enjoy the show._ " And then the skull exploded, leaving behind a large amount of Fear which immediately engulfed the youkai.  _"We will be watching the end of this Tale with interest. Please do not disappoint us, heroes."  
_

* * *

 _Kaito just had to come and ruin it all._  Just like the girls, Ryuzan was preparing for whatever was to come. The youkai they fought was not strong, but it might become a more formidable threat now that Ishikawa Kaito did something.

The youkai that used to have form of a black mass was growing limbs, and its Fear was rising. The only things that remained the same are that the shape is still ghastly, looking more like a shadow than a person, and that her eyes were still shining red.

"You guys know about all those transformation sequences in Anime?" Ritsura raised two of her fingers and pointed them at the enemy youkai. "It was always my belief that the villain should strike midway." And after saying those words, Ritsura started shooting ice spikes at the youkai, one after another.

"Well, it is worth a try." Ryoko shrugged and raised her bow. "Ritsura, do you think I should use ice, fire or metal arrows?"

" _Burn the bitch_ , is what I'd like to say. But that would negate my attacks while freezing would be redundant. So stab her with metal, please."

"Ou." Ryoko then started releasing arrows made out of metal.

Ryuzan, however, lacked any kind of ranged attacks. "Go girls!" So he started cheering on them in a low tone. "You can do it!"

Ryuzan was certain that they would overpower the youkai's Fear before it could even react.

Yet, she did not seem to care much about it.  _"Oh yesss, I always wanted these~~~"_ She said in a deeper, more mature, voice as the projectiles from both of the girls stopped midair.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Ritsura said and took a step back.

"Prepare to run, guys." Ryoko added while the projectiles turned towards them. "Run!"

Soon, the three of them were running around the hall, avoiding the very same ice spikes and metal arrows that they shot at the enemy.  _"Hyahahahahah! Yes! That's what I wanted! How good it is to make you guys feel that! To make you run!"_ The feminine silhouette shouted while laughing. She now looked like a shadow of a girl in later teens, though the outlines of her clothes and hair changed every few seconds.

"What is going on here?" Ritsura asked. "Why is she able to steal our stuff and attack us with it?"

"Why are you asking me that?" Ryoko replied with her own question.

Ryuzan wanted to ask her about curses, but he did not have time for it because of Ritsura. "Did you try cursing her?" Ritsura asked the female Onmyouji. "Or is ruining people's sleep the only curse you are capable of?"

"I cast one on each of my arrows." Ryoko said while jumping over one of her own arrows. "She is immune to it."

"How is that even possible?" Ryuzan asked, put his hands together and destroyed an ice spike with his barrier.

"Because she herself is a curse." Ritsura said and flicked her own forehead. "Yes, that's how her Fear smells like… she herself is a curse and so is each part of her Fear."

"Ha, uncle did mention that such kind of youkai existed." Ryoko smiled. "So, what're we going to do about it?"

" _You're going to feel the burden of envy!"_  The enemy youkai answered that question for them and crossed her arms. Three black swords appeared in front of her and shot at them.

They were so fast that they were impossible to avoid.

* * *

A young Ryuzan, who had just started his training as an Onmyouji, was kneeling in front of a pond. "Hmmmmm…" He held his hand above it. His eyes were shrunken and his nostrils were pulled up. "Hmmm…" But as much as he was concentrating, the best he could do was create an occasional bubble.

Like his father, he was an Onmyouji aligned with water. That gave them a small amount of control of it, especially if it was blessed water like the one in the pond. After lies, it was the use of sacred water that his father depended upon. It was at the point that they even integrated some western techniques into it. Ryuzan heard that, during his battle against the once immortal Gokadoin Tenkai, his father managed to take control over entire canals.

His father was also incredibly cruel, and he told his son to create water ripples with nothing but his spirit. Later Ryuzan would know that it was impossible, but back then he was still just a boy trying to prove himself to his father.

But no amount of training would make the impossible come true. And that weighed heavily on the boy's mind.

Having given up for now, the boy threw himself backwards and sat down. He was so frustrated that he could feel his tears try to come out. But he was a man so clenched his teeth and kept them in.

He looked elsewhere, at a girl training archery. She was shooting the arrows at a large Ofuda and most of those arrows deflected and fell down without striking through the piece of paper. But that was good in her case for her task was to enchant the arrows with spiritual energy to the point that they could not pierce humans. And she was doing it splendidly: her aim was good and the Ofuda only had three holes after three hours of practice.

She was Keikain Ryoko, Ryuzan's cousin and his father's niece, as well as the Keikain head's daughter. She was two years older than Ryuzan, but the boy felt that the gap between them was larger than that. Unlike him, she had talent so she devoured all knowledge like a sponge devours water. To make it worse, she was also a hard worker and Ryuzan rarely saw her take a break or complain about her training and assignments, no matter how cruel her mentors (especially Ryuzan's father) tried to be.

For this, Ryuzan admired her. She was an ideal he wanted to reach.

For this, Ryuzan envied her. She was an ideal he knew he could never reach.

"What is it, onii-san?" A brown-haired human girl, whom he did not know, sat right beside him. "Are you already tired?" She asked him with a friendly smile.

This was not part of his memories. "Of course I'm tired." He replied to her. "For an entire hour I've been trying to do the impossible. I'm mentally exhausted." He talked as a grown-up.

"Yet she was practicing something more exhausting for three hours." The unknown girl noted with a mischievous expression. "Are you disappointed in yourself?"

"No. I'll return to this pointless exercise in a few minutes."

"Pointless? So you  _are_  disappointed in yourself." Her eyes were now red.

"I'm not. I trusted my dad." Ryuzan answered while looking at the ground. "Later I'd know that he wanted to teach me the feeling of hopelessness."

"But you wish you could be like her." Her wide smile was disturbing.

"Of course I do." Ryuzan did not lie. "But she is Ryoko and I am Ryuzan. Each of us has their own skills and style."

"Fufufu… you almost made me believe that you two are equal." Her hair had turned black and its strands moved as if they wanted to assault someone. "Admit it. You're weak. Your lies and tricks are nothing but an illusion."

"They get the job done, often better than Ryoko." He held firm, though his fingers stabbed into his knees.

" _It does not matter."_  The girl, whose teeth were like needles, rose up onto her legs.  _"You wish you were like her. You wish everything you did went that easy as it goes for her."_

"She has her own troubles." Ryuzan remained in a sitting position. "Even though she is so gifted, much of our family looks at her with disdain. And that disdain would just grow as she trains in techniques that our family does not approve of. Other than auntie, dad and few of our uncles and cousins, nobody likes her."

" _Does it matter?"_  She moved so she would stand behind him.  _"You already don't care about what others think. That is the way of a Deceiver, is it not?"_

"So what?" Ryuzan was now looking as his present self, a seventeen years old boy. "Are you suggesting that you can change this?"

"nO." The now older girl behind him was now nothing more than a pitch-black silhouette. Only her red eyes and her monstrous mouth were different looking.  _"GiViNG is So nOT mY sTYlE."_  She raised her hands which were now filled with claws, as pitch black as the rest of her body.  _"I OnLY waNT yOu to givE in TO yOuR eNVy And LosE yOuR aPAthY."_  She slashed her claws at him, but he rolled himself away.

"I see." He straightened his body. "You want me to lose my cool." He smirked. "You want me to try and prove to those two girls that I'm as powerful as Ryoko and Ritsura are."

" _Don't act like it is over now that you said it."_  She said as she slowly walked towards him.  _"This idea has been standing in the back of your head for ages, eating you up."_  She stared straight at his soul. _"You already know it is bad… but you are filled with envy. You want to be a regular Shounen hero who rushes in and shows his true potential from guts alone."_

She swung her claws at him, but Ryuzan avoided them once again. They were slow, as if she still had no intention to strike at him.

" _You dream of it. One day you'll do the stupid thing and prove to yourself and everyone else, that it is the right thing."_ She prepared her body for another attack.  _"Your don't want to impress or make them proud. You want to make them accept that you are as powerful as they are. THAT is your greatest, and most childish, dream which just won't die."_

This time she tried to stab him, but Ryuzan just slowly side-stepped her. "You're out of luck. I'm not an idiot who'd do something like that. My spirit's strong enough to protect me from a lowly demon's influence."

" _Ah yes, reason will protect you."_  Her already unnatural grin became larger.  _"But emotion always beats reason. Always."_ She proclaimed and pointed her finger at Ryuzan.

"What…" Ryuzan was shocked to find out that he could no longer move.

" _Once your emotion reaches its peak, no amount of self-restraint will save you."_ She raised her claws once again, this time looking like she was really planning on striking him. No doubt those claws would infuse his mind with the curse of envy.  _"Your reason will cry in anguish as your body moves its desires on."_

"Oi. Your Fear isn't even giving me a chance to defend myself." Ryuzan's smile wavered. "That's cheating."

" _GiVE youRSelF to YOUr oWn ENvy!"_  She struck her claws down at him. But she met a surprise.  _"What?!"_

"You aren't the only cheater here." Ryuzan smiled while a white ball made of fur floated in front of him and protected him from her claws. "There are Exorcists who depend solely on power of their will or faith to defend themselves. But we Onmyouji are cheaters who also use magic." The white ball of fur turned into his Rabbit Shikigami. "And to your misfortune, a Shikigami which protects one's mind from corruptive influences was next in the line of summoning." Ryuzan explained while the world cracked around them.

" _You…"_

"I'm sorry… but it looks like I'll keep drowning my envy for a while longer." He spoke while the light from the Rabbit grew ever brighter, until it filled everything with blinding light.

_CRASH!_

The world around them got shattered into pieces and Ryuzan was back in a spooky mansion. He noticed a black sword stabbed into his chest and then grabbed it. It broke as he squeezed on it. "Looks like you lost this round." Ryuzan proclaimed while he was looking at the annoyed demon and while the black shards of the sword were falling around him.

However, the two girls were still on their knees, with swords stabbed into their chests.

* * *

"What is this?" Ritsura wondered while looking around her.

Her surrounding was a never-ending world of white and a stainless, stone floor. No matter in which direction she turned, all she could see was whiteness.

Her teeth shook. Somehow, she knew that she was not moved to some strange place, but was looking at something deep inside herself.

"What is the point of this?" Ritsura demanded to know. The youkai who  _sent_  her here should be with her.

" _You tell me."_  The voice of the female youkai could be heard echoing around.  _"What do you think? What's the point of this?"_

"Stop playing games with me, whatever your name is!"

" _My power allows me to use one's envy against them."_  Against Ritsura's demands, the enemy continued to beat around the bush.  _"But I must say that your envy is different than the others, including the ones brought to me by onii-sama."_

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ritsura shouted into nothingness.

" _What I'm talking about…"_  Ritsura could feel someone's cold fingers on her chin. The enemy youkai was standing right behind her.  _"Is that there is nothing here."_

Ritsura turned around and swung her hand. She wanted to create a weapon out of ice, but no ice came out of her hands.

" _Maybe some Buddhists would call you pure. Void is sacred to them."_  As a consequence, the female with red eyes, a monstrous grin and a pitch-black body just moved away without even being touched.  _"But I call you pitiable."_

"I don't care what you call me."

" _Yet your eyes and teeth shake."_  The evil youkai's green grew wider.  _"Why are you afraid?"_

Ritsura did not reply. She tried creating another weapon, but she failed. She tried to freeze the air around them, but she failed.

" _I am actually fascinated by your lack of desires."_  The youkai continued to mock her.  _"You live solely to please your parents. You live solely to please your clan. You live solely to bear the burden of leadership so others wouldn't need to. You mother, father, brother, comrades… you live only to protect them. Nothing else matters."_  The enemy youkai floated around Ritsura.  _"It's not that you reject your desires. You never gave what you really might want a moment of thought. Such things could only get in the way of your mission. Even the boy you fancy… is out of your considerations for this very reason."_

"So?" Ritsura smiled but continued to sound aggressive. "What is bad about it?" Somehow, she finally managed to create a sword of ice.

" _WHat a BeaUTIfuL…"_  The enemy created a sword made of shadows and swung it at Ritsura.  _"…bLuFF!"_

Ritsura's sword broke and the Yuki-Onna felt a sword slash her across her body. "Gyaah!" She screamed and blood poured from her, even though there were no wounds.

" _Everything you say is a bluff! Everything you do is a bluff!"_  The enemy's sword disappeared and another one appeared in another hand.  _"A bLUfF aIMeD at YouRSElf!"_  She stabbed her sword at Ritsura.

"It's not!" Ritsura tried creating a shield made out of ice, but nothing happened and the sword stabbed through her, again spilling blood and creating pain, but leaving no wounds behind.

" _Lies will not defend you here. Only truth can defend and slash."_  The enemy let her sword disappear and continued floating and dancing around Ritsura.  _"Here comes another one of my tRuThs."_  A shadowy naginata formed in her hands.  _"This lack of desire makes you UNWOrtHy. It makes you dANgeROuS to evERyoNe you CarE about."_  She declared and threw the naginata at Ritsura.

"Everything I do, I do for the good of my clan!" A shield of ice got created in front of Ritsura. "Every sacrifice I make is for a reason!" The naginata hit Ritsura's shield. "Do not doubt my resolve!" The naginata broke.

" _That is a strong truth I suppose."_  The enemy created another naginata and started turning it around while she herself circled around Ritsura.  _"A youkai's Fear is only as strong as their desire. A youkai should always do what they desire the most, or their Fear gets weak."_  The demon stormed at Ritsura with the naginata.  _"Such were the words of Nurarihyon, your great-grandfather and founder of the clan!"_

Ritsura could not come up with a reply and the naginata went through the shield like it was made out of a piece of paper. The naginata made a diagonal cut across Ritsura's body, causing more pain.

" _The YouKaI tHAt geTS WEak iS noTHIng MoRE thAn fODdeR."_ The enemy declared and replaced their weapon with an enormous mace.  _"THEy WiLL cRUsH tHEir cOMRaDEs aNd folLOWerS wIth THeiR owN doWNFaLl."_

"No, I…" Ritsura started but no weapon appeared in her hands. So she got smashed by the mace and was soon flying, and then rolling, across this world of white.

" _You are nOt dEFenDINg your clan. You are only dELAyInG the iNEviTAbLe."_  She swung the mace downwards at Ritsura.

"Do not underestimate us, you  _Akuma_!" Ritsura created a sword of ice and broke the shadowy mace with it. "I am not my great-grandfather, but so what? Each of us is different and we do our best in our own way!" Her sword slashed through the shadowy youkai and she lost some of her blood.

But just like with Ritsura, no wounds remained.  _"But you won't know the FuTURe until it hAPpeNs."_ She flew up into the air and created a shadowy tanto in her hand.  _"Then this little wEAKnEss might become your doWNfalL."_  She proclaimed and threw the tanto down towards Ritsura.

The tanto struck into Ritsura's shoulder.

The enemy demon did not give Ritsura much time to prepare anymore _. "You always try to make up for your weaknesses. That's because you fear them!"_  She proclaimed and a revolver found itself in her hand.

" _You FEAR them!"_  She proclaimed and pulled the trigger.

" _You KNOW that they'll get used against you someday!"_  The first bullet barely hit into Ritsura when the demon pulled the trigger again.

" _You know that someone you care about will DIE because of it!"_  With a large grin, she put another bullet into the Yuki-Onna.

" _And MORE will die because of it!"_  She released the fourth bullet.

" _That fear and that possibility HAUNT you!"_  She released the fifth bullet, and Ritsura had no arguments to defend herself with.

 _You aren't weak overall, but what if JUST THIS marks the END of it all?"_  She released the sixth bullet while flying towards Ritsura.

" _And the best part is that all your SACRIFICES would be the very SOURCE of it!"_  She released the last bullet and the revolved disappeared, but she continued flying towards Ritsura.

"I can…" Ritsura tried to defend from the incoming attack. "I can…" But nothing came out of it.

" _EVERYTHING aBOut You iS a LIe!"_  The black demon raised the claws of her right hand and swung them down at Ritsura.  _"If there were someone who could take your place, you would happily give it to them!"_

"No!" Ritsura threw an ice spike at the enemy.

But she avoided it.  _"Sorry, that was wrong."_  The shadowy demon declared and landed right in front of Ritsura.  _"You would HAVE to give it to them because you are nothing but a puppet to your own delusions."_  She declared and stabbed her claws right through Ritsura's chest.  _"ANd tHEn YOu woULd Be as EmpTY As THiS pLAcE."_  The demon declared and laughed.  _"The very fact that this is possible shows how pITiaBLe AnD uNWoRTHy yoU ARe."_

Ritsura coughed blood. This time, the wounds did not heal.

The black demon grinned even more and raised her other hand, which now held a flaming sword.  _"Looks like you lose."_ She said and Ritsura could only look as the sword moved to finish her off.

* * *

Ryuzan's proud posture was broken when he heard a scream.

"Gyaaah!" Ritsura screamed and grabbed the sword.

"Ritsura!" Ryuzan ran towards the Yuki-Onna. "What's going on?"

"Hyaaaah!" She continued to scream while the sword rejected her attempts to get pulled and instead stabbed right through her. No blood was being shed, but black-colored sparks burnt on the places where the sword touched her flesh.

Ryuzan tried to help her pull it, but it was to no avail. "Rabbit!" He called for his Shikigami and it went into Ritsura.

But nothing happened.

" _It's pointless."_  The black demon announced.  _"If that creature protects from dark influences, than it's useless."_ The shadowy youkai laughed.  _"If she had just a little more sin in her, she might have been fine. Her purity is her weakness."_

And just like that, the sword flew right through Ritsura and left her from her back. "Gah…" The girl no longer screamed and fell into Ryuzan's arms.

"Ritsura, are you alright?" Ryuzan asked her.

"I… I'm fine…" She made a small smile and stood up. "C'mon… we have to fight this… youkai." She said and went past him.

"You are lying."

"I was just… hit a bit. Nothing special." She shook her head. "This is no time for chatting."

"Yes… that's right." Ryuzan looked at her. He was not a youkai, but even he could feel that her Fear was greatly weakened.

* * *

In fights, the Endless Thief was always avoiding the enemy's attacks. He never understood why, but his opponents looked irritated whenever they failed to strike him. He was always confused at why they were irritated about their enemy not trying to kill them.

But now he knew how annoying it felt to have your attacks fail. The boy with gravity-defying hair smiled. With one hand he held a sheathed sword while his other hand was on his hip. The Endless Thief tried to grab him, or at least his weapon, but the boy avoided each of his attacks as if it were the easiest thing he could do.

"I thought you were resolute." The boy finally spoke out. "But I guess I overestimated you."

The Endless Thief said nothing back, but his blood boiled. He could have used his Fear to make himself faster, but doing so would make him more vulnerable to attacks. And he had a feeling that this guy was strong enough to kill him with one strike if the Endless Thief showed an opening. He had to stay calm.

But that calmness had its limits, and this boy knew how to force him to go over them. "I wonder if your little sister would be disappointing. No, maybe I should kill her and see if your anger turns you into a more worthwhile opponent?"

"You should  _not_ have said that." The Endless Thief released his Fear and moved at his fastest pace. He knew that the boy could not follow him. "I will rob you of those powers that you are so proud of." He told the boy and then struck him from behind.

 _Huh?_  He was sure that he stuck through him, but he could not steal anything. And then the boy just disappeared.

What followed was a kick in the back and a blade through his abdomen. The Endless Thief retreated to a safer distance and turned around to look at his confident enemy.  _It is a miracle that he failed to kill me… no, did he miss my vital spots on purpose?_

"You are quite a fast fellow." Rihan slashed his sword through the air, thus making some of the blood fly off from it. "And I know that you have some fearsome abilities." He said and sheathed his sword. "But I dealt with more menacing youkai than you." And then the boy made a large, menacing grin.

The Endless Thief now knew it: he had no chance of defeating this monster. "Why are you here? Why are you intruding into my life?"

"A god sent me… so to say. The same one who guards you. Looks like he wants to check the worth of the life he created." The boy took a step towards the Endless Thief. "Gods of Urban Legends are cruel masters and parents, you see."

"And what does this… god… want you to do to me? And to my sister?"

"I don't have any idea what he specifically  _wants_." The boy shrugged. "But he sent me to deal with you, whatever that may mean. So your life is now…" And the boy suddenly appeared in front of him. "…in my hands." He said and started moving his hand towards the Endless Thief.

"No…" He tried to move away from the boy, but the terrifying aura around him paralyzed him.

"Will you beg for your life?" The boy asked while putting his hand under the thief's chin. "I don't desire your death so if you nicely ask, I might let you go."

 _He is so close… if I struck him now, I would win!_   _But why can't I move?_  "Answer me! Why'id you need to intrude into my life?" He did not intend to admit defeat, so he did not beg. "You don't even sound like you  _had_  to be here! You don't even seem to fear that god! Why couldn't you just ignore me?"

"Why would I ignore you?" The boy shrugged and pulled his hand back. "It is not like I had anything more fun to do."

"More… fun to do?"  _You… you coming here and destroying my life… it could not have possibly been for some stupid reason, could it?_

"Yeah. Basically, I was bored."

 _You… you…_ "YOU SELF-SERVING BASTARD!" Whatever force kept the Endless Thief in place could not restrain him anymore. He struck his black hand right into the boy's chest.  _I will steal everything you possess, you damn… you damn…_

…

 _Huh?_  He could feel the boy's soul, memories and other essences of his being. He could feel them all on the tips of his fingers.

But for some reason, he could not take hold of them.

"It tickles. Only cute, sexy or gorgeous girls are allowed to tickle me.." The boy grabbed the thief's arm. The silent tone of his voice screamed murderous intent. "And  _nobody_ 's allowed to touch my soul." The boy's fingers dug deeper into the thief's black arm as he forcefully pulled it out. "Did you know, little thief, that senses can be very inconvenient?" The boy's eyes shone golden.

The Endless Thief could not even think of an answer  _when hundreds of horrific sensations took a hold of him. His eyes burnt and bled as if they stared at strong light for days._ "AAAAAA _…" Bells of thousand churches rang right inside his ears and his tongue was cut by burning razors._  "…AAAAHHHH…"  _His skin was being melted by acid and his inner organs were gnawed by piranhas._ "…HHHHHH!"

Or at least it felt like that.

And then it all stopped, as suddenly as it appeared.

" _Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Doku_." The boy spoke and let the thief fall down onto his knees. "It is my, Kokuhan's, technique. Feel proud, you're the very first Urban Legend to not disappear after the two seconds of its influence." The boy turned his back to the thief and moved away a little. "And be thankful that I didn't keep it up for more than two seconds."

"Ah…ah…" The Endless thief had trouble breathing. He felt like existing itself was a painful chore, something that he could never have felt if he were still a human.

"And it is quite ironic that you, of all people, call me self-serving."

"I live only… for  _her_." The Endless Thief tried to stand up, but failed.

"Do you really?" The boy turned towards him. "Tell me about her… about your little sister."

 _Why would you care?_  The thief raised his head and looked the evil boy into the eyes.

"Let me guess… she was a cute, little child who was very close to her useless older brother." The boy spoke, a smile  _not_  dotting his face. "And you cared for her… protected her. Maybe your life was so shitty that she was the only good thing about it. And then she died, or maybe both of you died. But somehow, she returned to life and now you tell yourself that you live for her." The boy tilted his head. "Am I close to the truth?"

The Endless Thief did not answer.

"The look on your face tells me I'm close to the truth, if not spot on." A smile appeared on his lips again, but soon disappeared. "I feel only utter disgust towards you. The only reason you still breathe is because I want to see if there is a better ending somewhere."

"What are you talking about?"

* * *

 _What had happened to her?_  Ryuzan wondered as he gazed upon the battle in front of him.

Ritsura was fighting the shady demon. The demon smirked and avoided her for the most part and counter-attacked from time to time. Ritsura managed to evade or deflect her enemy's attacks and managed to even strike at the demon with some of her ice attacks. But never did she succeed at making a proper attack with Nenekirimaru, a sword which this demon wisely avoided.

The demon had flown up to the top of the hall. Its arms turned into scythes and it started whirling like a whirlwind. Ritsura did not look confused or scared but looked up at her with a cool face. When the demon flew down at her, Ritsura still stood without moving a muscle.

Only when the enemy got close did Ritsura move her arms. Although the black demon's speed was unnatural, Ritsura successfully hit one of her blades with Nenekirimaru and created an ice spike from the ground which caught the other blade just before it got to her throat. While the black demon tried to pull her arm out of the ice, Ritsura put the fingers of her left hand in front of her mouth and released a gust of cold wind into the demon.

Normally, this would kill the youkai of this level.

But right now, Ritsura's Fear was weakened and her targeted youkai was merely forced to retreat. She looked a bit shaken from cold, but did not look endangered.

And soon enough, the battle resumed. Ritsura's ice was not as intensive, her movements were still inhuman but slouchier than usual and she lacked a certain fire in her eyes.

Ryuzan considered how to help her, but he was unable to. Best he could do would be to wait for the appropriate moment, whatever it might be.

He looked at his glove. The next Shikigami in line of summoning was the Dragon, his strongest Shikigami. But it was exactly because of its strength that he could no summon it for there was a risk of the Dragon's spiritual energy harming Ritsura and Rihan.  _My strongest attack is my most useless attack!_  He clenched his teeth.

 _Just what happened when the shadowy blade struck her?_  Ryuzan could not remember what happened inside his soul, but he could remember what went on in his head. He remembered the hate he felt towards himself for being weak and envy he felt towards those more talented than him… and his desire to give up on everything. But, be it due to his training as an Onmyouji or due to strength of his character, he managed to resist the pettiness inside himself until he summoned the Rabbit.

Yet, the Rabbit could not save Ritsura, which made Ryuzan wonder if the nature of the attack on Ritsura was different than the attack on Ryuzan.

But there was still someone who did not get back to them. He turned his head and looked at Ryoko, who was still on her knees with the blade struck in her chest. The Rabbit was jumping around her, trying to help her fight.  _But it does not want to go into her._  This was no surprise, as something in Ryoko always made the celestial Shikigami reject her. The very reason that she used youkai as Shikigami was because the Celestials could not sync with her and sometimes even attacked their mistress. As for why, it was another mystery which Ryuzan had to solve.

But he was worried and each moment of Ryoko not moving made him more worried. He was not worried about her, though there was that as well, but about himself and Ritsura. He understood little about what went though this girl's head, and even less what went on in her heart and soul. But whatever it was, it was inappropriate for an Onmyouji… even though his aunt did not intervene, which was strange as she was always strict on her other two children. Much to his frustration, it was yet another mystery which he had to solve.

He looked at her again and once again prayed that whatever this demon does to Ryoko, it does not turn into something  _inconvenient_.

* * *

Ritsura had become sluggish and she was aware of it. She knew very well that her attacks were a bit slower and lacked their usual force.

It was a surprise, because it was not the result of exhaustion or a Fear-based attack. It was the result of her current state of mind. She lacked the enthusiasm to fight and started doubting her own worth. Although she knew she was wrong to think so, her heart made her feel like it was all pointless.

She thought it was a funny thing. It looked so simple to get over limits caused by one's own emotions, but no matter how much she tried, she could not make herself straighten up. And for a youkai, that was fatal as their Fear weakened when they lacked the drive.

 _What did this youkai do to me?_  She wondered while exchanging blows with the ghastly youkai. She felt like she was in a dream, and as usual she did not remember the dream. She only remembered that this youkai somehow mocked and humiliated Ritsura, and the young Yuki-Onna was unable to resist it.

 _At least Ryuzan looks fine._  She never doubted him. He may not have been the strongest Onmyouji, but he was one of smartest people he knew and she never saw him succumb to a youkai's corruption. Unfortunately, at the moment he was unable to help her in this fight.

 _But what about her?_  She looked towards Ryoko, who was still on her knees.  _Is she having trouble like I did? Or is it something more?_

" _Are you worried about her?"_ The ghastly youkai spoke out.  _"Or afraid of her?"_

"I guess you will tell me what I should feel." Ritsura looked back at the grinning demon.

" _The Onmyouji are tough nuts to crack it seems."_  The black youkai ceased fighting and spoke from a safer distance.  _"The male one quickly kicked me out of his soul and this one would too if her heart was not filled with so, so much envy and frustration."_

Ritsura did not reply. Now that she thought about it, it was weird that Ryuzan was able to resist this youkai's Fear but the supposedly stronger Onmyouji, Ryoko, did not.

" _She is such an opposite of you, y'know."_  The ghastly youkai shrugged her shoulders.  _"Whereas your heart is silent and empty, her heart is on verge of screaming. Whereas you got to be a princess loved and accepted by everyone, she is someone whom most of her family despises."_

"What are you talking about?" Ritsura asked her but also threw a glance towards Ryuzan who looked like he remembered something he did not like.

Instead of replying, the youkai continued with her speech.  _"Whereas you live to please your family's wishes while sacrificing your desires, she lives for her desires and rejects living as per her family's wishes."_ The youkai grinned even more, now almost looking like that cat from  _Alice in Wonderland_ , giving a Cheshire-Cat grin.  _"You two are like Yin and Yang, a metaphor that this practitioner of Yin-Yang likes."_

"Is there a point to this little lecture of yours?" Ritsura asked and pointed her sword at the enemy.

" _Do you know what Yin hates the most?"_  Her eyes shrunk.  _"It's Yang."_

And just as she said that, something malicious could be felt from behind Ritsura. "What is that?" She asked and turned around, only to see a Fear-like aura come out of the female Onmyouji.

" _This will be fun~"_  The demon, the only one who seemed to understand what was happening, proclaimed in a pleased tone.

Ryoko's arms moved and she grabbed the blade, which she then pulled out and threw away. She then rose up and a bow appeared in her hands.

" _When I told her about your story and whispered how she should give into her envy and take you down, darkness took her over."_  The demon explained and now stood right behind Ritsura. But the Yuki-Onna was more afraid of the Onmyouji who was now facing her direction and aiming at her with a shining arrow, her eyes filled with murderous intent.  _"Looks like you will-"_

Ryoko released her arrow and it hit right into the ghastly youkai's forehead, pushing her to the other end of the hall.

"You wanted to use my issues in order to kill  _her_?" Ryoko grinned as her eyes looked at the person behind Ritsura. "How naive of you."

" _What… what's going on here?!"_  The ghastly youkai screamed.  _"Didn't you want to do it? Didn't you decide to kill when I suggested it to you?!"_

"Oh, I wanted to kill." Ryoko said and the bow disappeared. "But it wasn't her that I decided to destroy." She said and put her hands together and Fear started sipping out of her.

 _Is that Fear?_  Ritsura could not understand what was going on. She could only guess as she looked how Fear accumulated around Ryoko and how her eyes turned red and black tattoos grew around the right half of her body.

"Ryoko…" Ryuzan appeared beside Ritsura, looking at Ryoko with anger in his eyes. "You… you continued researching those techniques and have turned half of your soul into a youkai's…" He clenched his teeth while she just looked at him calmly. "You promised… you promised that you wouldn't do it. That you would stay true to what you are!"

_She… she is turning herself into a youkai?_

"I promised only that I'd stay true to what I am." She tilted her head. "You just misunderstood what it meant. Now I advise you two to move away, I've business with that youkai."

"Why?" Ryuzan took Ritsura's hand and slowly pulled her away. "You were already stronger than any other Onmyouji of our generation. Why do you, of all people, seek more power?"

"It's not about power." She said while looking at him as an older sister looked at a younger brother. "We'll talk later, Ryuzan." And then she turned her eyes back at the enemy youkai, whose arms have turned into axes and who was floating around, ready to avoid another arrow.

" _You… you think that your arrow will-"_

"You shut up. I already got tired of your words." Ryoko made some complicated moves with her fingers and then put her hands on the ground. Soon, a sinister aura engulfed the mansion. "Crumble, object of my malice."

Ritsura did not know what she was doing, but Ryuzan did. "Ritsura, hold my hand."

"What is going on?" Ritsura asked, but did as he asked her.

"She is going to curse this entire mansion."

And just as Ryuzan promised, the mansion got hit by an earthquake… or more exactly, it started shaking and crumbling. The chandeliers started falling, the windows broke into pieces and even carpets started turning into rags.

But Ryoko was not done yet. She made several more moves with her hands and hit the floor again. "Burn, object of my malice. Burn."

And sure enough, the flames sprung out of the mansion's floor, burning everything around them. Ryuzan immediately created a barrier around himself and Ritsura, but the ghastly youkai was not as lucky.

" _GYAAAAHH! HOT! SOMEONE PUT THE FIRES DOWN!"_  She screamed as fires burnt her. She managed to get rid of them and flew up where it looked safe, but even the ceiling burst into flames so she was forced to find a balance between being too high and being too low. And when the ceiling collapsed and stone started falling in some places, it became clear that this was death trap.

"Know whom you've turned into your enemy, you lowly youkai." Ryoko spoke and the bow appeared in her hands. "I'm Keikain Ryoko, the practitioner of Yin and Yang and the one who seeks to keep the yin and Yang in balance." A dark arrow appeared between her fingers and she aimed it at the youkai. "And I will not stop until I claim the title of the Nue for myself."

* * *

The Endless Thief ran through the hallways in order to help his sister. He still did not understand why the boy let him go and what he meant by watching how his tale develops, but right now that was not an issue he had to think about.

He passed a window and stopped.  _No, don't look. That's what the boy wants you to do._

Yet, he could not stop himself and looked through the window, only to see ghastly monsters fight youkai and their human victims agonizing on the streets.  _"Tell me then, would your sister torture and harass innocents?"_ The Endless Thief looked away, but he could not get the boy's words from his head  _"And tell me, just how many brothers and sisters bonds will you two destroy… or how many have you destroyed already?"_

The Endless Thief clenched his teeth and resumed running.  _It doesn't matter! Why would I care about some strangers?!_

But the boy even had an answer to that.  _"You don't get it, do you? It is not about you caring about others, but you not caring about your sister. Would the dear sister you remember ever do this? Would she ever even think about doing this?"_

 _No, she could not even hate our father…_  The Endless Thief hit a wall with his hand as he ran.

" _But you made her into this kind of creature, did you not? You and your inability to let it go and leave the dead to sleep in peace have turned you sister into…"_

The walls and the floors shook and the Endless Thief fell down onto his face. "What's going on?" He wondered before rolling away in order to avoid being crushed by stone.

By the time he rose up onto his feet, the entire surrounding was on fire.

His sister could not do this.

This meant that whomever she was fighting against was responsible for this.  _This is bad…_ He resumed running, faster than before.  _No, I can't think about conserving my strength anymore._ Having decided that time was of essence, he used his Fear to move with his full speed.

Soon, he arrived at the hall where a battle was taking place. Although there was an inferno everywhere around him, his body turned cold.

He saw the Onmyouji he fought earlier, holding a girl whose white hair was turning brown.

He saw an Onmyouji girl with shining red eyes and with tattoos over half of her face, aiming her bow at someone who was flying around in the air.

And he saw  _her_.

She was no longer a lump of darkness, nor was she the dear little sister from his memories.

She was still pitch-black, but now had a silhouette of someone in her late teens. Her arms did not end in hands, but in axes. And her mouth… was a large grin of pointy teeth.

And her voice… her voice was otherworldly cold and menacing.  _"You think you can kill me, you stupid Onmyouji?!"_  She mocked the Onmyouji and then got hit by an arrow. _"Nooo! Ahahahahaha!"_ She crushed the arrow and then laughed, but her breathing was so frantic that she was obviously exhausted.

" _You may not have killed her."_  The boy's words resounded in his ears.  _"But you desecrated her spirit, soul and memory. I wonder… what do you find worse?"_

" _As long as I envy those who are alive, I cannot die!"_  She shouted at the Onmyouji.

"How naive…" The Onmyouji girl said and aimed another arrow. This time, five skulls have appeared around her. When she released the arrow, it flew with speed that not even the Endless Thief could follow. It shone brightly when it hit his sister, and the five skulls surrounded her.

" _Hyaaaah!"_  She screamed and moved away, but the five skulls effortlessly followed her around and released arrows from their jaws. Five explosions resounded and she fell into the fires, with a stone of the ceiling soon falling onto her.  _"It's nooot enoughhhhhh!"_  She creamed when she flew up again, but it was clear that she was on verge of death.

The Onmyouji girl aimed another arrow and five more skulls appeared around her. Her next attack would be fatal.

But the girl stopped aiming when the endless Thief jumped and landed between the two of them.

"Damn it! He's back!" The Onmyouji boy from earlier exclaimed. "Don't let his black hand touch you or you will lose your Onmyodo!"

After hearing those words, the Onmyouji girl jumped backwards and aimed her bow at the Endless Thief. Additionally, a youkai in black suit appeared above her, shielding her with gusts of wind.

" _Nii-sama!"_  The Endless Thief heard his sister calling after him.  _"I knew you would come!"_

"Of course I would." He turned towards her. Even in her abominable form, her smile looked innocent and warm, though he might have just remembered the good old days. "Your brother's here to make it all better, as he should."

" _Eh?"_  She must have still trusted him for she did not move an inch when he rushed at her.

"I'm sorry, for making you like this." He said as he struck his arm right into her. "And I'm sorry that I have to rob you of what you are."

" _What… what do you think you are doing, nii-sama?"_  She asked him. _"You can't kill, remember?"_

"I am not killing you. I am just stealing your memories of the second life."

" _You… how dare you…"_  Her red eyes shook.  _"I… all I am… I am like this because of you! I came back to this life… because of you! How dare you… stomp on that?"_

"I know… even now, I can't do anything but be a failure of an older brother." And saying that, he pulled his arm out, which now held a dark heart. "Farewell... and good night."

" _Curse…you…"_  She started disappearing and for a moment, he looked at the spirit of his sister, in her old form.  _"…Onii-chan."_  And then she too disappeared as the black heart got devoured by his arm.

He wanted to scream, but could not find any energy for it.

* * *

The Endless Thief now stoodbefore them alone, his back turned to them. Ritsura did not think he would fight them anymore and if they wanted, they could probably take him down with one swift strike.

Ritsura had no such intentions and she knew Ryuzan well enough that he would not do it either, but she wondered about Ryoko. However, that girl just turned around and her Fear disappeared, leaving behind a human girl with normal eyes and lacking any tattoos. "Looks like it the fight is over." She declared and walked, but her steps were uneven and clumsy. "We should get out of here before this building collapses onto us." She said and fell onto Ryuzan.

"You overexerted yourself again." Ryuzan said and nodded to Ritsura who then helped Ryuzan get her out of here. "Will we leave this guy behind?"

"I don't care about him." Ryoko mentioned. "Ask your Yuki-Onna if she has some business with him."

"I don't." Ritsura answered and looked behind her. The Endless Thief still stood where he was, paying no attention to fires or the collapsing building. She found it sad, but also wondered why this happened in the first place.

And then her eyes fell onto a person who leaned against the wall in a corner.  _Rihan?_  She was surprised to see him, and even more surprised to see him smiling.  _You… are you the reason for why this happened?_  Her eyes narrowed.  _And why do you look so pleased?  
_

* * *

"So in the end, you made the hardest choice." He could hear the boy's words behind him.

"I don't feel like it is the right one."

"Something like this should never feel good. But at least, she should get peace now. You did your duty well." The boy said.

"So what now?" He asked him. "Will you slay me? Or will you let me perish by myself?"

"You will live because you owe me one." The boy put his hand on the thief's shoulder. "Come, from now on you serve Kokuhan, meaning me." He let go and started walking away.

The Endless Thief felt like going his separate way, but he felt like there was nothing else he could do with his life. So he rose up, and followed after him.

* * *

_Not much of a surprise, the Endless Thief was easily beaten by Kokuhan. Yet, the swordsman decided not to end his life. Instead, he broke the delusion that the Endless Thief knit ever since he turned into a youkai._

_With his eyes opened, he returned to his sister. In his short absence, she had grown up into an abominable and evil demon. Realizing that she was no longer his sister and that it was his fault that she became like that, he used his ability to steal what she had turned into. Freed from the curse, she was put at rest, though there were no warm farewells… only a cold sense of betrayal. Some mistakes can never be fixed._

_Kokuhan was impressed by his choice and gave the Endless Thief a new purpose: to serve in his blooming legion. His tale would from now on serve Kokuhan's._

_Yet, it was not over… for the Endless Thief did not kill the monster, but merely stole its soul… a soul that is now his.  
_

* * *

"What the heck did you guys do?!" Unexpectedly, Saaya ran to them just when they left the mansion. "How… how did you… what did you do to my family's estate?!"

"Ask her." Ritsura pointed at Ryoko. "She is more trouble than my entire clan combined."

"I got a bit angry." Ryoko pouted.

"Angry? Ang… angr… Gaaah!" Saaya rubbed her eyes. "You are so damn lucky that we sold it and it had to be demolished. But, seriously, what the hell? You can't do something like this just because you are angryyyyyyy!"

"Heiko, didn't I tell you to take Saaya home?" Ritsura asked the Kage-Onna who just joined them.

"I left her in a taxi, but I guess she came back." Heiko scratched her head. "Sorry Aneki, but we had our hands full here."

"Saaya…" Ritsura looked at her with annoyance and then turned back to Heiko. "Is everything fine here?"

"It is, Aneki." Heiko nodded. "But is everything fine with you? Your Fear feels a little."

"I…" Ritsura averted her eyes, wondering what to say.

"She is tired." Saaya cut in. When Ritsura looked at her, she could see that Saaya understood something was wrong. "Isn't that right, Ritsura?"

"Yeah, that's right." Ritsura nodded.

"Then we should get you back home as soon as possible." Heiko said. "You have to be ready for school tomorrow!"

"The Nura Clan mansion is the last place you want to go if you want to get a good night sleep." Saaya cut in again. "She will go with me. She probably did not even do her homework so she needs help."

"But-"

"It's fine, Heiko." The subject of the conversation, Ritsura, joined in. "There's something the two of us have to talk about anyway."

"...fine. Although I still think that something strange is going on." Heiko gave in but was suspicious. "Then I am going to check if everyone is alright."

"Yes, you do that." Ritsura nodded and looked as Heiko walked away.

"You are a sorry sight." Saaya whispered when the two of them were away from everyone else's hearing distance. "I can't let others see you like that."

"I know." Ritsura sighed. As usual, she could not hide anything from Saaya. And right now, she was probably the most fitting person to help Ritsura.

Ritsura then turned towards Ryoko and Ryuzan. The girl was sitting and the boy was leaning against a lamp. "What about you two?"

"She is in no condition to walk." Ryuzan explained. "So I guess I'll take her home." He looked back at Ryoko with an angry gaze. "She and I have a lot to talk about."

"I see." Ritsura said and looked around.  _So you are not joining us here, brother? Just what's going on with you?  
_

* * *

Ryuzan walked back to the Keikain safehouse while carrying Ryoko on his back. Some youkai offered to have a carriage take them home, but he refused. He even refused a tip to take the taxi.

He had to talk with her, but could not come up with words. No, to be more exact he could not imagine himself talking without yelling.

"Are you still angry?" He could hear her ask.

"What do you think?" Ryuzan answered as silently as he could. "Does Auntie Yura know about this?"

"As if I could hide anything from Mom. You're making way too big a deal out of this."

"Of course I am!" Ryuzan shouted at her. "We are Onmyouji. We protect the humans from youkai. And while everyone gives their best not to lose their humanity, you go out of your way to lose it."

"Heh." She sounded like she was having fun.

"I'll ask you again: why are you so obsessed with power?"

"Ryu, I'll say it again: this has nothing to do with getting more powerful. I could've found means to get stronger somewhere else if I wanted."

"Then what is it about?" Ryuzan clenched his teeth. "Why are you doing it? Why are you harassing the Nuras? Why is Auntie tolerating your actions while forbidding your siblings to do the same?" He remembered how auntie Yura once yelled at her other two children when they were reading some forbidden scrolls. "What the hell's going on here?"

"Heh~" She said again, moved her head to Ryuzan's ear and whispered one sentence into it. "..."

He froze on the spot, unable to keep moving. "What… you must be kidding."

"I'm not." She said and rested her head on the back of his neck again. "Go on, I'm tired and want to go to my bed."

"That… is…" He continued staring into nothingness, his eyes opened wide.

"Come on, move." She softly hit him with her foot. "Move." She hit him again. "Moveee…"

She continued doing so for quite a while, until she fell asleep on his back.

* * *

Yay, I somehow managed to finish the chapter before Fallout 4 came out!

\- You gotta give it to our demon lady. It is quite something to use a different approach on every enemy. However, they were still all related to one thing: envy And it revealed more about characters and what goes through their hearts… especially in Ritsura's

\- Two months is not much time, but enough for some people to change. Here we some of changes that happened to Rihan due to rejecting Shoumen Kongo (who still has things to say) and due to his hanging with Shiori and her gang

\- So not only is this pesky Onmyouji strong, but she turned part of her being into a youkai and seeks to become the next Nue. Ritsura sure got a fancy rival for herself

\- Sometimes there are no happy endings. And such is the story of the bond between the Endless Thief and his sister

\- And Rihan Jr. gets his second follower!


	76. Intensify

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Endless Thief and his sister have been taken care of, but the actions of these two had consequences that will be affecting some people for a little while longer.

**Chapter 76 - Intensify**

She was falling down inside a deep, black sea. She tried moving her arms and legs, but nothing moved. She was drowning and she could not do anything about it.

" _What a wretched child."_ A whisper said, never intended to being heard by her.

" _That technique is an outrage!"_  A less subtle voice shouted at her.

" _You turned an entire half of yourself into a demon?"_ A younger female voice mocked her.  _"Ha, now I can finally stop calling you an Onmyouji in front of the elders!"_

" _We had such high expectations for you, yet you…"_ An older voice spoke in disappointment.

"Shut up!" She finally screamed back. "I am still an Onmyouji through and through!" She turned herself around and started swimming upwards. "I'll prove it! I have to prove-"

But someone grabbed her leg and pulled her down, after which the same person grabbed her neck and started strangling her.

They were the hands of a woman, the one who smiled innocently and absent-mindedly as she suffocated her.

"I… have… to…" Ryoko spoke while trying to wrestle herself out of her predicament. "Take… you down!"

* * *

"Hah!" Ryoko jumped up from her tatami mattress into a sitting position. "Ahhh… it was another creepy dream." She put her hand on her forehead as she remembered bits and pieces from the dream.

She had four or five bad dreams tonight, each one of them no doubt affected by the actions of that youkai which she had fought against during the last night's battle.  _Her Fear is so meddlesome… but at least it reminded me of what I came here to do. It's so easy to…_

"You've a dangerous look in your eyes." A boy's voice said to her.

"Hm?" She looked towards Ryuzan, who leaned against the frame of the door. "Oh, good morning Ryu." She softened her expression and smiled.

He sighed. "Good morning to you too, Ryo." He said and turned around. "Breakfast's ready, sleepyhead, so get dressed and come down."

"Thank you~" She said as he slid the door behind him. Since she was hungry, she immediately rose and started dressing. "I blabbered too much to him last night." She thought that it was a stupid thing to do, to reveal her secret that is, but it was a stone she longed to get rid of.  _Still, I wish I did it under different circumstances._

After getting dressed, she went to the dining room and the two of them ate. It was a simple dish, just some ramen and some sweets for desert, and none of the two cousins said a word other than the ones of courtesy.

"So, what're you going to do about it?" Ryoko asked the moment she put her now empty bowl back onto the table.

Ryuzan looked at her, having finished his meal before her. "I wish I would stop you." He admitted with a determined look.

"Wish, but won't try?" Ryoko noted with a smirk. "I'm glad to see that you understand how this doesn't concern you."

"It concerns me on many levels, but it's not on me to do anything about it." His eyes narrowed. "Why'd you tell me about it? After all these years… why now?"

"Do you think it's something I'd like to talk about?" She asked. His eyes widened for a moment, and then he looked away.

But he then looked back at her, with an angry expression. "It's hard, I understand that. But still, even a liar like me can't help but feel that this deception was uncalled for."

She thought about saying that it was silence rather than deception, but she understood his point. "I'm sorry." She looked down. They were, after all, close friends. "I did try, honest. But thinking about saying it is easier than actually saying it."

"You make it sound like a love confession."

"To me, it is even bigger than a love confession."

Those were the lasts words they exchanged for a while. They continued looking in other directions, be it at the table, the turned off TV or the window.

"That look you had when you woke up…" Ryuzan finally spoke out again, and turned his gaze back at her. "I have this strange feeling that… things are going to get much less peaceful from today on."

"If that's what your intuition says…" She smiled. "So, will you help me out? The entire Nura Clan versus the little me. It would help even the odds."

"You're the one who decides  _when_  and  _where_  to do it." He crossed his arms. "If you think odds are against you, then delay this… or better yet, stop this charade."

"No. I can't keep running from it any longer." She gave an immediate answer. "Either way, you'll have to choose your side soon."

"I don't intend to choose a side."

"I will respect that. But what about Ritsura?"

Ryuzan looked away after she mentioned her name.

"Well, it's as good a time as any to give up on your childish romance." Ryoko said and raised herself up. "I'm going to take a bath now, seeing as I didn't have one last night. I guess you'll go check on her now."

"Yes, I will. We are enrolled in the same school, after all."

He did not comment or react at her advice.

* * *

 

"Here, eat." Saaya handed a bowl of rice to Ritsura, who was still in her human form for some reason.

"Thank you." Ritsura accepted it meekly. Saaya had hoped that a good night's sleep would make her get over whatever was troubling her, but if anything Ritsura looked even worse. Right now, Saaya did not want to let her own parents see Ritsura, let alone the outside world, so she kept her in her room. But soon they would need to go to school.

"You look horrible, you know that?" Saaya noted.

Ritsura did not say anything. She just grabbed a piece of rice with her chopstick and put it in her mouth.

"You know why I brought you here, right?" Saaya told the others that it was due to schoolwork and other things, but that was a lie. "You look horrible as a human, forget youkai Ojou-sama."

"I know." Ritsura nodded and ate another piece of rice. "Thank you."

"Ahhhh…" Saaya released a large sigh and then looked at Ritsura again. "What the hell happened there? Where's that spunky Ritsura who always gets atop of my nerves?"

Ritsura just stared downwards for around half a minute, and then she finally spoke. "Am I any good, Saaya?"

"…huh?"

"I want to make my mom and dad proud, but is that alone really enough?"

"Why wouldn't it be enough?"

"Because I might be unworthy." She finally looked up and towards Saaya. "All the time, for so many years, all that fueled me was the idea that I  _must_  inherit my position. That I  _must_  lead. That I  _must_  behave accordingly, that I  _must_  speak accordingly and that I  _must_  live accordingly… and that I  _must_  reject any ideas or desires that may get in the way."

"So you're afraid that this fate isn't what you want."

"I don't know if I want it or not. After so many years of taking it for granted, this fate comes across as naturally to me as breathing and eating do."

"So why are you being so depressed about it? Just go on as you always did while thinking about if it's what you want or not."

"That's not what bothers me." She looked away. "Things like ambition and determination to get it are some of what fuels our Fears. For a youkai leader, the lack of it can spell weakness… though I admit, I'm not sure if I'm that good of a leader anyway."

 _Why must she always make simple things complicated?_ "And what makes you think you're  _not_  good enough?"

"It is a lot of things. The very fact that this newborn youkai was able to affect me like this is bad. The fact that I obviously lack the necessary determination is bad. The fact dad was able to accomplish at age of thirteen more than I did at age of seventeen…"

"Your father's situation was different, Ritsura."

"Maybe, but he still became the Master of Pandemonium in a year of time and with no training or experience before the age of twelve. Me? I trained since childhood but I'm still someone who gets her ass handed to her by some shapeless blob." Ritsura bit her lower lip.

"You are overthinking things… again." Saaya sighed. "So what? Will you abdicate in favor of Rihan?"

"My brother rejected it, and the clan all but rejected him." Ritsura's eyes narrowed. Saaya had no doubt that it was not about Rihan rejecting the title, but about his growingly bad relations with the Nura Clan. "No, it's me or a younger sibling if Mom gives birth to them. And my abdication would force the title, and all the heavy burdens that come with it, onto that child. And I don't know if I'd even want to abdicate, and that drives me nuts."

"So, what is it that you intend to do?"

"Nothing, what else is there to do?" Ritsura said while looking her straight in the eyes. "I am my father's oldest child and it is my duty, my life's purpose, to take on this burden. It is not like dad originally wanted the title either." Her eyes turned golden and her hair white as she spoke. "Yes, that's right. It never was a matter of choice, not for dad and neither for me."

"Are you sure about that, Ritsura?" Saaya did not like the cold tone of her voice. For some reason, it gave her creeps.

"Yes, I am." Ritsura said and rose up. "We need to go to school." She looked away. "And I've wasted enough time on useless thoughts. There's an Onmyouji that needs to be taken down before she becomes a threat."

_Damn it, what do I do with her…  
_

* * *

"Oh? Are those bags under your eyes, Rihan?" This was the first thing Shiori said when she saw Rihan in his human form. She was waiting for him at the usual place where she waits whenever they don't stay somewhere else.

"Yes, they are." As if wanting to confirm it further, Rihan yawned. "After the battle, some of my clansmen found me and interrogated me about what happened as sis went to stay with Saaya. In my absence, the Endless Thief and Ao-Ju had ended up in a big argument and I had to calm them down and talk some stuff out with them. When I got back home, I got interrogated some more. In the end, I didn't sleep at all."

"Oh really? I didn't sleep much, but I at least slept somewhat." She flicked her hair and joined him in walking to school. "Maybe you should have stayed with me?"

"Then I both wouldn't get to sleep  _and_  I would be exhausted." He smirked.

"Hmph." She did some fake pouting. "You did well last night. You did nothing that Kaito has expected."

"And what did he expect?"

"To fall victim to the Thief's little sister or that you would kill all in your way." She smiled. "He did not expect you to spare the Thief and even make him your underling. Speaking of which…" She drew closer to him and removed the smile, as well as spoke in lower tone. "You were so vicious and manipulative towards the poor Thief, even making him kill  _her_  by himself. I didn't expect such an evil act out of you." She then smiled and took his hand with hers. "You made my heart thump faster."

"I didn't know you were watching." He let their fingers intervene.

"I am  _always_  keeping a close eye on you~"

"Careful there, you are letting your yandere side show up." He smiled. "But that's not what I meant. How do you get to see all the things that happen without cameras or being there?"

"In due time, I will show you." She had made a mysterious sign. "Suffice to say, the ones who make tales need a way to see what is going on. So of course, we have several methods to make it happen."

Rihan thought about replying, but then noticed two girls standing at the place where Saaya (sometimes) waited for them. Immediately after, Rihan and  _Araya_  let go of each other's hand and put a bit of space between them.

"Look at them pretending to behave properly." Saaya noted with her hands on her hips. "But I guess we should thank you for not being all lovey-dovey in front of us."

"It's a surprise to see you Saaya." Rihan commented and looked at Ritsura, who looked unusually serious. "How did you manage to persuade her to walk with us?"

"I didn't." Ritsura said, still serious. She looked like she wanted to talk about something, but this was not the time or place.  _And I don't feel like giving her an opportunity, especially not now that she looks to be in very bad mood._

"What? Like I can't come with you guys on my own accord." Saaya pouted.

"You rarely ever do, prez." Araya mentioned.

"Someone is missing." Saaya said as she looked around. "Where's Ryuzan?"

"Probably with that Onmyouji girl." Ritsura's mood seemed to have gotten fouler. "Doing gods know what." Saaya's lips seemed to have reacted to it.

"Oooo~ love triangle!" Araya just needed to put some fuel into the fire.

"No it's not!" Ritsura's face turned red, and so did Saaya's.

But some fuel was obviously not enough for the  _Evil Demon Overlady_. "Ooooh, Saaya-chan also turned red. Interesting…" She smirked while hiding a smirk with her hand. "I heard you dumped Ritsu-chin to go on a date with her crush. Was he  _that_  good?"

"It has nothing to do with it!" Saaya defended herself.

"Like I care!" Ritsura crossed her arms.

"It's not like that, I tell you!"

"Oh sure it isn't!" Ritsura talked back and the two continued arguing like that for a while, with Rihan looking at them half-heartedly and Shiori with a satisfied smile on her lips.

Rihan did not notice it when Shiori slowed her step, and he instinctively followed her lead, until some distance appeared between the two pairs.

"Kaito succeeded, huh?" Shiori whispered.

"What do you mean? And what does Kaito have to do with this?"

"The main purpose of his tale yesterday was actually to have you, Ryuzan, Ritsura and that Onmyouji girl come under influence of  _Baby Envy_. That's the name of the youkai they fought against." She immediately explained. "You avoided it and Ryuzan seems to have come out of it relatively untouched. But Ritsura… there's none of her usual spunkiness or cheerful behavior. She is not too serious… but quite clearly, she is very easily irritable right now."

"And that Ryoko…" Rihan joined in. "She had some very dark aura around her last night."

"Yeah, it seems to have brought something dark out of her." Shiori's eyes narrowed. "She's been causing a lot of trouble around the town in the last few days. But if she didn't get better by now, the next time she strikes, it might be a harder strike."

"And sis is in a foul enough mood to not put up with even her usual behavior. So if Ryoko's attacks intensify…"

"It'll make an interesting tale." She looked at him. "But why does Kaito care about this so much?"

"How could I know?"

"It was a rhetorical question." She sighed and looked in front of her again. "I have another job for  _Kokuhan-sama_ …"

"Yeah, I get it." He could guess what she wanted. And now that they saw Shima and Sakura wait for them (Mayuri was still in Seoul), they could not discuss the matter in more detail.

* * *

It was the third period and Ritsura had managed to get her mind off the doubts that she had… at least for now. While she acted like she listened to the teacher, her mind was elsewhere.

Her focus returned to the more pressing matters: Keikain Ryoko, the villain who was attacking the clan. Ritsura learned several things about her last night, but she had more answers than questions.

_"And I will not stop until I claim the title of the Nue for myself."_

" _The Nue."_  She wrote into her notebook while remembering Ryoko's proclamation. The Nue was the greatest enemy that the Nura Clan, and the rest of the youkai world, had met. She could understand if a Gokadoin Onmyouji had such ambitions, but not why a Keikain Onmyouji would.

" _Onmyouji?"_  was her next note. She remembered Ryuzan angrily proclaiming that Ryoko had abandoned half of her humanity in order to become a half-youkai. She knew that Onmyouji must always pay attention to not lose their humanity the further they advance their Onmyodo so she was surprised to find out that one of them would intentionally let the darkness consume half of their soul. This and Ryoko's use of curses, made Ritsura wonder if Ryoko was still an Onmyouji, or just an occultist meddling in dark arts.

" _Shikigami(?)"_  was the next note. Use of youkai as Shikigami was not that uncommon for Onmyouji. But when they used them like that, the youkai were usually forced into servitude. But they served Ryoko willingly and were even allowed the freedom of movement and action, which Ritsura found strange… until she found out that Ryoko saw herself as the Nue and had turned half of herself into a youkai. Taking those facts into consideration, the whole picture looked more consistent.

" _Bakenekoya"_  was the next thing she scribbled.  _Why would she attack Bakenekoya?_  Using one of her Shikigami, she lured the battle-ready youkai outside and then went to knock everyone remaining unconscious. Ryota-neko was kidnapped, but Ritsura doubted that he was ever the target.  _He must have seen something… maybe he managed to resist her curse?_  But what had he seen? And what did Ryoko need with Bakenekoya? The Bakeneko Clan and the Nuras both checked out the entire bar, but they found no clues about what could have happened there. But Ritsura had a feeling that it was something important.

Her next and final note was  _"Enemy"_. Ritsura tried to avoid unnecessary conflict with a Keikain Onmyouji, but she no longer saw it as a possibility. She did not know what Ryoko wanted, but she could not allow an occultist and a self-proclaimed Nue to do any more shady business on the Nura Clan's turf. It no longer mattered what Ryoko wanted. _If it's not anything malicious, I'll force her to tell us once she's taken down. If it's something malicious, then immediate action may save us. There's no more reason to hold back._

All things considered, Ritsura no longer viewed her as a minor threat.

And she would not allow someone like her to endanger her family and clan.

* * *

The sun was setting, and Keikain Ryoko was looking at it while standing atop a skyscraper. Hiroki, Hyouhaku and Hanae were standing behind her, still dressed in those silly costumes that Hanae bought.

There were several other Shikigami there as well, but they were simply floating around as paper talismans. It was not a rule or tradition that Ryoko made, but she noticed that the lesser Shikigami tried to stay in this form when in presence of the  _five leaders_. She presumed that this was their way to show respect to them.

"I've come to this town to prove something to myself… and to make a point." Ryoko started speaking. "We've hit the Nuras a bit, scared some of them… but now that I look back at it, all I did was a child's play." Her eyelids narrowed. "I'd started to have fun… to enjoy myself a little, even though I thought to myself that I was doing what I came here for. But it's wrong… last night, when I fought against that youkai, I remembered it." She put a hand on her chest. "The humiliations, the betrayals, the loneliness… and most importantly, what I  _needed_."

She put her hands behind her back and looked at the setting sun.

"I am Keikain Ryoko, a proud Onmyouji of House Keikain… even though some of my relatives would disagree. But I do follow the way of the Yin and Yang, maybe too much so." She tilted her head. "Youkai and humans, Yin and Yang, they are all equal to me. I seek to protect both… and to punish either should any deserve it." She looked down. "That's why I turned half of me into a youkai in the first place." She looked up again. "As a human and an Onmyouji, I did well here. I hunted down several evil youkai created by the unforgivable Hyaku Monogatari and have managed to preserve the peace, even though I came as an aggressor."

The sun had set, and the sky was getting darker.

"But I didn't come here as an Onmyouji." She turned around to face her youkai. "I came here as the claimant to the now vacant title of the Nue. I came here to prove, to myself more than to anyone else, that I am worthy of this title." She hit the palm of her hand with a fist. "This is the decisive point of my life, my dear Shikigami. If we can't stand against the might of a powerful youkai clan such as the Nura Clan, then we're like children with fancy dreams. There's no time for hesitations or holding back! Last night, I remembered that!"

That youkai from last night failed to turn Ryoko against Ryuzan and Ritsura. However, it did remind Ryoko of everything haunted her for many years of her life. And this killed all patience and hesitation that made her hold back ever since she came to the Ukiyoe Town.

"From tonight and for the next several nights, we are not acting as an Onmyouji and her Shikigami. Tonight and forward, we are acting as the Nue and her youkai!" Her eyes turned red. "So this is not purification, but a war amongst the Hyakki Yakous!" As if it were a sign of sorts, the lesser Shikigami turned into their youkai forms, though they sat and stood behind the three leaders. "My order to not kill still stands! My order to cease and desist in case another enemy attacks the Nuras still stands! But other than that… attack, burn, destroy, break, terrorize… do not hold back on the youkai of the Nura Clan! Spread your Fear and force the Nuras to fight us seriously!"

She could see all of the youkai smiling. This reminded her of one thing that she often forgot due to her human nature: unlike humans, youkai reveled in conflicts. As such, her holding back in order to keep her and Nuras' youkai safe was ridiculous. Even the Nuras would prefer that she took this approach.

"Fight well, my Shikigami… for otherwise, even if we all survive, we are dismissing our little group. It is just another raid for the Nuras… but for us, it is the most important battle yet."

"Yeaaaahhhh!" The youkai screamed in approval and spread out.

_So I finally did it… there is no turning back now._

She put her middle and index finger together and started reciting various words under her breath. The various Spiral Seals that she put around Ukiyoe responded to her call and the Spiral Seal was activated.

It was nothing on the level of Spiral Seals created by the likes of Gokadoin Tenkai and Hidemoto the 13th, but it should give them the advantage they need to have a chance in standing against the Nuras.

At least she hoped so.

* * *

As Ryuzan walked through the hallways of the Nura Clan's main household, he could notice the very moment when Ryoko made her move. At one moment every youkai was going on with their life, and then suddenly everyone was running around and panicking.

He knew Ryoko would do something stupid. But he did not expect anything that would cause such a ruckus.

There was no need to ask anyone what was going on. As he walked, he could hear youkai panic about a strange group attacking various members of the clan, never killing them but beating them up. The stands of Arawashi Family were ransacked, the Chinatown restaurants have gone silent, various troublemakers loyal to the Nuras were being beaten up… chaos was spreading through Ukiyoe, and fast. Some thought that this was consequence of the fall of Nejireme, but Ryuzan knew that it was not so, for Nejireme did not protect eastern lands from Onmyouji and their Shikigami.

But the atmosphere of panic soon disappeared, and gave place to another emotion: excitement. Learning that the invaders weren't killing anyone killed the ounce of fear they may have felt for their lives, and in their place appeared a wish to fight and the wish to prove to the invaders whether they should be so soft towards them. Many of these youkai desired a battle, and now they were getting one.

He wondered if he would still be welcome in this place once the youkai found out that the one responsible for the invasion was none else than Ryuzan's cousin and a close friend.

And then he stumbled upon  _her_. The anger in her golden eyes told him that she knew what was going on. "Your cousin crossed the line." Ritsura said in a cold tone. If a stranger heard them, they would probably never have guessed that these two were friends.

"It seems she did." He replied back. As he had expected, Ryoko was not the only one who was affected by that  _youkai's Fear_.

At least he hoped that this was due to it.

"You don't look surprised, Ryuzan."

"I'm not." He contemplated putting on a facade, but decided against it. He did not want to lie any more than he needed, not after learning the story that brought to these recent events.

"Since when did you know that this would happen?"

"I didn't know. I'd just thought it would happen after seeing Ryoko this morning. What happened last night had more of an effect on her than it looked like at first… and it looks like it had an effect on you as well."

"Ryuzan, can I trust you?" She asked him.

"You can…" He said, although he knew what she was going to ask next.

"Then tell me… what is going on." She stretched her hands. "Why did your cousin curse me? Why'd she attack my clan? Why are her Shikigami wreaking havoc across Ukiyoe?"

"It's not on me to answer that." He said in a dejected tone.

Her eyes widened. "You… know what is going on?"

"Ryoko… told me last night while I was carrying her back home."

"So why are you not telling me?" She asked, to which he replied by looking at the ground. "Why… why is she beating up my comrades? Why is she putting my clan at risk?"

Ryuzan remained silent.

"Is that your answer? Silence?" She clenched her teeth. "I don't think you understand what's going on here, Ryuzan. Her Shikigami are attacking my comrades whenever they see them. Not only executives, but  _everyone_  from my clan. No! They are attacking any youkai they see, including those that just came to hang around here, hoping to get some rest from danger outside Tokyo!" She looked more furious with each passing word. "They destroy our shops and other assets from where we earn our economy! They don't stop fighting until everyone is out-cold or unable to move!"

"She doesn't kill them, does she?" His wish to say something made him say something that he soon realized was stupid.

"Listen here, you…" She pointed her index finger at him. "That she doesn't kill does  _not_ matter. She's creating the perfect opportunity for Shiori, the Shin Sekai, Gorozaemon and even for the Kyushu bastards to attack! Us being alive will mean nothing if we don't have the strength to defend ourselves! And if any of those attack, Onmyouji, humans will suffer too! Her actions could lead to Tokyo getting swarmed by evil youkai who'll kill youkai and humans alike! As an Onmyouji, it's your duty to stop this from ever happening!" Her face softened. "Come on, you understand that you must tell me what is going on. It might help in putting an end to all these threats."

He understood that. It was his duty to put a stop to this childish game. "I still can't tell you…"

She did not seem to have expected this answer, as her eyes widened and her face showed that she was surprised by this answer. "Even though the lives of my comrades…. Lives of humans as well… even though she is doing all this… even after… even after all you and I have… gone through?"

"Ritsura…"

"You said I could always rely on you. Just now, you said I could trust you… Back then, you even…" She raised her hand to her lips as she shivered. He felt a pain in his chest while looking and listening to her. "Now when my clan is endangered… when I need you the most… you… you… you really are a liar, aren't you?"

"No, you-"

"Quiet!" She raised her hand. "You know what? This might actually be a blessing in disguise." She lowered her hand. "Let's stop with this charade. You and I… it was pointless from the very start. An Onmyouji and a youkai… have nothing to do with one another."

"You can't…"

"I can. I will." She slashed the air with her hand. "I have. Whatever red string you thought there may have been has just been cut down." She lowered her hand. "You go wherever you want. I'll go take down that crazy woman."

His eyes twitched at those words.

And she noticed it. "What an interesting reaction. So you really did take her side." She put on a sad smile. "I wonder what kind of melodramatic story she told you for you to… forget it." She started moving. "Dad made me responsible for any trouble she causes so I have better things to do, liar."

 _No, the reason I reacted like that was because…_  He wanted to say it, but his lips did not move. He just stood there until he could no longer hear her footsteps.

He looked up at the ceiling and took a deep breath. "I regret letting Ryoko tell me that story. Otherwise, this whole discussion would have ended with a happier ending." He did not tell to himself though. "This is all your fault, you know." He looked at the person who leaned against the wall near him. "I always wondered… why there was this strange distance between our families even though we pretended to be on good terms… and now I know why."

The youkai with gravity-defying hair did not say anything. He just stood there, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.

"You're the one who can put an end to this." Ryuzan turned towards him. "With just a few words, you can restore order to this circus and make Ryoko calm down… and put an end to everything!" Ryuzan was now honestly angry. "Yet you made Ritsura responsible for dealing with Ryoko? Are you actually trying to have them meet on the field of battle?"

"Are you judging my actions,  _human_?" Nura Rikuo opened his eyes and smiled. "Both of them could use some exercise… and I expect that Rihan will join it as well. Rivalry is not a bad way to foster good relationships." Rikuo winked at him. "Don't worry. If it gets out of hand I  _will_  intervene."

 _So you are using this situation? I wonder if you are underestimating this situation… or if I am overestimating it?_ "You better do… and you better take care of this once it's all over.  _All_  of it, with no loose ends!" Ryuzan turned his back to him. "Or else I swear that I'll be the one to destroy you." He said and started walking.

"Sure, that's what I intended to do in the first place." Rikuo replied to him. "So what do  _you_  intend to do now?"

"Prepare for war of course." Ryuzan said. "I don't intend to just stand aside and watch."

* * *

Rihan took a deep breath and opened his mouth… only to lower his head and sigh. "My sister is no doubt giving quite a speech at this very moment." He looked back up, at the night sky. "And I bet this Keikain Ryoko gave quite a speech as well, just before starting all this havoc. Yet…" He turned around and faced Ao-Ju and The Endless Thief. "Seeing as there're only two of you… it kills my motivation about giving one."

"I can bring in my own subordinates." Ao-Ju raised his finger.

"I can kidnap some kids." The Endless Thief made his own suggestions, to which Ao-Ju reacted by giving him an angry glare. "Kids are easy to fascinate."

"Now we're discussing a proposition of getting a fake audience here." Rihan put a hand across his face. "This is the worst…"

"So… I take it that this isn't the best time for me to suggest kicking this thief out of our group and letting me arrest him for his hideous crimes? I know it'd further reduce the size of our group but…" Ao-Ju spoke but Rihan's look told him everything. "I was just wondering." Ao-Ju shrugged his shoulders.

"So what do we do now?" The Endless Thief asked.

"We walk around until someone attacks us." Rihan said and turned away from them. "You two spread out but keep close. I don't want to fall into an ambush and I want you both to be close enough in case of an attack."

"As you say chief!"

"As you say boss!"

And the two of them quickly disappeared. Immediately after, Rihan started walking at a leisurely pace.

"I wonder who'll attack me first." He asked himself. "I really hope that the clan doesn't rob me of the best enemies… and I do still need to find out why Kaito is so interested in all this." He sighed again. "I also wonder how many small fries I'll have to take care of before I meet one of the big bad boys."

Without any actual reason to do so, he looked up at the skyscrapers… And saw a girl dressed as a shrine maiden looking at the streets.

"Huh?" He stopped walking and continued looking up at her.

And as if she felt his gaze, she looked down in his direction.

 _Can she… see me?_  Rihan wondered while the two of them just stood and looked in one another's direction.  _Should I just walk away?_ He considered it for a while, and then sighed.  _This is so disappointing…_  He took the sword into his hands and unsheathed it.

Appropriately, a bow and an arrow appeared in her hands, and Rihan could see a smile decorate her face.

 _Ryoko of all people… she has to take care of me before being able to deal with my sister, the big bad from her perspective. I can't believe I've ended up being only the midboss in someone else's tale!_ Still though, he returned the smile.  _But on the bright side, at least I won't have to wait for too long to have some fun.  
_

* * *

While the creatures of darkness were battling outside, some office workers were working overtime due to their company entering a crisis. All of them had the expressions that were a mixture of exhaustion and frustration.

All but one of them, that is. This one was smiling and humming a song while typing on his computer. His real name was unimportant, but he sometimes went by the penname Ishikawa Kaito.

"In good mood as always, I see." An elderly cleaning lady noted as she walked past him.

"Of course." He replied to her. "One must always enjoy his life to the fullest."

"Hahaha…" She meekly laughed at it. "It's still so hard to believe that the once always depressed young-un would turn into someone like him. Well, enjoy the rest of your night." She said and continued moving away.

 _Of course I will enjoy it._ He allowed his smile to grow further and his humming to get louder.  _I've the power to kill and save… to create and destroy._ He  _And just now, my plot succeeded and I caused a war between two groups of spiritual beings. Ever since I became a player, my life's been such a joy._

"Would you please stop singing?" One of his co-workers complained.

"Yeah!" "That's right!" "Mhm!" The others agreed.

"Sorry, I got lost in my work." He apologized and stopped humming.  _I could even kill all of you. Ha, wouldn't that be special! The boss comes to his job, only to find out that everyone but his most cheerful employee disappeared from the face of the earth...or got slaughtered in bloody ways._

But he soon forgot about that thought, as such a tale was not good enough to keep his attention for long. After all, to him all of his co-workers, as well as his boss, were nothing more than  _dull and meaningless characters_.

_It's a shame that Ryoko's Shikigami are not killing anyone… I wonder if I could make it worse? Hm, no… if I meddle in unimportant details, I'll cheapen the tale._

_No, if I want to make this tale better… more horrifying… I'll have to keep a lookout and use an opportunity when it shows itself._

_So let's see… what can I do…?_

* * *

**I-I-I-I-I**

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And the third anniversary of the fic is here… and I don't really have anything that special to offer :( Still, I hope you enjoy this chapter which starts the climax of the arc.

\- Ryoko's invasion was nothing major until now. It was a few strikes here and there, but it was all light. However, thanks to events of last few chapters, both Ryoko and Ritsura were pushed to the edge and lost a lot of their tolerance and patience. Now that Baby Envy forced Ryoko to confront whatever darkness was troubling her in the fullest, this girl is no more holding herself back. The conflict now starts in earnest

\- The fallout between Ritsura and Ryuzan was planned for a long while, though I was unsure how to get with it. But not making it seem like too much of a soap opera was a challenge… and I am not sure if this doesn't still look like a soap opera. Will it get better? Well, we shall see…

\- How clear-minded and calm Rihan is compared to his sister… the tables sure have turned!

-  _"All according to Keikaku!"_  - thought that must have gone through Kaito's head several times during this arc, the facial expression included


	77. Shades and Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As a consequence of their meeting with Baby Envy, Ryoko became bolder in her attacks on the Nura Clan, resulting in a full-fledged attack on Ukiyoe town. Ritsura, for the same reason, started suffering from a crisis of identity and her tolerance towards Ryoko's actions got lower. Everything seems to work as Ishikawa Kaito intended...

**Chapter 77 – Shades and Shadows**

The day's work was over, so Kaito and his co-workers have left their office building.

"So?" One of Kaito's co-workers started the weekly ritual. "Should we go to the bar and get ourselves drunk?"

"Of course, Rine-san." Kageyama said. "You're coming with us too, Jinrei-san, Harutora-san, Kimizuki-san?" Each of them nodded as he said their names, until he finally looked towards Kaito. "And you, Ishikawa?"

"No, I am sleepy." Kaito shrugged. "But thanks for asking."

"You never go out with us." Kimizuki sighed. "Well, enjoy the rest of the night then, Ishikawa-san."

"We sure will." Rine winked, as if Kaito were missing something by not going with them.

 _And now onto the fun part._ It was time to put the plans he made during his work-time into motion. He could sense that the darkness around him became unstable, and he already got reports that both Nura clan's and Hyaku Monogatari's youkai were being attacked by Ryoko's Shikigami. There were not many of them, but they were strong enough to rustle the jimmies of these two larger youkai clans.

But unless he does something, this night would end on a relatively comfortable note. And the word ' _comfortable_ ' was, to Kaito, a synonym for ' _boring_ '. If he wanted to make this night properly memorable, he would need to intervene.

He had to turn it into some kind of tragedy. Creating tragedies was the purpose behind the Hyaku Monogatari's existence after all.

And then his cellphone rang. _Who the hell could this be?_ Since he had no close family members left, the only ones whoever called him were his co-workers and his boss, and those calls rarely came outside the work hours. Shiori and the rest of Hyaku Monogatari used different ways of communication. _Maybe the boss needs something?_ He looked at his cellphone, but the number was unknown. _It must be those annoying co-workers of mine. I swear, if this ends up being a prank or a waste of my time, I'll show them how ugly pranks can get._

Since the call could only come from someone that belonged to the dull side of his life, he considered ignoring the call. But due to his curiosity, he answered it. "Hello?"

" _Cease and desist."_ A female voice ordered.

"…huh?"

" _Ishikawa Kaito, the player of the Rose Coalition, I order you to cease and desist."_ The woman explained, revealing that she was someone from the interesting side of his life. _"We know you were the one who orchestrated last night's events, when many lives were destroyed due to trauma, death or other causes."_

"Who are you?"

The woman ignored his question. " _We understand. The Hyaku Monogatari is making you do these things. But you are the one who chooses how far you will go. And you have done enough."_

_How did a goodie-two-shoe get my number? And how do they know all this?_

" _We are also aware that you intend to needlessly cause trouble tonight as well."_

"How did you come to that idea?" He asked, though he doubted that she would be answering any of his questions.

" _Turn around and go to your home. Or go get drunk with your co-workers."_ She gave him an outrageous order _. "Cease and desist. We will not repeat this again."_

And then she hung up.

But Kaito continued holding the cellphone in front of his ear a while longer. "Just who are you, to give me grand orders like this?" He finally put the cellphone back into his pocket. "It matters not. An artist can't be stopped from creating his artworks."

* * *

Rihan, who still stood in middle of a crowded street, and Ryoko, who still stood atop a tall building, have not yet exchanged a single blow. But as far as Rihan was concerned, the battle between them started the moment both of them had gotten their weapons unsheathed and aimed at one another. _Though my aiming is just for show and hers is actually useful._

Even though she could, Ryoko still hadn't released an arrow at him. And it was obvious why: humans were still walking around. _I could just walk to her and avoid all the risk of getting shot at._

 _But that's kind of dishonorable, not to mention, so not fun._ And as such, Rihan released his Fear around him, and he could feel Ao-Ju and Endless Thief doing the same. The up-till-then calm and bored humans became anxious and soon they all quickly left, while the other humans avoided getting into these streets. The few humans who were still present were rare and walked with a hastened pace.

Rihan's Fear was strong enough to clear all the humans in radius of six hundred meters. Seeing as the building Ryoko was on was around four hundred meters away, they had a large enough battlefield.

Ryoko lowered her bow a little, though she continued to stare at him. Rihan took it as her giving him the right to start moving before she started attacking, probably a gesture of respect for clearing the streets.

"Here goes. All or nothing." Rihan took a position and then started sprinting. Soon after, Ryoko raised her bow and released her first arrow.

A normal human would probably not have been able to shoot an arrow at such distance, yet alone have a chance to hit Rihan. But Ryoko was supposed to be a high level Onmyouji, so the arrow was shot in such a way that Rihan could not evade it.

So he slashed his sword with one hand and destroyed the arrow before it could reach him. And before he could rest his sword hand, he had to move it again to destroy another arrow. Both arrows were radiating spiritual and malicious energies, and Rihan expected that just getting grazed by them might prove to be dangerous for him.

Unfortunately, simply slashing through them would not prove to be an option for him: five skulls have appeared around Ryoko and Rihan already knew that it would result in her shooting six arrows at once on him. And before he could even start making a plan, the arrows were released, albeit not at the same time. _She's aiming for something bigger than just shooting all of them at me._

Unfortunately, there was not much time for thinking. One arrow struck the ground early, another one as well and another two hit the same spot. A bright, burning light shone in front of Rihan, in similar way as some of Ryuzan's techniques did. So instinctively, Rihan decided to jump over the light in order to avoid it and continue moving towards his enemy.

But before he even saw what was in front of him, he clenched his teeth. _Shit! I fell into her trap, didn't I?_ When he saw a thick, black cloud behind the orb of light, he knew what Ryoko was going for.

Once he landed inside it, he was unable to see Ryoko's arrows. One grazed him across his face and soon after, multiple arrows followed. One struck his left shoulder, another scraped against his right arm and yet another grazed his leg. The rest missed him. _She should have had a good guess where I would land and move. She must be going easy, otherwise they all would have hit me and they would have hit me in vital spots._

The clouded area was not so large thus Rihan quickly left it. He saw Ryoko pull her bow and aim at him, more than she usually did. Then she released the arrow and then another soon after.

Once again, due to lack of time his instincts made him slash the arrow before he had time to think it through. When he slashed his sword at the second arrow, he looked as his sword rusted and turned into dust just before it reached the arrow.

The arrow, however, did not hit him but it struck the ground just below his legs. But that was probably intentional as a strong gust of wind blew around it, throwing Rihan backwards for half of the way he made since the battle started.

Realizing that he could not reach her while she had a good view of him, he decided to hide from her field of vision, a method he wanted to avoid because it did not look as impressive as just storming directly at her. _I seriously underestimated her._ He thought with a smile. _But this battle ain't over yet, Onmyouji girl._

* * *

Ritsura was sitting inside her room, cleaning her sword with a wet tissue. She had already given the order to counter-attack and everyone was either preparing or had gone into the fold. Seeing as Ryoko was unlikely to show up anywhere too soon, Ritsura took some time to prepare herself for the inevitable fight.

 _Nenekirimaru…_ She thought to herself as she looked at the blade. Although the sword had the same name as the one used by her brother, this one was conceptually different. It was somewhat larger and heavier, though Ritsura preferred the feeling of holding it more than the one which was given to her brother (and which got broken recently), which was built to more closely resemble her father's before it broke at the Spiral Castle.

However, it was not the sword that she cared about, but the ones who built it: the Keikain House of Onmyouji. Even though the Keikains were not particularly fond of youkai, in multiple fights they cooperated with the Nura Clan to fight the greater threats, be they youkai of the Kyoto Clan, the Onmyouji of the Gokadoin House or the humans of the Shin Sekai.

And the spiritual swords that they built and gave to the Nuras represented the trust that Keikains put in the Nuras. It represented that, no matter how different the two clans are, they were still allies where it counted. Ritsura knew from her trips to Kyoto that many of the Keikains from the branch families did not like this informal alliance, but their leader, Keikain Yura, was always nice towards her, even if sometimes she too pretended to dislike the youkai in front of her.

But this time, the enemy was a Keikain, and this Keikain was the very daughter of Keikain Yura. What did this mean then? How would the tonight's battle affect the Nura Clan's relations with the Keikain House? What did this last set of events tell about the actual relations between the Nuras and Keikains?

Ritsura was confused. This would seem to be an important event that might affect the relations between these two allies forever, but her father thought it was minor enough that Ritsura should take care of it. And what about Ryoko's mother, Yura? Her father said that he told her about it, but seemingly Yura did nothing to make her daughter stop or return home.

What was even the motive behind all this? Ryoko did not care to tell her and Ryuzan decided to keep it secret as well. Was the good relationship between these two families merely a facade while something darker was behind it?

And why did her daughter want to be the Nue? Why did she intentionally turn part of herself into a youkai? Why did Ryuzan make it sound like Yura was fine with it?

Ritsura had no answers, only questions. And this terrified her. _I have to act and make decisions, but how can I decide anything without even knowing what the hell is going on? Is it even possible for me not to fuck up the relations between our two families? Ugh…_

She wondered if she should even take this sword with her, seeing as she would be having to use it against a Keikain Onmyouji and her Shikigami. _Out of respect I should maybe leave it behind._

_But if worst came to worst, I may end up having to slash Ryoko with a sword. In that case, I might regret not taking this sword whose slashes don't do much to humans and it's weaker on part-humans. All this respect will mean shit if I leave it behind and end up killing the Keikain girl._

In the end, she decided to take it with her. _It may seem disrespectful, but keeping that girl's sorry life safe is more important._

"My girl's thinking too much about things again, I see." A female voice spoke to her.

"Mom…" Ritsura looked at her mother, who promptly sat beside her. "Looks like things got heated up."

"They sure did." Her mother sighed. "Are you sure about this? As much as I dislike that woman, even I have to admit that Keikain Yura was a fearsome Onmyouji. From what I hear, her… this girl is much more terrifying than Yura was at her age."

"She's an enemy." Ritsura said in a cold voice. "I have to beat her." She then looked at her mother. "You said that even before her attacks reached the level they did."

"Yeah… you have to beat her." For some reason, her mother looked away. "But you must not take it too far."

"Because Keikains are our allies?"

There was a small silence before she replied. "…yes, that too."

"…you know what's going on, mother?"

She did not reply.

"Mother, what's…"

"I won't say."

"That…" Ritsura felt her face turn red. "Why does everyone say that?"

Her mother finally looked at her again. "From what I hear, you got angry at that Onmyouji boy when he gave you the same answer?"

"Don't bring him into this."

"Ritsura, even your mother gives you the same answer." Tsurara said while still looking at her. "So don't go hard on that boy."

"And since when were you so fond of him?"

"I am not. But _you_ are." She looked away. "And as long as that stays, I can't approve of you acting like that."

"I am not fond of him… I just saw him as a friend."

"A friend, huh?" She sighed. "You see, me and your father…"

"Mom, this is _really_ not the time for that." Ritsura started raising herself up, but her mother pulled her back down.

"You see, me and your father… we started dating when he was near fourteen. And it went well for while, but then something happened."

"Mom, I really don't have time for this."

"What happened you ask?"

"No, I really don't."

"We got very close to becoming a real couple, we even kissed…" Her mother made an awkward smile. "And something after that made me afraid… first it started to make me doubt if I wasn't dangerous for his health. That then made me wonder if I wasn't getting ahead of myself… that he deserved someone better than a lowly servant like me. And then that my love was maybe just a servant's adoration. It'd be years until Rikuo-sama decided he'd had enough of it." She looked at the ceiling. "Back then, it all made sense to me… but looking back at it now, I was just lying to myself, afraid that what I felt was a lie. In reality, I just made myself doubt the truth and believe a real lie." And then she looked at her daughter again. "And almost… almost… I lost him forever. And now that I think about it… I would've gone insane if I lost him. Others… may not be as lucky as I was."

"I am telling you, I was never-"

"Just think about it." Her mother rose up. "I may have been lucky enough to not lose him, but I will forever regret my hesitation." She looked at her daughter. "Anyway, you have an important fight in front of you. Don't lose… but be careful not to go too far either." She then turned away and started leaving. "Well, Rikuo-sama will put an end to it if it gets out of hand, I am sure."

_Gezz… I keep him around me, she goes nuts. I get into a fight with him, she goes nuts. What does she even want from me?_

_In any case, I have to go._ Ritsura sheathed her sword and rose up. No doubt, Gozumaru and Heiko were waiting for her. _I wonder where Ryuzan has gone… ugh, I don't care!_

With a heavy step, she left her room. Gozumaru and Heiko were waiting for her. By some miracle, they were not arguing with one another.

"Heiko, Gozumaru." She greeted them and continued walking down the hallway, with the two youkai following after her.

"Ritsura-sama!" Nattou-Kozou appeared in front of them. "It is back!"

"What is back?"

"The arrow! Someone shot the arrow into our backyard!" The terrified, small youkai explained. "That Onmyouji girl uses arrows, right? What if it's hers?"

"It is definitely hers." Ritsura sighed. There was no proof of it, but when arrows start appearing after an archer visits your town, there was little left for doubt. "I don't have time for this. Go find a bunch of other youkai and destroy it without getting close to it."

"What if-"

"I left a dozen strong youkai to guard the household. Damn it if that's not enough to stop whatever happens." She said and continue walking. "Don't you worry, our comrades can take care of it."

"As you say, Ojou-sama…" Nattou-Kozou nodded and ran to alert the others.

"Maybe we should've stayed behind?" Heiko wondered.

"Ritsura-sama made a good call." Gozumaru disagreed with her. "We are the main force and we are expected to deal with the boss. We don't have times for trifling matters like this."

"Yes, but-"

"No buts." Gozumaru stood with his opinions. "What if it's a trap? What if some powerful Shikigami comes out and we use up our strength? We'll probably have to deal with a lot of traps and enemies on our way to that Onmyouji girl. Do you really believe that adding another obstacle to our path would be a good idea?"

"No… you are right Gozumaru." Heiko gave in. "Let us hope the ones remaining here will know how to deal with it."

"They're all experienced warriors and some of them are my father's closest followers. They're more trustable than us three." Ritsura noted.

"Oh no!" Someone shouted from afar. "It's that Muchi who attacked Houkou-sama!"

"Aneki…"

"No, keep walking." Ritsura ordered. "Damn it, I hoped I'd get a chance to punch him myself…"

* * *

"So this is the Nura Clan's Main House, huh?" Hanae looked around. He managed to neutralize the few youkai who were closest to the place he was summoned around, but the others would arrive soon so he did not have much time to look around.

"Alright friends, you know what we need to do." He took out three Shikigami papers out of his suit and let them go. "Please, return safely to Ryoko-sama." He said and let the papers from his hands, after which he used the winds to make them flow away. _I hope nobody sees them before the time's right._

"Looks like I'm in the garden." He commented to himself. "Good, this is better than hallways. There's a lot less chance I end up hurting those I don't need to." The hallways and rooms were filled with obstacles like walls, doors and furniture. There was a good chance that his poison would reach someone who was too weak to resist it, putting their lives at risk. _After all, I need to use enough poison to take down a youkai. If a human gets in the way… it'd get bad._

Additionally, being here made him easy to spot so none of the _enemies_ would need to search for him. That meant that nobody would even be aware that there would be fewer youkai in the way of the three Shikigami he sent to do their task.

Soon enough, he was surrounded by numerous youkai. But none attacked him yet, and he could hear them calling him _Muchi_ and _'The one who defeated Hitotsume and Houkou'_. Supposedly, both of these facts were enough to make them hesitate.

But the hesitation did not last for long. The youkai prepared to jump at him, fully knowing that they would most likely be taken down. _I'm sorry, but this won't last for even a moment._ He prepared to release the winds at them the moment they got too close.

But then something fell between him and them, and when the dust cleared he could see a tall person dressed in red and with a hood over his head.

"Shouei-sama?" One of the youkai said.

"He's mine." The youkai called Shouei spoke while his eyes stayed pinned on Hanae. "Don't you guys dare mix in."

"You're Shouei, the leader of the Hihi Clan, right? I… see." Hanae thought about apologizing, but he thought that it would just anger this person.

"Yeah, I'm the son of Hihi… the youkai whom your uncle murdered." Shouei said and then his brows raised. "You're Hanae, that guy's nephew, right?"

"Yes, I am." Hanae nodded. "I'm guessing that you seek vengeance."

"I'm sorry. I know you had nothing to do with it." Someone threw Shouei an oversized sword which he easily grabbed with one hand. "But I never got my vengeance against him or Tamazuki. So I won't pass up the chance to beat the hell out of that accursed guy's nephew."

"I see. I'm sorry you feel that way." Hanae opened his palm and poisonous winds started whirling around him. "If it's possible, I hope our fight satisfies at least a small part of your soul."

* * *

"What's that arrow going for?" Rihan wondered while he looked up at the sky "Not for me, that's for sure." The arrow went straight, without any sign that it had started its descent. "It's in the direction of our household… I wonder if it has anything to do with it."

_I wish I could see that girl, but that's impossible from this alleyway. And checking it isn't worth getting back to where crazy chicks can see me._

"Chief, are you alright?" Ao-Ju soon appeared, as did the Endless Thief. "Looks like she did a number on you, boss."

"I'm fine. If she's cursed me, I'm not feeling it yet."

"Let me check." The Endless Thief put his black hand on Rihan's chest and then pulled it back after several moments had passed. "There're no curses for me to steal."

"Oh? You would've taken my curse onto yourself?" Rihan smirked. "How honorable of you, thief."

"Oh no, I'd be a decent citizen and hand it to the police." He said and looked at Ao-Ju. Rihan wondered what kind of face he made behind that mask.

"In any case, I'm glad to know there's no curse on me." Rihan looked around. "Now, let's…"

"Wait, boss! I said there weren't any curses to steal. I didn't say there were no curses." Endless Thief noted.

"Huh? If there's one, why couldn't you…"

"Because, boss, this curse is not related to an individual." Endless Thief stated.

"If reports of my men and Shiori-sama's allies are correct, everyone in Ukiyoe has gotten cursed." Ao-Ju added. "Although we still don't know the nature of the curse."

"Everyone was cursed?" Rihan's brows lowered. "How's that possible?"

"We don't know chief, but that Onmyouji we are fighting against has been doing strange things at several locations, like at that Bakenekoya Bar." Ao-Ju put his hands onto his hips. "My men kept an eye on her and checked the places she visited, but they were unable to do anything."

Endless Thief looked frustrated. "You should have asked someone for help, idiot cop."

"We did not suspect that an Onmyouji of all people would be up for trouble." Ao-Ju replied back and then turned towards Rihan. "In any case, we should be careful. We don't know what this curse will do to us."

"I see." Rihan sighed. "Damn her. This girl was preparing such an elaborate trap for us and we just sat and waited for her to make her move."

"So? What do we do now, boss?"

"Let me think about it."

Trying to reach her head-on was out of question. With her marksmanship, he was like a sitting duck to her even while he ran. _That's an Onmyouji for you. Can't underestimate them even if they're humans._

_Should I use the sewers? No, that's a silly plan. This isn't a cartoon._

_But I could go through buildings, from building to building…_

"So we are done playing _Hit-and-Run_ , huh?" A feminine voice called him out of his thoughts.

Rihan slowly moved his head to the side, his face still looking disinterested even if he was aware that he was probably in trouble. Whom he saw was the one he expected: the Keikain Onmyouji from before. Interestingly enough, she did not hold the bow in her hands.

"When did you get there?" Ao-Ju demanded to know while aiming his pistols at her.

She looked at him, and then her smile disappeared for a moment when her eyes fell on the Endless Thief. she looked curious at his presence.

But she did not seem to have had much interest in him either as she quickly turned her eyes back at Rihan. "I presume you want to play _Hide-and-Seek_?"

"Hoo?" Rihan decided to tease her. "Do you really think it's wise to get so close to…" While he talked, five skulls flew from behind her and aimed themselves at the two youkai and the Hanyou, the arrows themselves burning with fire. "Oh shit… Ruuun!"

Rihan and his two followers turned tail and ran from the girl while trying to avoid the flaming arrows, all of which exploded when they touched the ground. The explosions did no physical damage, but it did cause pain to the youkai.

When Rihan jumped out of the alley, he turned around and unsheathed his sword in the process, but the girl was no longer there. _So we're both hiding and seeking at the same time… and just a moment ago I thought that something like that would be on my terms._

* * *

"Aneki…" Heiko started while she, Ritsura and Gozumaru ran around the streets of Ukiyoe, searching for Ryoko. "Wouldn't it have been better if she took a flying youkai? It's not like our clan lacks them…"

"Stupid!" Once again Gozumaru answered instead of Ritsura. "Our enemy is an archer and a highly skilled Onmyouji. Do you really want to put yourself on pedestal so she can get a good view of you no matter where in the town she is?"

"Hmmmm…" Heiko pouted, but did not answer back. She knew that what Gozumaru spoke was true.

"There's no reason for hurry." Ritsura joined the conversation. "Ryoko seems to have her aim on me. Even if we don't find her, she'll make her presence known."

"So we wait?" Gozumaru asked.

"No. We search. I'd prefer to find her before…" Ritsura looked around. Some youkai were ransacking a place belonging to their clan. "…these guys do too much damage. The sooner we get rid of her, the less damage will be done."

"What about dealing with them in the meantime?" Heiko suggested. "Should we really be ignoring them like this?"

"How stupid can a woman possibly get?" Gozumaru growled an insult that made even Ritsura want to punch him. "Exhaustion, remember? For the same reason we ain't dealing with that arrow, we ain't dealing with them."

"Ryoko probably wants us to waste our energy on these guys. We can't let her have it her way." Ritsura added to his explanation. "Besides, they'll get outnumbered very soon, once the youkai from nearby town join us. It's she who can't afford to wait, not us."

"I see." Heiko sighed. "This is all so complicated… where're the good 'ol days when we just beat up one another?"

They continued running for a while longer without saying anything, when Heiko opened her mouth again. "Aneki."

"I know." Ritsura said and unsheathed her sword. She then jumped, started turning in the air and created a hammer made of ice around the sword. She then used that weapon to break the large cupboard that was flying at them, turning it into a mass of splintered wood. After that, she let the ice break apart and put the sword's blunt side onto her shoulder. "Didn't think I'd see you so soon." She said to the attacker.

"Quite the contrary for me." Hyouhaku, the Bakeneko under service of Keikain Ryoko, said while slowly walking towards the trio. "I just knew we'd meet."

"Oh, so you were looking for me?" Ritsura asked a hypothetical question. "A shame I don't have time to entertain you then." She then turned her back to Houhaku. "Gozu, Heiko… deal with her."

"I don't need-" Gozumaru started complaining.

"You'll need her." Ritsura said and started walking away. "This chick's hot shit. Trust me, you'll need all help you can get."

"Tz, if you say so Aneki." Heiko sounded even more annoyed then Gozumaru.

"That's my line, you stupid woman!" Gozumaru replied back, but Ritsura could not hear them squabbling anymore. Both of them had understood her message.

* * *

"Hey!" A voice whispered towards a creature that looked like a meter and a half tall walking fish.

"Huh?" The youkai jumped around, but calmed down when he saw a many-eyed walking crow. "Oh, it is just you."

Both of them were holding large bags on their shoulders and were sneaking around an old Japanese house.

"You done with your place?" The fish youkai asked to which the crow nodded. "Good, then help me check that place over there." He suggested and the two ran while trying to make as little noise as possible.

"Ummm, Rikuo-sama…" A Yuki-Onna watching the two of them finally started speaking. "They aren't ours, right? So shouldn't we stop them?"

"No." Rikuo, who's Fear kept both of them hidden from those two foreign youkai, answered. "Let's go." He said and resumed walking.

"But they're still an enemy, right?" She spoke while keeping him company. "We should do _something_. I mean, who knows what they're up to."

"I gave full responsibility to Ritsura. If something happens, it will be her responsibility. As such, it was her duty to take care that these guys never got a chance to sneak around." He then smiled. "But I'm sure you will be fine."

"You're too trusting of that Onmyouji's girl, Rikuo-sama." She sighed.

"I promised to not interfere, but you didn't." Rikuo reminded her. "If you're worried, feel free to do whatever you want."

"No. Unless you join, that'd make me the one un-cool parent." Tsurara crossed her arms. "But if something bad happens, I'm giving you _both_ a hearing."

"Oooh? I guess I will have to disappear."

"You can't run from me forever. And when I get to you…"

"You'll punish me for being naughty?" Rikuo asked with a large grin. "Alright, I accept whichever punishment you think up for me."

"Gah…" Tsurara turned red. "You made me fall for a trap! No, it'll just be me yelling at you! There will be nothing else!"

"What if I turn a deaf ear to you?"

" _Then I will scream at you!"_ is what Rikuo expected her to say.

"Then I will s-" She started but then he whispered a word under his breath. "-pank you!" She subconsciously repeated it and then she turned ever redder. "Rikuo-sama! Stop doing that!" The air around them turned cold. "That is too mean!"

"Do what?"

"Hmmmmm!" Tsurara pouted and looked away. "Maybe I will. But not before I scream at you!"

"Hai hai." He smiled and turned his eyes in front again. But after remembering _what_ he had to talk about with _them_ , the smile disappeared.

"By the way, Rikuo-sama… this girl, Ryoko… aren't there too many Shikigami?" Tsurara decided to change the topic. "It doesn't seem to be a hundred of them, but there are still a few dozen. I thought Yura being able to use five Shikigami was big."

"Ryoko…" Rikuo's eyes narrowed. "She actually has almost two hundred of them in Kansai. Only a small few are with her."

"Wha- TWO HUNDRED?" Tsurara gasped. "Isn't that waaaay too many? An Onmyouji with that many… it is inconceivable."

"Seimei was also an Onmyouji, remember? He didn't have this many, but then again he focused on collecting only the strongest youkai. Ryoko collects everyone." Rikuo noted. "In either case, she can have this many because she is neither summoning a spirit from somewhere else nor is she forcing a youkai to do her bidding. All her Shikigami are basically youkai following her from their own free will."

"I must say, you know a lot about her… or just about Onmyodo." Tsurara looked at him with annoyance. "Did Ryuji tell you about this? Ryoko herself? Or did you maybe hear it from that Onmyouji woman?"

"A bit from Ryoko, a bit from Ryuji." Rikuo looked away. "And yes, a bit from Yura."

"Hmm." Tsurara frowned. "But Youkai who are willingly following an Onmyouji, huh? I have a lot to say about that…"

"Youkai respect strength. If it's someone who can kill them, a youkai may follow. And especially the ones with no clan."

"Rikuo-sama, I know that better than you do. Remember, I'm a pure-blooded youkai." Tsurara reminded him. "But we both know that it's not pure strength that made the youkai follow this girl." Then her brows lowered. "The more I hear about her from you or anyone else, the more I think this girl resembles Seimei and the tales about him."

"Seimei is a legendary Onmyouji. Even those who know the truth behind him still admire him. I don't doubt that she intentionally imitates him." His eyes narrowed. "And Ritsura even mentioned that she called herself the Nue last night."

"Shouldn't you be worried about this? That she may end up becoming just like Seimei, that is?"

Rikuo stayed silent for a few moments. "I won't believe something like this could ever happen."

"She crowns herself a Nue."

"And I crown myself the Lord of Pandemonium. Remember from whom we Nuras took that title from? The title alone says nothing about her."

"It's more than just the title…" Tsurara whispered under her breath.

"Seimei wanted to exterminate every youkai he didn't deem worthy. Ryoko rarely ever kills a youkai, with sealing them being the worst fate they suffer. Seimei was never that soft."

Before Tsurara could say anything back, Rikuo spoke up again. "In any case, here we are… let's get this over with." He said while looking into a room.

"I'll wait here."

"Of course..." He made a bitter smile. "Well, here we go..."

* * *

The battle between Shouei and Hanae had been an intense one. The manor's courtyard was ransacked beyond recognition, although the Nura Clan's precious cherry tree was miraculously left untouched by the chaos. The wall of the mansion had also gotten destroyed at one place, and the two combatants were now dancing just outside the mansion. Most of the youkai of the Nura clan stayed behind the walls, though some did go outside to get a better view.

Shouei was not fighting at less than full strength or stalling for time. Since the battle started, he had given his all to crush the enemy in front of him. If Hanae needed one attack to defeat Shouei, then Shouei would take care that one hit gets to be enough to take down Hanae. For that reason, Shouei had grown larger and his strength was at the level at which he could crush Hanae with his bare hands. Still, he used his family's sword both to make himself stronger and to strike at Hanae from a safer distance.

And he was raging. He was robbed of his revenge when Nurarihyon killed the Muchi who slaughtered many of the Hihi Clan. Though that proved to be wise, for Muchi was likely far above the level Shouei was back then.

Then Shouei decided to exact vengeance against the one who orchestrated the whole slaughter, the very leader of the Shikoku Clan. But he was robbed of that revenge as well, when his sworn brother Rikuo decided to spare Tamazuki. Shouei understood his decision, even if he disliked it, and he could not deny that Tamazuki's help was of great use during the Nura Clan's war against the Gokadoin.

The youkai in front of him was in no way responsible of what had occurred, Shouei was aware of it. But he was a Muchi, and that woke up a slumbering beast inside of him. Being left with no other way to gain any revenge against the ones who murdered his father, this pointless fight was all he could have.

So he swung his sword and cut the Fear in front of him. Hanae threw many gusts of poisonous wind at Shouei, but the ape youkai cut through them and sometimes, just to stay safe, used the rubble created by damaging the ground to shield himself. _But why's it so hard to hit him? It isn't even like his evasions are of that high a skill-level. No, I'm probably reading too much into it. I have to stay focused!_

Hanae, who was already sweating from all the jumping around, started accumulating larger gusts of wind around himself. This was about to be a stronger attack.

Which meant that Shouei's next attack had to be even stronger.

" _Taien…_ " He put one hand on the ground and the sword behind him. The Fear sprouted from all around his body as he spoke. " _…Hihi no Oodachi!_ "

Just when Hanae released the large gusts of wind towards him, Shouei swung his sword downward and cut the enemy's Fear with his own.

"You are one fearsome enemy, Shouei-san." Hanae fixed his hat while slowly walking backwards. "I have this feeling that you've been preparing for a battle like this."

Shouei did not grace him with a reply, but Hanae was correct. The defeat of the Hihi clan by the hands of a Muchi was a great embarrassment for his family name so Shouei swore to not let it happen again… and to prove that the Hihi Clan grew stronger from this, not weaker.

And once again, as he did not want to let his enemy rest even for a little bit, Shouei sprinted forward, destroying the ground under him as he did so.

"You look serious. You are even using a spiritual sword." But for some reason, Hanae remained standing. "I am sorry that you have such emotions about me and my kind."

Shouei did not care what he had to say. He would cut his enemy down so he was unable to fight.

Hanae did not evade. " _Mokusei Suta_ , answer my call!"

What followed was a screeching pain on Shouei's chest. Something started pushing him backwards and ripped through his flesh. There were two places on his body where the ripping came from, though Shouei could not see what it was.

But what surprised him the most was not the sudden attack, but the fact that there was no presence of Fear coming from this attack. Furthermore, the pain seemed to rip his Fear more than it ripped his flesh.

After a while, Shouei struck the wall and the two items that caused the ripping pain flew away from him.

" _Shouei-sama!"_ He heard the youkai shout.

" _What happened?"_

" _Are you dead, Shouei-sama?"_

"I am… fine." Shouei said and made himself stand on his legs again. "Don't come out." He immediately looked towards Hanae and was surprised to see two objects spin in the air around him. "Are those… shuriken?" Shouei could not be sure as the objects were spinning so fast that they looked like plates, but he had a feeling that the objects in front of him were wooden shuriken.

"You have a good eye, Shouei-sama." Hanae spoke out. "And I have to apologize to you and to Ryoko-sama. I promised that I would fight as a youkai tonight, but it looks like I can't afford that."

"You… what are you-" And then Shouei remembered Hanae's current nature. "Shikigami."

"There are two dozen Shikigami serving Ryoko-sama in this town. Amongst those, me, Hiroki and Hyouhaku are the lieutenants. Now, as a youkai, Hyouhaku is without a doubt the strongest amongst us." Hanae took a step forward. "But, even though I don't like to boast, I'm the strongest as a Shikigami. These shuriken are the clearest proof of that." He pointed at them with his left hand. "They are spirit weapons, created specifically to destroy youkai. But unlike the spirit sword your Supreme Commander wields, these ones are from a series of spirit weapons that connect to the user's soul so that the user and the spirit weapon can supplement one another."

For the first time since the battle started, Shouei let him speak. He did not know why Hanae talked about it, but every bit of information helped.

"But a youkai's soul and the spirit weapon are not as compatible as a human's and the spirit weapons. Most youkai would get destroyed if they tried to use them, others would be badly hurt." The two shuriken flew around while he spoke, showcasing their speed. "Still, if you choose the right weapon and practice enough, you can master it. Amongst Ryoko-sama's Shikigami, I'm the first, and still the only one, to achieve this."

"You sound rather proud of yourself." Shouei spoke and prepared for another round.

"I broke my promise to fight as a youkai. I have to give you a handicap by informing you how dangerous it's going to get." The Shuriken got closer to Hanae, but Shouei felt that for the first time now they were actually aimed at the enemy. "I'm sorry, but you will have to go into defensive now."

And so the shuriken flew at Shouei, signaling the start of a new round and a less one-sided battle.

* * *

The battle between Rihan and Ryoko had become more intense. While not having to deal with an unreachable enemy was a good thing for Rihan, the boy also realized that having her close had many downsides as well, mainly the fact that he had less time to deal with her attacks and that, due to both of them running through the alleyways, it was much harder to predict from where the arrows would come.

Right now, Rihan was still avoiding her attacks. He ran through the empty alleys and turned around as he ran, for Ryoko could attack from any angle. It was good he did so for he barely missed the arrow that came from his left side. Having learned his lesson, he did not destroy the arrow with a sword but instead grabbed a trashcan and threw it at it. The arrow hit the trashcan, which was pushed backwards but was now moving in slow motion. _She has some very bizarre curses, I have to give her that._

He tried to predict where he would attack from if he were she. After making a wild guess, he pointed his hand at a place where he expected her to appear and did his best to freeze a small spot there.

When Ryoko appeared from the corner, with her arrow already aimed at him, he knew he made a good call when she slipped and the arrow was shot into the air. Not intending to let this opportunity pass, Rihan ran at her and swung his sword downwards at her.

But she was still turned towards him and blocked his attack with her bow. The sword ricocheted off from the bow, suggesting that it was made of a very strong material. Rihan immediately started running backwards but, just like him, Ryoko was clearly not one to let an opportunity pass. She immediately fixed her bow's position and an arrow created itself between her fingers.

 _Dammed, I won't be able to dodge this one._ Hoping that it would work, Rihan started imbuing his sword with his Fear, hoping that its raw strength would break the curse before it infected him.

She released the arrow and he took the position to crush it with his sword. But then The Endless Thief jumped in front of him and _stole_ the arrow. "Boss, that cop says we should immediately close our eyes."

Rihan did not ask why, but just did as he was advised. Before he closed them, he clearly saw something like a grenade being thrown at Ryoko. The girl jumped away and Rihan closed his eyes. Soon after, even through his closed eyes, he could feel the blinding light in front him. _He threw a flash grenade._

When the light was gone, he immediately opened his eyes hoping to attack the enemy who should have been blinded. And while Ryoko was clearly holding her hands on her eyes, some paper talismans were circling around her, creating a red eclipse and some symbols around it. "She put a barrier around herself." Rihan said and turned around. "I don't intend to test it. Let's retreat for now." And immediately after, he started running and masked his presence.

After a few minutes, Rihan and his two adjutants were far enough to feel safe, at least for a while.

"That woman's tough, boss." The Endless Thief noted.

"You don't need to tell me that." Rihan rubbed away some of his sweat. "Do you guys have any plans?"

"Our teamwork just now was pretty good, chief." Ao-Ju spoke. "If we cooperated, we could take her down."

"I have to agree with the cop, boss. Let's make her pay for being stupid enough to face us alone."

"Indeed." Ao-Ju nodded. "You should never go it alone. It's the first thing you learn at the academy."

As if they were timing it with their conversation, something shone a few meters behind them and the trio could feel Fear from that spot. When they turned around, they saw a giant, hairy spider hissing at them.

"Oh look." The Endless Thief was the first to talk. "So she did keep some of her goons with her."

"It has a dull character design, but this creature's Fear is strong." Rihan mentioned and put the hand on his sword. "Let's fry this tarantula."

"Um, c-chief…" Ao-Ju spoke with a shaking voice. "I-I-I h-have s-something to conf-fess-s."

"What?" Rihan looked at Ao-Ju, who had started to shake.

"I-I-I hav-v-ve arachnophobia." Ao-Ju continued while pointing at the spider. "T-those ha-a-airy legs… m-many legs. It's a thing from n-n-nightmares. It is d-d-disgusting."

"Oi, cop…" The Endless Thief looked at him. "You don't intend to run away, right?"

"I… am s-sorry!" Ao-Ju promptly turned around and started running. "I am so sorry!"

Rihan and The Endless Thief just stood there, shocked at what just occurred.

"Whom are ya calling disgusting?! Ye don't talk like that about the Kyoto youkai!" The spider shouted in a young female's voice and ran past them. "Just wait 'till I get ya!"

"Well, that solves it." The Endless Thief said with a cheery voice, but then he looked at Rihan. "Wait boss, you won't be telling me to…" When Rihan nodded, he understood that he was telling him just _that_. "Uhhh… fine." The thief sighed and then promptly ran towards those two.

"Just when did my life become a comedy show?" Rihan sighed and turned around, only to see Ryoko aim his arrow at him. He also noticed that five skulls were surrounding him, with arrows hanging from their mouth, ready to be shot at him. "Why, of course!"

The skulls released their arrows, but Rihan managed to avoid them by jumping away at the right time. However, he was unable to avoid Ryoko's own arrow, which struck him in his right shoulder and then promptly disappeared. He did not feel any pain, but he felt the spot where he was hit become warm.

He used his Fear to mask his presence and try to run away, but without turning his back to her. Ryoko's eyes widened when it looked like he disappeared and she looked around a bit, but soon her unnatural red eyes seemed to have noticed him. But by then, he got far enough to disappear from her line of sight.

But he stopped moving immediately and positioned his body in such a way that he could immediately use his sword. His hope that Ryoko would appear in front of him got drowned when two of her skulls flew into his vision, but it did not change his next action and both of them were cut into halves with a single swing of his sword.

He then immediately turned around and resumed running, as well as avoiding arrows shot by the remaining skulls.

In the meantime, the spot where Ryoko's arrow hit him was now burning hot and the heat spread from that point towards the rest of his body. _Why did it need to be heat of all things?_

The remaining three skulls quickly surrounded him and prepared to shoot burning arrows. _Why did they need to choose fire this time? Gah!_

He managed to avoid all three attacks and even grab one of the skulls in such a way that he also shut its gap. The other two started flying away, but he did not intend to let them be. "Just so you know, I was in a Baseball match once and I was not that bad at pitching." After saying that, he imitated a Baseball pitcher and threw the skull he caught towards another one with all of his strength. Both of the skulls broke on impact. "Strike!"

The last skull tried to sneak up onto him, but he immediately turned around and hit it with his sword, thus breaking it into pieces. "But of course, I was an even better as a hitter."

Unfortunately, there was no time for celebration as a metal arrow was already flying at him and Rihan had to avoid it and look at where Ryoko was.

The girl who fought him was running towards him and already aiming another metal arrow in his direction. _I'll have to strike this one down._ He prepared his body for another attack, even though it meant that avoiding it became impossible. Ryoko pulled the string… and then jumped away.

 _Huh?_ Rihan's eyes followed her as she jumped towards a lamp post and then used it to immediately throw herself away. Soon after, she was flying above him and turning her body in the air. _Shit, I didn't expect this!_ He had to break his position to turn part of his body around, but she released the arrow before even landing. Since his body was prepared to something in front of him, it was unprepared to strike at something on the opposite side.

So he had to stop the arrow by letting it strike into the palm of his left hand. As expected, the arrow was cursed and he felt a malicious energy stream through his body. He immediately released all his Fear, but all he could accomplish with it was stopping it from spreading, not dispel it.

The curse this time was a kind that weakened the muscles so his left arm fell down hanging. Together with the growingly burning sensation in his shoulder, he was in a bad position.

"You're a cruel woman, Ryoko-chan." He tried to laugh at his situation. "You make such fascinating acrobatic moves, but with such a long-ass skirt I'm robbed of all hopes to see anything."

"Eh?" She raised her right brow, but then smirked. "Are you trying to act tough? I don't think your body is in a condition that good that you should be making jokes like this."

"Hey, Onmyouji girl." Rihan decided to continue the conversation with his current nemesis. "No matter what I seem to do, everything goes wrong in the long run while you always get away from everything unscathed so I have this feeling that luck is not really on our side tonight. Is this perhaps your doing?"

She did not say anything back, but her mouth changed into a small smile.

"This is the curse you cast with the spiral seal, right?" When her smile grew further, he was certain that he was correct. "That's cheating, y'know."

"I and my Shikigami are facing a much larger and more powerful force." She actually spoke this time. "It is only natural I play a card like this."

"Tz. So all gambles I make are not gonna go in my favor, huh?" He snickered. "I should've just jumped at you, going all out." He cut the air with his sword, which he held with his right arm. "And I guess that's what I should be doing now."

"Hm." She immediately jumped a few times backwards and aimed her bow at him. However, she had not yet created an arrow.

"I'm sorry, I don't like using this against those I don't want to kill. But I sure as hell don't like the idea of losing to you." He raised his sword in the air and concentrated. He released the darkest parts of his Fear and imbued it into his sword. He was no longer about to fight as Rihan, but as Kokuhan.

He kept his eyes on Ryoko, whose face went from competitive excitement to puzzlement and then to one filled with worry and sweat. _You're getting afraid way too soon._ She must have also realized it as she clenched her teeth and the bow disappeared. Instead, she started swinging her two hands in the air and soon after, a golden magical circle appeared in front of her.

 _Such a lame barrier won't do you any good._ He swung his sword down and put it and his body into a position to strike down the enemy in front of him, as if Ryoko was not two dozen meters away from him. Just that small gesture with his sword was enough for his Fear to overwhelm the barrier and break it into pieces. The Fear was strong enough to dispel both of the curses that Ryoko put on him (though not the spiral one) so he no longer felt pain on his shoulder and he could use both of his hands again.

There was horror on her face, and the sight of it pleased Rihan. But her eyes soon shone with determination once again and black tattoos started growing around the left side of her face and on her left arm.

Now Rihan was the one who started to feel afraid. The malignant aura around the girl in front of him grew stronger to a terrifying level, to the point that he could feel as if something horrifying would be summoned soon. He still did not feel like she wanted to harm him, only that she needed to do enough to stop him.

Still, even this much made Rihan feel excited. _Yeah! This is the kind of fight I've been dying for! Two terrifying Fears prepared to strike one another and crush the opposer!_ His smirk grew ever wider. _But you still hesitate. This will spell your doom._ He no longer cared about sparing her.

She must have seen it coming, for she started to add few more protections. Another few barriers were set up, her body was prepared to dash away and she then even started using her own Fear to strengthen herself.

And then Rihan's eyes widened and his sadism dwindled. _This… this feeling… no, it can't be…_ Yet, no amount of doubt would stop him from aborting what he was doing and just staring in front of him, at a girl who looked baffled at his sudden action.

And then he started laughing. "I see… so that's what your tale is about. Damn, I would've never expected it." He put his hand on his forehead and looked at the ground. "So that's why you hesitated…"

"Damn…" She sighed and both her Fear and her spiritual energy disappeared, and even her eyes turned to the natural brown color. "I shouldn't have done that."

"I'm _so_ glad you did." He looked up at her again and threw the sword at her feet. "Since I can't use all of my Fear and your lesser techniques beat my lesser techniques, I guess I lose."

"Are you sure?" She asked him as she picked his sword up. "I can still throw the sword back at you."

"No, there's no point anymore." He then smiled. "Besides, there's something I'd like to talk to you about."

* * *

"Hm, so I won't have to meddle in after all." Itaku muttered to himself as he lowered his scythes.

The battle between Rihan and Ryoko had almost gone out of hand, and if Rihan had lowered his Fear just a few moments later, Itaku would have had jumped down and cut both of their Fears. After all, he had promised Rikuo to take care nothing goes too badly, until Rikuo himself was ready to take his place as the observer.

"Still, I really wish I could have seen those Fears released."

* * *

The plans have been finished. Ishikawa Kaito was ready to start his new tale.

Hiding in an alleyway, this man put down his briefcase and looked at the various spray cans in it. He took two of them and turned towards a wall. _Even though Baby Envy forced those two women to stop fooling around, it's not enough._ He started shaking his cans as he drew the concept of the image in his head. _But both of them hold a strong darkness inside their souls, even though it did not fully awaken in them. And even if it did, it'd be temporary… I need to make sure it gets to be permanent._ He then made a large, evil grin. _Let's enrich everyone's lives with more tragedies, for only then do the lives truly shine! Nura Ritsura and Keikain Ryoko… please allow this humble man to turn at least one of you into a truly beautiful person._

He stretched his right hand and his finger went to press the top of the can.

And then a small black hole appeared in the wall and a black hand grabbed Kaito's hand, making the spray can fall down in the process. "What?" Kaito gazed at the hand in the black glow and then looked as the black hole grew and a man started coming out of him.

The face looked like something befitting a soldier, with hard lines and a merciless glare in his eyes. He was an older man, with gray hair and a small beard, as well as several scars on his face.

The clothes he wore also were not something one could buy at a market, though they might have fit in a cosplay. They were a black leather jacket, with laces holding it together instead of buttons. Two golden lines were drawn on the collar and he had a knife and a pistol on his hips, as well as military boots on his feet.

There was also Fear surrounding this man, though Kaito's guts told him that he was a human and not a youkai.

But most of all, Kaito's eyes were stuck on the emblem that was drawn on the left side of his chest: a yellow symbol that could be interpreted as either a sun… or a sunflower.

Kaito bit his lower lip as he realized which organization this man belonged to. "The Shin Sekai!" He pointed the remaining spray can into the man's eyes and pressed it. It made the man close his eyes, but it did not make him let go of his hand nor did it seem to have even held him aback. The terrifying man had now left the black hole, which immediately disappeared, and was now standing in front of him.

 _I'm not done yet!_ Kaitoput the hand in his pocket and took out a knife which he then stabbed into the man's arm.

But the sword broke into pieces as it touched his sleeve. The man then punched him with his other hand and Kaito was finally released.

He immediately tried to get back up, but gave up when he saw several more men and women in the same outfits surround him. "So it's true, huh?" Kaito forced himself to smile. "The Shin Sekai's Field Operatives are now fully equipped and ready for deployment, huh?"

He got himself back up onto his feet, even though he doubted that it would be of any use. _But why… why would the Shin Sekai send their soldiers at me? I played by Masahide's rules and I should be unimportant in Masato's eyes!_

"I told you to cease and desist, didn't I?" A woman's voice spoke to him from nearby. "Yet you still went after a dear friend of mine."

"Of course… the lady around whom the goodie-two-shoes part of the organization assembled." He turned his attention towards the young woman dressed in a fancier version of the uniform, with a gray shawl on her left shoulder and a fancier sunflower symbol drawn on it, and with two small sunflower pins on her collar. Kaito guessed that it was a formal uniform of the organization's leaders, with the stars representing their rank. "The disgusting queen of the goodies… Onieda Mayuri." Just like how each organization had the corrupted element that made it eviler, so did every organization have the purifying element which sought to destroy the corruptive one. This woman was the leader of that, in Kaito's opinion utterly disgusting, side of this organization. "So you returned from Seoul? If you ever were there in the first place…"

"Take him out so he doesn't do anything.." Even though she tried to sound menacing, she was biting her lip and was obviously nervous. _Hmph, you're light years behind Ritsura-chan and Shiori-sama._

But he would not look for long at her as the man from before grabbed him by his shoulder and turned him around. Then he promptly punched him in the guts. Then, while Kaito was holding his stomach in pain, he put his hands together and punched him on the nape of his neck, making him fall back onto the ground.

Kaito was then turned around and the next thing he saw was a fist flying towards his face. Only then did he finally lose his consciousness.

* * *

**I-I-I-I-I**

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Looks like I managed to finish this chapter by Christmas! So for everyone who celebrates it, have a Merry Christmas and accept this 'lil chapter as my gift to you!

Yeah, I am sure that seiyu fans were rolling their eyes during the first scene

Yes, that may have been a reference to _Sakura and the Saxifraga_

I can't believe I just now made up this stuff about Ryoko's Shikigami using spirit weapons. Ideas come at the strangest times…

The Shin Sekai now have foot soldiers… uhm, sorry, Field Operatives… and uniforms for both soldiers and leaders! Looks like they are finally getting serious!


	78. The Ultimatum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keikain Ryoko has attacked Ukiyoe, and several battles had already taken place. Most notable of them was the battle between Ryoko and Rihan, which Rihan forfeited. With the younger brother taken care of, Ryoko could now focus on Ritsura. In meantime, Shouei and Gozumaru had their own battles to take care of

**Chapter 78 – The Ultimatum**

_She is strong._ Gozumaru could feel that this youkai's Fear was very potent.

But even without his strong sense of Fear, he knew she was not someone to be underestimated. She had the stance of an aged and experienced warrior. The expression on her face reminded him of Gen'ei.

He looked towards the Kage Onna who had to serve him as support. She met his gaze and nodded. She seemed to also understand just how dangerous the enemy in front of them was.

The catgirl started moving her legs and arms, as if preparing to sprint. Gozumaru too fixed his sword and took a deep breath after which… he immediately pulled out his sword in order to meet her claws. But he failed to fully stop her attack and instead his sword was pushed away from the sheer force of her attack, while the fact that he did not prepare his body caused pain in his muscles.

But he immediately pulled the sword back for he had to defend himself from another attack. This one pushed his entire body to the side for several steps. Then she came towards him with both of her arms above her, prepared to make an uppercut onto him. He prepared to defend and then cursed himself for not using the opening.

This time he had a few moments more to position his body so he managed to not get pushed away again, though his legs did take a step backwards. But then he felt a kick to his guts and he found himself flying away. But knowing that he could not afford to leave even one opening, he hit the ground with his free hand and, at the price of some bruises on his palm, made himself stop his fall and land on his feet.

 _She fights like no warrior._ Gozumaru raised his head immediately to see where his enemy was. _She is a beast through and through._

He thought that the catgirl would already be in front of him, but instead she was slashing the air around herself and a moment after Gozumaru realized why: Heiko summoned some weaker shadows.

The catgirl immediately recognized the source and moved towards Heiko. "Stop!" Gozumaru also started to move towards her, before she could land a blow on Heiko who was unlikely to be able to defend herself.

But Gozumaru was too far away and the catgirl too fast so he had to witness Heiko getting slashed. The wounds were clearly not fatal, but they were still ugly.

"Why you…!" Gozumaru made a horizontal cut at the catgirl. But, as if she were expecting it, she lowered herself and turned around, after which she slashed him with the claws of her one hand and then prepared to do the same with her other, but Gozumaru released his own claws and used them to jump away from her.

He then saw the wounded Heiko rise a blade made of shadows and clenched his teeth in anger.

But then he saw what was behind her and smiled. _Ha, that woman is smarter than she looks._ Intending to make the best out of the situation, Gozumaru used his hypnotizing ability. _With that fear of her, she will likely cut the effect very soon… If it even works on a Shikigami._

Gozumaru started running even before he saw the catgirl show signs of being put under hypnosis. Heiko's sword went down and hit the catgirl's shoulder, but the enemy immediately reacted by moving away before the sword could get any deeper (though Gozumaru doubted that she even had the strength necessary to make a deeper wound). The main attack came from Gozumaru who used some of his huge claws to strike down at the catgirl, though he also managed to only inflict a few scratches. The catgirl immediately started turning, the claws on her hands prepared to strike, which confirmed Gozumaru's suspicion that it was a good idea to run past her rather than at her.

Gozumaru also ran past eh shadowy Heiko and grabbed the real Heiko, who hid behind her shadow, by her hand and continued to run. "Let's go!" Goz8umaru said to her. "If you can, do something to delay her, even if for a little bit!"

"Won't we fight?" She asked, though she released some of her Fear, suggesting that she did as he asked.

"No."

* * *

"Still nothing." Ritsura said to herself. She had already ceased running and started to walk. She came to this part of Ukiyoe because, while she was still at the mansion, she heard that the fighting was heaviest around this part. But by the time she arrived, the fighting had stopped.

" _The enemies have retreated, sortie at Bakenekoya"_ was the message on the cellphone that Ritsura grabbed at the mansion. It was used by the clan to keep communications going and it was this way that she found out that the enemies were no longer here, as well as that none of them captured.

 _I thought someone would attack me, especially now that I'm alone._ She looked around, hoping to find someone and beat some information out of them. Until a while ago, she could feel Fears targeting her, but it looked like everyone gave up once they realized who she was. _Could they be avoiding me? Hmph, now that I think about it, Ryoko does sound like a person who'd want to keep me for herself._

_Yet, Hyouhaku attacked me. No, maybe it was her goal to keep me separated from Heiko and Gozumaru? But then why's nobody attacking me now even if only to buy time? Once I reach Bakenekoya, I won't be alone anymore._

Finally, she could see the Bakenekoya bar. Ritsura frowned as she looked around. Signs of battle could have been seen from time to time as she walked to there, but the area around Bakenekoya really did look like a battle took place here. Trash was scattered everywhere, a natural result of the trash containers being destroyed. But more worrisome, from a financial perspective, were the broken concrete on the roads and buildings, broken street lamps and even some broken windows. _Kiyotsugu-san will be more than happy to pay the repairing fees, but Saaya will rip my heart out and eat it. She always was a bit stingy._

But it was not only objects that told Ritsura about the battle that went on. She could also see the youkai from her clan, as well as some unaffiliated youkai, sitting around and tending to their wounds. Some looked angry, some exhausted and some talked about the battle with excitement.

But Ritsura's attention was stolen by a duo she knew well enough. "Kubi. Kino." She said as she walked up to them. To Ritsura's surprise, the experienced youkai hunter had wounds on several places, though none of them looked major.

"Oh, Ojou-sama!" Kubinashi and Kejorou greeted her. "Why are you alone?"

"Heiko and Gozumaru had to stay behind to deal with one of the enemy leaders." Ritsura explained, "You know, the one who attacked the Merchant Union."

"Well, they better not go easy." Kubinashi said with a look of frustration on his face.

"Is the enemy that strong?"

"Many of them are Kyoto youkai." Kejorou explained, "I guess we should have seen it coming, seeing as the Keikain girl's from Kyoto too."

"No, we shouldn't have." Kubinashi disagreed. "An average Kyoto youkai is above any average youkai from other regions. And proud on a ridiculous level." Kubinashi looked towards Ritsura. "To think that an Onmyouji could make all these youkai become her loyal followers… it's unexpected."

"I'm getting tired of all the praise she gets." Ritsura sighed. "Still, you and some others here are some of our best fighters." Ritsura looked around. "And judging by that crater and all the scattered weapons, our two Strike Captains should also be here. Why did all of Ryoko's small fry get away?"

And just as she mentioned the Strike Captains, a loud sound of crashing came from Bakenekoya, followed by a force so strong that even windows broke. Ritsura immediately ran towards the bar. _Are there still enemies here?_

"Aotabou, you darn idiot!" She could hear a woman shout. "You did even more damage than those guys did!"

"What is going on here?" Ritsura asked and stopped running. She could see the angry Bakenekoya waitress, Aotabou who was sweating and standing like he just punched something and Kurotabou who just looked down while holding his hat with his hand.

"Oh… Ojou-sama." Aotabou looked towards Ritsura. "Sorry… we were just…"

"We were trying to lift a curse." Kurotabou finished instead of his sweating comrade. "Our Buddhist prayers did not work so this idiot thought that overpowering it with Fear might work."

"You agreed to it, you bastard!" Aotabou screamed and faced Kurotabou.

"Hey!" The waitress shouted once again. "If you don't stop swinging that fist around, you'll be banned from the bar for the rest of your life!"

"Ahhh… sorry." Aotabou meekly obeyed.

"So?" With that little incident having been avoided, Ritsura resumed her conversation with Kurotabou. "What curse are you talking about?"

"Hmmm…" Kurotabou looked at the broken floor. "Maybe you'll sense it if you concentrate enough."

"Eh?" Ritsura blinked but then guessed that he meant that she should focus on feeling Fear. She did what she thought he expected from her and her eyes opened wide. "This isn't Fear… but I can feel something malicious." She looked at the two Strike Captains, who were also monks. "Is this a curse?"

"A Power Spot might be a better term." Kurotabou started explaining. "It's a part of something that casts a curse across an area."

"Across an area? Like Ukiyoe?"

"Yes, exactly." Kurotabou nodded. "This is just a guess, but I think that this Onmyouji girl has created several power spots across Ukiyoe. That's probably the reason why she attacked Bakenekoya days ago."

"I've a bad feeling that you'll now tell me about how it's all to cast some kind of powerful curse."

"It has already been cast." Kurotabou confirmed her suspicions.

"Oh, that's just sweet." Ritsura put her hand across her forehead. "So? What does this curse do?"

Kurotabou shook his head and opened his mouth to give her an answer, but Kubinashi cut in.

"It makes us unlucky."

"Huh?" Ritsura looked at him. "What do you mean, Kubinashi?"

"I have spent years fighting youkai, Ojou-sama." Kubinashi started explaining his opinion. "I know how good I am and how often I make mistakes. And this night, I made them all the time."

"Maybe you are just being clumsy today, Kubinashi?" Kejorou suggested and shook her head.

"No, I think he might be onto something." Kurotabou seemed to agree. "I mean, I was the same. It felt like no matter what I did or didn't do everything seemed to work against me."

Kejorou parted her lips, probably to disagree, but then the youkai from around them started agreeing. Ritsura could see in her eyes that she too started to feel convinced.

"I see." Ritsura said and put her fingers under her chin. "Kurotabou, you fought Ryoko already. Do you think she's able to jinx us like that?"

"Yes, I'm pretty sure she can." Kurotabou nodded.

"Well, that's good to hear." Ritsura proclaimed.

"Good? Why would that be good, Ojou-sama?"

"Because she could've done something worse than to just make us unlucky." Ritsura said and turned her back to them. "I see. So she wants to even the playing field this way…"

"What should we do now, Ojou-sama?" Kubinashi asked her. "It doesn't look like these guys are attacking us."

"Spread out and find out what they're up to. I'm starting to think that fighting us is not their only objective."

"As you command." Kurotabou spoke up. "But who will accompany you?"

"Nobody. I'll go alone."

"But…"

"There's no point in keeping me safe. Ryoko wants me for herself and her goons only seem to attack me when I have someone with me." Ritsura put hands on her hips. "She wants to have a one-on-one against me. And I feel compelled to listen to her demand. Having you guys around me would just delay it until she feels nobody will mix in."

"It's your Nurarihyon blood talking again..." Kubinashi facepalmed. "It's still dangerous." Kubinashi did not agree with her plan. "We still don't know what her objective is. If something were to happen with you then-"

"Then I'll answer for it." She said and turn around to look him into the eyes. "Let's be clear on this : this isn't a fight to the death so our priority isn't to survive either. Our number one priority is to end this as soon as possible, so that real enemies don't get to use this chance to attack us."

"Yes, but still…"

"I've made my decision. All of you, split up, find as many enemies as you can and try to squeeze out of them any _information_ you can!"

* * *

"Aaarh, you are pissing me off, Gozumaru!" Heiko exclaimed while slowly walking around Ukiyoe with a certain boy.

"What's it now, you stupid woman?"

"What's it now, you ask? Look at us, Gozumaru!" She said while the two of them sneaked around, her Fear turning off any lights they pass, thus keeping them in shadows. "Why are you running away from that bakeneko?"

"You are also running away!"

"But I am not a warrior! You are!" She pointed a finger at him while still moving and typing something on a cellphone with her other hand. "Didn't you defeat some strong guys at Nejireme? Why are you running away from that Bakeneko?"

"I am not used to fighting against someone with such a fighting style!" He then looked away and whispered. "Besides, it's hard to get into the mood."

"What did you just say?"

But Gozumaru had no time to reply because the Bakeneko appeared behind them.

"Run!" Gozumaru exclaimed and started running. The two of them went into an alley and then turned into another one. "This part of the town is very labyrinthine so we won't always be in her line of sight."

"We should not be running!" Heiko repeated. "Tell him Mezumaru!" She said and raised a cellphone with her left hand.

" _What is going on?"_ Mezumaru's voice and face appeared from the cellphone. _"What are you two doing?"_ Seemingly, Heiko had called him for a video-chat.

"Why did you call Mezumaru?" Gozumaru asked.

" _Gozu, you should not run."_ Mezumaru spoke in a deep tone. _"You should stand proudly against your fears."_

"Don't you dare imitate Gyuki-sama in front of me!"

" _Well I am not in front of you! I am in front of a laptop!"_ He said and sticked out his tongue. _"But really Gozu, you should not be running!"_ Mezumaru asked, after which a small shadow passed above them.

"Is that a gas bottle?" When the item struck the ground in front of them, it exploded. "It IS a gas bottle." She then turned around together with the cellphone. "And she has another one!"

"Turn at this corner!" Gozumaru said and pulled Heiko with his hand.

" _On second thought, let us run after all!"_ Mezumaru changed his opinion. _"That lady looks very scary! I don't want to get caught by her!"_

"You are not even here!" Gozumaru reminded him. "Turn that cellphone around, woman! So we'll know if she throws it again!"

"Okay!" Heiko did as he asked.

It wasn't long until Mezumaru spoke. _"She's here! And she's gonna throw it again!"_

Gozumaru was displeased. _Damn it! We won't be able to turn anywhere in time!_

"Yes!" In contrast, Heiko was pleased. "I waited for this, you smelly cat!" She turned around and pointed her mirror at the Bakeneko. Bakeneko's shadow appeared and jumped into the air, grabbed the bottle and propelled it at their enemy.

The Bakeneko stopped running, but the gas bottle struck into her and exploded.

" _Alright!"_ Mezumaru cheered while Heiko made a smug face. The three of them then turned around a corner. _"That was so cool! You are my new favorite person, Heiko-chan!"_

"That won't be enough to beat her." Gozumaru noted.

"At least I did _something_!" Heiko and Mezumaru put out their tongue.

"I so hate you two."

* * *

While Fears clashed in the streets, a boy and a girl were eating ramen behind the curtains of a ramen stand. Several plates already lay finished on the side.

"What was that anyway?" A raven-haired girl dressed as a shrine maiden asked the boy. "I actually felt like you were about to break every inch of my being."

"It's a technique I developed. I call it _Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Doku_." The boy with a mane of gravity-defying hair answered her inquiry. "Normally, a Nurarihyon hides his presence by confusing the victim's senses. I use this ability to confuse the senses in a different way."

"In a different way?"

"Yes." He nodded and ate some of the noodles before continuing. "As you might know, a Nurarihyon's Fear is basically an opium. It attacks a victim's body and confuses their senses of sight, smell, touch and hearing, usually to make it so that they don't notice the youkai. This technique, however, assaults those senses and causes agonizing pain."

"A mental torture." Her eyes narrowed as she said it. "That's kind of disturbing. Why'd you even come up with that?"

"I never thought about it, I guess. I just developed it naturally." He shrugged. "Although I know better than to parade around with it, and I usually reserve it for… special cases."

"Special enemies, you mean." Ryoko made an awkward smile. "Was I really the kind of enemy you reserve it for?"

"It's for people I hate… and people I don't think I could beat otherwise. I admit though, I got a bit too excited there." He grinned a little. "After all, this nee-san I fought was a strong one." Then his mouth turned to a different kind of smile. "Besides, didn't you start some dangerous kind of technique yourself? Before you started hesitating and returned to your barriers and whatnot?"

"I did. I felt like you would've left me with no choice."

"But you would have still not gone all out, even if I did not step down."

"Of course not."

"Tz." Rihan clicked his tongue and resumed eating his ramen. Ryoko resumed eating her dish as well.

But after a while, Ryoko started a new topic. "By the way, what's with your sword?" She asked after looking down, on the half-broken sword that sat beside Rihan.

"Most swords break when I use my strongest techniques."

"No, that's not what I mean." She looked up at him. "Where is Nenekirimaru? I understand you are the one who wields it."

"Oh… it broke a while ago."

"Huh?" Ryoko's face turned blue. "Again?"

"It was a strong enemy that it slew." Rihan shrugged.

"Ahhhh…" Ryoko put a hand on her forehead. "First Seimei destroys it. Then, it gets destroyed after it slays Seimei. And now it broke because of some small fry."

"Hey! It wasn't a small fry."

"Was it on the Nue's level?"

"…okay, maybe he was a small fry." Rihan looked away. "That or the Nue is terribly overestimated."

"Well, whatever. Take it to Kyoto sometime. Uncle Akifusa has still not returned home from China, but he should get it back into shape when he does." She then looked back at her plate. "And hopefully we'll find a way to make it strong again." She said and resumed eating.

"Strong again? Was something wrong with it?"

"Mhm?" She slurped the noodles and then started to speak. "You wielded it for last few years, right? Didn't you notice that it has weakened?" She then put a finger under her chin and looked down. "Hmmm, but now that I think about it, could you even notice it? You were not even born before it broke after slaying the Nue."

"Neither were you. Did dad say it? Or the guy from your clan who forges the swords?"

"Both actually. I was there when the complains were done." She winked.

"I see… so, what's the problem?"

"The sword is actually called Nuekirimaru. Can you guess what the problem might be?"

"Nuekirimaru… the _Nue Killer_." Rihan got an idea. "That would mean that it was forged with the purpose to slay the Nue, right?"

"Yes." She nodded. "The Spirit Weapons are special, you see. They are built not only with steel, but also with the creator's wishes and effort. They can have their favorites and they can reject their wielders. And, above all, they like to exist for their name and purpose."

"Hmm… Then maybe it should stay broken?" Rihan suggested. "Why not just let it rest?"

"That makes sense… but why would you think of that?" She looked at him curiously. "You don't like it?"

"Dad and gramps always talked about it as if it was something special. To me though… I only miss the fact that it doesn't break from all the Fear I put into it." He looked at her. "And I have already decided that, even if it gets fixed, I won't wield it again."

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Sentimentality." He looked at his plate again. "I don't intend to walk the path its former wielders did and, as such, I don't feel like wielding their sword."

"A different path, huh?" She also took a bite from her plate. She then opened her mouth as if she intended to say something, but then just took another bite. "Think more about it, Rihan. Destiny wanted you to have Nenekirimaru, otherwise Ritsura would choose it instead of the other sword."

 _What did you really want to say?_ "Aren't they both Nenekirimarus?"

"I have no idea why you guys named that other one Nenekirimaru. It is heavier and larger, nothing like Nenekirimaru. It needs a different name… and to be finished."

"Finished? Is it incomplete?"

"It's incomplete, yes. It needs to-"

"Now that I think about it, I don't care." Rihan decided he was not interested in it. "Tell that to its wielder, who will actually care about it."

"Okay, sure." She smiled and finished her plate.

"Are you done, or do you want to continue with your quest to get fat?"

"How rude!" She pouted. "I prefer to think that all the food goes to my chest area."

"You are nineteen. I don't think it'll grow anymore."

"Are you trying to crush a girl's hopes and dreams?" she crossed her arms and then continued looking around the stand. "Hmmm…" She scratched her chin. "What is that?" She asked and pointed at something inside the stand?

"Ah, that." Rihan smiled. "It is this stand's special. I find it a bit too spicy, but-" He turned his head towards Ryoko and then stopped when he realized that she was gone. _Why am I even surprised that this happened? Ah well, I guess that I should also quietly…_

"I see the girl is gone." The stand's owner appeared, probably having finished washing the dishes… with the exception of a single knife that he was cleaning at this moment. "Will you eat some more or will you **pay** and leave?"

"Uhhh…" Rihan's tendency to sometimes disappear without paying at this place bit him back… and the heap of emptied dishes on Ryoko's side made him shiver. _Damn it! Will I, the dark lord Kokuhan-sama, actually have to spend the rest of the night washing dishes?_

"I will pay for my friend." He heard a girl say behind him, after which a girl's hand hit the stand with a high-valued bill. "I am sure this will suffice."

If the owner's face was anything to go by, it did.

"Kirie?" Rihan looked at the girl. He expected her to smile as she often did, but her face looked gloomy.

"You sure took your sweet time with this date." She looked at him. "I actually thought that this girl would never leave. Come on." She grabbed his wrist and pulled him away.

"What is going on?"

"We have a crisis. Shiori asked you to come immediately."

"A crisis? I thought the Hyaku Monogatari youkai would have tried to stay away."

"The Shikigami killed a larger number than we expected, but they asked for it themselves." Kirie explained. Several youkai of the Tokyo Hyaku Monogatari have appeared. Rihan could feel that they were the more formidable members of the group, suggesting that Kirie needed extra protection for some reason. "But it is not Ryoko that we have a crisis with." She looked him into the eyes. "The Shin Sekai have attacked us."

_Tz, and there I hoped to watch the catfight._

* * *

"Why're we running up these stairs?" Heiko shouted at Gozumaru.

" _Yeah! We should be running wide, not tall!"_ Mezumaru added.

"I don't know!" Gozumaru did not have a proper reply. "I just thought it might be a good idea to hide here and, by the time I realized I was wrong, we were already inside!"

"But why are we going up and not back?"

"We can't go back you stupid woman!"

" _Oh wait! Gozu, did you think about luring her up and then jumping down while she checks out every room in this building?"_ Mezumaru got an idea. _"That is a great idea!"_

"Yeah, it definitely is!" Gozumaru agreed with the plan he did not actually come up with. "And here we are, on the roof!"

And then they noticed someone on the opposite building.

"Eh?" Heiko was the first to speak. "What is he doing…"

"Why is Gyuki-sama there?" Mezumaru finished while the three of them stared at Gyuki.

"What are you doing Gozumaru?" Gyuki spoke before they could ask him anything. "If you are buying time for your master this way, then you can't stop moving!"

"Gyuki-sama, why are you-"

"Run!" Gyuki made a dramatic face. "Run Gozumaru, and make Ritsura-sama proud!"

"Yes!" And immediately Gozumaru resumed running and jumped from the building.

"What are you doing, you idiot?" Heiko shouted at him, but it was already too late. "Gah, here I come too!"

It was also too late for checking the area below, otherwise Gozumaru would have noticed that the Bakeneko was just below him… and had noticed him.

 _Damn it!_ Gozumaru clenched his teeth and unsheathed his blade a little. _Well, no choice now!_ The Bakeneko also prepared her claws, and Gozumaru would unsheathe his sword and finish her with the same action, just like all the cool samurai. _This will be a strike that will be remembered for generations to-_

"Look Gozumaru!" Heiko shouted just beside him, with wings made out of shadows. "I am an angel!" She said with stars in and around her eyes.

" _This was my idea!"_ Mezumaru puffed with pride.

"Would you two shut up?" Gozumaru yelled at them. "I have to concentrate here!"

"Pft. Killjoy." Heiko said and flew up.

 _Finally. Now let me start from the beginning._ He took a deep breath and clenched the hilt of his sheathed sword. _Finishing her by unsheathing my sword. Yes, such a badass attack will make me remembered for generations to come._ His brows lowered as he got closer to the _petty Bakeneko._ _This determination and newfound excitement will sharpen my sword! Nothing will save you now, Bakeneko!_

In contrast to his excitement, the Bakeneko looked up with a blank stare. Then she lowered her head, moved her hand horizontally and started pulling the trash container to the spot where she stood until a moment ago.

… _oh, I did not expect this._ He fully returned the sword into its sheaths just before landing into the container.

"Gozumaru is done for! And in such a lame way!" He could hear Heiko exclaim. "But you won't get me! For I am flyyyying!"

Since the speaker on her cellphone was a good one and on the maximum volume, he could even hear Mezumaru. _"But that makes you a bird. And cats eat birds."_

"Gozumaru help! She is jumping at-GYAAAAH!"

By the time Gozumaru pushed his head out, the Bakeneko had already landed in front of the container and grabbed Gozumaru by his neck, just like she held Heiko.

"Ummm… I know we are not leaders of our two groups…" Heiko let her wings disappear and smiled. "But maybe we could solve this diplomatically… please?"

Of course, the plea was not accepted.

* * *

Shouei had to admit that Hanae was right. He really did not have any choice but to go fully into defensive.

The wooden shurikens flew around the air, with speed that was extremely hard to follow. What was worst, Hanae knew that the best approach was not to throw them directly at Shouei, but instead have them fly in all directions and at random intervals fly towards their mark. Unfortunately, Hanae also made numerous bluffs which just put more strain on Shouei.

But it was not only the shurikens that Shouei had to watch. Hanae sometimes struck directly, though most of the time it looked as if he was busy controlling the shurikens.

It looked like he had no chance to defeat this enemy, but Shouei kept believing. Because if his will faltered, he would no doubt get defeated.

The youkai of the Nura Clan were also worried. "Shouei-sama, we will-"

"No!" He shouted back at them without moving his eyes away from Hanae. "I will deal with this. I am the Supreme Commander's sworn brother. I won't lose against some girl's Shikigami."

They did not complain about his decision. Even though they were worried, they were youkai yakuza and they understood how important this battle was for him.

He noticed that one of the shurikens flew at him, while the other circled around. _When I defend or avoid the one going at me, the other one will use the opening that I can't avoid making._ He could probably barely avoid the other shuriken, but barely would not be enough as both of them had been surrounded by Hanae's winds so even a scratch could be poisonous… and maybe not even that if the kind of poison he is using goes through the skin.

And he had already inhaled some of the poison from the air around him so his vision had started to become blurry. He did not even want to imagine what it would be like if a larger dose of it entered his body.

For the battle at hand, he had to make a decision. _Do I defend or avoid? Which would be the safer path?_

Thinking that he could just push away the first shuriken and quickly turn around to deal with the other, he chose to defend. _Maybe I could even crush it?_ He prepared to strike at the first shuriken, when someone shouted "Shouei-sama, to your right!"

He instinctively turned around and hit the shuriken that circled around him until recently. He succeeded, but at the cost of letting the first one strike at his back. He pushed his hand behind him to tear it away, but the shuriken flew away by itself.

And then Shouei's body started burning. _Damn it, I won't have much more time!_ If he wanted to end this battle, he would need to take down Hanae before the poison gets to him. _And before the others decide to join in._

"Is that all you have, Muchi?" Shouei stood up straight and faced Hanae. He could not afford to show weakness to him, and even less to his already anxious comrades.

"Please Shouei-sama, do not strain yourself." Hanae said while fixing his hat. And the Shurikens, which for a while circled around him, went back to flying around their battlefield again. "After all, I can't afford to go easy."

"I wouldn't want it any other way." Shouei raised his sword and kept following the shurikens. _Damn it, this is bad. I can barely see anything anymore._ He would not be surprised if Hanae's poison first made someone nauseous. Robbing his enemy from the ability to keep an eye on the shurikens would do a lot to further turn any battle into Hanae's favor.

 _But still, the poison is made out of Fear._ He took a deep breath and released more of his own Fear, turning himself into a more gargantuan creature. _And all Fears can be cut._

_With that said, I don't feel like I cut it all._

"Whoa, Shouei-sama is going all out!" Someone from behind him said.

"Move away guys, rubble may start flying everywhere!"

 _Rubble! That's it!_ Not wanting to waste time, Shouei immediately raised his heavy sword at struck the ground with as much force as he could muster. This took Hanae by surprise and, since he controlled them directly, even the Shurikens faltered. _Now or never!_ He let go of the sword and took two larger rocks into his hands and threw them both at the shurikens. Both hit the mark. _This'll buy me a few moments of freedom from those pests._

He immediately faces Hanae, and the Muchi's eyes quickly met his own. _Now to deal with him before he gets used to this!_ Shouei immediately ran towards Hanae, and the Muchi reacted by surrounding himself with poisonous wind.

But Shouei did not care about it. He had to defeat Hanae, not remain standing on his legs once the battle was over. Still, he raised his hands and accumulated Fear onto them, and then cut through the Fear-made wind. It created an opening, though he could feel the poison touch his skin.

He enjoyed the expression of fear on Hanae's face.

"Shouei-sama, the shurikens are flying towards you!" Someone from behind shouted.

 _It no longer matters._ He lowered his fist and punched Hanae into the guts, making him fly up. Then Shouei grabbed him with his other hand and struck him into the ground with all the strength he had left. The ground cracked and Hanae spit some blood, before closing his eyes. Shouei feel that his Fear was depleted and when the two shurikens just dropped beside them, he knew it was over.

"Woooo!" "Shouei-sama won!" "That's Rikuo's sworn brother for ye!" "Nura clan banzai!"

Feeling satisfied, Shouei turned towards his comrades and walked away. Now that the tension was gone, he could feel the effects of the poison. _Well, it isn't that bad. I should be fine until I take some of the medicine Zen left behind._ He thought about it as he returned to his more human form.

"So what do we do about that bastard?" Hitotsume asked

"We imprison him of course." Jorogumo answered. "There are a few-" Then hers, and of some others, eyes went wide as they looked at something behind Shouei.

 _What now?_ Shouei immediately turned around and saw five Onmyouji talismans fly around Hanae. _Is that Fear coming from them?_ The middle part of each talisman started burning and several small knives, each black and radiating with Fear, appeared from them. They immediately flew into Hanae and disappeared into his body.

And then Hanae started rising up while Shouei jumped backwards and put his right hand on the hilt of his sword. _Dammit, I don't have any more strength to fight… though he doesn't look much better either._

"I apologize… for my earlier behavior… you truly are, the more dangerous one between us two." Hanae spoke in his usual polite manner. "And I am sorry, for I have to go. I can't stay here anymore. It was a pleasure to spar with you, Shouei-sama."

"Stop him you people!" Hitotsume shouted. "Don't let 'im get away!"

But it was too late. A large whirlwind appeared from Hanae and quickly expanded and even Shouei had to hold to the sword which was stabbed in the ground in order to not get blown away. _I can't feel any poison in this wind… what is he up to?_

Shouei got his answer when he raised his head and saw Hanae turn into a paper Shikigami. The piece of paper got taken by the whirlwind and soon nobody could see where it was. After a few seconds, the whirlwind disappeared and the paper Shikigami was gone.

"Tz. The coward got away." Jorogumo noted.

"Doesn't matter." Daruma said. "Shouei-sama won and stopped whatever Hanae-san planned to accomplish."

Some still complained, but Shouei breathed out a sigh of relief. The battle was over and he won. _Father, I restored some of our clan's honor._

Though soon new worried would arise, once they found out that Hanae was actually buying time for some other Shikigami to infiltrate the mansion.

* * *

"How… how could this happen?" Gozumaru wondered while lying on the ground. All of his bones and muscles hurt him after what that Bakeneko put him through. "I know she was strong… but ending like this…?" He tried to raise his right hand, but it only fell onto his chest, and onto something sticky. "It should not have been like this." He said to himself as he raised his hand and looked at the sticky, red liquid on the palm of his hand.

"Thadt stwbbbery srtrpt ks mgghy fnn, gmmhmz." ("That strawberry syrup is might fine, Gozumaru.") Heiko said while stuffing her mouth with cakes. "Yy shhhld rtti trrhh it uut!" ("You should really try it out!")

"You sure seem to be having fun." Gozumaru complained as a vein popped on his forehead. "We got trashed by that Bakeneko and thrown right into this cake shop."

" _But Heiko-chan has a sweet tooth!"_ Mezumaru said from the cellphone which somehow survived this whole ordeal.

"Yyy, thhhtsz rht!" ("Yes, that's right!") Heiko continued to rob the whole cake shop of its products.

"And just what is that Bakeneko doing?" Gozumaru forced himself to sit up. "Why isn't she coming at us?"

"Shbe tss whttch as fffm afffr." ("She is watching us from afar.") Heiko said and pointed towards someone outside the shop.

Fifty meters away, the Bakeneko sat on under a street light with a casket of white bottles. She drank from one of the bottles, though her eyes never left the ones inside the Cake Shop.

" _Hey, is she drinking sake?"_ Mezumaru asked in shock. _"How dare she?"_

"Nn, shh us drrrkn mmlk." ("No, she is drinking milk.") Heiko said. "U swvw tkk a csaakl of mlllk frm ttth nghbbbrng sp." ("I saw her take a casket of milk from the neighboring shop.")

" _Milk? Without cookies? How dare she?"_

"Wv uls hvv mllk hrr." ("We also have milk here.") Heiko said and took a bottle of it from the floor. "Dywnnt smm mlllk und cooks, gozzrmu? Mlk mkkks ut mccch bttr!" ("do you want some milk and cookie, Gozumaru? Milk makes it much better!")

" _Heiko-chan, I am envious here!"_ Mezumaru complained. _"Please, describe the taste as good as you can!"_

"Srr!" ("Sure!") Heiko continued talking while stuffing herself with cake. "Thhs sttrbri ckk teests lkk…" ("This strawberry cake tastes like…")

"I really, really hate you two." Gozumaru proclaimed and let himself fall down again. _Well, it looks like we both want to delay one another. So as long as she stays there, I guess it is fine if we don't move either._

And so Gozumaru rested… and thought about each of moves that the Bakeneko did and how he could deal with it in future. He could not defeat her now, but that did not mean he could not do so in future.

* * *

Ritsura walked around aimlessly, tossing a coin made of ice just to do _something_. Since she did not know where she could find Ryoko, she had to wait until Ryoko found her. Of course, her comrades did not fully agree with her plan to go alone so several tried to be smart and keep an eye on her from the shadows, but Nura Ritsura never had trouble in disappearing from her clan's sight.

 _The fighting's died down a little in this area._ She could not feel any Fears clashing, but that might have been why she was here in the first place. If Ryoko did not want anyone to mix in, then she would more likely strike at a place like this then in midst of a battlefield. _Still, where is that Keikain?_

And then she stumbled upon a Keikain, albeit a different one. "Ryuzan." She greeted him with his name.

The boy sighed. "Are you still angry at me?"

"Of course I am." She said and passed him by, though he followed after her. "How did you know where to find me? And don't bother lying about it being a coincidence."

"I wouldn't." Usually he would give her a teasing answer, but this time he did not do so. "I know you well enough to guess where you would go."

"Hmph." It saddened her to hear those words. "So, what do you want?" She looked at him. "Did you come to stop me? Did you change your mind about keeping secrets from me?"

"I came for neither." He put the hand on his pocket and took out a handmade wooden amulet. "Here, take this." He said and offered it to her.

"What's this?" She asked while checking it out. The shape was nothing special, just a small wooden square. There were some Onmyo characters on it.

"A charm against Ryoko's spiral curse. It took a lot of effort to make it in time." He explained. "Wear it around your neck and her spiral curse won't affect you."

"Is this all the help you will be giving me?" She asked.

"Yes." He nodded. "It should even the odds between you two."

"Why wouldn't I just throw it away and say I could deal with her without your help?"

"I'm not helping you or her. It is about evening the odds, something I felt I must do."

"So you aren't on either side?" Her eyes narrowed.

"This battle is your and hers only." He looked at her. "For Ryoko, this is the most important fight she will have had in her life. She will fight as if her life depends on it. To her, utter defeat may be like the end of the world."

"Are you trying to make me go easy on her?"

"No, the very opposite." He looked away. "You don't know it yet, but it's the same for you. You have to fight with all you've got. Or else, it may be like the end of the world for you."

"What's going on, Ryu?" Ritsura could not fathom why losing against Ryoko would be equal to an end of the world.

"She'll tell you about it." He stopped walking. "I know you are angry at me, but trust me on this."

"I'll consider it." She looked at him for a moment but did not stop walking. _Damn it, what is wrong with me? Why am I acting like this? They are cousins, so of course he would not just-_

"Ah, so he is finally gone." A female voice from behind made Ritsura stop walking. "As I hoped, he made something to keep the Spiral Curse from affecting you."

 _What?_ Ritsura turned around and faced the girl she waited for, though her clothes were torn up on some places. _How did she sneak up on me?_

"Sorry for the delay, Rihan found me first so we had to play around." She explained her lateness.

"Oh, he did? How did it end?"

"He claims I won. I claim it was a draw." She shrugged. "Make of it what you want." And then she walked past Ritsura. "But let us go somewhere where we can battle in peace, shall we?"

"Fine." Ritsura accepted and followed behind her.

* * *

 _Just who are you?_ Hikine, a loyal servant of Shiori, wondered while he tailed a strange girl. He was in his form of a cat as it was the best way to stay hidden.

The girl, dressed as a shrine maiden, was a human. Yet, something felt amiss. Originally, he thought it was Keikain Ryoko about whom the clan talked about for last few days, but Keikain Ryoko had black hair, not brown, and Keikain Ryoko did not have a bandage over her left eye.

_So who is she? She feels like a human, but there is a malignant Fear coming from her. And it isn't like Shiori-sama or Kirie-sama. It is more… monstrous._

He thought about ignoring her and join the search for Kaito, but there was a malicious atmosphere around this girl as she walked around Ukiyoe with a smile on her face.

And then she turned around a corner and started walking into a dark alley. _Maybe I should turn around and leave?_ _No, I am Shiori's Shadow, I can't do that!_ And so he followed after her.

And then the girl suddenly stopped and put her arms behind her. For a moment he thought he was noticed, but then he saw someone jump down from a tall building.

 _Gyuki? What is he doing here?_ But the Gyuki's form started deforming and in his place stood a blond girl, who looked like she was fourteen years old. "Touka-nee-san!" The younger girl greeted the older girl and got her hair ruffled.

 _Something is wrong here. Something is very wrong here!_ The girl that appeared was just like this Touka: she was a human. _No, maybe it is only the body of a human?_

"You are late, Touka." A voice of a man resounded. Then he appeared from a different alley and joined the duo of girls. He was dressed in a long, black jacket, had a small beard and had a cigar in his mouth.

"I am sorry." Touka bowed. "But some youkai started fighting around the road my bus was taking so… So? Why was chibi-san jumping around as an old man?" Touka asked while looking at the little girl.

The man in his late thirties was the one to answer. "We underestimated Nura Rikuo. He ended up putting several observers around Ukiyoe, who kept watch so nobody could use the situation."

"So I shape shifted into one of the observers." The girl grinned. "I even made his gullible student jump from a skyscraper." And then she pouted. "And don't call me Chibi-chan! I already lived through two full lifetimes!"

"Hai hai!" Touka said and played with her hair again. "So? How is the plan going? Why are both of you here and not acting?"

"Because we can't do anything." The man explained. "Rikuo's observers are everywhere and we can't find Ishikawa."

_Ishikawa? What does he have to do with this?_

"Did you try calling him?" Touka suggested.

"Of course we did, stupid Touka!" Chibi-chan replied.

"Maybe we should ask someone from the Hyaku Monogatari then?" Touka suggested. "Good thing I brought one with me?"

And before Hikine could even move a muscle, something flew from Touka's behind, grabbed him and struck the wall with him. Due to feeling threatened, he immediately changed to his battle-ready, humane form.

"Hello, stalker-kun~" Touka's voice greeted him.

Hikine immediately opened his eyes and saw six fox tales behind Touka. He also saw the girl looking at him with caution, with three tails behind her. "Kitsunes… what the hell are-ghak!"

"Oi. You are not the one asking questions here, city boy." Touka said while strangling him with one tail. "You are from Hyaku Monogatari, aren't you? Tell me everything you know about Ishikawa's whereabouts and his current plans."

"I will tell you… nothing." Hikine said and both of the girls as if he had gone mad. In comparison, the man just sighed and looked at him with pity.

"This is why I hate the newborn youkai." The three-tailed Kitsune pouted. "They don't understand anything when their betters introduce themselves." She shook her head. I mean, which idiot opposes a Kitsune?"

Hikine opened his mouth to complain, but then a cold feeling of terror stormed through his body. He felt like he would suffocate and that his body would get crushed by this feeling of sheer terror. This girl Touka released such a strong Fear that he felt like his very existence could get erased.

"This is the difference between true youkai and pathetic imitations that you Urban Legends are. Don't you dare forget it!" Touka spoke to the terrified Hikine. "Now, answer the questions I asked you."

"Ishikawa Kaito has been kidnapped by the Shin Sekai." Hikine immediately answered. He was too terrified to disobey her.

"The Shin Sekai?" The man raised an eyebrow. "Touka, didn't you tell me that they would not meddle?"

"I did." She looked into Hikine's eyes again. "Give me some more details. Even rumors are fine."

"We believe that the ones who kidnapped him are the part of the organization that is not loyal to Masato, but to his rebellious daughter."

"Do you believe that they are hostile to Gokadoin Akihito?" The man inquired. "If you know about that individual."

Hikine did know about him. "No doubt they are."

"Arrhhh!" Touka put a hand across her face. "Humans and their stupid politics!"

"If the Shin Sekai got him, we can't do anything about it." The man said. "Tell him to lead us to this Shiori. We will force her to cooperate."

"Fine." Touka nodded and looked at Hikine again. "Where can we find your master?"

This question was like a cold shower for Hikine. At this very moment, all fear he felt towards her disappeared.

Touka's tail strangled him for a few moments. "Speak, city boy. Where can we find your petty mistress?"

"You should watch your mouth, Kitsune." Hikine forced himself to smile. "That is not a way to talk about your betters."

Hikine then felt his body be struck against the opposite wall. Before he could even start feeling pain, he was struck into the ground, then into another wall, and onto another wall… and so on, until he felt like each of his limbs got broken.

"You watch your mouth." Touka spoke to him with anger in her voice. "Where is your mistress?"

"Come on, tell us." The man said in a calmer tone. "Kaito was our benefactor. I am sure your mistress will want to meet with us."

"Then get onto your knees and pray. A goddess chooses whom she will talk with."

"Tz, you really are a pointless lifeform." Touka said and started hitting the entire area with his body, until she finally threw him away.

But Hikine was still conscious. Or more exactly, he forced himself to stay conscious.

"Did you kill him?" The three-tailed fox asked.

"I don't know. I can't be bothered to check, but he probably is." Touka shrugged. "So? What do we do now? If Ryoko-chan doesn't fall further into darkness, this will all be for naught."

"Oh?" The younger girl smirked. "Didn't you say that this is unneeded and that your original plan is all we need?"

"I still think so. But it annoys me that we can't finish what we started."

"Well, we can't do anything." The man noted. "We can't do anything while Rikuo's men are keeping a careful watch over the town and without Ishikawa we don't have a back-up. And it is too late to come up with any new plans as those two girls are about to fight one another."

"So what?" The little girl pouted. "We just stay here and watch?"

"Yes. If we are lucky, Nura Ritsura will sweep the floor with her."

"It would be even better if Ryoko killed Ritsura." The younger girl suggested.

"Impossible." Touka shook her head. "Maybe Kaito could have done something, but I doubt it. I know Ryoko, she is not that gullible." She sighed. "Well, even if it doesn't work, it is just an extra plan." Touka said and put her hands behind her head. "Our original plan can't fail."

"The original plan depends on the Shin Sekai's cooperation. And I don't like depending on them." The man noted. "I would prefer to be done with this as soon as possible."

"Even if this guy Ishikawa's plan worked, it would not be enough." Touka gave her opinion

"It was worth a try."

"If you say so, boss." Touka shrugged. "But I am hungry so let us go eat something."

"Sure." The man said and took out another cigar. "Let us go eat. We can talk more at the table."

And so the trio left, leaving the forgotten Hikine behind. _I have to… tell Shiori-sama about this…_ But all he could do was lose consciousness.

* * *

"This is the place you chose?" Ritsura said while standing on a pile of rubble looking around. "The burnt down ruins of the Kiyotsugu Mansion?"

"Yep." Ryoko, who stood atop a remaining part of wall, confirmed. "It is large, doesn't have people walking around, isn't too open or closed and the Fear is still strong in this place." Ryoko looked down at Ritsura. "Or do you have a better suggestion?"

"No, this is fine." Ritsura put her hands on her hips. "I just thought you would choose a place where you would be higher up."

"This place is open enough for me." She said and sat down while facing Ritsura. "And besides, my fight with Rihan showed that me being too high up means you'll have easier time hiding."

Unlike Ryoko, Ritsura did not allow herself to relax and so she continued to stand. "Why did you attack my brother? Was he also on your list?"

"He was on my list, though you were always the priority. But it was he who challenged me, not vice-versa."

"And you won?"

"Only because it was not a fight to death." Ryoko made an awkward smile. "I believe it would've been harder for me if we were trying to kill one another."

"And what stopped him in doing so?"

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"I know my brother well. He's not one to go soft. I hate to say this, but my brother is not the kind of youkai who would mind putting other people's lives on the line."

"Is that something that his older sister should say?" Ryoko's smile disappeared. "You should be keeping him away from such a path."

"What do you know about him? Or even about all I did to try and keep him on the right path?"

Ryoko looked at her for a while and then averted her gaze elsewhere. "Nothing, of course." There was melancholy in her voice.

"So? What made him sheathe his sword?"

"I wasn't careful enough." She closed her eyes. "As a result, he lost his will to fight. I will not make that mistake again."

"What exactly do you mean that you weren't careful enough?"

"I won't make that mistake again." She returned her gaze towards Ritsura.

"What the hell is with you two cousins and being all mysterious?" Ritsura scratched her head. "Seriously, it is annoying." She looked up at Ryoko once again. "I guess you too won't tell me what your deal with me is? Why you care so much about defeating me?"

She looked at her Ritsura in silence for a while. The Yuki-Onna had already taken it as a sign that she won't answer and prepared to ask another question when Ryoko spoke out. "Will a partial answer be alright?"

"Anything will be better than nothing."

"Hmm, give me a little time to make up an answer…" Ryoko looked at the sky above them. "You see, the Keikain House is a very strict family, and with very strong beliefs on what is right and what is wrong. When someone does not adhere to those, they become kind of a black sheep."

"Really? The Keikains had no problems working with us, the youkai, against our enemies."

"Only the main family does. But many of the branch families would most rather kill the entirety of the Nura Clan if they could." Ryoko's smile disappeared. "I know you were in Kyoto and let me assure you that some of the smiles you may have seen were there to hide the utter disgust they felt towards you."

"Yeah, I noticed it." It was long ago, but Ritsura could still remember some awkward events during her stay in Kyoto. "Even as young as I was, I could feel malice in some of the Keikain. But I thought they were a small few."

"A small few…" Ryoko looked at the sky again. "The majority are on the fence, but a large part of the family would want us to shake hands with the Shin Sekai."

"With those lunatics?"

"He-he." Ryoko giggled at the term Ritsura used. "Yes, with those lunatics. Alongside the family values, most of them have lost family members to youkai during the war against Hagoromo Gitsune. The fact that we let their killers, Hagoromo Gitsune and her gang, live infuriates them."

"I see… and you who practices curses, made a merry band out of random youkai and even turned yourself into a part-youkai won't be popular amongst them."

"Indeed. Add to that some other things, which I won't talk about now, and you have the least favorite Onmyouji in the family. When my siblings mastered the Hagun and thus became worthy to inherit the leadership, almost everyone breathed out a sigh of relief."

"Everyone but you?"

"Actually, I jumped from joy." Ryoko smiled. "I no longer had to play nice because I may become the head of the family. I no longer needed to care about being ethical by their terms. I could finally do whatever I wanted."

"So you're free now. Problem solved." Ritsura tilted her head. "So why is that related to attacking the Nura Clan?"

Ryoko put on a sad smile. "Tell me Ritsura… do you desire such kind of freedom." Her brows lowered. "…to be in such relations with your clan that you jump from joy for no longer having to be an integral part of them?"

"Ah… no, I would consider that a nightmare." Ritsura, who lived for her clan, could never accept something like that.

"I spent years and years trying to prove myself, to prove that I am worthy even if I'm not like the rest… but it was for naught. More and more people hated me, and the number of my friends in the clan never reached all fingers of my hand." She looked down. "Even today, I feel like I want to be accepted… even though I know that this is just a girl's naive dream."

"You know… you could have solved this problem by not being such an… evil shrine maiden."

"I had to be like that."

"Why?"

"It's something I can't tell you now." She shook her head. "But I had to follow such a path. Not going down it… would be like killing a part of me."

"You sure are a drama queen."

"Hahaha!" She laughed again. "Yeah, I know. But I already came to terms with the fact that I am an utter fool. If I weren't, you and I wouldn't be here now, preparing to clash."

"Speaking of that, why me?" Ritsura pointed her sword at Ryoko. "Why are you, whom I never met before in my life, causing trouble for me and my clan? Do you want to prove yourself to those bigots or is there more to it?"

"Hmph." She smiled and closed her eyes.

"What is so funny?"

"It is ironic, isn't it? To you, I am no more than a stranger. Until I met you personally, you likely didn't even know my name." She then opened her eyes. "In contrast, I knew about you for a long, long time."

"Huh?"

Ryoko put her hand on her chest. "I wanted to meet you for so long… but at the same time I feared meeting you. When I found out that you befriended Ryuzan and Kashaimaru, I was happy. But at the same time, I felt like you tried to steal them from me. I love you, but-"

"Wait, what? you love me?" Ritsura's face turned blue. "Are you telling me that I have a lesbian stalker?"

Ryoko looked at Ritsura with her mouth wide open. And then she burst into a laugh. "HAHAHAHA!" She laughed while holding her belly. "Hahaha… you are killing me…"

"This is not funny for me." Ritsura declared with her eyes wide open. "I'm not swinging that way and neither are you my type. I'll never let you get your hands on my body!"

"Hahahaha! That face you make while you shout that… it is way too cute!"

"Me stealing Ryuzan and Kashaimaru my ass! You are afraid they would steal me!" Ritsura pointed her sword back at Ryoko. "I can't believe that your reason for coming here was _this_ stupid!"

"Hahaha…" Ryoko continued to laugh for a while longer. "I really, _really_ want to cuddle you now."

Ritsura's body shook from the just the thought of it.

"But you missed the mark completely." Ryoko shrugged. "Maybe I should have used a different term… but alas, I am a drama queen, just as you say."

"Hmmm..."

"In any case…" Ryoko finally stood back onto her feet. "I wanted to say that I love you, but I also feel tremendous envy towards you, the one whose clan and family always accepted her." She looked down at Ritsura again, with a hard-to-read smile. "I intended to say that this envy is one of two reasons I seek to fight you, but your little outburst a while ago made me realize it is one of three." Her smile then became more innocent. "I like you more than I envy you. I want us to be friends, and so I want us, both of whom seek to be warriors, to show one another what we learned throughout our lives."

"If you realized that earlier, would you have _not_ attacked Ukiyoe?"

"I'd have still attacked. After all, we also both rule over youkai, so it's not a real fight if our followers don't fight. Granted, since you had protection of the entire Nura Clan, I also had to bring more youkai than you yourself had in order to keep them from meddling."

"Are you even aware that my clan is at war? That our enemies might-"

"You should not doubt your father, you know." Ryoko tilted her head. "Or did you not notice that some youkai of your clan are standing aside and just observing what is going on?" Ryoko smirked. "If someone attacked, we would stop this game of ours and I would also order my Shikigami to aid the Nura Clan."

Ritsura bit her lip. _Of course father would take precautions. Damn it, why did I need her to make me remember that?_ "And what is your third reason for wanting this fight?"

"It is because I seek to prove myself worthy of taking over the mantle of the Nue."

"What does that even mean?"

"You see, all Onmyouji revere Abe no Seimei, the greatest Onmyouji in history. Even Keikains, who know that he wasn't a good person, revere him for his skill in Onmoyodo." Ryoko started explaining and landed on the ground, with her back turned towards Ritsura. "I revere it too, but I also revere the life he once tried to lead, before he succumbed to madness." She started walking away. "I want to be a person who uses Onmyodo and Fear together in order to keep the world in balance… a way of complete yin and yang so to say." Once she was far enough from Ritsura, she turned around. "In order to reach that goal, and become an Onmyouji of Seimei-sama's level, I trained with all I had and made many sacrifices, including those that made me disliked by my own clan."

"And that's why you want to fight me?"

"No. My envy and love are why I want to fight you. This is why I can't allow myself to lose to you."

"So if I defeat you, you will give up on all you built until now?"

"No, not if you defeat me." She pointed her finger at Ritsura. "What matters to me is that I'm able to stand up to you. I'm fine with defeat, as long as I managed to put up a good fight against the future Lady of Pandemonium." She raised her right hand and a black bow appeared in it. "But enough chatter. We delayed this long enough."

 _So, that's how it is?_ There were still more questions Ritsura wanted to ask, and she thought she needed answer to one immediately. "Just one more question."

"Fine."

"Ryuzan said that this battle means the world to you and you explained why." Ritsura looked straight at her. "But he also said that it means the world to me. Do you know why he would say that?"

"Ahhh… Ryu said too much." She sighed. "I thought to say this in an unlikely situation that you prove to not be as good as I expect you to be, but I guess it'd be better to say this immediately." She then raised her eyes back at Ritsura. "Nura Ritsura, the heiress of the Nura Clan and thus the heiress to the title of Lady of Pandemonium, listen well."

The face Ryoko made was hard and determined. It suggested that she would not accept any arguments or complaints to what she had to say.

"I won't accept anyone weaker than me as the Lord of Pandemonium. I accept only those stronger than I, or at least those on my level, to be worthy of that title. Anyone else is a fool who is throwing their life, as well as the lives of their followers, into death's hands. So if you don't deserve it, I will demand you to relinquish the claim to the inheritance of that title to me."

Ritsura could not believe the outrageous claim that this girl made. "What are you-"

"In extension, you will publicly declare that you give up your inheritance of the Nura Clan's leadership for, in this scenario, you would not be worthy of it either." Her eyes turned red as she made her demand clear. "Should you reject to do so, then I will bring you down again, this time together with your followers. And I will do so as many times as it takes for you to realize your unworthiness."

Ritsura wanted to yell at her. She wanted to tell her that she had no right to make such demands.

But something in Ryoko's expression and voice told her that she had the right to make such an outrageous ultimatum.

And then Ryoko smiled. "But I believe it won't have to this. Just put all your strength and will into it and I'm sure it will be fine." She tilted her head. "Or let it piss you off, if that' what it takes to fight me seriously."

 _I can understand that she challenges my right to be the Lord of Pandemonium's successor, but why the Nura Clan?_ "Why would you even-"

"Enough chatter." An arrow formed inside Ryoko's bow. "Now, we battle."

"Damn you…" Ritsura raised her sword and released her Fear.

She had a bad feeling about what was to come.

* * *

**I-I-I-I-I**

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And we finally reached the battle that the arc was building towards. The following chapters will, hopefully, deserve all the time we spent on building up this whole thing.

\- I swear, originally the Gozumaru&Heiko Vs. Hyouhaku battle was supposed to be more serious. But Gozumaru got so many battles in last arc that I felt going for something different… not to mention that Hyouhaku was, due to Hanae's defeat, supposed to win anyway

\- Rihan and Ryoko went to eat some ramen. Typical… but at least Rihan will get to see angry Shiori!

\- And three Kitsunes appear and discuss Kaito and Ryoko. It was a long while since I mentioned the Kitsune Clan, but they are finally here. Now what do they have to do with Kaito...?

\- just for the record, Touka was actually mentioned in an earlier chapter. You might find which one by checking the chapter titles ;)


	79. The Two Girls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a long while, Nura Ritsura and Keikain Ryoko finally found some time to get it over with by fighting it out

**Chapter 79 – The Two Girls**

A splash of cold water woke Ishikawa Kaito from his slumber. "Aghhh!" He screamed, from surprise and chills. He tried moving his arms and legs, but the feeling of steel on them made it clear it was impossible. He was sitting with his legs cuffed and his arms behind him, also cuffed.

The first thing he saw was the image of a man standing above him while he sat. Kaito recognized the old man with a scarred face and small gray beard, for it was the same man who beat him unconscious. Next. he saw that he was in a dull, small room that must have been empty until a while ago. He was sure he could even smell the dust.

"Hi there, old man." Kaito smiled while the throbbing pain ravaged his head, reminding him of what he did to him. "This sure is a primitive way to imprison a man. Or does your mistress secretly have a fetish in BDSM?"

The man's expression did not change. As if Kaito never even said anything, he turned around and walked away. Now that he was gone, Kaito could see Onieda Mayuri stand in front.

"So? Which is it, missy?" Kaito posed a question for her. "You into BDSM?"

She took two steps forward. "I am sorry for this." She apologized while her eyes looked away. "The organization has better facilities for the job, but father and grandfather would intervene if I took you there."

"You mean they would save me? Well, they probably wouldn't want to get in Shiori-chan's bad graces so early so I guess what you say is right." Kaito said and grinned when Mayuri looked onto him. "Fortunately for me, you don't have that problem. I always wanted to feel what this was like."

"You are surprisingly calm about this." Mayuri noted.

Kaito looked her all over. He did not pay any attention to her uniform or her feminine charms, but to her body movements. Her feet were positioned into a triangle and her arms were in front of her, in the usual feminine way. Her fingers rubbed one another so easily that he was sure there was sweat on them. "In contrast, my prisoner is nervous and so shamefully lacking in style." He said while looking into her terrified eyes. "There's no malice, no brutality and no confidence in your actions." He tilted his head. "You are afraid and you can't wait to go home, dress into your comfortable nightgown and go lie down in your bed."

Her mouth opened, but she said nothing. The surprise was shining in her eyes.

Kaito's smile disappeared. "You aren't fit for this, little girl. Turn around and return to your old life, a tale which you belong to. You are not the kind of character fit to this kind of tales." And then he let his smile return. "You aren't even worth my attention so if you release me, I'll return to playing with the more fitting, more interesting, characters."

"I can't let you do that." She said, her eyes calm for the first time since Kaito woke up. "I need to stop you."

"And why would _you_ need to stop me? Did your daddy order you to? Don't fool around Mayu-chan, you're the sole person who chose to play this game."

"It is every human's duty to stop evil from happening if they can."

"It's every human's duty to eat, sleep and procreate. Everything else equals playing around." Kaito raised his chin. "But I admit, it is more fun to play around. Life without it is worthless."

"You have a wretched view of the world."

"What is your counter argument? I would really like to hear it." He demanded, but she did not say anything back. "I see… I chose to flee from my dull life by playing a villain. You chose to do the same, but by playing a heroine."

She closed her eyes and tucked her forearms behind herself. "What were you planning to do with Ritsura-san and Keikain-san?"

"To screw them up, of course." He said it bluntly. "Miss, are you aware there are seven humans leading the Tokyo branch of Hyaku Monogatari?"

She nodded. "The Poet, the Prankster, the Whisperer, the Wordsmith, the Archivist, the Songstress…" Her eyes narrowed. "…and the Listener, whose role is to conduct espionage."

"Espionage? Pft, you Shin Sekai and your lack of artistic sense…" Kaito felt annoyed. "My role is to collect the dark secrets of the people and bring the information to my fellow Players so they can create artistic masterpieces from it."

"As I said: espionage."

"Are you trying to piss me off, miss?" He shook his head. "In any case, somewhere down the line I found out where my true passion lies and I, informally, changed my title to the Vandal. Would you know what that title means?"

Mayuri looked at him in silence for a while, but then she spoke. "Why are you waiting for me to answer a hypothetical question?"

"You are such a bore, miss." He sighed. "It means I started using my knowledge to create tales of my own. It _is_ a bit embarrassing to say, but I am obsessed with bringing out the darkness from others and have their personalities get ruined by it." He spoke while her stare grew colder. "I must ask you to not judge me, miss. We all have our kinks."

"Yes, you are a wicked man who likes to make everyone's life a hell. I knew that already. Now tell me what exactly you were planning."

 _She got so frustrated that she isn't even nervous anymore._ "What else is there to say? I wanted to throw some oil onto the inner flames inside these two cute girls." His brows lowered while he spoke with a smug face. "Well, you stopped me so good job for you. But you know… it won't matter."

"And why would it not?"

"Even if by some chance, this night ends up with a happy ending, the darkness inside each of their hearts will remain." His grin grew. "And just so you know, there are others who want to make these girls fall down. And unlike me, it is not just some spur of the moment for them."

"And who are these people?"

"Hmmm… well, for Keikain-san, it is actually two groups." He decided it would not hurt to tell her. And since Mayuri was an Onieda, he did not need to hold back information. "One is a bunch of Kitsunes and the other is… ask your own people, why don't you?"

"Huh? What does the organization have to do with Keikain Ryoko?"

"I do not know, but the Shin Sekai is planning something. Last time I checked, it was a project led by Gokadoin Akihito."

Mayuri bit her lower lip. Kaito had no doubts that she did not like hearing that name, for Akihito was the most powerful person in the organization after the elder Oniedas.

And he was a type of person that Mayuri would hate.

But she did not spend too much time worrying about Ryoko. "And what about Ritsura-san?"

"She has many enemies… but the one we are talking about in this context is the one inside her." Kaito tilted his head. "Do you know about the curse that affects all of Nura Rikuo's offspring, and which will only be lifted once a dark prophecy has been fulfilled?"

"A curse?"

"Yes, Enchou-sama's parting gift to the Nuras. A tale he himself created, and one I tried to give my personal touch to in the case of Ritsura-chan, but will be unable to see it play out..."

* * *

Ryoko released her arrow at Ritsura, who barely avoided it by turning her body and letting the arrow fly just past her.

Ritsura immediately dashed towards Ryoko, who slowly jumped away while creating, and then releasing, another arrow.

 _I won't be able to avoid it in time._ Ritsura could also feel the strong malice in the black arrow, suggesting that it had been cursed. She slashed through it, destroying the arrow. Nonetheless, the curse was cast but Ritsura overwhelmed it with her own Fear before it reached her, practically cutting it like she would cut any youkai's Fear. _She thought I would slash the arrow and get cursed, but I'm not falling for that._

To her annoyance, Ryoko did not seem worried about her failed trap. She smiled and prepared another arrow, this one shining with a golden glow.

 _This feels like a regular Onmyodo spell. If I deal with it head on, I'll have to waste more Fear than I did on the last one._ Without stopping, she kicked a rock from the ground and into her hand, after which she threw it right into the arrow. The arrow struck into the stone and broke into golden dust. _Good, so it can't cut through stone and other real objects._

Ryoko pulled the string of her bow again and, although she had it aimed at Ritsura the whole time, but she did not let it go. _I wonder if I can break the bow._ Once she got close enough to the Onmyouji, Ritsura accumulated her Fear onto the sword and swung it with all of her strength, not at Ryoko's body but at the bow.

Rather than back away or move her bow, Ryoko put it up so that her bow and Ritsura's sword would clash.

And when they clashed, Ritsura's attack ricocheted off and the Yuki Onna took a step back. _Shit, this bow is tough!_

With a smug face, Ryoko moved her bow a little and her aim was back at Ritsura. The young heiress of the Nura Clan did not have time to evade or to defend herself and had to take the blackened arrow on her chest.

 _Shit!_ She clenched her teeth as she felt a piercing pain. She jumped a few times backwards, with intention to put some distance from the Onmyouji. The arrow disappeared into her body and Ritsura could feel an unpleasantly cold sensation spread on both her body and soul. _A curse. I get I should not be surprised._

But Ritsura knew that it would be impossible to avoid all of Ryoko's curses. She put her sword into her left hand and, after evading an arrow, raised her right hand and created sharp ice nails on it. _A strong enough Fear can dispel a curse, that's what Itaku told me._ She stabbed the ice nails into her chest. Since they were not especially long, it was not dangerous and even the pain was more than tolerable. She took a deep breath and radically lowered the temperature around her nails for a mere moment.

It was a little painful but, once the pain was gone, Ritsura could no longer feel the unpleasant, cold sensation from before. So she pulled her hand away and looked back at Ryoko.

"Whoa." The girl looked at her with an expression of surprise. "That looks so painful that I feel sorry."

"Don't be, it'd just annoy me." Ritsura said while letting the bloody ice nails fall apart. "I've been through worse, and I'm sure you have as well." Ritsura prepared her body to run at Ryoko again.

"Are you going to try the same thing again?" Ryoko asked and then pulled the string and aimed her bow at Ritsura. "I don't want you to have to stab yourself. Again."

"I told you to not annoy me." Ritsura frowned. "Besides, I don't intend to do everything in the same manner."

"Likewise." Ryoko said and created another black arrow.

Ritsura ran again, and once again Ryoko took her time with her arrow. _Is she waiting for me to get closer? No wait, that arrow… its Fear's growing stronger. Tz, it looks like she can power up her arrows._

* * *

It looked like Ritsura was doing the same thing again, but the calmness on the Yuki-Onna's face told Ryoko that it was not going to be so. _She might've just been testing the waters the first time. I should think of this as the first real attack._

Ryoko let her first arrow fly, even though she knew that it would fail to hit. And to neither's surprise, Ritsura slashed the arrow and destroyed it, together with the curse. But, interestingly, the Yuki-Onna took out a fan from her kimono and opened it. _There's Fear around that thing. So she has more weapons than just the sword._

Once again, Ryoko had pulled the string of her bow and an arrow appeared. But this time, she imbued it with the metal and fire elements, although with no curses.

Like the last time, Ritsura swung her sword and Ryoko blocked it with her bow. But this time, the Onmyouji tried to quickly re-aim her bow and release the arrow while they were still parrying.

However, Ritsura either saw it coming or had no intention to try and overpower her nemesis. Instead, she let go and waved at her enemy with her fan.

 _Coold!_ Ryoko clenched her teeth as the strong, cold wind tried blowing her away. She had to keep her arms straight lest she was disarmed and, more importantly, she had to put more force into her legs so she would not be blown away and fall down. Such an event might result in an early defeat for her. _I can't have that, not after that threatening speech I gave her._

Although it hurt her to force her eyes to stay open while a cold wind blew onto them, she did it in order to know what her rival was doing. And after witnessing Ritsura moving towards her again, she immediately aimed her bow. Ryoko almost let go of the string, but since this arrow could cause physical damage to Ritsura, she did not immediately do so.

This resulted in Ritsura noticing that Ryoko was able to attack again, so she stopped moving and changed her posture to strike whatever was coming for her. To Ryoko, this was the sign that it was now safe to release her arrow.

As expected, Ritsura struck it with her sword and although it caused an explosion and propelled Ritsura away, it did not cause any serious damage. _That was a close call._ Ryoko breathed out a sigh of relief. _I managed to control myself._

* * *

It was not that Ritsura was defeated or that she was too tired to rise up. It was not even the result of a curse. She just did not feel like rising up, at least not immediately. _What did she just do?_ She asked herself for the fifth time now.

"Are you alright?" She could hear Ryoko ask her.

_Even now…_

"You know, if you keep lying there, our little contest won't last for much longer."

_Shut up… you, shut up, damn it._

"Hm?" The Onmyouji girl jumped onto a larger heap of rubble, the one which Ritsura could see even without moving her head or eyes. "Fine then, I'm gonna hit you with an arrow now." She said while pulling her bow and creating a black arrow. "It should put you to sleep."

_Again… won't she stop?_

"Here we go." Ryoko said and released the arrow.

But Ritsura just swung her bare hand and quickly destroyed it with a flying icicle. "Why did you do it?" Ritsura asked while rising up.

" _Are you afraid of her?"_ A strange creature with body of a calf and a head of the human spoke while floating around. _"Of course you are. How pitiful."_

"Why did I do _what,_ exactly?" Ryoko asked and jumped away to a safer distance. Nobody but Ritsura was able to see the demonic calf.

"Just now you could have finished me." Ritsura said. "Yet you warned me about what you were about to do. Twice. You even came to my field of vision."

" _Because you are a Nura in name only."_ The calf continued mocking her. _"There's really no point in fighting you seriously, for you are a disappointment. You even proved it, just now."_

Ritsura did not even look at her, but just continued looking at the ground. Even though it was not her intent, frost slowly spread across the ground surrounding her. However, it did give her an idea on what her next course of action could be.

"I did it because harming you while you were down would be… dishonorable, I guess?" Ryoko answered calmly.

" _But let's forget about all that, shall we?"_ The creature continued floating around Ritsura. _"Let's discuss the consequences of her possible victory…"_

"And why…" Ritsura looked up at her, her voice becoming raspier while still staying slow. "Why did you pause before striking me with that arrow earlier?"

Ryoko's eyes widened, and then she answered with a forced smile. "I didn't want to hurt ya."

" _To her, this is a game. But you and I know better, don't we?"_ The creature winked. _"Imagine if other youkai got this idea? Alone, they may not be a threat, but with such a sensitive diplomatic situation your clan has right now… well, your clan_ _ **needs**_ _to make it clear that it's still strong and that they can't tolerate fooling around. Enemies and those who act like fools need to be punished. After all, you are a yakuza, aren't you? Only fools should think about fooling around with a_ _ **real**_ _yakuza."_

Ritsura clenched her teeth and ice spikes started springing around her, atop the frost which had spread earlier. She hated it when she agreed with this creature that appeared when she was emotionally most vulnerable, but it had a point. Ryoko had to be punished, even if she was auntie Yura's daughter.

"Well… that looks useless." Ryoko said while pulling her the bowstring.

Ritsura replied by raising her blade and then striking the ground with it. " _Reito shi Kusa_." The frost's spread was now so fast that one could almost mistake it for water. Ryoko got caught off-guard by this and released her arrow just before starting to slowly back away.

The moment the arrow reached the ground above the frost, several icicles sprung up and one of them destroyed the flying arrow.

"I'm done playing around, Keikain." Ritsura proclaimed in a low, cold tone. "I'll have you back down, even if I have to put you into a hospital."

" _Yes, show her! Don't let her-"_

_Oh would you just shut up, you stupid calf?_

The calf threw her a surprised glance, and then made a face that showed mockery. After that, the creature disappeared.

"Something's wrong with you…" Ryoko commented, though she had no time to worry about such things. The frost had gotten too close and large icicles sprang out of it. All missed the agile Onmyouji, and some even struck one another. "'tis a scary technique, but I see that it isn't very precise."

Ryoko did not notice that some frost had spread across remains of a wall, at least not until an icicle sprang out of it and stabbed right through her left shoulder.

"Ugh…" Ryoko looked at it with widened eyes, and with her teeth clenched hard.

"Onmyouji…" Ritsura started taking slow steps toward her nemesis. "You also better stop playing around with me."

* * *

 _This hurts… but her coming at me seriously is exactly what I wanted so I should not complain._ Ryoko grabbed the icicle with one of her hands and pulled herself away from it.

Immediately, more icicles sprung around her, but she successfully avoided them, both those coming from the ground as well as those coming from the walls and heaps of rubble. _It is an impressive technique, that's for sure._ Ryoko analyzed her current predicament while putting an ofuda over her wounded shoulder so she would not need to hold her hand there in order to heal it. _But a technique of this caliber must be pretty exhausting to use._

But even so, Ritsura's icicles did not show signs of slowing up so the attacks continued to be intense. And sometimes, they were not as random. Like when two of them sprung from the ground, one left and one right of Ryoko, and grew in such a way that they would thrust through Ryoko's hips. Ryoko easily avoided them by taking a step back, but a third icicle went to attack from behind. Luckily for her, it was not exactly behind her nor in her blind spot, so Ryoko was able to just turn her body around thus the only thing that the icicle ripped was some of Ryoko's clothes.

_Still though, I can't just wait for her to get tired. So what will I do? I could use my ofudas to block the icicles, but is it worth spending them on this?_

Even while planning, she kept her eyes on Ritsura. So she immediately noticed when Ritsura started running at her. _Oh, you have to be kidding me._ Ryoko let the bow disappear and took out four ofudas while trying to keep her eyes on the ground and on her nemesis, both at the same time. _The icicles don't appear as frequently anymore, but I shouldn't allow myself to get too comfortable._ She thought while avoiding an icicle which just sprung from below her feet. _Still, they are no less dangerous. I'll have to use my ofudas after all._

Even though a dangerous Yuki-Onna was running straight at her, Ryoko relaxed her body and balanced her breathing. She took a more precise control over her spiritual energy, poured it into her four ofudas and then made some gestures with them before letting them go.

Though a bit late, Ritsura must have remembered that this was supposed to be a good time to strike at Ryoko from behind with an icicle. But still, it was too late on Ritsura's part, for one of the ofudas flew in front of it and broke the icicle while the ofuda itself still remained floating and shining with a warm, golden light.

But Ritsura did not even flinch at it and swung her sword without even the slightest change in her moving pattern. Ryoko blocked the attack with one of her Ofudas, the one into which she poured more spiritual energy than into the other three.

Ritsura's attack was pushed away and she tried to move around Ryoko in order to not face her directly, after which she tried to slash at her feet. But Ryoko jumped over the sword and hit Ritsura in the face with her hand and ofuda. Ritsura was pushed back a bit, but immediately prepared to strike at her again.

Ryoko prepared to meet the attack, but when she moved her left foot she started slipping. _Damn, she froze the ground._ Ritsura used the opportunity to try and stab the Onmyouji girl, but just before her body fell onto the ground, Ryoko used her free hand to push herself away a little so the sword went past her. To this, Ritsura replied by changing her movement pattern and tried to hit Ryoko in the face with the sword's hilt.

Ryoko's face was protected by one of her free ofudas, but the attack was so strong that she still felt some of it and her body was thrown away rolling. Naturally, Ritsura immediately ran at her, but Ryoko managed to rise up in time and meet Ritsura's sword with the ofuda on her hand.

But the Yuki-Onna did not stop with this attack and continued pushing down her blade onto the barrier, while Ryoko was almost in a kneeling position. "Why the hell do you care about it?" She asked the Onmyouji girl, her face still furious.

"Why do I care about _what_?" Ryoko asked and backed away in order to retreat from Ritsura, but the Yuki-Onna just swung her sword at her before she could put enough of distance between them.

"I'm talking about that demand which you made!" Ritsura said and an icicle went towards Ryoko's back, but the ofuda shielded her. "Why did you make that demand about my right to inherit father's position?"

"I should return the question to you." Ryoko grabbed one of her floating Ofudas with her free left hand. "Why didn't you just laugh it off as a pretentious request?" _To be honest, that's what I expected you would do._ "Could it be that you… care?" She slashed the ofuda in Ritsura's direction, as if she were holding a sword.

Ritsura gracefully avoided the thin flash of light which was directed at her and immediately slashed back at Ryoko's shield, which had started cracking. "I already have a hundred questions! Don't add more to it!"

"Oh my, how furious you are." _It won't hold for much longer._ Ryoko poured more energy into the ofuda, but there was a limit at how much pressure an ofuda could take before getting ripped apart. "Those who hold this title are the target of everyone who desires it. It's better not to even have it than get destroyed by it."

"And I ask you again…" The barrier finally broke and Ritsura quickly grabbed Ryoko by her neck and pushed her against a wall. "Why would you care if I and my clan suffered because of it?"

Ryoko grabbed Ritsura's fingers, but she could not free herself from the youkai's inhuman grasp and it's freezing fingers which dug into Ryoko's neck. "Because… I love you." Ryoko forced a smile onto her lips.

"Are you spitting those senseless words again? Well, no matter." Ritsura slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry for being so rough, but I can't allow idiots like you to fool around with my clan while we're at war." She spoke while Ryoko's ofudas hit onto her, but the Yuki-Onna's Fear was too strong for it to have any effect. "Your back is against the wall and now you are done for. I expect you remember your own terms."

"Indeed, my back is against the wall." Ryoko smiled again. "But this means that I don't have to fear something attacking me from behind."

Ritsura just stared at her for a second, but her eyes widened as she realized what Ryoko meant.

By then it was too late and Ryoko's five summoned skulls shot at Ritsura from multiple directions, robbing her of the ability to retreat.

* * *

It was far too late to use _Kyouka Suigetsu_ to save herself from the arrows, so instead Ritsura created a layer of ice around a few parts of her body in hopes of deflecting or, if nothing else, to reduce the damage done by the arrows.

One arrow hit her into her unprotected back, and Ritsura felt uncomfortable by that one attack. _That one was a curse._ Three other arrows hit her hip, her shoulder and her knee, and Ritsura felt repelled by them. _Onmyoudo._ Another one hit into her other shoulder, this one being just a strong metal arrow. _Good thing that all but the cursed one had their impact softened by the ice._

As the arrows stabbed into her, she let go of Ryoko's neck and put her two fingers together. She thought about throwing an icicle into her while she was looking down and coughing, but an ofuda flew up in front of her. So instead, Ritsura changed her target to the only skull in her sight, and used the icicle to blow it into pieces. _One down._ After that, she jumped several steps away from Ryoko and the skulls.

 _So, I'm back at step one again._ "You sure are an annoying woman, Keikain Ryoko." Ritsura spoke while repositioning her body and holding up the sword with both of her hands. "How much longer will this pointless battle need to go on?"

" _This is your own fault, you know."_ The human-headed calf appeared in the corner of her sight again. _"Had you just broken her neck, this could have been over already."_

 _I would not do that to aunt Yura's daughter and to Ryuzan's cousin._ _Never._

" _Then you will keep losing, stupid girl. But I guess I could enjoy your suffering, miss future commander keh keh."_ The calf laughed.

"It lasts until one of us loses or gives up, naturally." Ryoko shrugged. "But should you really be this serious?"

"Your foolishness puts many of my own clan into danger."

" _Imagine if an enemy uses this opportunity and someone you hold dear dies."_ The calf tried poisoning her heart again. _"Will you still be proud for not breaking her bones?"_

"Are you always this tsun?" Ryoko let the ofuda go, yet the piece of paper stood in its place, as if it were floating. "You are a youkai, so relax and enjoy our time together." She put both of her hands around the ofuda, making a circle pointed at Ritsura. In the meantime, the four remaining skulls flew around the battlefield and aimed themselves at Ritsura.

"That's really…" Ritsura swung the sword across the air and released her hold over the _Reito shi Kusa_. It was a strong technique, but it consumed a lot of Ritsura's energy and it required concentration to control the icicles. In contrast, Ryoko's shield of ofudas did not seem to need conscious control from their user. "…not something an Onmyouji should be saying!" And so Ritsura ran towards Ryoko, for another round.

* * *

Just as she expected since Ryoko summoned the skulls, the battlefield became more erratic as Ritsura had to evade arrows every few seconds and from multiple directions. Fortunately for her, the skulls seemed to be unable to use the more dangerous arrows so even the few times that Ritsura suffered a hit, it was not a dangerous situation.

But still, it was hard for her to reach Ryoko this way. Her nemesis was still doing a strange ritual with the ofuda, only now she was also chanting something and several other ofudas were floating and slowly circling around her.

She had to take her down before she was finished. _If my experience taught me anything, it's that this fancy shit leads to some nasty shit._ So she ran towards Ryoko, but when she got around twenty meters close to her, all of the skulls started raining arrows at her, from many different directions. Ritsura had no choice but to stop and slash or evade the arrows. Soon, she also realized that she had to take a few steps backwards, which made the attacks less forceful.

_Are they just trying to keep me away, or could it be that the amount of power the skulls have depends on how close they are to Ryoko? Now that I think about it, their strongest attacks were made while they and I were close to Ryoko._

_What about this then?_ She pointed her fingers at Ryoko and threw an icicle. Ryoko did not even twitch, but one of the ofudas floating around her got in he way and broke the icicle into shaved ice. Ritsura threw another, stronger icicle but the result remained the same.

 _This is no good. Then should I first take down the skulls?_ She wondered while looking around them, but when she looked at Ryoko she could see that a small pentagram appeared on the ofuda that was surrounded by her hands and all kinds of colors started coming out of it. _Or should I focus on not wasting time? In either case, it's some kind of risk I'm taking._

After several moments of contemplation, Ritsura came up with a plan. She then jumped several feet away and struck her sword into the ground. She then looked up at the skulls while the middle fingers and index fingers on both of her hands stuck together. Soon enough, cold air started collecting itself around them.

The skulls opened their jaws to fire and Ritsura replied by shooting an icicle from her left hand, which forced one skull to move away, and then she shot another from her right hand which struck into the arrow which the skull shot. Immediately after, Ritsura created more icicles and shot at them.

One after another, she rained icicles upon the skulls. All the skulls together still shot arrows more frequently, but Ritsura was fast as well. Once she got used to the situation, she only started firing icicles from her left hand.

The skulls then went closer to Ryoko and their attacks became more powerful, not to mention that most of the arrows now exploded on impact. _She thinks that I want to lure the skulls away and take them down while they're weaker._ Ritsura smirked. _Sorry Ryoko-chan, but I know you would have seen through such a strategy._

For two more minutes, the skulls kept shooting explosive arrows and Ritsura kept shooting icicles with only her left hand whereas Ryoko lowered herself down onto her right knee and raised her hands up in the air, making a triangle with her fingers. The colors surrounding Ryoko became more vivid and a shining, colorful pentagram now hung above the black-haired adversary.

Ritsura could sense another presence slowly appearing from that pentagram. _She must be summoning a Shikigami._ Although the battle would probably become more dangerous should Ryoko succeed, Ritsura did not feel worried. She continued to pointlessly fire icicles at her enemy.

A minute later, strong Fear started slipping out of the pentagram and then electric sparks started to come out, becoming stronger and louder with each passing second. After the Fear and sparks grew, large eyes appeared from inside the pentagram. "Gyaahk!" Ryoko screamed when some of the sparks started hitting her, but she clenched her teeth and continued with what she was doing.

 _Whatever Shikigami or youkai it's, it's not happy about what this Onmyouji is doing._ "Oi, Ryoko!" Ritsura called to her. "This looks like it'll be dangerous for both of us. Are you sure you know what you are doing?"

"Not really. Gyaa!" She answered and let out another scream when a stronger spark hit her. "I've never used this technique before."

"Then why are you using it at all?"

"Because I can't allow myself to lose to you." She said with one eye closed. "I guess that makes me a little desperate."

"A strong person like you shouldn't be saying that." Ritsura whispered under her breath so that Ryoko couldn't hear her.

" _She's fooling around again."_ The calf broke its silence. _"Why do you keep allowing her to do this? Go on and beat some sense into her already!"_

When a roar came from inside the pentagram, Ritsura retreated behind a wall, thus also avoiding several thunder strikes aimed at her from whatever was inside the pentagram. _Ryoko, I'm sure you think I'm retreating from that youkai you're summoning or from its attacks._

Ritsura raised the fingers of her right hand, which she did not use for a while, and then put her hand behind, like she was throwing a javelin in Olympics. And then she jumped up while aiming with the hand in which she accumulated as much of her Fear as she could.

" _Lower your fingers a little. Let it fly through her head!"_

Ritsura ignored the poisonous words and went with the direction she planned from the start. And then she threw the icicle.

The icicle grew to be a meter long and it froze everything near it as it flew. The skulls shot several arrows at it, but none of them could cut through Ritsura's Fear. As Ryoko looked up in shock, the icicle cut through her ofuda shield, destroyed the nearby skull and then struck right into the pentagram above Ryoko, ending the summoning ritual before it could be finished.

Ryoko jumped away, just before the pentagram started flashing and throwing thunder bolts everywhere around it, blowing stone and scrap into dust. After several moments of causing havoc, it stopped, shrank and disappeared.

 _A disaster has been avoided._ Ritsura successfully foiled Ryoko's plan. _But why do I feel so annoyed at myself for distracting the summoning? I didn't really… want to fight it, did I?_

" _Forget that stupid thought. You have some serious business to take care of, Yuki-Onna."_ The calf reminded her while she walked back to her sword. _"Free yourself of your desires and crush this insect."_

For the first time, Ritsura honestly agreed with the calf. _I have to put an end to this as soon as possible._

* * *

 _I'm not sure if I should be annoyed or relieved that this failed._ Ryoko contemplated on what occurred a while ago while looking at Ritsura as she moved closer to her. _I thought I was ready to summon it, but I guess I need some more training. Well, maybe it could have worked if part of my power wasn't being spent on upholding the Great Spiral Curse._

Soon, Ritsura reached Ryoko so she could no longer afford thinking about anything but battling the Yuki-Onna. Ritsura slashed her sword, which Ryoko deflected by slashing it with her hand, or more precisely the shining ofuda which floated and followed it. Ritsura went for another strike, but Ryoko easily deflected that one as well. _There isn't any frustration in her eyes as I do this… is she testing me?_ When Ritsura moved to fighting with only one hand, Ryoko knew for sure that Ritsura was planning something _special_.

" _My family, envelop my body and become ice-bound."_ Ritsura started to chant while fighting Ryoko with one hand. _"Welcome our guest with a little chill."_

Ryoko tried to retreat, but Ritsura managed to keep a pace with her. Then, from within her sleeve, Ritsura took out a small bottle with some liquid in it and threw it into the air between the two of them. _What the heck is that?_

" _Gleam, white in the darkness."_ She broke the bottle with her sword, and then grabbed the liquid contents with the palm of her hand. Some of it fell onto Ryoko's nose and the girl recognized the smell. _Is this… sake?_

" _Shiver with fear in the freezing wind! Cursed blizzard, Fuusei Kakurei!"_ Ritsura's Fear enveloped the area and a rain of icicles and blizzard rained upon Ryoko. Ryoko responded by creating some barriers, but nevertheless the blizzard struck. It was not as cold as Ryoko feared, but somehow she felt that it was only the start of something bigger.

And then Ritsura put the palm with the spilled sake in front of her mouth. _"Ougi Meikyou Shisui: Kousetsu."_ She then breathed out the cold air and the sake stuck to it, and went onto Ryoko.

And then everything escalated: Ryoko could barely see anything from the snowstorm that appeared, which also meant that she could no longer see Ritsura, and strangely she could not feel her presence or Fear either. Furthermore, Ryoko felt as if each of her blood cells and bones were freezing while the blizzard was so strong that Ryoko felt like it would shred her into pieces.

And as a result of the freezing, she started to feel sleepy.

She closed her eyes, for it was painful to keep them open not to mention that they were useless in this situation. But that just made her feel sleepier.

 _Damn it, I won't keep up like this for long._ She clenched her teeth. _Is this it for me?_ Feeling tired, she fell onto her knees.

 _No… after all I went through…_ And then she started rising up back onto her feet. _After all I-_

And then a sword got stabbed into her shoulder.

"It's over." She could hear Ritsura say, even though Ryoko could not see her.

"This is…" Ryoko grabbed the sword, not caring if she cuts herself. But she could not feel the sword, even though she could feel the pain itself. "This is an illusion."

"Even though the pond does not change, it still reflects the image of snowstorm. It does not even matter if there is no snow inside the pond, the reflection will still show the snow." Ritsura gave her a crippling answer. "And even the reflection of the strongest snowstorm can become more terrifying if ripples constantly crash over it." Ryoko felt the sword getting stabbed deeper into her. "Now surrender, or the reflection and its ripples will crush you."

Ryoko did not even consider her suggestion. Instead, her interest laid elsewhere. "Is this… your own technique?" She fell down onto one of her knees. The cold and the snowstorm may have been illusionary, but they still felt real to Ryoko's mind and body.

"It's a technique that mixes my dad's and mom's Fears, yes." Ritsura confirmed. "Now, surrender."

"I see… impressive." Ryoko's fingers dug deeper into her wound. The pain helped her stay conscious. "May I ask a question?" Ryoko stated, but did not wait for Ritsura to give her an okay. "Why are you not smiling?"

"…huh?"

"I can't see, but I can feel from your words that you are probably looking at me with those dull, dejected eyes." Ryoko looked up, where she expected Ritsura's face would be. "Why are you acting like… like you are not living your life the way you wish you are?"

"What the heck are you talking about?" Ritsura sounded calm, but Ryoko could feel the Fear around her weakening for a slight moment.

"There is no joy or pride in your eyes." Ryoko managed to force herself back onto her feet. "Even while you talked about your technique… which should be your greatest pride… you sounded so dejected, as if you were reading it from a scroll. Why?"

Ritsura pulled out her sword, or at least Ryoko could no longer feel a stabbing pain in her shoulder. "That doesn't have anything to-"

" **Why?** " Ryoko growled at her. She could feel her inner hate, which she tried to keep contained with all her strength, start to take her over. "You have been kinda like this since I met you, but… Ever since our fight against that black blob, you've felt like a robot whenever you acted like the high and mighty Heiress."

Ryoko could still not see Ritsura, but the snowstorm got distorted for a moment, which told Ryoko all she had to know.

Since she still did not get a reply, Ryoko continued. "Father… your father… I remember him fighting in Kyoto once. He was serious, but he fought with an honest smile." Ryoko felt sentimental. "I could feel it… he shone with joy to help and the earnest pride for what he was. But you…" Ryoko took out another ofuda and put it in front of herself while hoping that her freezing fingers would not let go of it. And although it was right in front of Ritsura's eyes, Ryoko was sure that Ritsura did not notice it. "Tell me Ritsura, miss privileged daughter of Nura Rikuo and the beloved child of your entire clan… are you enjoying your role?" She looked towards Ritsura, as if part of her hoped that the intense gazing at the snowstorm would somehow make Ritsura noticeable.

"I… don't know that. I try not to think about it." Ritsura replied after a short silence. "I just do what I must do as Nura Rikuo's oldest child. I can't allow myself to be weak and I can't allow myself to waste time in trivial thoughts."

It was cold… so cold that Ryoko may have died from a frostbite were this not an illusion.

"You…" Yet, Ryoko could feel her face heat up. "Ahahahahaha!"

And then she laughed. Ryoko laughed, but not because she was humored.

And the laughter stopped as suddenly as it started. "Don't you dare sell me that crap!" She shouted and immediately threw a great amount of her spiritual energy and Fear into her ofuda.

"What?" Ritsura finally noticed the talisman. "When did you-"

* * *

"…huh?" Ritsura was confused by Ryoko's sudden question.

"I can't see, but I can feel from your words that you are probably looking at me with those dull, dejected eyes." Ryoko said, to which Ritsura's eyes changed to those of confusion. "Why are you acting like… like you are not living your life the way you wish you are?"

This hit into the same place where the demon from the night ago struck her. "What the heck are you talking about?" Ritsura pretended she did not understand what Ryoko meant.

" _She is trying to lead you astray"_ The calf spoke to her. _"She wants you to be like her, controlled by pointless feelings. Just finish her!"_

"There is no joy or pride in your eyes." Ryoko managed to force herself back onto her feet while speaking the words that somehow struck even deeper than the last night's demon did. "Even while you talked about your technique… which should be your greatest pride… you sounded so dejected, as if you were reading it from a scroll. Why?"

 _I am… proud of it._ She remembered the pride she felt when she invented the technique and the joy she felt when it worked against the opponent she tested it on. _Huh… so why wasn't I…_ Yet, she had to agree that Ryoko's words were correct: strangely, she did not feel anything as she used it this time, even though it allowed her to finally put Ryoko down onto her knees.

" _Forget about it!"_ The calf ordered in a menacing tone. _"Do your_ _ **duty**_ _to your clan!"_

Ritsura pulled out her sword and took two steps back. _Yeah, that's right… I can't let myself be controlled by emotions. I have my duties, I can't play around._ "That doesn't have anything to-"

" **Why?** " Ryoko shouted at such intensity that Ritsura shook from fear. But worse than her shout were the crimson eyes that started shining with hate. _It's just like… that time when we met in the park._ "You have been kinda like this since I met you, but… Ever since our fight against that black blob, you have felt like a robot whenever you acted like the high and mighty Heiress."

" _She already trashed you enough. Why are you letting her words reach deep into you? For how much longer will you let her make a fool out of you?"_

 _Shut up calf! You are the demon here!_ This was not the first time that this calf appeared before her, and each time it tried to lead her astray. Whenever Ritsura was at her most spiritually vulnerable, it would appear. And every time it appeared, Ritsura had trouble opposing it. It was like an inner demon.

"Father… your father… I remember him fighting in Kyoto once. He was serious, but he fought with an honest smile." Ryoko spoke while her irises looked into the distance. "I could feel it… he shone with joy to help and the earnest pride for what he was."

Once again, Ryoko's blade made out of word struck even deeper than the yesterday's demon's did. And this time, Ritsura knew it was not to corrupt her.

And the calf did not have anything to say, either.

"But you…" Ryoko looked back at Ritsura, as if she knew where she stood. "Tell me Ritsura, miss privileged daughter of Nura Rikuo and the beloved child of your entire clan… are you enjoying your role?" She asked her while her eyes became more fearsome, and the tattoos that started growing around her arms and face felt even more menacing.

 _What… what is that about?_ Ritsura could feel that there was something very personal in Ryoko's words, and that she could explode at any moment.

 _If I give a wrong answer…_ Yet, the same intensity in Ryoko's eyes that made her afraid also made her speak the truth. "I… don't know that. I try not to think about it." Or at least, she said what she thought was true. "I just do what I must do as Nura Rikuo's oldest child. I can't allow myself to be weak."

It was the wrong answer, at least as far as Ryoko was concerned. "You… Ahahahahaha!"

Ryoko started laughing, but there was something malicious in it… something malicious and sad.

And then it stopped as suddenly as it started. "Don't you dare sell me that crap!"

And it was just then that Ritsura noticed that Ryoko held an ofuda in her fingers, right in front of her own nose. "What?" _How did I not notice it earlier?_ "When did you-"

And then an inferno enveloped her and the entire area.

* * *

After the inferno passed, Ritsura was lying on the ground. She tried to run away from the fire, but she got caught and fell down as the heat engulfed her. Yet, heat was the only thing she felt for the fires did not consume anything.

Ritsura tried to raise herself up, together with her sword. Yet, the sword felt unusually heavy. _Don't tell me…_ She grabbed a bang of hair and looked at it. It was brown, showing that she had turned back into her physically weaker human form. She thought about freezing herself and turning back into her Yuki-Onna form, but she decided against it. This form had its advantages, but it was harder for her to turn into it than it was to turn into her Yuki-Onna form.

Holding the sword with both of her hands, she raised herself up and looked at Ryoko. In comparison to Ritsura, she stood in her place.

She stood in her place and stared at Ritsura, with those same malevolent, crimson eyes. Ritsura could feel that her technique had been dispelled so Ryoko was now, without doubt, looking straight at her.

 _Just… who is she?_ To Ritsura, she was no longer just Ryuzan's cousin or Yura's daughter. And neither was she some Onmyouji who wanted to be a Nue.

Ryuzan's words from before resounded in Ritsura's ears: _"You don't know it yet, but it's the same for you. You have to fight with all you've got. Or else, it may be like the end of the world for you."_ She still did not know what they meant, but now she could feel the truth behind them. In her guts, Ritsura could feel that this battle truly could change her entire world.

"You know, Ritsura-chan…" When Ryoko spoke, Ritsura could feel her skin turn cold. "You truly are a strong opponent." She said with a smile, walking slowly toward Ritsura. "This desire inside of me, to fight you with all I had, was contained by my love for you." She closed her eyes and put her hands on her chest.

 _Again with that love crap…_ Ritsura put down her sword and slowly took out a tanto. In this form, a small dagger was more useful than a heavy sword.

"I didn't want you to see my ugly side… my side which reeked of envy and hate." She then opened her eyes and continued to speak with a smile. "But now… I want to go all out on you, both for envy and for love."

Ritsura could feel Ryoko's Fear grow and took a step backwards. _If she hits me with a curse now… it would get bad._

"But you are strong. You are truly, really strong." Ryoko spread her arms. "Even though your Fear is contained by your current state of mind… you are just so strong." And then she put on a mischievous face. "So I don't need to go easy on you, right?" She then stopped walking, put her right index and middle finger together and put them in front of her face.

"Just what are you doing now?" Ritsura spoke her thoughts aloud.

"I am letting go of the Spiral Curse." Surprisingly, she answered the question. "The battles should be over by now so holding it up is just a large waste of my Spiritual Energy."

Ritsura clenched her teeth and started to run towards her. She had to stop her before she was done. Else, Ritsura would have to deal with an even more overpowered Onmyouji.

Ryoko then summoned one of the skulls and at it started aiming an arrow at her. Ritsura then changed her running pattern, but not before she released her Fear in order to create a double with _Kyouka Suigetsu_.

As expected, the skull shot down the mirage while the real Ritsura hid herself with _Meikyou Shisui_. The skull looked around for her, but it could not find her.

Instead, Ritsura crushed it with her tanto. With her Fear still active, she went to grab Ryoko and put the tanto under her chin. She would not kill her, but it should be enough to make her accept defeat.

 _But, isn't this too easy?_ Just as she asked herself that, something fell from Ryoko's free hand. For just a mere moment, Ritsura's eyes looked at it.

It was just a coin.

But when she looked up again, Ryoko was gone and a dark feeling of released Fear was present around her. _This is… no, it can't be… no, I must be imagining it._

Ritsura then felt a surge of spiritual energy behind her and turned around. Ryoko was standing three meters away and smiling. Ritsura could feel that the Great Spiral Curse was gone… and that Ryoko was radiating more Fear and Spiritual Energy than before.

"You are too late." The Onmyouji girl said and then summoned her bow. Ritsura, in her mostly human form, could not follow Ryoko's speed. The best she could do was use _Meikyou Shisui_ to evade the attack by jumping at the last moment.

But this meant that she took her eyes away from Ryoko and, when she looked up again, she was gone. While still on the ground, she looked around but could see her nowhere.

 _This sensation… there's no doubt about it… but how could it be?_ She finally understood it all. If she was right, then most of her questions concerning Ryoko were answered, even though many new ones would be raised.

But it was still hard to believe.

She tried getting up, but felt as if someone was pressing her down with her foot. "Huh?" Only then did she notice that Ryoko was above her, with her foot pressing the area just above Ritsura's chest. "You…" Ritsura's eyes widened and her body turned cold, metaphorically speaking.

In her eyes, the person above her was no longer just some Onmyouji from Kyoto.

"You said earlier that you just do what you must as the oldest child." Ryoko spoke while holding her hands on her hips and while still pressing Ritsura down. "I'm afraid you will need to find a new motivation then."

"After all... you, my dear little sister, are not our father's oldest child."

* * *

**I-I-I-I-I**

* * *

**Author Notes**

Well… some saw it coming while others will be surprised. In any case, the jig is up: there are three siblings, and this girl Keikain Ryoko is Rihan's and Ritsura's older half-sister.

I'm sure some will not like this plot twist, but long ago I made my decision to go on with it.

In any case, this revelation should answer many of the questions raised during the last fourteen chapters and I'm sure that if anybody were to re-read those chapters, they would now notice many foreshadowings to this reveal. Of course, many questions remain unanswered and some new ones are raised, mainly the one about what happened with Royko's parents. Suffice to say, a lot happened between the end of the canon story and the start of TSS's plot and eventually the detailed answer will come (yeah, I _might_ have an unhealthy obsession with flashbacks...).

The next chapter is almost finished (I delayed this chapter's release so that the space between ch79 and ch80 would be a small as possible) so you won't need to wait too long for it.

Well, now onto some other notes on the chapter:

\- This arc may be named after Ryoko and her revelation might be the biggest jig in this chapter, but Ritsura is also the star of this arc and this chapter for she went through a lot during this arc and now her character's current development has reached a climax. We find out that, just like her brother, she too is haunted by the Kudan's Prophecy (and Kaito confirms that all of Rikuo's offspring will be affected until one fulfills the prophecy), and it uses her current insecurities to try and get her to follow its own path. But the revelation that she has an older… affects more things, as will be seen in the following chapter

\- I hope the first part of the battle (the second part coming in ch80) was good. I can't even count how many rewrites this battle has had

\- There are many ways to write the name Ryoko in kanji, but the one for Ryoko is 遼子. The kanji for it mean "Distant" and "Child", which was another hint of her nature… though it would be hard to know even for those who know how to read Kanji because the whole fic is written in Latin alphabet. So, in order to not forget about it **again** , I will also put the kanji spellings for most of the original characters:

* * *

Nura Ritsura - 奴良 りつら

Nura Rihan Jr. - 奴良 利半 (btw, it is written differently than his grandfather's name)

Sanmoto Shiori - 山本 詩織

Ichinoe Araya - 一之江 新屋

Kurugaya Midori - 来ヶ谷 翠

Keikain Ryuzan - 花開院 龍山

Keikain Ryoko - 花開院 遼子

Gokadoin Kashaimaru - 御門院 可謝井丸

Onieda Masahide - 苧似枝 正英

Onieda Masato - 苧似枝 正人

Onieda Masashi - 苧似枝 雅史

Onieda Mamoru - 苧似枝 真守

Onieda Mayuri - 苧似枝 麻友里

Onieda Mahiro - 苧似枝 真広

Ishikawa Kaito - 石川 海人

Minezawa Kirie - 峰沢 霧絵

Kibiki Sakura - 木比企 さくら

Kibiki Azuru - 木比企 アズル

Hiroki - 広木

Hyouhaku - 漂白

Hanae - 英恵


	80. The Two Girls, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A shocking revelation shakes Ritsura from the ground up. A lot of questions have to be asked, but will she have a chance to get all the answers?

**Chapter 80 – The Two Sisters**

" _Hm…" A small, eight-year-old girl was trying to climb up a closet, where her mother stored many of her belongings, including something that the girl really wanted to have. "Just a little bit more…" The box she was looking for was put in rather deep, but she finally caught it. "Got it!"_

_But then she lost her footing so she let go of it and grabbed a larger box. But it did not stop her fall so she fell down together with it, with items inside the box sprawling all over the floor._

" _Ryoko!" She heard her mom call to her and thought how she would be in trouble for this. "Ryoko, what happened?" Her mother, Keikain Yura, immediately lowered herself down onto her knees, above the girl who just lay down on the floor with her head looking up. "Are you alright?"_

" _I'm alright." The girl answered. "I'm sorry."_

_Her mother looked relieved. "Just what were you doing?"_

" _Candy." The girl puffed her cheeks. "I was trying to get to it."_

" _Ahh…" Her mother sighed. "I took it away from you as a punishment." Her mother then turned towards the box. "Now get up. You'll help me clean the room."_

" _Yes, Mom. Sorry." Ryoko rose onto her feet and started helping her mother put the things back into the box._

" _Listen Ryoko, punishments are there for a reason." Her mother started giving her another lesson. "And you have to accept them with decency and your chin held high."_

" _But my chin was high. Look." She tried her best to touch her back with her own head. "It was as high as this. And you were still angry."_

" _Fufufu… So that's what you were doing back then." Her mother giggled. "That was just a metaphor."_

" _A metaph-what?"_

" _A saying, my silly girl." She ruffled Ryoko's hair. "It means that you should not cry about it, but accept your responsibility and learn from your mistakes."_

" _Mom, please… this is about candies. Don't try to make me understand those hard things!"_

" _Come on, you're a smart little girl." Her mother spoke while putting the things back into the box. "I know you understand what I'm talking."_

" _It's about candies, mom. Candies!"_

" _Well, everything is about candies to you."_

" _Of course it is!" Ryoko nodded. "I'm a kid after all."_

_Her mother sighed. "But really Ryoko, what made you think that I wouldn't notice if you stole the candies?" Her mother shook her head and went to grab a small box that could fit into one's palm. "I know how many candies remained and if I-" When her eyes fell on the little box, her eyes widened and she stopped talking._

" _What is it, mom?" The young girl wondered._

" _I'm just remembering something." Her mother said and opened the small box. Inside it was a pentagram, representing the Wu Xing, an important concept in Onmyodo. After looking more closely, it was a hairpin. "Your father gave me this on the day when…" She started, but then bit her lip._

" _When you two broke up?" But the young girl already knew enough to guess what she meant._

"… _yes." Her mother made a bittersweet smile._

" _Why don't you wear it then?" Ryoko asked her._

" _Because…" She looked like she thought about how to say what was on her mind, and then she sighed and gave an answer without beating around the bush. "Because we broke up." She said and closed the box. "Besides, I'm a married woman now. I can't wear accessories that another man gave me."_

" _But still…" Ryoko wanted to complain, but she did not know what she could say. "It's a waste." She looked away._

_After a few moments of silence, her mother spoke again. "Here, take it." Her mother offered the small box to her daughter._

" _Huh?"_ _Her mother took the hairpin out of the box, took Ryoko's hand and put it onto its palm. "But… Father did not mean it for…"_

" _You should have it. He and I are no longer… together. But you will always be his daughter." She made an earnest smile. "I'm sure he would also like you to have it."_

"…" _The girl looked down at it as she moved it with her fingers. The fact that it was a gift from her father made her feel warm inside. "Okay. Thank you."_

" _Come on, out it on." Her mother pointed at her head._

_Ryoko nodded and put it there. It took her a few moments though, as her nervous finger shook a little._

" _There, it looks good on you." Her mother said and ruffled her hair. "The Wu Xing is part of every Onmyouji, but bought and gifted by a youkai… just like you. May it serve as a memento of who you are."_

* * *

"How… how can that be possible?" Ritsura asked while her supposed half-sister still pressed her down with her foot. "How did that even happen?"

"Well, you see…" In comparison to shocked Ritsura, Ryoko looked calm and laid back. "When a man and a woman…"

"That's not what I mean!" Ritsura pushed herself up. Instead of keeping her down, Ryoko let go and jumped away. "Don't joke around at time like this!" Ritsura shouted, digging her fingers into the sleeves of her kimono. The idea that she had a sister about whom she did not know anything for the entire seventeen years of her life was unbelievable. _Is this an illusion? Am I being played around with? Tricked?_ "What I mean to ask is… you know what I mean!"

"What's there to say? It's pretty straightforward." Ryoko shrugged with her shoulders. "Father was in relationship with my mom, they broke up and later he ended up marrying your mother." She spoke as if it were nothing new to her. "And at some point, while he was still dating my mom, the two of them seem to have forgotten about being careful, I presume. So I happened."

Ritsura's head started throbbing. She was tired, exhausted and not in any form to digest all of these crazy revelations.

"You are quite shaken up about this." Ryoko tilted her head. "Even though Rihan was pretty cool with it."

"My little brother… our little brother is always like that." Ritsura looked back at her supposed half-sister. "How… why did I not know about it? Why…"

"It's not your fault. Thanks to my mom's stubbornness, even father did not know about me until I was five years old… or was it six?" Ryoko shrugged. "And he, I guess, did not know how to explain my existence to you two. After that, I asked him to keep quiet about it."

"What… why?"

Ryoko did not answer, but just looked at her with a bitter smile.

"What… is it? You're freaking me out."

"I was afraid."

"…huh?"

"I was afraid of what I would do once I met you… or just once I saw you." Ryoko looked away, her bitter smile still decorating her face. "I, who have always known that my parents would never be together… if I were to see you, the one who had the life I always dreamed of, I don't know what I would have done… how I could have felt." She then finally turned her head at Ritsura and tried to remove the bitter smile from her lips. "I know that I'm an irresponsible onee-san, but… I guess it was stronger than me. Even when dad said he would bring you to visit Kyoto, all I could think about was about how to get away. It's truly… something that makes me an unworthy elder sister."

Ritsura could not imagine that feeling, but she could guess how frustrated Ryoko would be about it. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but no words came out. She did not know what to say.

"I thought I was finally ready to meet you… that I was old enough to handle it maturely. Yet…" Her lips formed a malicious and resigned smile. "But when I met you and Rihan for the first time, I realized it was no use. The first thing I thought of doing was not to hug you or greet you… but to play a prank on you… to put a curse on you. Truly…" The five skulls started forming around Ryoko again. "…I won't have peace until I confirm my own worth against you."

"Wait… you don't intend to… really continue this fight?" Ritsura started to slowly walk backwards while holding her tanto up.

"You think that I'd give up so easily? To you this realization might be something new… but for me, it's something I knew since I was born." The malignant shine in her eyes grew more terrifying with each word that she spoke. "You always had everything… you always had everything I wanted. So every day I trained without holding back and without minding any price I paid… all that so that I would become a strong enough Onmyouji to not also lose to you in terms of strength."

"No… please, let's not…" Ritsura's despair grew. She could not imagine herself fighting her own sister… and she could not stand being viewed by such malignant eyes.

"I'm sorry, little sister. But your nee-san is just that petty." And then the skulls flew at Ritsura again.

* * *

" _So? Where'ya going?"_

" _Hyaah!" Fourteen years old Ryoko let out a small scream as a man approached her from behind. "Who are… oh it's you, Kashaimaru."_

" _Yeah, it's me." The Onmyouji, who looked younger than he actually was, winked at her. "So, what are you doing here?" He looked around them. They were in Akashi, a city in the Kansai Prefecture. More precisely, they were in the part of that city known as Old Town, and at night._

" _Well, y'know…" She shrugged, trying to come up with a believable answer. "I'm patrolling, exterminating evil youkai, capturing less evil ones, keeping peace… the Onmyouji stuff."_

" _And while you're doing all that, a Yuki-Onna is seducing your beloved Ryuzan."_

_Ryoko stopped moving as her head had to process what she had just heard. "You have to be kidding me…" She bit her lip._

_But of course, those who did not know her circumstances would misunderstand her gesture. "Oh, you jealous? Want me to give you a ride back to Kyoto so you two can have a catfight over him?"_

" _Kashaimaru, he and I don't have that kind of relationship." She sighed with a calm face._

_In contrast, he became confused. "So… why were you annoyed at what I said?"_

" _It's a… private family thing." She gave an answer that she knew he would misunderstand. "Let's just say that, if what you said is true, it reminds me of something."_

_After all, the story of a Keikain Onmyouji fancying a Nura youkai was not something alien to her. And it was a story she did not want Ryuzan to go through._

" _Well, just so you know, you've just ruined my day. And I so looked forward to you going tsundere…" He pouted._

" _Sorry, but I'm no tsundere." She smirked, but then remembered why she was here and not in Kyoto. "Or at least not a usual one…"_

" _So? What are you doing here?" He scratched his cheek. "Youkai are rampaging around your home, and here you are wasting the opportunity to see the fun going on. If I didn't know better, I'd think that you are intentionally staying away."_

_Ryoko turned her head away and resumed walking, mainly so he would not see her smirking. She found it ironic, as if he did know better than he would know that this was exactly what was going on. "I said it already: I'm patrolling. Don't act as if you don't know that I often do these days-long trips."_

" _Let me repeat myself, my fair lady…" Kashaimaru followed alongside her. "There's something fun, unusual and crazy going at your home. You should be in Kyoto for that alone."_

_What he said was true, and Ryoko knew it. She had to make up an answer, or she would have to tell him the truth. "I got into a fight with some relatives so I don't feel like being there."_

" _The relatives you usually have squabbles with are doing the same as you: going on days-long trips, all in order to not look at the Nuras." He noted. "So I know that this isn't an issue."_

" _Let me rephrase: there is someone I don't want to see, and I don't intend to tell you about it." She did not want to be rude, but she did not feel like making up excuses. Besides, he did start annoying._

_He looked at her for a while, as if silently contemplating about something. "Fine, I'll let this pass." He looked away. "But I hope you don't mind me hanging around."_

" _No, I don't mind it. By the way…" It was her time to inquire about other people's businesses. "How did you end up stumbling upon me? Did you fall for me and turn stalker?"_

" _Don't flatter yourself. I don't like girls who don't go tsun when I play around with them."_

" _So what are you doing here?"_

" _I wondered if I could start a catfight. But eh… you are not tsun enough even for that."_

" _Okay. Sorry you were disappointed."_

" _As long as we share the reward money."_

" _I knew you had some ulterior motive. A shame it had to be that boring, though."_

_He remained silent for a while, looking around for youkai. Right now, it was a busy neighborhood as far as youkai were concerned, so he had something to do. Ryoko, however, just returned to her thoughts._

_She was here because she was afraid of meeting her half-sister. Her mother noted that she was coming, probably because her father thought he'd like the two of them to meet. But the moment she heard that Ritsura was coming, she packed some food and change of clothes, accepted several jobs and left Kyoto._

_Ryoko feared her half-sister. Ritsura already had a life that Ryoko could only dream about having. What if her half-sister was also prettier or cooler? What if they could not get along, get into a fight and Ryoko lost? What if Ritsura stole all of her friends? Ryoko was afraid of how she would feel if any, let alone all, of that happened._

_She was unfair, she knew that. One day she would muster the courage and meet her face to face, but that time was not now. Maybe in a year or two…_

* * *

Another arrow exploded and Ritsura avoided more rubble that jumped around due to the explosion. Since Ryoko and her skulls could not easily follow Ritsura while her Nurarihyon's Fear was engulfing the area, they could not precisely strike at her.

 _No, I'm sure that's wrong._ Ritsura bit her own lip. _This girl… my sister… is probably hoping that I'd get back into shape and start fighting her for earnest again._

 _But how could I possibly do that?_ Now that she knew about who Ryoko was, she no longer had the will to fight. Even if she wanted to fight, her head was filled with a hundred questions that she wanted to ask Ryoko. She wanted this battle to be over just so she could ask them.

Yet, she felt like she could not allow herself to just lose.

It was not because she was afraid of what Ryoko would do to her nor due to Ryoko's Shikigami attacking Ukiyoe, for she believed in her sister… in her family.

It was neither because of what Ryuzan told her nor about the ultimatum that Ryoko made, even though she now understood the consequences of one potential heir suffering a staggering defeat against another.

It was because she could feel that this fight was important to Ryoko and she could, to some part, understand why. Ritsura did not know exactly what, but she knew that Ryoko had to prove something to herself, and maybe to others too.

And if Ritsura did not put up a proper fight, she might end up pushing her deeper into darkness. _No, I can't allow that… I can't allow myself to fail with her as well…_

Having found some determination, Ritsura eased her breathing and prepared to fight back. She could not truly calm down, but she could try.

 _And I could also try not to fall onto my head!_ It may have been a bit late, but she noticed that her feet were in the air and that she was falling. When she got close enough to the ground, she made herself land on her hands and back-flipped into a standing position, facing Ryoko, who stood in the place where Ritsura was until a few moments ago.

"You're quite an acrobat, even in moments where your Fear is sealed." Ryoko commended her.

"This is coming from the one who threw off a girl of the same weight as herself." Ritsura said while staring at Ryoko.

"Well, my strength is a bit above the pure humans." Ryoko added. "So? Are you still not intending to fight seriously?" She asked and the skulls surrounded Ritsura, though from a safe distance. "Even if it puts you in danger?"

"Why are you so obsessed about this? Just to whom are you trying to prove yourself?"

"To myself." Ryoko shrugged her shoulders.

"That's a weak reason." Ritsura said and took a step back, her eyes jumping between Ryoko and the skulls that she summoned.

"After a while…" Ryoko started and suddenly appeared in front of Ritsura, after which she tried to hit her with an ofuda. But Ritsura blocked the attack with her tanto. "…you realize that you yourself are, often, the only one who matters."

* * *

_Thirteen years old Ryoko stood in the courtyard of what was basically the school for Keikain Onmyouji. It was Saturday and a dozen young Onmyouji, most of whom were Keikains though some were from outside the family, waited for the teacher to arrive. As it was, this lecture was about Shikigami Summoning, held by Ryoko's mother._

_The pupils split themselves into five groups, three pairs, one trio and a lone Onmyouji. Ryoko was the one who was alone and she had already given up on trying to fit with others. Even though most did not know that she was part-youkai, they knew that she was not a regular Onmyouji either._

_The Shikigami Summoning lessons were one of those lessons that regularly reminded others that Ryoko was different, even if they did not yet know how so. She hoped that Akifusa's son would be here as he was one of few Onmyouji of her age who accepted her for who she was, but it looked like he went with his father to get some extra lessons on crafting Spirit Weapons. So she was alone, again._

_Her mother finally arrived, followed by another instructor._

" _Alright kids, today we will be summoning a Zenko, a benevolent Kitsune spirit." Yura talked while the other instructor handed the students ofudas that would be used to summon the Zenkos._

_Ryoko reluctantly accepted the talisman. Although she told herself that she would not fail this time, a part of her doubted that it would go well._

_Like the others, she followed her mentor's instructions and summoned the Zenko, after which she gave it simple orders just like her mother told them to._

_But she tried to avoid certain orders._

_And that was something the others students would not allow._

" _Ryoko-chan, you're doing it wrong." One of female Onmyouji, not from the Keikain House, approached her and whispered. "The Zenko are benevolent spirits. Like every other righteous and pure-hearted Onmyouji, you should let your and its Spiritual Energy mix."_

_Ryoko ignored her. She knew what might happen if she did so._

" _Demon girl." The same girl said and left. Ryoko could feel frowns from one half of students and mocking giggles from the other half. Both felt like cold needles stabbing right into her skin._

_Ryoko wished she could do something to make them shut up, but she could do nothing about it. Even while keeping her connection with the Zenko weak, she could feel the Zenko's hostility. It was unfortunate, but the ofuda that summoned the Zenko did so with intent to destroy the youkai. As such, it felt hostility towards the inhuman part of her youkai blood._

" _Go, my Zenko!" A girl, who was in the same group as the girl from before, ordered her Shikigami. "Take down even the smallest evil you can find."_

_Ryoko could immediately feel hostility and, as instinct, she released some of her Fear. Her own Zenko then also turned against her, as did some who were not under strong enough leash of their summoner._

_Ryoko had no choice but to take one of her ofudas and cast a spell before the foxes reached her. The spell was a dark one, and strong enough to keep the foxes away._

" _Everyone, keep your Shikigami under control or end the summoning!" Her mother ordered with such a sharp voice that everyone immediately did as she asked. So every Zenko was gone, besides the one whom Ryoko summoned._

_Ryoko balanced her breathing and repressed her Fear, and as a result the Zenko became less hostile. "Go away." She then said and Zenko listened._

_Her mother looked at her with a sad expression and then immediately went on to lecture about how it was important to keep Shikigami under control, even if they were benevolent._

_And Ryoko could only listen to her… and to the other pupils._

" _Did you see how her eyes turned red? What's with that?"_

" _I hear it happens sometimes when you don't use your spells properly… but isn't it freaky how the Zenkos attacked her?"_

" _Maybe we should exterminate her, fufu."_

_The other pupils continued whispering amongst themselves, stabbing even more cold needles into her heart._

_Yet, it was a fate she had to accept. It was she who chose this path, so it was natural that she could not practice the Onmyoudo the same way as the others. But even those who only saw her problems as the lack of skills mocked her, and that was something she considered to be uncalled for._

_At times like these, the words of the now exiled Keikain Akira from years ago rang in her ears. 'You are a mistake, you know that right? And what do we do with mistakes… and youkai for the matter? We remove them.'_

* * *

_It was nighttime, and this was not one of those nights when Ryoko was supposed to be hunting youkai with the more experienced Onmyouji. For most, this would mean that it was time to get some rest, but Ryoko rarely allowed herself such luxuries._

_So, she was at her secret spot, which was a vacant apartment in one of the buildings in Kyoto. Ryoko did not know to whom it belonged or if it belonged to anyone. She just knew that some small and weak youkai found it years ago and that no humans ever visited. Thus, the youkai were the closest to the apartment's owner and they allowed their mistress, which was the title they gave her from their own accord, to spend her time here._

_As such, Ryoko regularly used the place to practice her Onmyoudo whenever she had free time. It was especially convenient when she wanted to practice curses, the techniques that were not very popular in Keikain House and would make Ryoko even more unpopular amongst her peers._

_And this was another such night, when Ryoko spent her remaining energy to train as much as she could._

" _You look exhausted, Ryoko-sama." A parrot-like youkai noted. "Shouldn't you rest a little?"_

" _No, I'll be fine." She replied._

" _Really?" Another youkai, this one looking like a skeleton of a lizard, wondered. "Three nights ago, you just collapsed and fell asleep."_

" _Yeah!" The parrot nodded. "We couldn't even wake you until after the sun rose."_

" _Okay, so I overexert myself from time to time." Ryoko shrugged. "So what? Such things are normal when you practice."_

" _Yeah, but you might be practicing a little bit too much…" The parrot noted._

" _Guah! Would you shut your beak?" A floating head struck itself into the parrot. "Ryoko-sama is training to become a terrifying youkai and human, guah! How dare you try to lead her astray, guah? Or do you claim that our mistress is too weak to handle this?"_

" _Well, you're right I guess." The skeletal lizard decided that he agreed._

_Ryoko sighed and wondered how she ended up like this. She could not control most of her family's Shikigami, but youkai followed her without her even trying to make them do so. Weaker youkai like these just started following her around at some point, claiming that they were attracted by her Fear. In a way, it reminded her of old stories about Abe no Seimei that she heard as a child, where he was able to make weaker Oni follow him already at the age of five._

_She wished that she had such an effect on her human peers as well. Then maybe she would not have felt this irritated._

" _But still, I have to wonder…" The skeletal lizard started. "What do you do all this for, Ryoko-sama? I know you want to be stronger but some days… I dunno, it feels like you are harder on yourself than usual."_

" _Maybe it's because of those bullies?" The parrot decided to speak again._

_And its words caused a reaction in everyone else. "What bullies?" Several of them asked at the same time. "If our mistress if being harassed, we should make them all pay!"_

" _Well… umm… sometimes I follow our great mistress around and…"_

" _Come on, spit it out! Where are they?"_

" _At the Keikain Temple. They practice evil spells with mistress."_

" _Ugh… Onmyouji you say?" After finding out that the bullies were Onmyouji, most of them lost the confidence that they had. This was to be expected, as they were too weak to stand up against even the youngest Onmyouji._

_But still, it did not make them any less annoyed. "But if we fight with the mistress, we should be able to deal with them!"_

" _Yeah!"_

" _Let's do this!"_

_Ryoko sighed due to how excitable these youkai were. "I have better things to do than waste my time on them."_

_And of course, they immediately used this as an excuse to get themselves out of their 'predicament'. "Yeah, those insects are not worth our time!" "As if they could ever even shaken our mistress! Pfft!"_

" _Now if you don't mind, I have to concentrate." Ryoko decided it was time to put an end to their interruptions_

" _Ah yes, sorry mistress!" "Is there something we can do for you?"_

" _You can bring me some food." And by that, she meant steal some food._

" _On our way!" And then half of them left the apartment, while the other half returned to their shenanigans that did not concern Ryoko._

_Ryoko lowered her gaze down back at her ofuda. She created a flame and tried to keep it burning but without it damaging the paper._

_Yet, it was hard to concentrate and the paper ended up getting destroyed so she started creating another talisman. She wished that the words she gave them were honest, but in reality she was not taking the bullying, if that was the correct term, that well._

_This was actually one of the very reasons why she was so staunch of practicing so much. She had a lot of flaws and the path she chose for her Onmyoudo did not make her popular. But she believed that, if she managed to become skilled enough, that she would get accepted by her peers one day. She believed that she would finally be recognized and respected for who she was._

_But such a day never came._

* * *

"Only your opinion matters?" Ritsura jumped away. "What kind of selfish argument is that? The ones who fight for themselves-"

"I don't fight for myself. I fight to protect, as it befits an Onmyouji." Ryoko pointed her finger at Ritsura and immediately one of the skulls floated in front of it, pointing the arrow from its jaw in the same direction as Ryoko's index finger. "But I'm no longer so interested in making others proud about me. I've already wasted enough of my life with such pointless goals."

The skull shot a wooden arrow. Having decided that stealth was unlikely to work on Ryoko, Ritsura froze herself and thus turned back into her Yuki-Onna form. As such, it was easy to destroy the arrow as it flew, even if she held a mere tanto.

"Did your blood make you unpopular amongst the fellow Onmyouji?" Ritsura made a wild, but expectable, guess. The way Ryoko's brows twitched suggested that she was right. "Do you despise your past that much?"

"I don't despise it. It frustrated me as a child, especially their stubbornness, but I got used to it. Mom supported me, but was always worried more than anything else. Uncle and Ryu, though they never condemned me, never approved of my decisions either." Ryoko admitted, with the tone that sounded pitiable to the Yuki-Onna's ears.

"It doesn't seem to be like you ever got used to it." Ritsura spoke while looking where she had left her sword. "Maybe resigned yourself to it, but it feels like you still desire recognition."

"Well, it would definitely be nice if I could make both myself and many others proud. But alas…" And then she appeared in front of Ritsura again, this time attacking her with a sword. "Some things are just an option." To Ritsura's surprise, she let go of the sword and retreated.

Ritsura recognized the sword as her own. _Damn it, is she going easy on me again?_ She looked around, and remembered that the skulls were doing nothing while Ryoko herself was laid back for a while now. _She is… but it's understandable, looking at the circumstances._ Part of Ritsura still hoped that they could end this without pointless fighting.

"And that's what pisses me off about you." And once again, Ryoko spoke with a hostile tone, killing any hopes Ritsura harbored.

The skulls moved again, and soon after shot arrows at Ritsura. Ritsura defended herself by creating walls of ice, but those would not last. Thus, she started moving around again, avoiding or destroying the arrows that Ryoko's skulls fired at her.

"Looking at you, maybe it's a blessing that I lacked recognition." Ryoko spoke while her skulls fought. "I've heard how your clan treats you. You probably can't even clean a cupboard without the entire clan applauding you for it."

 _Well that's not… oh who am I kidding?_ Ritsura bit her lip while cutting another arrow. "Just why would that be a blessing for you?"

"Because I wonder if it's that very recognition that's made you blind." She continued speaking while the bow materialized in her hands. "You are a princess who could chose to lead her life however she wanted and with such… amount of love from your clan, you could have done anything and been anything. I expected many things from you, but the one I did not expect…" She aimed her bow at Ritsura and an arrow materialized as she pulled the string, the arrow itself shining in red light. "…was that you would waste your potential on something stupid!" She suddenly yelled and released the arrow.

Ritsura created a thick wall of ice in front of herself, but also jumped aside just in case. The arrow easily crushed the ice into pieces and Ritsura could feel skin fire up as the arrows flew past her. But by keeping her Fear strong, she managed to avoid reverting into her human form.

"It's not stupid nor am I wasting anything." She replied back at her. "To live and fight for my clan is an honor!"

"Oh, is it?" Ryoko mocked her. "Is that why you don't take pride in it?" She released another arrow, though this was one of those weaker golden ones that she shot before. "If it's such an honor, then tell me why you acted like a machine while we fought before! If it's such an honor, why weren't you able to tell me that this is what you want?"

"That's-" Ritsura knew what she had to say, but somehow she still could not make herself say it.

"If you're lying to yourself, you should stop, or get crushed by your own false convictions. By being the heiress to our father, you accept a heavy burden. As such, the person holding such a burden must be strong and determined. One small moment of weakness… and the burden would come crashing down." Once again, Ryoko created another red arrow, and her skulls aimed themselves at Ritsura. "If my little sister is to put her life on the line, then I want to be sure that her Fear is strong enough to take on our father's mantle." She then released her arrow. "I won't let you throw your life away!"

Ritsura tried to move away from Ryoko's arrow, but the skulls stopped her: two of the arrows shot the ground around her, while three of them struck right into her. There were no physical wounds, but they struck right at her Fear, and for a youkai that was a hard blow.

Still, she managed to turn her body away so the arrow only scratched her. Immediately after, she turned her attention back at Ryoko, who then flicked her fingers. And then the arrow behind Ritsura exploded in a large flash of light.

Ritsura felt like fire engulfed her, but not fire that burned her flesh. No, it felt like it burnt at her very Fear. She barely managed to keep herself from turning into her human form. However, it exhausted her to the point that she ended up sitting on one knee.

"Remember the ultimatum I put before you?" Ryoko spoke again, reminding Ritsura of the back-then incomprehensible condition that Ryoko made. But now that Ritsura knew that it came from the lips of her elder sister, a fellow potential successor, the words carried much more weight. "If you do not prove that you are worthy, be it in terms of raw strength or your spirit, you will forfeit your claims to our father's inheritance." Another crimson arrow materialized between Ryoko's fingers, an arrow which she quickly aimed at Ritsura. "Continue fighting or forfeit… choose the life you want to lead." And then she released the arrow.

Ritsura was unable to avoid it, so the arrow struck right above her chest. A strong feeling of discomfort overwhelmed her. She fell onto the ground and she felt like she could fall unconscious too.

"And just what..." Still though, Ritsura tried to raise her body up a little so she could look at Ryoko, but she had no strength to actually stand back onto her feet. "Just what is it that you want then, Ryoko-nee-san?"

"Me? I already said, didn't I?" She smiled. "I want to be the Nue."

* * *

_Keikain Ryoko, soon to be an eleven years old girl, sat in her room and read some scrolls on Onmyoudo. There were more scrolls on the floor around her, mostly about various Onmyoudo techniques but some of them were popular legends about Onmyouji of old, mostly about Abe no Seimei._

_In a week, her training as an Onmyouji would start in earnest. Even though many in the family were against it due to her having youkai blood in her veins, she would be learning the secret techniques and practice to become a warrior able to stand against the strongest youkai. As an Onmyouji of the prominent Keikain House she could not allow herself to disappoint._

_But there were many techniques that she could study, and she had to choose which ones she would focus on. After seeing one of her mother's Shikigami Fusions a year ago, she knew that she wanted to use a bow as her weapon. But that alone was not enough and there was another set of techniques that she wanted to focus, though she was certain that her mother, or anyone else in the family for the matter, would approve._

_Then someone knocked on the door of the room. "Ryoko-sama, are you in there?" She heard one of the servants, an old woman, ask._

" _Yes, I am."_

" _The head asked you to come to her room. She said it was important that you should not delay."_

" _Alright, I'll go now. You don't need to go back to her."_

" _As you say, Ryoko-sama." The old woman said and left._

_Ryoko put the scroll down and quickly left her room. Her mother's room was not that far, which made Ryoko wonder even more why she did not just come to her._

_When Ryoko reached the door, she heard some people argue inside so she stopped to listen for a moment._

" _It's pointless." She heard her mother say. "I know my daughter. I know she wants to be an Onmyouji."_

" _Nevertheless…" She heard her uncle's voice. "…she needs to understand her situation."_

" _What's there to understand?" Her mother argued with her uncle, thought this did not sound like one of their sibling squabbles. "She's my daughter and she'll be an Onmyouji. There was never any doubt in it."_

" _Now now, let's calm down." Hidemoto the Thirteenth could also be heard from inside. "But I agree with Ryuji, she needs to confirm it."_

_Ryoko did not feel like eavesdropping anymore so she knocked on the door, ending the argument that took place inside._

" _Come in." She heard her mother say._

" _I am coming in." Ryoko said and entered. Her mother was there, sitting on the floor and holding a fan. On her left sat Ryoko's uncle, Ryuji, and on her left sat an ancestor whom she summoned as a Shikigami, Hidemoto the thirteenth._

_Before she asked anything, Ryoko sat down on the floor, right in front of her mother. "You wanted to see me, mother." She spoke in the formal manner._

_Her mother sighed. "You don't need to be that formal, Ryoko."_

" _Don't try to sweeten it, dwarf." Her uncle complained. "This is an important occasion."_

" _Then why don't you take your own advice and fix that insolent tongue of yours, nii-san?" Ryoko's mother argued back._

_But Ryoko's uncle did not continue his argument with his sister. Instead, he turned towards Ryoko. "Ryoko, it's time for you to choose what life you will lead."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _Your training as an Onmyouji is supposed to start in a week." Hidemoto was the one to continue. "If you want to lead a normal human life, you should say so now. Once you swear to become an Onmyouji, it'll be hard to back out."_

" _Also, we have to keep in mind that you have youkai blood in your veins." Her uncle noted with his trademarked grumpy expression on his face. "Onmyouji exist to fight and exterminate youkai and you will have to swear that you will protect humans and destroy any evil spirits you find." Ryuji's face softened a little, though only those who knew him well enough would notice it. "That means you will fight your own kind so think well about it. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, I suggest you take the normal human life."_

" _Or, if you want to respect your youkai blood, we can send you to Ukiyoe." Hidemoto added his own idea._

_Ryoko's mother looked at Hidemoto with an angry expression, and Ryuji's expression was no better. But it was her uncle who was the first to speak. "What the hell are you suggesting there, zombie?"_

" _What's wrong?" Hidemoto shrugged. "You said yourself, it is a fact that youkai blood flows through her veins. And even though only an eighth of her blood is that of a youkai, she inherited her mother's spiritual energy and that can feed her own Fear." He then looked at Ryoko again. "When she started to subconsciously use her father's Fear few years ago, she was able to hide from even the best of Onmyouji, and that includes both of you. Walking in her father's steps is the right she has."_

" _Tz, fine! I don't want to argue with you." Ryuji said and turned his attention to Ryoko, as did her mother. "So girl, what will it be?"_

" _You don't need to answer today." Ryoko's mother added. "If you want to think it through, you can take until the end of the week." She looked sad, as if fearing that Ryoko would accept Hidemoto's proposition._

" _Thank you for your consideration, mother." Ryoko bowed. "But I've already made my decision."_

" _Hooh?" Her uncle tilted his head. "So? What shall you become? A normal human, an Onmyouji… or a youkai?" He looked like he wanted to spit at the last suggestion._

" _I intend to become the Nue." Ryoko answered with a smile._

" _Huh?" the eyes of all three of them widened, showing that this was not an answer that they even imagined possible yet alone expected._

" _What the hell do you mean by that, dwarf?" Her uncle asked._

" _I…" Ryoko put her fingers on her hairpin, and remembered the words her mother said when she gave it to her. "Like Abe no Seimei, before he fell to the darkness, I want to be someone who protects both the Light and the Dark. As someone who is both Yin and Yang, I want to use both to fully follow the ways of the Onmyoudo, the way of the Yin and Yang." And then she put her hands and head down on the floor, bowing. "So please, let me train as an Onmyouji and allow me to follow this path."_

" _Haaaah?" Her uncle did not look satisfied whereas Hidemoto hid his smile behind a sleeve._

_But her mother looked serious. "Ryoko, I will not hide this because I'm sure you know it already… but many of the Onmyouji already look down at you for not being entirely human. The wounds we suffered because of Hagoromo Gitsune hadn't healed and if you decide to walk this path… you will not make many friends amongst the other Onmyouji. Are you aware of that?"_

" _I know that already."_

" _Yet you will still go on with it?"_

" _Thank you for your concern, mother, but in my heart I feel that this is the path that I need to walk." Ryoko raised her head and upper part of body and looked her mother in the eyes. "So please, allow me to train."_

" _Fufu… She's so mature for an eleven years old girl." Hidemoto giggled while Ryuji just shook his head. "Her youkai nature is evident."_

_Her mother continued looking at her eyes for a while and then sighed. "Haaah… you are just like your father. It's the same naive shine." She then smiled. "Fine, little Nue, you can train as an Onmyouji." She gave the answer that made Ryoko gasp in joy. "But promise me that you will be careful."_

" _Of course mother." Ryoko bowed her head again. "I'll give my best to not disappoint you."_

" _The Nue…" Her uncle put his hand on his forehead. "I can't believe that you said yes to that… this will be a catastrophe." He spoke honest words for a change. But he did not argue about it, as he himself knew that it was pointless._

* * *

"And just what would that mean? That you want to exterminate all the youkai in Japan?" Ritsura was not sure why she was asking her that. Maybe she hoped to find holes in her sister's resolve, and that it would somehow make Ritsura feel better.

"Oh heavens no, quite the opposite." Ryoko shook her head. "I know that Abe no Seimei had gotten mad at some point, but he was the Nue even before that. No, I speak about Seimei-sama from before he fell into darkness."

Ryoko looked away, with an earnest smile on her face. "He was a youkai and an Onmyouji… similar to me, which I guess is what made me originally interested in him. But rather than choose one or the other, he chose both… and so he created his own youkai clan, but continued serving humanity as an Onmyouji. I want to do the same… to be a great Onmyouji like mom, and to be a proud oukai leader like dad."

Ritsura clenched her teeth. She pitied her sister for being obsessed and troubled, but Ryoko looked happy as she talked about her goals. She smiled many times in front of Ritsura, but often it felt forced. But this one was not forced.

 _Just what do I want?_ Ritsura contemplated and lost her strength to keep herself up so she lay back down on the ground.

"Now's my time to ask." Ryoko spoke to her. "What is your goal?"

"To inherit father's position, of course." Ritsura answered, but with a dull tone. "It's my duty to take over the reign of the clan whenever the time comes and serve the clan faithfully. I don't want to disappoint dad, mom and the others. As such, I _must_ become the best heiress possible."

She expected Ryoko to mock her again, and the silence that followed made her think that she was just containing her rage. Yet, she spoke more calmly than before. "You sure are obsessed about duty… but what about Rihan? He is there, so why is there still this 'must'?" Ryoko appeared in Ritsura's vision and sat on the ground just beside her.

"He doesn't want that duty… besides, I'm the older sister. I can't force my burden upon him."

"Hoooh?" Ryoko smirked and looked at Ritsura as if she were to mock her. "Does that mean that I'm forcing that burden upon you?"

Ritsura just looked at her. It was a strange feeling, to know that she was no longer _the_ oldest sibling. It made her feel relaxed, as if one of chains that defined her life just got broken.

After all, in Ritsura's eyes Ryoko was also a legitimate successor. "The reason you attacked me… is this a succession war?"

"A succession war?" She looked confused.

"If you defeated me in a fair fight, then you would prove to be stronger or more competent than me." Ritsura spoke what was on her mind. "You are envious, you said that yourself… so I was wondering if you came here because you wanted to take,,, to steal my position? Is that the actual point of the ultimatum?"

"You think that would even be possible." Ryoko's eyes narrowed.

"The clan would not elect an Onmyouji as a successor, not now… but it's not like dad will retire anytime soon. Maybe you thought that you could prove yourself over the years. If I gave you my support… it would likely be even faster. After all, your Fear is nothing to joke about."

"Hmmm… is that so?" Ryoko looked away. "And how do you feel right now, as the successor?" She avoided the question.

"...tired." Ritsura closed her eyes. "I feel tired." She was tired. She was tired of constantly worrying about her duties. She was tired of always having to uphold to everyone's high expectations. She was tired of fearing for her own life, and even more tired of fearing for lives she was responsible for.

"I see… so what is it that you want? What makes you feel at ease?"

Ritsura did not reply immediately. _What do I want? What makes me feel at ease?_

So when did she feel at ease? It was at school, when she hung around with her friends. It was at her home, where she fooled around with the youkai and enjoyed her time with her family. It was in her room, where she read comics, watched movies featuring cute boys and chatted with her friends on the cellphone. It was these simple things that drove her forward.

_And that's why my Fear is in such a mess._

"I want to be a good daughter. I want to make others proud." Just like her dutiful mother, it was her Yuki-Onna's blood that made her feel so dutiful. Her Yuki-Onna's Fear was strongest when she was dutiful, and whenever she was dutiful, this Fear would take over.

"I'm sure your mother and father would be proud with you no matter what." Ryoko noted.

"I enjoy my human life… I'm most at ease when I fool around with my friends and make use of the pleasures that the human world offers me." And just like with her father, the human part of her enjoyed the simpler things in life. It was this part of her that desires companionship, kinship, love and all other joys of life.

"So do you want to just lead a normal human life?"

And it was the Nurarihyon blood in her veins that responded best to her wishes and desires. Whenever she was excited about something, her Nurarihyon's Fear would get stronger.

And the only time she was able to utilize her Nurarihyon's Fear was in her human form. She strongly desired that simple, joyous life.

Of course, her Nurarihyon blood also made her enjoy certain things. "No… I also enjoy being a youkai. I like to fight, to show others what my Fear is made of and I… I want to be cool."

"You don't need to be the heiress for either of those three wishes." Ryoko mentioned what was now obvious. "If you don't feel any joy in being the successor, then just give up on it." She gave Ritsura a warm smile. "You are a strong youkai… and I can always use a youkai like you. If you don't find any pleasure in being a leader, your onee-san will happily take you under her wing." And then she rose and walked away. "So just close your eyes and sleep, little sister."

_Is that it then? All of those years of training, getting stronger and getting recognition… and I want this?_

She felt like doing what she was told. And then let a new day start.

Even if she wanted to rise up and fight, it was impossible. She was too exhausted to just get back onto her legs, let alone fight Ryoko who replenished her energy by dispelling the Cursed Seal. _I guess it does not matter what I choose… I'm just not good enough to stand up to her._

Yet, she could not relax. Her right hand's fingers kept holding something, as if her life depended upon it. She tried to relax them, but to no avail.

She opened her eyes again and looked at them. They were holding the hilt of her sword, the weapon that was with her through countless perils.

And then she remembered.

She remembered the day when she received it… no, they day she **chose** it. She was given the choice of Nenekirimaru, which was in her family for three generations, and this new, young sword to which she gave the exact same name that her older sibling had.

She remembered swearing that she would become a great successor to her father and to the Nura Clan, no matter what it took. She would protect the clan and everything it stood for, and try to shine as radiantly as her father did.

Yet, to achieve that goal, she did not choose the sword that the predecessors wielded. No, she chose a different one… a new one. It was her duty to accept her father's sword, yet she chose her own sword… her own destiny… her own dream.

 _Ah... I'm a fool… I'm such a fool…_ Once again, the excitement she felt as a little girl came to her. She remembered the pleasant feeling of excitement as her mind remembered the dreams, hopes and plans she made as a child. She remembered the pride as she defeated some of her strongest enemies, the pride when she invented new techniques, pride she took in having trust of her comrades placed onto her and many more.

She desired both her simple human life… and her life as a youkai.

And she knew… that those desires were not contradictory, but mutually beneficial.

"I never thought you would protect me outside fights, yet here we are." She whispered to her sword under her breath. "So, Nenekirimaru… no, I can't label you with your older sister's name, can I now?" She closed her eyes for a moment to think, and then opened them again. "Snow and Cherry ( _Yuki_ and _Sakura_ ), the symbols of Mom and Dad… the two Fears that are inside me… and you. Yes, I know a fitting name for you."

"So what do you say about us getting up and show her what we're truly made of… **Yukizakura**?" She whispered and then rose up. Once again, she had strength to fight… or more precisely, her Fear grew stronger.

Ryoko's back were turned toward her, but the Onmyouji girl then looked at her from the corner of her eye, with an emotionless face. But then she smiled and faced her. "So Nura Ritsura… what is it that you truly want?"

"To show Dad that I'm worthy of taking over his position." She spoke and took out a small rope from inside her sleeve, which was supposed to be used to tie her sleeves when they got in the way. "I want to be a kick ass youkai who is able to protect all that is dear to her, and show her opponents that Nura Ritsura is someone to be remembered." She used the rope to tie her hair, which had started swaying way too much and would get in the way, into a ponytail. "I'll make Dad, Mom and the others proud."

And then she pointed her sword towards Ryoko. "Sorry, but I don't intend to serve you. And I will claim the position of my clan's Supreme Commander for myself."

"Yes, I can feel that from your Fear. It has truly become beautiful." Ryoko stretched her hand in front and the bow appeared in it. "Alright little sister, let's bring this to an end."

* * *

Ryoko aimed her bow and released the arrow, but did not stop moving during or after the act.

The arrow struck Ritsura and exploded, but then Ritsura's body just disappeared. Ryoko immediately pulled the string, turned her bow to her right and released the arrow. This time, Ritsura avoided it, proving that this one was not just a mirage.

She guessed as much when she felt Ritsura's Fear, but now there was no more denying: Ritsura had become able to use both her Yuki-Onna's and Nurarihyon's Fears at their full power and at the same time. Whatever was issues she was having were now gone.

Ritsura raised her hand, whispered something under her breath and released a storm of snow and blunt icicles. But the Onmyouji's ofudas protected her, albeit at the cost of Ryoko's spiritual energy.

At the very last moment, Ryoko realized that Ritsura used her Nurarihyon's Fear and so managed to go into defensive in order to block Ritsura's sword attack. But her younger sister used the sword with only her right hand whereas her left hand flew towards Ryoko. Ryoko continued holding the bow with her left hand and used her right to grab a flying ofuda and intercept Ritsura's fingers with it, thus stopping whichever freezing attacks Ritsura had meant for her.

Then both girls struck the ground with their feet and jumped away from one another. But Ritsura had planned her next attack better, as Ryoko had landed on ice and almost slipped.

Ritsura then raised her sword and Ryoko could feel her Fear becoming stronger. Furthermore, she felt this sensation already and knew what Ritsura planned to do. _So now that your Yuki Onna and Nurarihyon Fears are in sync, I guess you don't need to use the sake._ Ryoko gave more of her spiritual energy to her ofudas and, when Ritsura's Fear assaulted her, she countered the Fear with strong barriers, thus saving herself from getting caught in an illusion again.

When it was over, she immediately lowered the barrier as to not waste her energy, but then a ball made of ice struck her. It was not a strong attack, but it was enough for her to slip from the ice she was standing on and start falling head down.

But her dexterity was on an inhuman level so she used her hands to throw herself away and land on her feet.

Ryoko straightened herself and wiped the sweat from her forehead. The battle had lasted long already and Ritsura had become a more dangerous opponent. _I won't be able to go on for much longer._

Once again, she started to consider the possibility of defeat, and that thought sent cold shivers through her body.

Even after so many years, and as if mocking her conversation with Ritsura before the battle began, she was still terrified at the idea of Ritsura defeating her. She could not keep the promise she made to herself or uphold the words she told to Ritsura.

" _You are a mistake, you know that right?"_ Keikain Akira's words resounded in her ears once again. _"And what do we do with mistakes… and youkai for the matter? We remove them."_

She _had_ to win. She had to prove that she was not a mistake.

* * *

" _Where are we going, Akira-sensei?" The nine years old Ryoko asked the older Keikain, a young black-haired woman wearing glasses. They were in the company of three other Onmyouji whom she did not know so well._

" _Training, of course." The woman said back. "You want to see some action, don't you Ryoko-chan?"_

" _Yes!" The girl nodded with a wide smile. Her mother thought she was not ready yet, but Ryoko disagreed. In retrospect, Ryoko now knew that her mother was right, but back then she was just a child, oblivious to true dangers of the world… and the true dangers that lurked inside those she trusted._

" _Good… good." Akira said with a strange shine in her eyes. It was hard to see, especially in this unlighted darkness, but Ryoko's eyes were always strangely strong in the dark._

_The young girl continued following her elders. They were walking with larger steps than her, but she did not mind it. After all, running was always fun to her._

_She wondered about Akira for a while. She was surprised that she took her out, mostly because she always felt so distant to Ryoko… and easy to anger. At one point, Ryoko called her nee-san as she felt like a cool young Onmyouji, but Akira got angry at her. However, she did not seem to be angry anymore so Ryoko thought that whatever troubled Akira, it was gone._

_She thought about what kind of scary youkai they would take down, though, strangely, she hoped that they would end up being good guys so she could be friends with them. Youkai were strange, but that just made them more interesting for this blooming Onmyouji._

" _Akira-sensei..." She addressed the older Keikain. "What kind of youkai are we hunting tonight?" Her curiosity finally got the better of the young girl so she asked this when they entered the grounds of a vacant temple._

_But Akira did not reply, unless her back staying turned to Ryoko was a reply._

" _Akira-sensei?" Ryoko tilted her head. "Is something wrong?"_

" _ **We**_ _are hunting an abomination." Keikain Akira answered, her back and face still turned away from Ryoko. "It's a sorry little creature, turned insane in the presence of the gods." Akira spoke while moving her hands and fingers, as if preparing for a fight. She fought with her bare fists, which Ryoko found to look cool._

" _Shouldn't we be trying to help it then?"_

" _Oh no, we tried but it was impossible. The poor, little creature was too far-gone and far too dangerous for that to happen. It's saddening, but we had no choice."_

" _Really? But we didn't even meet her yet." Ryoko looked around. Strangely, only Akira seemed to be looking for the youkai. Others were standing at a distance, looking at Ryoko. The girl found it creepy, especially the intense stares in their eyes, but she decided that they were probably wanting to make sure that nothing happened to the child._

" _Oh, but we did. Nine years ago, actually." When Ryoko turned her head back to Akira, the older Keikain was in the midst of swinging her fist._

_It hurt. This punch, coming from a woman who could break a youkai's bones by using her father's pills, landed a strong blow onto the young girl whose greatest pain was that one time she fell from the window onto rocky ground._

_And more pain came when the girl's body struck a small shrine made of stone. "Ayyhh!" Ryoko whimpered. She did not understand what was going on, but it hurt. She was too terrified and too much in pain to move or talk. So she started sobbing. "Uuuu..."_

" _Oh shut your trap, monster." Akira said and kicked her in the guts._

" _Aaaahhh!" The girl cried out and curled herself into a ball._

" _Akira-san, maybe we shouldn't-" One of other Keikain spoke up._

" _She's a youkai, remember?" Akira said and then hit Ryoko with her foot from above. "Don't let her cries charm you. You know well enough that when a youkai tears up, they do it solely to manipulate you."_

" _Y… yes… sorry, Akira-san." The young man replied._

" _Uwaah..." Ryoko hoped that he would stop Akira from hitting her, so her cries got a bit stronger when that hope died. "Aaaahh..."_

" _See?" Another Onmyouji said, "Now she's trying to make her hypnosis stronger. But you won't fall for it, right?"_

" _Y… yes." His voice became more resolute. "I won't allow myself to be led astray by evil."_

" _Waaaah! I'm not-" She cried out, but then Akira kicked her again._

" _You are not human." Akira's started talking in what would sound as a friendly, benevolent one… were it not also sounding strangely cold. "You are a youkai… and not any youkai, but a mistake born from an accident." Akira moved her hand through Ryoko's hair. "You're a mistake, you know that right? And what do we do with mistakes… and youkai for the matter? We remove them." And then she rose back up again. "So don't hate me, brat. I'm just doing what your mother should have done nine years ago,when the mistake gave a human look. Pointless and abominable, there is no reason to let you stay in this world."_

_From corner of her eye, Ryoko saw Akira raise her fist. She could feel and see a golden aura around the fist. The last time Ryoko saw Akira like this at training grounds, when she broke several rocks in one punch. Of course, back then it was from a different angle._

_Ryoko was going to die. Even a girl like her knew that now. "WAAAAAAAHH!" She cried with all her strength, hoping that someone would hear and save her. "WAAAAAAHH!" She cried again, closing her eyes._

_Then something exploded, but Ryoko did not dare look. She continued crying, knowing that her life depended upon it._

" _What are you doing, Akira?!" She could hear her mother shout, and then felt being taken into a soft embrace. Ryoko immediately grabbed to her mother and continue to cry, but did not dare to open her eyes._

" _I was just training her." Akira spoke in cold tone. "Then something got into her and she attacked me." She lied._

_But her mother and uncle did not buy it. Before the sun rose, Akira was exiled, as well as the others who were with Akira, and recently they found out that she had joined a diabolical organization known as the Shin Sekai. And to make matters worse, several more Keikains followed her. Many who stayed criticized her mother for acting 'rashly' and not believing Akiras words just because her daughter was hurt. Many of them showed little to no compassion for what happened to the nine-year-old 'mistake'._

_But for few weeks, Akira would always return in the girl's dreams. And her words would never leave the girl's mind._

* * *

Ritsura had felt many things towards Ryoko since she found out about her heritage: shock, doubt, terror, happiness… and now frustration.

She could forgive her sister for the many things she did, including the reckless attack on Ukiyoe and even the curses she put on her, but she could not forgive one thing: keeping her nature secret from Ritsura. She could not understand why her father stayed quiet either, but looking back she could see that he wanted the two of them to meet when he took Ritsura to Kyoto. So even this was, likely in some way, Ryoko's fault.

 _So many years wasted… and for what?!_ She wished so much to scream her thoughts at her sister, but she did not actually do so. She knew that Ryoko likely had her reasons and that Ritsura would be arrogant if she called her up on it.

But even though she thought that she had no right to call Ryoko on it, she still had the right to be angry about it.

And since that anger fueled her fighting spirit, she did not even try to contain it. She would end this fight and have a long talk with her elder sister. Not so much in order to yell at her, but to understand _why_.

On other hand, she started to see this fight of theirs as fun.

Ryoko shot another arrow at her, which Ritsura avoided with _Kyouka Suigetsu_ , and then she shot back an icicle. Since she did not want to harm her sister, she took care that these icicles were blunt instead of sharp.

Of course, Ryoko easily destroyed the icicle with one of her bothersome talismans. Three of them were now circling around her, keeping her safe from most of Ritsura's attacks.

And it was then that Ryoko finally changed her fighting pattern. The Onmyouji raised her hand in the air and then struck the ground with her palm down. Ritsura could feel Fear spread around the area and a familiar sensation enveloped her. _She is casting a curse… but what method is she using now?_

Whatever it were, Ritsura took a stronger grasp on her sword and concentrated. She would use _Meikyou Shisui_ or _Kyouka Suigetsu_ in order to try avoiding the curses, as Ryoko likely had to keep her attention on real Ritsura in order to curse her. It was strange to be able to use both of her Fears at the same time, but she got used to it immediately. It was as if it were the most natural thing to do. She smiled at that fact, as it brought her closer to becoming the proper successor of her clan.

But there was not much time for reminiscing as several spots around them started emitting malignant energies. _I feel like something bad will happen if I get too close to those spots. But keeping a distance should not be a problem._

And then Ryoko summoned four of her skulls. _Not them again!_ But this time, the skulls did not fly around. Instead, they floated just behind Ryoko. And then both Ryoko and her skulls prepared to fire, the skulls themselves flying in circle. _Oh, she's gonna turn into a minigun._

Just as she predicted, the skulls started to relentlessly fire arrows at her. Since they turned around, it was harder for Ritsura to get used to it. _She wants to push me around._ Ritsura was able to keep her ground while destroying the countless arrows, but Ryoko's own golden arrow was much more powerful and Ritsura had to block it with Yukizakura. But the force of the strike was so strong that Ritsura was pushed backwards.

Since the skulls kept firing arrows rapidly at her, she was unable to take a stand so she was constantly moving while defending herself. And Ryoko too continued shooting her arrows, again making her retreat.

So it was unavoidable that she got too close to one of the spots. The curse must have caused headaches as Ritsura's head started ringing.

And then Ryoko did something unexpected: she let the skulls and the bow disappear and ran at Ritsura. _Huh? What is she doing?_ Ritsura prepared to slash at her, but her head hurt so much that she instinctively put one of her hands on her forehead.

When Ryoko got close enough, she took out a paper Shikigami. Her following words made it clear that it was likely to get bad for Ritsura.

"Shikigami Fusion!" The talisman exploded into raw Fear, engulfed Ryoko and then spread towards Ritsura. Ritsura decided to strike at it, but her head had another shock so she was unable to do so.

Ryoko then grabbed her hand and the Fear around Ryoko materialized into tree branches, with small needles on them. And several of those branches enwrapped Ritsura and struck Ritsura with their needles.

Ritsura knew which Shikigami Ryoko used as Heiko told her about it. _The Jubokko (Blood Tree)… I heard they don't ask before making you donate your blood._

But blood was not the only thing that the branches started stealing from her.

* * *

" _What a wild place." Ryoko muttered while making her way through a dense forest. The various branches and bushes that she had to pass through already gifted her several little cuts across her legs and arms. "How can a Jubokko even feed here?" She wondered._

_And then she quickly turned around and created a barrier to protect herself from branches that tried to enwrap her._

" _This question was directed at you." She said while facing a large, old tree._

" _Hmm…" The tree took back its branches. "Can thou repeat thine words? I am a little… senile."_

" _How does a Jubokko like you feed at a place like this?" Ryoko relaxed, but still held an ofuda between her fingers. "I can't imagine any humans passing through here."_

" _True… there were many in olden days though." The tree went to satisfy her curiosity. "Fugitives… humans who wanted to ambush enemies… there used to be enough blood that I brought none expiry. Nowadays, my ailment are youkai which pass through for whichever reason." Its tone became sadder for a while. "I have wont myself to have no choice but to make up by sucking them dry."_

" _Is that so?" She said and down on a nearby stone._

" _Hmmm…" The tree seemed as if it were unsure if it should attack or relax. "A question of my own if I may… why comes an Onmyouji hither? I never expected to behold one, as I didn't assault any for a long, long time… one of the reasons I am so far away from them, that is. Did a youkai send thee?"_

" _Well, a youkai told me about you." She revealed. "But don't you fear, I'm not here to destroy you."_

" _Hmm… unlikely… why other would an Onmyouji be here?"_

" _I've a problem, you see." She finally put her ofuda down, in order to show him that he can trust her. "I'm from a prominent Onmyouji family, but I'm unable to use any of the Shikigami which members of my family usually summon."_

" _Why would that be?"_

" _I am a Hanyou, you see. Not much of my blood is that of youkai, but what little I have is strong enough to turn those Shikigami against me."_

" _Hmm… but even celestial spirits are not forced to attack youkai. So why's that problem to you?"_

" _Because of how they are summoned." She shrugged. "Well, I'm now skilled enough to modify the ofudas, but I've decided to go over another path."_

" _Hmmm… I think I see where this is going… you want me to become a Shikigami?"_

" _Yes." Ryoko nodded. The Keikains would surely not be happy to hear that Ryoko, who already used many of the darker techniques, started making contracts with youkai. But this path would be fitting for her, and she was sure that youkai and their Fears would be in better sync with her techniques than any of the celestial spirits._

_Besides, many of them hated her simply for daring to exist so she did not consider it to be something to be bothered about.._

" _Hmm… alright, I accept."_

" _That… was fast."_

" _Thou doest not know what hunger is, do 'ya? I'm sure that if I remain with thee, I shall get to feed a lot more than I'm now."_

" _Then let me ask you formally. Will you become my Shikigami?" She offered her hand with her palm opened. "And just so you know, I intend to become the new Nue."_

" _A Nue… that sounds exciting…" The tree lowered one of its branches and let it fall onto Ryoko's palm. "Fine… I accept."_

_Ryoko did her best not to make a pathetic looking grin. She had many little youkai calling her mistress, but this Jubokko would be her first strong one._

_In a way, she felt like her journey to becoming the Nue started now._

* * *

The branches did not only suck Ritsura's blood, but also her Fear. Hoping that it would rid her of the problem at hand, Ritsura opened her mouth and breathed out cold breath onto Ryoko. Her sister closed her eyes and turned her head away, giving Ritsura an opportunity to pull herself from her and the tree's grasp.

But Ryoko did not waste time. As soon as she opened, her eyes, she summoned her bow and started running. Ritsura, knowing that it would probably be bad if she stood in one place at a time like this, started running around as well. It did not help her headache and there were still cursed spots around her, one of which she stepped into, resulting in itching across her body. _As if the headache was not enough!_

Ryoko pulled the string of her bow, but instead of an arrow materializing, a branch grew into an arrow and cut itself off. She released the arrow, which missed Ritsura.

Tired, Ritsura took a pause, but then she felt something grab her ankle. When she looked down, she saw that the arrow started turning into a small tree, with moving branches that had familiar needles on them.

Ritsura immediately used _Meikyou Shisui_ and the branch's grasp weakened for a moment, as it could not feel her anymore, and long enough for Ritsura to flee.

She then used _Kyouka Suigetsu_ in order to create a fake target. But Ryoko did not aim at her anymore: instead, she fired her arrows everywhere, creating more little Jubokkos. _Oi oi oi, this whole place will soon become a blood-thirsty garden!_

"I'm a little disappointed, y'know." Ryoko started speaking again. "I expected you to take at least one youkai with you in order to perform _Matoi_."

"They were delayed because of your guys." Ritsura replied while avoiding the attacks, branches and cursed spots.

"That's what I'm disappointed in." Ryoko created another Jubokko, dangerously close to Ritsura. "Either your tactical thinking was wrong or your followers are not strong enough to not get split apart. You failed, didn't you?"

"Okay, I did." She thought that she would not be able to perform the _Matoi_ as usual, but she wondered if she could do it now that she managed to stabilize her Fears. "But I thought this would be one-on-one."

"You are the leader of a Hyaki Yakou. Technically, I'm the same."

She clicked her tongue. She _should_ have taken that into consideration when she decided to go alone. "Okay, Onee-sama. Next time I decide to fight you, I'll bring a gang of people with bats."

Ryoko made an amused face and that was the end of their short conversation.

 _Now I better come up with a plan or this fight shall be over soon._ Ritsura tried to think while constantly avoiding the invasive branches, as well as while trying not to land on a cursed spot.

And she had to hurry. She may have gotten back on her legs, but the tiredness from before did not fully disappear. _I don't know about her, but I won't last for much longer._ _But how do I get out of this predicament?_

_Let's start from the beginning… my current problem is that I'm actually fighting two persons. So I need to get rid of one of 'em. But how'd I do that?_

_Ah!_ And then she remembered one of her father's lessons. He told her how he once fought a painter who was able to turn humans into youkai and then how he managed to kill those youkai without killing the humans that turned into them.

This may not have been the same situation, but Ritsura believed that the same concept could be applied. _The point's to focus my Fear so that I strike at one precise existence rather than at everything in front of me._

* * *

_What's she doing now?_ Ryoko wondered while her opponent stood in her place. _Is that another mirage?_ She wondered while the branches enwrapped Ritsura's legs and arms. _No, that is the real one._ While Hiroki stole Ritsura's blood for himself, he stole Ritsura's Fear and gave it to Ryoko.

"Just what are you going?" She thought again, and this time accidentally said it aloud. Ryoko aimed her bow towards Ritsura and pulled the string. But this time, she created a golden, Fear-sealing arrow. She hoped she would release it before Ritsura started making her next move, but she was a moment too late.

"I was just getting the grasp of the old geezer's Fear." Ritsura answered her question and slashed her sword through the air, after which the branches got frozen and turned into crystal dust.

 _Dammit!_ Ryoko immediately released the arrow, anxious of what Ritsura was about to do now. She did not know about Ritsura, but Ryoko was barely keeping herself standing. She was not sure if she could afford to take another strike from her younger sister.

Ritsura continued running and tried to take care of the arrow by slashing it. But Ryoko did not hold back this time so the arrow passed through the sword and struck Ritsura right into her chest. Ritsura stopped and took a step back, and then immediately resumed running, all while freezing the branches around her.

The attack looked like it failed, but Ryoko knew better. _Her ponytail is no longer acting as if there's wind and the sweat on her forehead shows that freezing the branches is tiring her out. Well, no surprise there, seeing as my barriers, as weak as they are, require her to use more of her strength in order to freeze them._

Ritsura swung her sword down at Ryoko, but just as before, Ryoko had blocked it with her bow. Ritsura then pulled her sword back and moved sideways to attack Ryoko from another side. Ryoko could feel that the ground under her got turned into ice, but this was also a move that Ritsura had already used so she did not fall for it. _She's making a mistake of repeating the same old tricks… and that makes me worried._ Ryoko tried to think of what Ritsura actually planned to do as she was certain that her sister was using the old tricks to make a new one.

"Onee-sama~" Ritsura started speaking after two more of her blows got deflected. "Did nobody tell you that you should not bring a bow to a swordfight?"

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" _I also brought ofudas… though admittedly, I'm out of all but one of them._

Instead of replying, Ritsura just smiled like a child and thrust her sword forward.

Too late did Ryoko realize that Ritsura used _Meikyou Shisui_ and so she failed to meet the attack. As a result, Ritsura's sword found itself between the main part of the bow and the string.

"Got'ya." Her little sister said and swung her sword in a suitable enough angle and direction to throw the bow out of Ryoko's hands. "You should have used a proper shield or something." Ritsura smirked and prepared to make another thrust.

Ryoko tried to smile back. "I guess so." _Should I use my last ofuda? No, if I lose it as well…_ _Hiroki,_ _we're spending all we have on the next attack!_

" _Yes, mistress!"_

The branches that decorated Ryoko's body flew towards Ritsura as did some from the ground, constraining her. Ritsura's smirk disappeared as she realized that she could not freeze the branches due to Ryoko strengthening the barriers. What was more, Ritsura was unable to move.

 _I should finish this immediately!_ She took out her last ofuda and started pouring her spiritual energy into it.

But Ritsura did not give up just yet. "Grrrr…" She put in more force as she tried to push herself towards Ryoko. And then she closed her eyes and tried to freeze the area around herself again.

Ryoko was about to say that it was useless when Hiroki's voice rang in her head. _"Mistress, she is cutting right through my Fear!"_

"What?" Ryoko, who was never skilled in youkai techniques, could not understand what he was saying. All she could do was look as the branches closed and Ritsura's sword struck through her chest. "Ah…"

"Gah!" She could Hiroki's voice, and not from inside his head.

His and her Fears had been cut away.

And the sword attack itself hurt.

"Don't underestimate a youkai trained in Toono, Onee-sama." Ritsura grinned while Ryoko looked down at her, clenching her teeth.

* * *

Ritsura pulled the sword back and jumped several steps away from Ryoko. Instinctively, Ryoko put her hand over the area where the sword struck her, but there were no wounds. _Still… it hurts._

She threw a glance at Hiroki, who tried to use his staff to get back onto his feet. But he just fell back onto his knees. "It's no use. I struck his entire Fear with my last attack." Ritsura commented.

"That also means that you spent a lot of your own to do it." Ryoko noted and her sister's heavy breathing confirmed it. "You look horrible."

"With all due respect, Onee-sama…" Ritsura put both of her hands on her sword's hilt. "…you don't look much better either."

"Heh… that's true." Ryoko put on a weak smile and raised her last remaining ofuda. "Come on… let's end this already." _I have nothing to defend myself with… so I'll have to avoid her attack and strike this ofuda right into her. If I fail… it will be bad._

Ritsura jumped at her and Ryoko prepared to meet her. "Mistress, take this!" She heard Hiroki yell and grabbed something that he threw to her.

"Huh?" She saw that it was his wooden staff. But before she could wonder what she could use it for, she had to deal with Ritsura's attack. Without thinking, she met Ritsura's attack with the staff. _I would not have been able to dodge this._ Fortunately, the staff was not made of real wood but from Hiroki so it could oppose even a spirit Sword.

However, there was no way to strike Ritsura, so her situation was not that good. "I won't lose, Onee-sama!" Ritsura declared and made another slash at Ryoko, which she again deflected with Hiroki's staff. "I intend to take the title of Lord of Pandemonium from Dad." She told her, with a small, determined smile while the two of them parried their blows.

"Those are my words." Ryoko said back. "I'd be a lame Nue if I did not beat him up and take that title for myself."

Ritsura turned her body around and swung her sword sideways, but somehow Ryoko was able to meet it. "Oh no, I'm doing that!" Ritsura's smile widened. "But you can be my follower and help me do it." Ritsura made several thrusts, but Ryoko surprised herself at how easily she parried them, erasing the smile from Ritsura's face. _I'm getting the hang of this._

"Those are my words, little sister."

"By the way…" Ritsura made an upper-cut and then an under-cut, but Ryoko threw them both off. "I thought you were an archer! What gives?"

"How the hell would I know?" Ryoko asked while going into offensive and making Ritsura take two steps back. She was as surprised as Ritsura about her ability to keep her own in a swordfight. "I never even used a sword in my life."

"Maybe it's natural? I and Rihan were not bad at start you see." Ritsura smiled and then put more force into her own attacks, forcing Ryoko to take several steps back. If she were not this tired, Ritsura would have probably beaten her by now due to her experience (and having a sharp weapon), but Ryoko was able to keep up with a tired out Ritsura. "You know, maybe we are sisters?"

"Ha! Maybe we are!" Ryoko smiled and then avoided Ritsura's swing by crouching down, after which she struck Ritsura's arm and threw her sword out of Ritsura's hand.

"Oh…" Ritsura said just before Ryoko struck the ofuda right above her chest.

"It's over." Ryoko said and Ritsura was pushed away by a flash of light. Still, even while several sparkles flew around her body, Ritsura remained standing.

* * *

_Ah… what did she just do?_ Ritsura wondered while looking at the blurry image in front of her. She could not see anything while they fought, due to her head ringing because of Ryoko's earlier _Headache Curse_ and exhaustion, but Ryoko was able to keep up with her in a swordfight. Granted, it was a swordfight where Ritsura was too tired to beat even an amateur, but it still caught her off-guard.

For a moment, the world before her turned black, but she forced her eyes open. "Ah…" She looked at the ground while breathing heavily. She saw the bangs of her white hair turn brown. "Ah…"

She raised her hand towards Ryoko and saw that she too was breathing heavily. Then she raised both of her hands and the bow materialized in them once again. She pointed it towards Ritsura, without an arrow.

It was not preparation for an attack, but a gesture. "Ah, I see…" Ritsura took a few steps back, put her hand behind her head and released the ponytail. "I guess that…" a while, her back reached the remains of a wall. "…I'll have to defeat you another time." She made another smile and then let herself fall down and take a rest.

* * *

"I won…" Ryoko said to herself and let the bow disappear. She then almost fell with her nose down, but she managed to keep herself somehow balanced. "I managed to win… so all the training I did in my life… was not for nothing… I'm a step closer to proving that I'm not a… not a mistake."

She did not know for how long, but she took a few steps forward and found herself in front of Ritsura. She almost fell down, but stopped herself by striking the wall with the palm of her hand. "Thank you little sister… for not holding back." And then she turned around and fell down, now sitting just beside her younger sister.

"Four strawberry ice creams." Ritsura muttered, her eyes still closed. "XXL size."

"Huh?"

"If you want to thank me, than... get me some XXL ice cream."

"I'm not even sure what you mean." Ryoko hit Ritsura's head with her own. "Now go to sleep."

"Ouch! That's mean!" Ritsura hit her back with her head. "Just so you know... this isn't over yet. I'm gonna kick your ass... one day." She said meekly

"Okay..." Ryoko also said meekly, "You may… try."

"I'm gonna beat you. Just you wait." She repeated and hit her head again.

"You'll tell me all the details when you wake up."

"Okay..." Ritsura said and rested her head on her elder sister's shoulder. "Good night."

"Yeah, yeah… good night." Ryoko replied and rested her head on Ritsura's.

* * *

**I-I-I-I-I**

* * *

**Author Notes**

And so the long arc is over… okay, there's still another chapter (unless it gets split or something, but I pray it doesn't) but the important stuff is over: the two sisters fought it out and the battle is over

\- I tried to make the flashbacks fit to what went in the scenes that took place in the present timeline, thus why the chronology is so messed up

\- Ritsura finally got over her doubts! And what's more, she finally gave a proper name to her sword and can now properly mix her two Fears. Also sports a ponytail because she thinks it makes her look more Nurarihyonish

\- It was a close battle, but Ryoko's two years of experience (and a stronger motivation) seem to have prevailed. Of course, one small detail could have changed the victor and had Ritsura been experienced in using her two Fears at the same time...

\- Keikain Akira is quite a BLEEP. Also, she appeared in the fic already: first time in ch38 and then again in ch50

\- sorry for there not being any father-daughter scenes. I thought about putting one at the end, mainly as a flashback, but I prefer this ending not to mention that it should make the next chapter's father-daughter scene better (hopefully)

\- title on the chapter selection and here is different to avoid spoilers

* * *

**Omake: Alternative end to ch79, aka Youkai Wars**

The two girls fought atop a skyscraper, when Ryoko managed to disarm Ritsura. "Hyaah!" The Yuki-Onna shouted when her sword fell down.

"There is no escape." Ryoko spoke in a deep tone for some reason. "Don't make me destroy you… I always wanted to say this!"

Ritsura did not reply, but slowly backed away from her.

"Ritsura, you don't yet realize your importance. You have only began to discover your Fear. Join me, and I will complete your training." She spread her hands as she spoke. "With our combined Fears, we can unite the youkai into one clan and bring order to Japan!"

"I'll never join you!"

Ryoko made a fist. "If you only knew the power we could achieve together!" And then she lowered her arm. "Your father never told you about me."

"He told me enough! He told me I should take care of you!"

"He has not told you everything, not the fact that… _I am your sister_." Dramatic music starts to play.

"No… no… that can't be true… that's impossible!"

"Search your feelings! You know it to be true!"

_**-End of the lame Star Wars parody-** _


	81. Blood Relations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle between Ritsura and Ryoko was over, while the short war between the forces of Shiori and Mayuri are also closing to an end…

**Chapter 81 - Blood Relations**

The night was deep, with a fresh breeze hiding a heated situation that took place in many dark corners of Tokyo. The youth enjoyed the breeze though.

"What's the situation?" The youth, Rihan, asked one of the Hyaku Monogatari's youkai, a creature of short stature and dressed in a dark cloak from head to toe, with three hag-like hands sticking out of his body.

"Huah!" Since Rihan sneaked up to him without warning, the youkai was caught by surprise. "Ah, it's you, Kokuhan-sama. I'm afraid that more of them have..." The youkai sighed in relief and looked up at Rihan. "Five of them have entered the fourth floor of the hospital where Ishikawa-sama's youkai resided. Two of them seem to be still be there."

Rihan looked at the hospital that stood two road crossings away from them. It was a private hospital owned by Shiori. The lights were on at several floors, but a deadly silence made it clear that something bad was afoot.

As per tradition in Japanese hospitals, there was no fourth floor (as number four symbolized death). Or more exactly, elevators never brought humans there so youkai used it as a hiding place, though they were not allowed to touch patients and the workers.

"So three of them have died, I presume?" Rihan asked.

"We guess so… the few who dared to go up there saw only two humans fighting. But nobody saw any human corpse."

"Humans?" Rihan was confused. "I thought the Shin Sekai would have sent youkai."

"The Shin Sekai sometimes uses youkai slaves and mercenaries. but at their core they're an organization that claims to serve humanity." Kirie, who had followed after Rihan with a slower series of steps, finally joined them. "It was only a matter of time until the Shin Sekai was ready to use the human troops that they've been training for decades. I guess they decided to test them on the field."

"Haaah… that's interesting." Rihan looked up at the hospital once again. "So you're saying that humans were able to kill dozens of youkai here and in some other lairs? Are they Onmyouji? Other kinds of exorcists?"

"No doubt, they do use exorcism." Kirie crossed her arms and stood beside Rihan. She could act quite serious when she needed to. "But exorcism is just a tool. They are, first and foremost, soldiers."

"Indeed." The youkai nodded. "They use rifles and pistols, have bulletproof vests and even night goggles. They feel like some sci-fi version of those SWAT policemen that you see on TV."

"Sci-fi SWAT policemen who use magic." Kirie summarized it. "If you're going up there, do be careful." She said while looking at Rihan. "Shiori will skin me alive if something happens to you."

"Well that would be a waste of some pretty skin." Rihan threw a tease at her and stepped forward. "If you would be so kind, go and buy me some snacks and drinks before I return. I'm starving."

"Show-off..." Kirie complained under her breath.

"Will you be alright alone? We could-"

"I don't know you and your skills well enough so you'll just get in the way." He rejected the offer they wanted to make. He would have taken the Endless Thief or Ao-Ju with him if they were here, but he sent them to check on some other lairs that were hit by the Shin Sekai.

"Suit yourself." The youkai said, with disappointment in their tone.

Rihan entered the hospital. Although the lights were on, the main hall was strangely quiet. Soon, he saw the receptionist sleeping at the desk and a janitor sleeping on a stool. Rihan quickly concluded that everyone was sleeping, and wondered if it was Shiori or the Shin Sekai that put the innocent humans to sleep. Both possibilities were equally plausible as neither wanted these humans to hear the sounds of battle on the supposedly nonexistent fourth floor.

Rihan called an elevator, that was located not far from the entrance, which immediately opened. In it, he saw corpses of some youkai and blood on the walls. _If the rest of the hospital is like this, Shiori will have quite a bit of cleaning to do before the sun rises._

While trying not to step on blood and bodies, Rihan entered the elevator and looked at the control panel. He saw no button towards the fourth floor, but that was natural as it was not supposed to exist. But he forgot to ask the youkai outside how to even get onto the fourth floor.

But there must not have been any special procedure as the elevator started moving by itself. Rihan shrugged and looked above, and soon saw a hatch. He opened it and climbed up. Then he concentrated and created a mirage below. When the elevator's doors opened, a storm of bullets filled the fake Rihan.

When the bullets stopped coming, Rihan jumped down and immediately stormed out. He thought about catching the humans by surprise while they contemplated on why the elevator was empty, but they must have already solved the mystery as a grenade was already flying towards Rihan.

Fortunately, it was merely a flash grenade, but it was followed with more bullets. Rihan closed his eyes too late so he got blinded, but he saw enough of the room to know that the best course of action was to jump up and catch the ceiling.

Instead of shooting up, the humans must have decided to move away.

Knowing that he had no time to waste, Rihan jumped down and ran even though his vision was still impaired. _I'll have to make do with my other senses._

He heard a click from behind a corner, which suggested that they probably changed ammunition… and where at least one of them was standing at the moment.

Before he got into their field of vision, he rabbed a corpse of a youkai from under him and threw it. The bullets struck the corpse, and it burst into fire. _Why must it always be fire?!_

The black-haired youth threw himself down and slipped on the floor, thus avoiding two bullets which were fired above him. He then immediately hit the wall with his leg and threw himself up, but not before grabbing a severed arm from the floor. By now, he could see somewhat so he saw where one of them was aiming his rifle, and was able to stop the bullet by throwing the arm towards it.

He then landed beside the other human who, much to Rihan's surprise, slashed at Rihan with something. Though he blocked the attack with the hilt of his sword, an electroshock struck him. "Gah!" He clenched his teeth and endured the pain as he could not allow himself to lose his sword. The other human pulled the trigger on his rifle, and it barely missed Rihan.

Rihan could finally focus on the enemies in front of him. They were both dressed in black clothes with long jackets and both had a helmet, military goggles and something that looked like a strange gas mask. the one further away was kneeling on one leg and held a futuristic, black rifle in front of him. The other one, standing right in front of Rihan, held a knife that looked like it was also an electro-shocker in one hand, and a handgun in the other.

Rihan swung his sword at the one close to him, but the enemy met the first attack, avoided the other and aimed his gun with deadly precision. Had Rihan not used Meikyou Shisui at the last moment, the bullet would have hit right into his forehead and the knife into his gut. _These guys… they don't have the inhuman speed, but their reactions and precision are nothing to joke about._

Rihan could not feel that these two were truly afraid of him. Cautious they were, but not terrified. Their stance and calmness was far above anything Rihan has seen before in humans. _These are killers… not killers like gangsters and yakuza, but more like… soldiers._

"What do you think?" The one in front of Rihan asked.

"He seems to use illusions. We may need to waste the _tools_ in order to take him down and there is a possibility that he does something unexpected." the one behind answered and rose up. "I suggest we retreat. The mission is already finished and it is only a matter of time until the enemy attacks in full force." The main behind said while slowly walking backwards and keeping his rifle aimed at Rihan.

"Roger." The knife wielding one said and joined his comrade in the retreat. "Calling HQ, take us back now." And then a thick shadows sprung from the ground, enveloped them and then they all disappeared.

"The Shin Sekai truly are..." Rihan muttered while sheathing his sword. "...bad news."

* * *

Mayuri slowly entered the area that looked like a living room, but was actually just a hollow improvisation built by some of the Field Operatives to kill the dullness.

Ishikawa Kaito sat on an old, black sofa. His one hand was on his knee and the other held a fork that rummaged through some curry and noodles on the small table in front of him. It did not seem that he ate much.

He was no longer bound, for Mayuri judged that it was not necessary. Two skilled Field Operatives kept guard over him, standing in the corners and staring at him with a robot's diligence. They did not even turn their heads to look at Mayuri as she entered with the elderly operative.

Mayuri, cautious, stared at him as she walked towards another sofa, standing on the other end of the table compared to Kaito's. She knew that the Field Operatives would kill Kaito if he made a sudden move, but she could never feel at ease around this evil man.

"So the Princess saw it fit to bless the little me with some more of her presence." Kaito talked while looking down at this food, his voice obviously irritated. "I take it that the two sisters are no longer fighting it out."

"And you are right." She answered while sitting down while the elder operative remained standing beside her. He did not look as stoic as the other two, but Mayuri knew he was more dangerous than them.

"So? Mind telling me what happened?" He looked up at her, while his fingers still held the fork.

"That is no concern of yours." Mayuri did not feel like giving this vicious man what he wanted.

"Tz. So no details, huh?" He looked down again. "Well, looking at the apathy on your face, I can conclude that nothing fun happened. Otherwise, you'd be frustrated."

"Where is the flare from earlier? You look surprisingly irritated."

"Back then, I still held hope that I will get out of this somehow. But I got no ideas, Shori hadn't rescued me yet and I can feel my tales dying left and right."

"You can feel that?"

"Al tales we create are just an image of our dark souls. I would know if part of my soul got cut off from the human world." He looked up at her again. "So? Your guys exterminated my precious tales. What do you intend to do with me?"

"Worry not. You shall not die."

"Hmph." He put on a bittersweet smile. "I'd prefer dying to whatever shitty fate you left for me, miss."

Mayuri's left brow twitched, twice. But she held back from commenting on his wishes. "You'll be cut off from the Hyaku Monogatari. You will have your memorie taken away from you and sent overseas. You will live a nice, comfortable life with a good job with a good wage. You won't have anything to complain about." As proven by tests that the organization did, the _Players_ get cut off from the game if they lose their memories.

He looked at her with dark eyes, and then started giggling. "Hahaha… so that's how it is, huh?" He giggled, his foot tapped the floor and his fingers turned the fork around in a circle. Naturally, the Operatives kept a watchful gaze on the fork, which could be used as a weapon. "You get rid of me while keeping your ugly, clean hands white and soft, with no blood on them."

"You have nothing to complain about." She said that, but she could predict how he would counter-argue. But she cared little about a madman's opinions.

"I became a _Player_ because my normal life was so agonizingly dull." He tapped the plate with the blunt end of his fork. "Waking up from the bad was a pain in the ass, having to work at a boring job killed my spirit with every passing moment, having to keep on fake smiles on a dead face was more painful than any wound… The day I escaped that agony was the brightest day of my entire life… and you want to erase it **all**." The last few words sounded like they came from a monster's mouth.

"And that man will die, and a new one will be born in his stead."

"No, he won't… I won't let you butcher me…" His voice got more hateful and harsh, but Mayuri continue sitting like she did before. The Field Operatives, however, started taking out their pistols."...and I won't let you get away from this with your spirit intact!" And then the fork flew up.

Not towards Mayuri, but towards Kaito's own throat.

Mayuri's body immediately flew back, to the end of the sofa. Her face lost all its heat as she looked at Kaito gnarling atop the table, with the fork sticking from his neck and red blood flowing out.

Even though it obviously pained him, the madman raised his head towards Mayuri, his face decorated with the most vicious smile that Mayuri even saw. He was mocking her.

She clenched her teeth "I just knew… you would do something like that. Put the fool out of his agony!" Mayuri ordered.

Kaito's smile was replaced by an expression of surprise just before a bullet his forehead and he fell down.

Mayuri closed her eyes, but Kaito's face remained in her head. "It's good that I did not anything." She said while feeling her innards complain about the image in front of her. _I'm still not used to this..._

"What are we going to do with the body?" One of the operatives asked.

Mayuri, who took a possibility of Kaito dying by his hand or due to becoming a threat, already decided what she would do. "Send him to Shiori-san. She is the closest he had to a relative."

* * *

" _Fufu… Kyoto is such a nice place." His wife, Tsurara, said with a satisfied smile while the two of them walked through Kyoto while dusk was nearing. "All these aged buildings… these places of worship… this clean air… these people who believe in spirits… ahh, it makes a youkai girl like me so happy."_

" _I'm glad to see you in such high spirits." Rikuo, who was in his human form, nodded with a smile._

" _If only we weren't heading to the Keikain Town…" Her face then became moodier, albeit in a comical fashion. "Alongside having to go to that Onmyouji-infested place, we just have to check on that woman, don't we?"_

" _It would be rude to not pay her a visit since we're already in Kyoto." Rikuo noted. He, Tsurara and several other members of the Nura Clan visited the Kyoto youkai due to some incident that happened near Mount Nejireme and Rikuo decided they may as well pay a visit to the Keikains since they were already in the city._

" _Yeah, it would be rude not to pay a visit to your friend and ex." She looked at him with annoyance on her face._

" _She is still a friend though…" It was true that he and Yura were dating seven years years ago, but it did not last long and nothing came out of it. But Tsurara still sometimes got fits of jealousy. But that was one of her cutenesses. "Besides, it's been a while since we met in person, wasn't it?"_

" _We didn't see her since my Rihan was born and she brought those swords." Tsurara folded her arms. "Are you sure she even wants to see you? She avoided your eyes back then and I don't think you two met since… she permanently returned to Kyoto."_

" _That's true I guess. But I doubt anything could've changed it, there was no reason for her to come to Tokyo or for me to come to Kyoto." But it was also true that Yura felt awkward when they met last time. But it was natural, looking at the circumstances. At least the conversations they sometimes had over e-mails and social networks were less awkward._

_But more years have passed since then hoped that they could talk like friends once again._

" _Oh Rikuo-sama, look!" Tsurara suddenly stopped and pointed at something… actually, at someone who was crouching near a bush with their back turned to them. "A baby Onmyouji!"_

" _Looks like that." Rikuo said while looking at a tiny child with short black hair, dressed in a little miko's outfit and probably five or six years old. It looked like she was talking to something in the bushes while sitting on her knees, and Rikuo guessed that the child tried talking to insects or some small animals. He then looked around and got worried when he saw nobody that looked like a parent were around._

" _I kind of want to pet her, but Onmyouji might be dangerous." Tsurara muttered. "Rikuo-sama, at which age do Onmyouji become deadly… or start biting?"_

" _Tsurara, Onmyouji aren't animals." Rikuo replied to her jokes and then turned towards the little girl. "Hey girl, where're your parents?" He called to the child. He had to return her to her family. Fortunately, her attire made it clear that she was an Onmyouji which suggested that she was from the Keikain clan. And since they were already in the Keikain Town, her family was probably close by._

" _Ayh!" The girl was startled and immediately turned around. "Ahh…" She looked at them while holding something in her hands._

" _Are those… youkai?" Tsurara also noticed a small youkai that stood on the girl's palms and then hid inside the girl's sleeve. "Was she going to eat it?"_

_He did not reply to her newest sarcastic remark for the Onmyouji. "Where are you from, girl?"_

_The girl stood up and pointed at one of the manors._

" _Good, that's close." He noted while getting closer to her. "What's your name?"_

" _Ryoko." The girl said and stood up, while the small youkai jumped from her sleeve and ran away. "Six years." She added to her introduction._

" _Keikain Ryoko I presume?"_

" _Hm! Hm!" The girl nodded. "You look kind of nice." She said in a lower tone while holding her hands in front of her mouth. "So could you not tell others about that chibi youkai? They may try to clean it."_

" _Clean it? Ah, so that's what they call it in front of you." Rikuo said with a smile to which the girl just tilted her head in confusion._

" _Who are you, mister?" The girl asked and got closer to him. "I've never seen you around here before." She then looked him up and down with interest. "And you don't look like a guest. And tourists don't come this late."_

" _You sure know a lot about visitors."_

" _Of course." The girl made an exaggerated nod. "I like to sit outside and watch people."_

" _Why would you do that?"_

" _I'm waiting for someone." The girl said._

" _Waiting for whom?"_

" _For my dad."_

" _Ah, I see." Rikuo guessed that the girl's father comes home late . "Still, it's dangerous for a little girl to stay outside."_

" _Oh, as long as I don't stay for too long I… I..." The girl's body started trembling. "HYAAAAH! I've been out for too long!" The little girl exploded and started running away. "Mom will get mad at me!" And so the girl ran away._

" _Well, that was interesting." Rikuo scratched his head._

_But what was especially strange was that her eyes looked like they turned red for a moment. However, soon after Rikuo concluded that he just imagined it._

" _Rikuo-sama, that girl…" He heard Tsurara speak from behind. "She looks like…" She started, but did not finish._

" _She looks a little like Yura, don't you think?" Rikuo scratched his chin. "But Yura isn't married… maybe she's Ryuji's? No, can't be… probably someone else close to Yura then." Only then did he turn to Tsurara. "Tsurara, what's wrong?"_

_Ironically, Tsurara looked like a human that had seen a ghost: her eyes were open wide and she held both of her hands on her chest. "Rikuo-sama, I know this is not the time… but can I ask a delicate question?"_

" _Huh? What's wrong with you, Tsurara?" He was surprised at her behavior. She used to be terrified of Onmyouji, but Ryoko was just a child._

" _I know it'll sound weird… it's just that she looks a bit like a certain boy that I used to know. If so…"_

" _Tsurara, what's wrong?" He repeated and got closer to her and put his hand on her shoulder, which made her shake a little less. He could not even think about what she could possibly have to ask him as he was worried about her. "You're acting strange."_

" _Yeah… it makes sense now..." She looked like she was thinking about something while her eyes looked at the ground. "But would she really…" And then she clenched her teeth. "Yes, she might!"_

_Her mind was going too far astray. "Tsurara, you wanted to ask me something." He said the words that were most likely to get her attention at this moment._

" _Oh… yes." She looked back at him. "Rikuo-sama… while you were in relationship with that woman… I guess you did, it would make sense… but I still have to ask…" And then she took in a deep breath. "No, you already told me once… it happened suddenly and unexpectedly. That doesn't make sense unless… And if so, then none of you two thought about protection."_

" _Tsurara, what are you talking about?" From corners of his eyes, he could see Onmyouji at the distance and glancing at them. Strangely, they looked less surprised and more anxious._

" _Rikuo-sama, I think that woman… didn't tell you something." Tsurara's hands started shaking again. "This is no place to talk…" She turned around and started walking out of the Keikain Town. "Come on, let's grab a drink… I need to clear my head before I talk."_

" _Tsurara, what…"_

" _Just come with me!" She raised her voice for a moment. "You can visit that woman later… and, if I'm right, she has some explaining to do."_

" _Come on Tsurara, tell me something." He followed after her, but got anxious about finding out what bothered her._

" _Rikuo-sama… that girl's jaw,the way she smiles and her eyes…" She slowed down a little and looked at Rikuo. "She looks like you did, when you were little." And then she looked in front of her again and resumed walking. "And those eyes turned red and I'm sure I felt a weak presence of Fear coming from her… that girl is definitely not just a human."_

* * *

" _Oi, Yura." He said to the woman who sat down on the floor, leaning against the wall and creating ofudas._

_Yura stopped what she was doing and looked at youkai Rikuo, the only other person in the room, from the corner of her eye. He was standing in middle of the room, tensed up and his eyes narrowed and angry "It's not nice to come in unannounced." She then averted her gaze. "Though I did hear you were in the town few hours ago, and that you met Ryoko." She put on a bitter smile. "So in the end, she did find the person she was waiting for like this."_

" _Don't you tell me how to behave…" His fingers stabbed into the palm of his hand. "I've something to ask you, Yura…"_

" _How did you find out?" Yura asked without looking at him._

" _I didn't. Tsurara did, once she took a look at the child." He clenched his teeth. "But I asked one of the Keikains and they told me that she was your daughter. And when I asked about who the father was… they looked surprised and told me to ask you."_

" _I see." Yura said in a dejected tone, put her elbow on the table beside her and rested her head on her palm. "So, ask your question."_

" _Is Ryoko mine?" He asked bluntly._

_She looked at him and put her hand down. "Yes." She said while looking him in the eye._

_He felt his face heat up and his fingers digging even further into his palms._

" _You look scary." Yura said with a wavering smile and gaze. It was clear that she was slightly afraid._ _"Is this how you look to your enemies?" She looked away, not intending to wait for his answer. "I guess you are even scarier then."_

" _LOOK AT ME!" He shouted, his face getting increasingly red. He did not hate her, but he still had to control himself from going to her, grabbing her by the collar and shouting at her._

_She was startled and looked back at him again._

" _I have a daughter… a six-year-old daughter." He gave his best to not shout while Yura raised herself onto her feet. He also kept his Fear in check as the last thing he needed was dozens of Onmyouji rushing in and destroying this chance to have a private conversation with Yura. "And I don't find out about it until today… until my own wife noted that some little girl looked like me." He mumbled while Yura browsed through a cupboard._

" _Well, that's my own fault." She added while taking out a drink and a cup. "It was I who made the first move."_

_But it was he who accepted her advances so the blame was also on him. "This is not about that." He cut off the topic. "How could you hide it from me?"_

" _Because I had to." She said while leaning against the wall and pouring herself a drink. "What else should I have done?"_

" _Tell me about it, of course!" He raised his voice again._

_She first replied with a glare. "Do you want to invite others to our little discussion?" She then took a sip of her drink._

" _Answer me." He clenched his teeth. "Why didn't you tell me about… our daughter?"_

" _Because I had no choice." She said and he opened his mouth to complain, but she stopped him by raising her hand. "After all, you are too nice." She said with a blank look, and with a bitter smile on her lips._

" _Huh?" His face softened a little, though mostly due to the confusing answer that he got from her. "What the hell are you talking about now?"_

" _Remember why we broke up?" She raised her cup, as if the past itself was shown on it. "Not only could we never be together but you…" Her eyes narrowed, showcasing her annoyance. "Your heart never let go of that Yuki-Onna."_

" _Could you just get to the point?" He whispered to himself. Since she was not looking at him, Yura was unaware that he even said anything._

" _I hate you two. Both of you. I hate you for making me think that, years after you originally broke up with that woman, that I had a chance." She took another sip. "But to be honest, I hate myself more for thinking that I ever had a chance with you. The head of the Keikain and a youkai… that was doomed from the start, but I guess that I wished I could have taken your heart."_

_He did not say anything. He always regretted this whole thing, but now that he knew that it resulted in Ryoko, he wanted to punch himself._

" _Yet you still dated me… but it was because you felt responsible due to 'that night', right?"_

_Again, he did not reply. But she was correct, now that he thought about it._

" _You were way too nice to dump me after spending a night with me…" She then took the final sip. "You took responsibility, because you are nice. And had I told you about Ryoko, you would have taken responsibility."_

_He put a hand over his face. He saw where she was going with it._

" _And I could not allow that. We put an end to our relationship and both of us were ready to go on with our lives." Her eyes shook while she put the cup down on a shelf. "Especially you… who made such a happy face after managing to rekindle your old relationship… with the woman you truly loved." She crossed her arms and looked at him. "You are my friend and, as much as I hate to admit it, so is she. I couldn't steal you away from her, not anymore." And then she put on a bitter smile. "But you two are married now, and with two children. So I guess it's safe for you to know about it now."_

_He hated it. He hated the fact that she hid Ryoko from him, for all these years. No matter the explanation or the logic behind it, he could not forgive her for this._

_Yet, he could not deny her words. She was right, and he agreed with her._

_And as a result, he was furious at both her, who hid it, and at himself, for seeing her reasons. And right now, he could not control his emotions._

" _YOU HID IT FROM ME!" He lost it again. He almost forgot that he had to keep his Fear low, lest the other Onmyouji become aware of his presence. "For all these years… you hid my child from me!" He yelled while she just gazed at him with a sad expression. He started taking a few steps closer to her, so she could hear him better. "How the hell am I supposed to be okay with-"_

_And then another presence joined them. "HAAAAAH!" Something ran into the room and kicked him from behind. Rikuo realized that it was a child, and at that moment his anger dissipated. "An evil youkai! And evil youkai is attacking Mom!" The little person was continuously hitting and kicking shocked Rikuo. "Go away! I will destroy you!"_

_The one who hit him was Ryoko, who was dressed in a small yukata and was kicking him with her feet and punching him with some powerless ofudas._

_He realized that he had woken her up… and he did not know how to react to this little girl who was, as he just found out, his blood._

_But Yura was more composed. "Ah! Did we wake you up, sweetie?" She leaned down, grabbed her kid and raised her up in her arms. "Sorry, the two of us were just arguing about something."_

" _Hrrrm!" The girl turned her head at Rikuo. While staring at her red eyes, and noticing the fact that she was not too terrified of his Fear that filled the room, Rikuo did no longer need anyone else to tell him that she was his._

_He wanted to say something… to greet the girl, to talk to her or just make her stop looking at him with such hateful glances… but no words came out of him._

" _The man will go now, alright?" Yura told her daughter while looking at Rikuo. "But he will come tomorrow to play with you, when he calms down and doesn't look so scary." It was clear whom these words were meant for._

" _I don't want to play with him." The girl said._

" _I'm sure you will change your mind tomorrow." Yura said and then walked past Rikuo with her daughter in her arms. "I have to put my daughter back to sleep. I'm sure you can find your own way out. See ya."_

_Rikuo looked at them while they were leaving. Ryoko turned her face around and continued to look at him with those little, angry, red eyes until Yura turned around the corner._

" _I screwed up." He put a hand on his face. "This is just the second time we met and yet I… ahhh." He sighed and walked out of the manor. Thankfully, his shouting did not attract anyone._

" _Are you done?" Tsurara asked when he left through the door. She was waiting for him outside._

" _Yes." He looked at his wife. "You're right… I'm sorry."_

" _Don't think about it…" She sighed and took him by his hand, leading him away. "Come on. I told the clan that we would stay in Kyoto for a day longer."_

" _Thank you, Tsurara." He could imagine how she felt, but even in a situation like this when she just found out about her husband having a child with another woman, she gave her best to support him as much as she could. And he felt guilty about it, for she too may have wanted to scream like he did._

_It was his relationship with Yura that made him realize that his feelings for Tsurara were more than just a teenage crush for a pretty girl, and now he also had to thank her for consciously keeping his current relationship safe._

_In the end, he felt like both of them supported him more than he deserved._

* * *

"Hmm…" Ritsura muttered as she woke up and opened her eyes. She did not sleep for too long, as could be seen by the fact that it was still night, that the bangs of her hair were brown and that she still felt exhausted.

She looked down, and saw that her hand sat on another girl's hand. _Ryoko… nee-san._ She turned her head up again, towards the girl who was breathing slowly, with her eyes closed. Unlike her younger sister, Ryoko was still sleeping.

It was still hard to believe, that she had a sister. Looking at her like this, she could even believe that it was all just a dream.

But it was no dream. Ritsura had an elder sister, that sister held no small amount of envy towards her and the two of them had a serious fight during which Ritsura… _I fought to kill… I fought in the way that I would seriously wound my own sister._ Her body shook as she felt pain in her chest. _If she weren't stronger than me… what may I have ended up doing?_

Her eyes shut close, and the irritation on the eye made a tear pour eye. "Damn it…" She opened her eyes, and saw the Kudan in front of her, with its usual grin that mocked her. _Get away, you bastard!_

The creature giggled and disappeared from her eyes. _Did it know about Ryoko? No, it's a part of me so it doesn't know more than what I know._ She clenched her teeth. _It did not need to know. It knew that, if it made me fight too seriously, that I would no doubt end up regretting it._ Back then, it looked like Ryoko was just an obnoxious stranger, yet it proved that she was something far more. _Never again… never again can I allow myself to be so rash._

"Ohhh…" She could hear Ryoko mutter beside her. "Are you awake, Ritsura?" She looked at her younger sister with half-opened eyes.

"I'm sorry." Ritsura spoke, still feeling guilty due to her earlier thoughts.

"Huh?" Ryoko said in a confused voice.

"I'm sorry, I was rough a few times… before I found out who you were." She still remembered how she held Ryoko by her throat. "I-"

"Shut up. If someone has to apologize, it would be me." Ryoko straightened her body and moved her shoulders, creating a small cracking sound. "I attacked you and fought you too seriously. How else should you've reacted?" She then leaned back. "So relax. It's all your nee-san's fault."

Ritsura did not reply, but just hugged her own knees. What Ryoko said may have sounded logical to some people, but Ritsura still did try to do something that she may have regretted. She did not intend to let anyone lessen the amount of responsibility that she had to take up on.

_In any case, shouldn't I talk to her about something? anything?_ It looked like silence would occur, in this scene when Ritsura had the leisurely time to spend with her elder sister. So she wondered what she would talk about. She felt like there were many things to talk about with her, but nothing came to her mind.

But it was someone else who would define the words that would be said. "Are both of you girls awake?" A man's voice, which Ritsura knew very well, spoke.

"Dad!" Ritsura muttered in excited tone and immediately jumped up, after which she looked towards her father who was standing in front of them, dressed in his favorite yukata.

"Oh, father." Ryoko said more formally and got up with less haste. "When did you come?" Ryoko asked, with a tone that made her sound disinterested.

"I came quite a while ago." He said with a smile while looking at his older, grumpy daughter. "Though I was a bit late to it, I saw some of the battle." His eyes now moved around the two of them.

"Uh…" Ritsura felt embarrassed due to their father watching it, but also nervous due to worry about when he started watching.

"And you did not interfere. huh?" Ryoko said angrily while putting her hands on her hips.

_Why do I have this feeling that, if he did interfere, you would shower him with arrows?_ Although Ryoko and their father exchanged only a few words in front of Ritsura, she already had a feeling that she could guess what the relationship between these two was about.

"What if someone got harmed?" Ryoko added. Ritsura had to agree on this sentiment.

"I trust in my daughters." Rikuo shrugged it off, but his trust made Ritsura feel even guiltier. "Besides, Tsurara came before me and kept an eye on you two."

_Oh shit I am dead._

"So?" Ryoko crossed her arms and continued acting aggressively. "Why did you come out now?"

Their father sighed before replying. "To be exact, I no longer have a reason not to appear." He put one of his arms on his hips. "I'm glad you finally upheld your promise to tell your siblings about yourself, but I wish you gave me a call when you came to Ukiyoe."

"Hm." She averted her eyes.

"Umm…" Ritsura raised her own voice. "Are we going to keep standing in this rubble forever?" She honestly wished to go somewhere else, preferably home so that she could take a bath.

"You read my mind." Their father agreed. "So why don't we go home?"

"Yes, the two of you go to your home." Ryoko turned in a different direction.

"Come on, Ryoko." Their father obviously hoped for something else. "You have no reason not to come with us."

"I so have a reason, though." She moved her head to look back at him, though she did not turn around the rest of her body. "I'm your daughter and we are blood-related, but we are not family. And I'd appreciate if you stopped trying to play house with me." And so she started walking away.

Ritsura felt saddened by those heavy words, but their father either did not believe them or was used on them. "Come on now, Ryoko-chan. I have the right to show off my cute and dangerous daughters to others!"

"S-s-stop calling me that!" She turned around and yelled, her face red. "I didn't even come here for you! And I don't care what you say! Gah, you make me sick!" And then she turned around and walked away with such a fast pace that she was almost running.

"Are you going back to Kyoto?" Ritsura called up to her.

"No, I'm staying for a while." She replied with less irritated tone.

"Then we can go eat something tomorrow, right?" Their father joined in shouting. "You still like curry, right? Do you want _dorai kare_ or _yaki kare_?" He named two popular variations of curry.

"I don't want to eat any _yaki kare_ with you, old man!" Her voice became more irritated.

"Alright, _yaki kare_ it is. See you tomorrow at Himawa's Curry." He replied back. "Can you find it yourself?"

"Shut up!" And then, she left too far for them to be able to communicate by shouting.

"Well, that was interesting." Ritsura noted. "But aren't you taking all this too lightly?" Ryoko may have acted a bit tsundereish, but Ritsura felt like Ryoko meant what she said earlier.

"I have to be like that." He put on a sad smile. "I don't really have any other ways of getting along with her. Besides, from time to time she goes with my suggestions." He then looked at Ritsura. "But I'm sure you have many questions."

"I have some." Ritsura looked at the direction which Ryoko took. "But we can talk about it on the way home."

"Yeah, of course." He nodded.

"Gah, what's with that boy?" Then Ritsura's mother appeared. "Rikuo-sama, Rihan said that he has other things to do and won't come."

"So he's doing who knows what again… why don't you tell him that-"

"He already knows about Ryoko." Tsurara said and put the cellphone away. "He said in an email that we can talk about it later and then turned off his phone."

"I wonder what's going on that made him consider this less important…" Rikuo scratched his chin.

"Ummm, Mom…?" Ritsura raised her hand. "Don't tell me that you were planning to come here while Onee-sama was here?" Ritsura did not know what the two of them thought about one another, but Ritsura doubted that her mother would be too happy to have Ryoko close to her and she had zero doubts that Tsurara's presence would just agitate Ryoko even more.

"Onee-sama? Why, of all ways to address, do you have…" she started but then took in a deep breath and went to answer the question at hand. "I just went to try and get ahold of Rihan. But then I heard the Onmyouji tsun-tsuning and concluded that I can come. Really, she tsuns and yells just like Yura did when she was young." She then looked at her husband. "Rikuo-sama, at what age do you think that female members of the Onmyouji species stop tsun-tsuning? I need it for my book."

"You sure do love these jokes, don't you Tsurara?" Rikuo said and gently pushed his wife and daughter forward. "Come on, let's go home. There's a lot to talk, and hopefully Rihan will come as well."

"Of course, Rikuo-sama." Tsurara said and put her hand on her shoulder, above her husband's hand.

"Yes." Ritsura's answer was a bit less cheerful. _We are blood-relations, not family huh?_ Now that she thought about it, Ryoko probably never got to spend her time together with both of her parents, at least not as a happy family. As such, it was no wonder that Ryoko was so agitated and envious of her younger sister.

_And that's why she cares less about me not knowing about her than I do… she never saw me as family, just as a blood-relation, huh?_ This made Ritsura feel sad for her… and annoyed.

"Supreme Commander!" Karasu-Tengu's voice broke the idyllic silence. "Supreme Commander, we have a crisis!"

"What is going on, Karasu?" Rikuo ask him.

"We know what that Onmyouji's goal was all along." Karasu-Tengu shouted while giving his report. "We know why she and her Shikigami attacked us!"

"Oh, so you too found out about-" Rikuo started, but Karasu-Tengu cut him off.

"It's all gone!" Karasu-Tengu shouted while weaving a piece of paper around, "Almost all of ot is gone!"

"Huh?" The three of them looked over one another. "What are you talking about?"

"The Arawashi's warehouse, The Merchant Union's shops, the Bakenekoya, Houkou's restaurants… and even the Main House… THEY STOLE ALL OF OUR FOOD WHILE WE WERE BUSY FIGHTING THEIR COMRADES!"

Then, Karasu-Tengu opened the paper that he was weaving, revealing an image that looked like the famous drawing of Nurarihyon walking into a house by Toriama Sekien, which popularized the Nurarihyon myths. The main difference between it and the original was it had a smiling Ryoko drawn instead of Nurarihyon.

"They left this everywhere! They are mocking the Nura Clan!"

"Oh, so that was what those thieves were doing in the main house." Tsurara put a hand on her forehead as if she remembered something. "Does that mean that I have to go grocery shopping, first thing in the morning? What a chore."

"Well…" Ritsura made a bitter smile. "She sure defeated me in more ways than one." _I better start making plans to rob the Keikains of their own food. Otherwise, I'm no proper Nurarihyon._

Rikuo just laughed.

* * *

"So, what happened?" Daikaku, the male Kitsune, asked Touka when she met him atop a skyscraper. The man with a small beard and wearing a long, black coat sat on the edge, gazing at the endless sea of buildings that made up Tokyo.

"It was a tough battle, but Ryoko-chan barely won." The Kitsune girl dressed as a shrine maiden and with a bandage over her left eye socket, said, while standing four meters behind him. "Unfortunately, the sisters seem to be getting along."

"So it's a failure, huh?" Daikaku replied and Touka wondered what expression he had no his face. "If Ishikawa hadn't been…"

"With all due respect, Daikaku-sama, your plan had put our mission in jeopardy." Now that his plan was proven to be a failure, Touka no longer had to respect her superior's plan. "Whatever amount of envy Ryoko harbored towards Ritsura, it's now smaller. The darkness in her heart has grown weaker."

"Ryoko would have come to Tokyo no matter what."

"We could have made her delay the trip for a while longer." Touka put her hands behind her back. "Like we have been doing for years. It was yours and Ishikawa's idea to let her come here. As a result, there's slightly less darkness in her heart." She clicked her tongue. "At least, you should have forced him to let us play a role in the plan. Then, we could react appropriately if something happened to him."

"Yes, you're right Touka." Daikaku was never ashamed to admit his mistakes. "Is the damage irreversible?"

"It's irreversible, but our original plan is good enough that it shouldn't matter… but then again, anything can go wrong."

"I see…" He rose onto his feet and walked away from the edge. "Then I will leave the original plan to you and won't meddle again."

"Thank you, Daikaku-sama." She bowed. "Can I go now?"

"There is another matter to discuss." He sighed disappointingly. "I got the news about your father."

Touka's mood worsened. If humans had been around, they would have been horrified by the look in Touka's right eye. "What about him?"

"We found out that he is helping Kuzunoha collect allies to fight our cause."

"Tz. So he's helping Hagoromo Gitsune after all." Touka muttered and too late realized her mistake.

" _How dare you honor this petty brat with that title?!"_ Daikaku's eyes turned into those of a fox and a tail struck Touka, almost throwing her over the opposite edge of the building. "Do not call her that." He said in a strangely feminine tone.

And then his expression changed back to that of a calm man. "Ah, I'm sorry. The mistress took over my body." He used a tail to help her get back onto her feet. "Please, mind your words. You know that our mistress hates the fact that people call Kuzunoha that."

"Yes, it was my mistake." Touka said and bowed in front of the man, though the bow was meant for their mistress. Daikaku was, after all, the person through which their mistress, who was sealed in a stone, communicated with the rest of the Kitsune Clan, and sometimes she took control over his body. That made Daikaku their acting leader.

"So? What do you intend to do?" Daikaku looked sad due to having to ask that question. "He is, after all, your father."

"He's my enemy, our mistress is the one I serve." Touka said without hesitation. "I'd kill him, if he did not know that I would do it."

Daikaku sighed. "Please don't. You may be one of strongest Kitsunes in our group, but he's still an eight-tailed Kitsune."

Once again, Touka clicked her tongue. She had only sixth tails and also less experience, so she stood no chance against him. Only Daikaku might have been able to fight him on an even ground.

"In any case, I know what our mistress wants to ask and you won't dare say it out loud." Touka crossed her arms. "No, I won't be deceived or led astray by that old man. My loyalty to you is absolute."

"The mistress is satisfied." Daikaku put his left hand on his hip and looked down. "You're free to go. I'll call to you if the need arises."

"Thank you, Daikaku-sama." Touka bowed and moved past him. But then she stopped for a moment. "It'll all be over soon, Daikaku-sama."

"Yes." He said, after which she continued walking. "But remember… it's more than just our mistress's freedom that depends on us. We must also give her the best possible host."

"Of course." Touka stopped at the edge of the building and looked around. Ironically, she saw the exact person she was thinking about for the last few hours. "Well, gotta go now."

She then jumped off over a few more buildings before jumping towards the street and removing her tails. Since the street was mostly empty, nobody noticed a shrine maiden jump down from the sky. "Oi, Ryoko-chan!" Touka called to the girl, her tone changing from sinister to outright cheerful.

"Huh? Touka-chan?" The girl stopped and turned around. "What are you doing here, in Tokyo?!"

"Oh, the temple priest let me take a few days off so this shrine-maiden went to visit the big city." Touka winked at her.

"Do you know what the time is on the clock?" Ryoko shook her head in disapproval. "What are you doing out this late?"

"Well, I got fascinated by how pretty the night looked in Shibuya." Touka sold her a lie. "It took a while for me to realize how late it was… and that I have gotten an itzy bitzy, late~"

"Are you kidding?" Ryoko put a hand over her forehead. "I'd yell at you, but I'm tired. Do you want to come to my place and spend a night there?"

"Oh no, I must catch a train to Kyoto in a few hours." Touka grabbed Ryoko's shoulders and forced her to move forward. "Why don't we go drink something?"

"Nothing works at this hour, Touka."

"I saw one of those small shops that works even at this hour. We can buy some cappuccino and sit wherever we want." Touka had to check what went through Ryoko's head in order to formulate any possible changes to the plan, so she did not intend to let Ryoko ignore her request.

"I'm tired, Touka-chan."

"Oh come on, you can spend some time with your best friend. You can't leave me alone~" Touka did not give in. "Besides, you work at nights and don't go to school anymore, don't you? So you can freely oversleep during the day, right?"

"Alright, fine." Ryoko gave in and resumed walking.

"Yeey." Touka feigned happiness.

And then Touka's eyes fell on the ground, at their shadows. _Oh, I guess I'm being careless again._ She thought while looking at their shadows, where Touka's shadow had six tails sticking out as if they were to devour Ryoko. She smirked at the symbolism before taking a better control over her Fear and making the shadows stop showing her true nature.

* * *

**-End of Arc VIII: Ryoko-  
**

* * *

_The bad mood in this house can almost be inhaled._ Rihan thought while he looked for Shiori in one of her manors. Since this was a crisis, the youkai guarding Shiori did not play around with Rihan but instead, let him walk in.

The manor was silent, more so than usual. He did not speak with Shiori even once during this crisis, and the few messages she had for him were sent via others. She had no time to speak with him, and he could understand why. Even he did not dare to waste her time by calling her.

But the attacks had ceased and there was no other place where Rihan had to be, so he came here.

Well, that was a lie: there was another place where he had to be. His mother tried to call him several times and later sent him an SMS because she and his father had to talk with him and Ritsura about something important. He already knew what it was about: they wanted to talk about Ryoko, his half-sister. It was an important matter to discuss.

_But that can wait for another time._ His mother was obviously surprised by the ambiguous reply that he had sent her, as the cellphone in his pocket vibrated for almost fifteen minutes.

It would be a lie to say that he did not have several questions, but he was worried about Shiori and felt that he had to be with her. Everything else could wait.

He found her in the living room. She sat on the sofa, with her head resting on her hands. She wore a vermilion dress and with a missing sleeve there where her tattoo was. It was a fancy outfit that suggested that she was prepared to go out into the battlefield herself as she always dressed like this when she went into the fray, just like the first time when Rihan met Ichinoe Araya in her Shiori persona.

On the table in front of her, three laptops stood, opened, no doubt used by her to communicate with her youkai. It was her small, mobile communication center.

"What's the report?" She asked when Rihan took a step into the room. She did not move her head or look at him in any way.

"I confronted two of the Shin Sekai's goons." He replied in a formal tone while walking towards her. "Unfortunately, they vanished soon after."

"That same report again… the moment we were ready to counterattack, they retreated." She raised her head, but she did not look at Rihan. She just gazed at the nothingness in front of her. "What do you think about them?"

"They are no youkai." He replied while standing beside her. "Nor are they gangsters. One of them fought with me in close combat for a while, and his skill was surprising for a human."

"They are soldiers." She said and looked at the floor. "French Foreign Legion as well as mercenary veterans from wars that took place in the last three decades… To these men, who fought in extremities that you could never even imagine, even youkai probably don't look that horrifying, especially since the Shin Sekai prepared them for it and equipped them with their best inventions." She raised her head and then leaned against the sofa. "We knew that the Shin Sekai recruited some of them… but I underestimated the numbers. While we are at the numbers," She then closed her eyes. "Rihan, do you know the numbers of casualties of this battle are so sublime that even the Nura Clan did not get the time to notice it?"

"What are they?"

"Approximately 45 Field Operatives have been deployed, all humans. 9 of them were harmed, if we consider landing a hit on them as harm. 3 of them suffered _more severe injuries_ …" She said the last few words with a rough tone, "One got stabbed in the shoulder, one got hit onto the head so hard that he fell to the ground and one got his mask sliced by a blade and a small scar on his face." She clenched her teeth. "None died and NONE were harmed in any notable way."

"And what about our losses?"

"47 wounded and 248 dead youkai. Several went missing so our death count could be larger." She finally looked at Rihan, her eyes shaking. "And Kaito-san has died."

"Kaito?" Rihan never liked that man, but he knew that Shiori cared about him. And it was a surprise to hear that one of the leaders of the Tokyo Hyaku Monogatari got himself killed.

"Yes… he was abducted and, from what I heard, he committed suicide." She looked away once again. "Stabbed himself into the throat with a fork. Then the Shin Sekai finished his suffering by shooting him in the head."

"How do you know all that?"

"The one who ordered this operation was courteous enough to send me the body and give me a summary." She put her hands across her face. "I failed, and I failed miserably."

"Shiori…"

"The Shin Sekai took two and a half hundred of our youkai as well as one of our leaders, and got out of it practically untouched." She let her arms fall down, onto the sofa. "And they deployed only a few of their Field Operatives. There were no vehicles, no elite troops, no youkai they enslaved and none of the other creations they made besides whatever teleported them away… and all that without doing anything that would make other parties, like your clan, aware of what just occurred in their backyard. We did not fight them… we literally got bullied by them." She turned her face towards Rihan. "Tell me Rihan… how am I, a human girl that's only lived for seventeen years, supposed to fight against such a monstrous force?"

He sighed and sat down beside her, after which she let her head fall down onto his shoulder.

"There're so many of them looking up to me… and I failed all of them."

"There was nothing you could do." He put his arm behind her, as if to hug her with it. "The Shin Sekai are a secretive bunch that hid from the entire world for an entire century. And with such a surprise attack, the odds were mostly on their side."

"Does it even matter if it's a surprise attack? We suffered a crushing defeat, and that was with them attacking with the least they had."

"Look love… they could have attacked anyone. Why would they-?"

"Because the one responsible hated Kaito and wanted to disrupt his work."

_She sure is stubborn._ "This is their first attack. Would Onieda Masato and the other bosses allow this responsible person to show their cards if they planned to strike at someone else?" He waited for her reply, but she had none. "Nura Clan, Kyushu Clan, Keikains, Tamazuki… why do you think they attacked _you_ of all people?"

"Because we're easy pickings."

"Shiori, you are smart. Tell me, how much could other clans hold out if they got struck by the Shin Sekai in this same way?" He gave her some time, but she did not answer in time. "They would get fucked up just like our guys did. Heck, if they struck at the Nura Clan, they could have taken down my… sister and some of our higher ups. Why would they waste this opportunity on you?"

"Why?"

He put his finger under her chin and had her look at him. "Because, of all people in Japan and beyond, you're the only one they fear. You're the only one that knows enough about them to be a threat. While the rest of Japan… and maybe the rest of the world… dances on the palm of their hand, you are the only one who got an opportunity to jump on their toes." He caressed her cheek. "So they wanted to strike your heart and crush your spirit… but I know that my dear is stronger than that, am I right?"

She looked at him with her sad grimace and then forced a small smile on her lips. "What a speech… I could spot so many lame flaws in it." And then she let her head fall onto his chest. "But thank you."

"Anytime..." He said and put his hand onto her head. _And now to think about how to tell her that someone had attacked Hikine…_

* * *

"You acted without my approval." Mayuri's father spoke through a speaker while she rode in her limo.

She had already let go of her uniform and was now dressed casually (by her standards), in a brown skirt, a fancily ornamented, cream-colored shirt and a small brown coat. She also wore a pearl necklace and added a bland yellow hairpin onto her hair, to make it look at least like something doable before she got time to groom it next morning.

"Then you should've stopped me." She said while looking outside the window. "Don't act like I caught you by surprise."

"We intended to show the youkai some of our cards, so strategically nothing was lost." His voice spoke to her. And she already knew that, which was why she decided to test the limits of his tolerance this way. "What matters is that you still acted without my approval. You have been given the jurisdiction over the public corporations, not the Shin Sekai's assets."

"I do my job there." She looked towards the speaker that was hanging from the top, even though there was no point in her looking at it. "Or do you also have complaints for that?"

"I do not." Her father's voice said. "Not that there is anything in particular that you can ruin with your skills."

"Then don't bother me about it." She looked at the window again. "So? What does the organization plan to do next, now that we have shown… our cards?"

"The Field Operatives will gradually be sent into the field, to harass the youkai." Her eyes narrowed as he explained. She wondered if she could somehow save the youkai who did not deserve this.

"Won't that make them ready for us?"

"Yes, but that is exactly what we want. Fear is everything to youkai, and if we would like to fight them on their grounds, then we must first make them fear us." Then there was a short silence. "As for what comes after, that is none of your business."

"Good." She took a remote controler that sat beside her and pointed it at the speaker without looking at it. "Then we are done talking." She turned the speaker off.

_So he stopped telling me everything. Good, that means that he doesn't consider me as harmless anymore._ She put down the remote and continue looking out the window. _But that also makes it harder for me._

Her first operation was a major success. None of the Field Operatives that she had sent into the field have been seriously harmed, and the plan of attack that she had personally prepared had worked. She allowed herself to smile a little, a pride she thought was deserving. _Still, luck and the element of surprise may have played a larger role than my own skill in this. I can't relax._

_But still, a man lost his life._ She thought back to Kaito, and her stomach grumbled again. _But I can't allow that man to affect me too much…_ She then closed her eyes. _Well, I'm returning to school soon. I can use a break._

Though losses and future risks were there, this night was a nevertheless triumph.

* * *

"Uhhh…" Heiko walked through a street like a drunk, while holding her hands over her belly. "I think I may have a overeaten."

Since she knew that Gozumaru would not allow her a moment of respite, due to him being angry at her eating so much, and due to knowing that the main house was robbed of food, Heiko was going to Kazuo's place, where he stayed with his younger brother.

"Let me barge in. Thank you." Heiko said and moved into the abandoned house with her eyes, closed. "I have eaten a LOT." She spoke and fell onto the ground.

A strange silence ensued. "Huh?" She opened her eyes and looked at the ceiling. She expected Kazuo to complain or the younger brother to jump at her like he always did.

But there was nobody in the house.

"Guys, where are you?" For a moment, she was afraid that Ryoko's gand did something to them. _No, there aren't signs of a battle. And I don't think Kazuo would want to deal with those guys again._ She looked around, but could not find them.

Then she saw a letter on the table and her blood turned cold. Kazuo talked about it a few times, but she never thought that he would actually do it.

Hoping that she was misunderstanding, she grabbed the letter and opened it.

" _Sorry to leave so suddenly, but I know you would just stop us from leaving. See you."_

"Ah…" A tear flowed down her face. "This is… you couldn't… you can't…" She fell onto her knees and put her hands on her shoulders.

Kazuo finally left, just as he said he would do one day. "At least you could have written a bigger letter."

* * *

"Let's turn back on the next station." The younger Amefurikozo said with a grim face as he stared through the train's window.

"No, we are going back home." Kazuo, who sat on the seat opposite to him, replied harshly. He was actually not annoyed by his brother's query, but by his own incompetence in writing proper farewell letters. _She deserved more._

"Then you leave yourself, nii-san."

"It's too dangerous in Ukiyoe." Kazuo also looked through the window, though he saw nothing of interest. "I can't allow you to stay there alone."

"Are you leaving Heiko-chan in that danger then?"

Kazuo's eyes narrowed and he felt like there was something acidic in his mouth.

"Are you?"

"She has to stay."

"What about Aiko-nee-sama?" The young boy asked and Kazuo's face stiffened.

Aiko and Shizuko were Heiko's older sisters, and both supposedly died while Heiko was still young. Kazuo remembered them as well, though it was from times when he was a real Amefurikozo, not this grown-up abomination.

_Aiko… with all my heart, I so hope that you just die._

He had to protect Heiko, but he could not do it in Ukiyoe.

His battles lay elsewhere. _Please Heiko, stay safe…_ He closed his eyes, and a tear flew down his cheek.

* * *

A girl with messy and uncombed black hair, and wearing a sailor uniform, rode through a dark street on a wheelchair. She had a blanket over the place where her legs should be, in order to hide the lack of them.

"Ishikawa-san… " Her name was Kashima Reiko, and she was an urban legend of great fame.

"How could you die before even starting my final tale? You prooomised…" She whined. She was depressed about Kaito's death that she lacked the strength and will to float, so she moved with her wheelchair. This kind of act required much less effort than keeping herself afloat.

"How am I supposed to die in peace?" She looked at the sky while passing over a smelly drunk. He made some comments to her, but she ignored them. The best way, as she learned over the many years of this pitiful existence, to keep the murderous urge to kill was to not look at them and not to listen to their words. And right now, she was mourning and thus did not allow herself to go on a killing spree.

"Oh yeah… you did leave me something." She took out a small notebook from a bag that hung on the wheelchair. She moved through some pages.

"But this is just my part of the script." Her eyes narrowed. He gave it to her in order to prepare for her final tale, but the full plan was inside his mind. And that mind was dead.

"I should ask someone else to finish it in his stead…" Her eyes narrowed. There were several other leaders of the Tokyo Hyaku Monogatari, but that did not mean that she could choose just anyone. "But who would keep it a secret from Shiori-sama… she must not find out that I was to kill Rihan."

* * *

A strange sight was present on a highway in western Kantou: a man was walking just beside the highway, deep in the night, with his hands in pockets of his trousers. He had the stature of a thirty years old man, but was dressed inappropriately in wise blue trousers and into a cream-colored, long-sleeved, large shirt with a hood that even hid half of his face.

Several cars went past him. Some drivers just looked at him in confusion, though some slowed down, probably to stop and ask him if he wanted to take a ride. But whenever those got close, they accelerated as his malignant Fear terrified them.

Some cars did stop, as their drivers were too composed, but one look at his face was enough to make them hit gas with all their might and ride as fast as they could, not even caring about proper driving regulations. The hooded man would not be surprised if he learned that a major accident happened due to this.

"Ah, looks like I reached Kantou. Good." The man smirked as he felt a strange, aggressive fear envelop him. "Yes, you just take your time." He whispered to himself. As er tradition, the attacking youkai took their time in making the victim feel their Fear. But the hooded man did not care.

Soon enough, two large creatures jumped in front and behind him. They looked like enormous spiders with heads of the bull. "You are intruding into the Nura Clan's territory, youkai." The one behind him screamed.

But the hooded man never slowed his pace. "No shit, cow."

The choice of his words, naturally, offended them. Both of them attacked him, but he just jumped up in the air and took out two knives into his hands.

"Oh… looks like we are not alone." The man grinned and said before landing on the road. "Keh keh… why don't the rest of you come out?"

A dozen youkai jumped from the shadows and surrounded him.

"I see… you must be members of some pathetic clan serving the Nuras." The hooded man mocked them as well. "What? Your honor did not allow you to let the Gyukis do all the work for you? You wanted to delude yourself that you are scary enough to fight on equal ground with them?"

"Who are you?" Someone shouted from the shadows, but the hooded man did not look at them.

His eyes fell to two youkai standing at the edge of this small group. They were young, looking like children. "I am Gagoze." A large amount of drool poured from his mouth. "Glad to make your acquaintance." He said snidely.

_Next day, the Nura Clan would learn that someone slaughtered two Gyukis and half of the fighting force of the clan that gave those Gyukis a place to rest and feed._

_Everyone was murdered, but two younger youkai. Their bodies would, three days later, be found floating in the river in a nearby town, mutilated in many unimaginably cruel ways._

_A cruel devil was slowly walking toward Ukiyoe._

_And nobody could guess the amount of harm he would bring with him._

* * *

**-Start of Arc IX: The Urban Devils-**

* * *

**Author Notes**

\- And so the long Ryoko arc has finally reached its end (even though Ryoko's story is still far from done if we are to believe Touka). Next chapter starts a more Rihan-focused arc, though we will first have some Slice of Life chapters

\- Tsurara continues showing her distaste for the Onmyouji, this time by treating them as special biological specimen. I won't lie, I liked writing those lines

\- How to tell the whole story of what happened in seven years between Rikuo and the girls and keep it all as a small part of a larger chapter? The answer is: you don't, you may need a larger omake chapter. I do hope that the talk in the flashback made some things clearer though

\- Ryoko finally showed that she has a tsundere side to her. Well, her mother looked like a dandere while away from those that annoy her (like her brother and, later on, Rikuo)


	82. (Urban Devils) - Into the Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two days had passed since the fight between the two half-sisters and the Shin Sekai's attack on Shiori's forces. Life in Ukiyoe returns to normal, but a new story raises its head

**Chapter 82 - Into the Shadows**

_This, you should know: venture not to the Northeastern end of the school. Or if you do, gaze not at the windows there._

_For a vicious spirit writes evil words, to break up your relationship with your loved one._

_~ One of Ukiyoe High's Seven School Mysteries_

* * *

"And that's what we're searching for." Ritsura said after reciting the new rumor that had started spreading around the school.

"A spirit that tries to break up couples." Sakura shook her head while looking at the floor. "How vicious."

"To teenagers, that is quite a terrifying legend." Ritsura continued. The classes were over and most of students had gone home or to their respective clubrooms, so she and Rihan went to take care of a youkai which made the school its home and quickly gained fame.

But on the way there, they stumbled upon Sakura who went to the SIC clubroom, unaware of the fact that the club was not meeting at this day.

"And so we're going to exterminate this spawn of evil." Rihan spoke before his sister could. "We'll show it no mercy."

"Well, we-" Ritsura started talking, but then stopped for a moment when her eyes fell on Rihan. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm taking necessary precautions." Rihan said while putting on a blindfold.

"Aren't you supposed to be the _normal person_ in our sibling duo? Why are you doing this to me?"

"I've a girlfriend, you don't have a boyfriend. It's as simple as that."

"Don't worry Ritsura-senpai!" Sakura spoke aloud to Ritsura. "I'm sure you'll get a cute boyfriend one day. There must be someone, somewhere, who will accept and love you!"

"Are you trying to piss me off? That's not even the issue here! And you remove that blindfold already!"

"Just because you got into a fight with your boyfriend and dumped him doesn't mean that I too must become single again."

"Ritsura-senpai had a boyfriend?"

"I never had a boyfriend! And he didn't-"

"That's a sad thing to say, Ritsura-senpai."

"Kh… let me rephrase that: he was not my boyfriend. So nobody dumped anyone."

"But he didn't spend a night at our mansion for last few days, right?"

"Spend a night?!" Sakura sounded shocked.

"Don't say it in such a way that it would cause a complete misunderstanding, little brother!" Ritsura said with a growingly red face. "Now remove that stupid thing from your eyes and protect yourself with Fear like a true youkai!"

"I ain't taking any risks!"

"Then trust in your love or whatever! The youkai breaks couples by revealing to someone their partner's nasty secret. That's it!"

This time Sakura supported her. "Yeah, if you love is pure and true, you've nothing to fear! As a matter of fact, it may make your love stronger!"

"I don't fear a break-up, we've gone through enough already. I just don't want another soap opera. Anyway, will we go and kill that thing already?"

"Kill? Of course not!"

"What?" Rihan looked like he heard something outrageous.

"We're here to ask this youkai to start paying the dues to the masters of this turf… our clan. Only if he rejects do we beat him up and kick him out of the school."

"How evil of you, Ritsura-senpai!" Sakura shook in terror.

"What part? Us beating him up or the part about us not letting him stay?"

"Both! You sound like a mob boss, Ritsura-senp… eh? Why are you smiling so much that I see sparkles all around you?" Sakura asked the girl who wanted to become a Mob Boss.

After a few moments, Ritsura broke away from her delirium. "Anyway… do you understand now Rihan? Don't just go and… and…"

"I think he snuck away." Sakura noted while looking around. "I didn't even notice."

"...Rihan, don't kill it!" Ritsura broke into a run and yelled.

"I'm just going to kick this spawn of evil out of our school!" His voice echoed through the hallways.

"Don't do that either! Think about the profits we could get if we get him to serve us!"

After a few moments of reconsideration, Sakura decided to follow after them.

* * *

"What a silent day in the clubroom." Keikain Ryuzan noted after drinking a cup of (cold) tea.

"Indeed." Kiyotsugu Saaya agreed and drank some (cold) tea from her cup. "I'm not used to this. Whenever I visit, the club tends to be rowdy."

"Well, right now I'm the only member of the club here." Ryuzan drank some more (cold) tea.

"That's true." Saaya drank some of her own (cold) tea. "Where are the others anyway?"

"The siblings have gone searching for the youkai who became one of the school's mysteries or something." Ryuzan answered. "Ritsura told it to me through an SMS so I don't know the exact details."

"Why haven't you gone with them?"

"It is a relatively harmless youkai so I didn't feel like searching for it."

"That's not very Onmyouji-like of you."

"If I spent my energy and gadgets on small fry, would I have anything left for the big boys?" He said and drank some (not as cold anymore) tea.

"That makes sense." Saaya nodded. "But maybe you are just a nice guy who doesn't want to harm nice spirits." Saaya gave out a small smirk and then continued before he could come up with a proper lie. "But where are the others?"

"Kibiki-san left a note saying that she found the clubroom empty and left to search for the rest of _us_. So I guess that she came a bit earlier than I did." Ryuzan shrugged and drank some more of his (mildly cold) tea. "Most likely, she found the siblings and joined the fray."

"And the others?"

"Shima came with me, but went to look for the siblings. Mayuri also came a few minutes later and did the same. Ritsura's retainers, Gozumaru and Heiko, weren't even in the school today."

"And Ichinoe? What about her? It's strange that she is nowhere to be found in your words."

"She sent everyone a mail about not being in the mood today so she would be skipping the club activities." Ryuzan said and made a small smile. "She had been all moody for last few days."

"I heard that a relative of hers had passed away." Saaya noted.

"Then she _might_ be a sensitive person. Well, whatever the case, she ain't here today." He said and drank some of his (tepid) tea.

"I see." Saaya said and drank the rest of her (tepid) tea.

"What surprises me is that you are here." Ryuzan looked at her. "Usually someone has to force you to come."

"I was forced, in a way." Saaya shrugged and put the now empty cup down. "Due to some recent events, Ritsura didn't have time to do half of her homework nor study. So she'll be staying night with me and study. So now I'm waiting for her to remember me and come find me."

"You sure are a tsundere." He said and drank some more of his (tepid, and seemingly limitless amount of) tea.

"Look who's talking." Saaya said with a small smile.

* * *

"I see. So that's what happened." Shima Ryu shook his head after Sakura explained what the Nura siblings were doing at the school (and why Rihan had a blindfold around his eyes). "So how come the two siblings are together again?"

"They reached a compromise." Sakura continued while the two humans followed the two Hanyou that searched for the School Mystery. "If Ritsura-san manages to persuade the School Mystery to join their clan, she will tell it to change schools." Sakura then made a grimace that suggested that she was judging someone. "In other words, Rihan-kun minds it if he is in danger, but not if others are."

"Well, he never was a humanitarian."

"Why is it not appearing?" Ritsura asked while looking over the windows. "We have been looking for it for over fifteen minutes now. Where is it?"

"Maybe it is hiding?" Rihan suggested while looking around (a pointless act, seeing as he still had his blindfold on).

"Or maybe there's nobody to read his messages?" Shima added his own opinion. "This youkai writes messages on the windows to people who are in relationships, not to just anyone." And then Shima grinned. "But I guess that Ritsura-sama is not good at fishing boys."

"Oh, shut it!" Ritsura threw a small snowball at him, but Shima easily dodged it. "But you're right. Little brother, remove that blindfold."

"You'll need to take it from my cold, dead hands."

"Just cold hands ought to do the trick." Ritsura said while putting her own hands on her hips. "Speaking of which, they're always cold just like mine. So get working."

"Fine, you tyrant." Rihan said and raised his blindfold. Just a moment, after a pink fanged fluffy bunny toy appeared on the window, grinned at him and breathed onto the window. "Oh no, you won't write anything, you infernal rabbit!" Rihan shouted and broke the window.

"Oh shit, more debts." Ritsura hit her forehead. "Please tell me that you caught it?"

"It ran away just before I could grab it!"

" _What was that sound?"_ An adult's voice screamed from a floor above,

"Well, we better get flying as well!" Shima suggested and everyone agreed.

Well, everyone but Sakura who prepared to shout an apology. "No you won't." Shima grabbed her and pulled her away. "C'mon, think of the rest of us!"

* * *

"Good to see you again." Human Rikuo spoke while sitting on the floor and smiling at the laptop. "I didn't think that you'd have signal down there."

"Don't mock us, Kantou youkai." A well-dressed man with slick hair replied. "Though admittedly, I'm not talking with you from a forest."

"Yeah, I can see that." Rikuo said while looking at Tamazuki who was dressed in a black suit with a tie, and sitting inside what looked like a small office. "I remember that you have a high position in the human society. What was it again…"

"It isn't high. It's just some high-managment bureaucratic work relating to protection of Shikoku's rural areas." Tamazuki leaned back against his chair and crossed his fingers. "It's not the most prominent position, but I've no direct superiors in the office and it's useful to my clan." And then he smirked. "Much better than nothing, which is what you have Nura."

"That's true." The youkai part of him wanted to mock Tamazuki by reminding him of the differences in the sizes of their respective clans and the fact that Rikuo had to focus all his energy on that one role, but the more polite human part of him contained those pointless desires. "So? How are things in the west?"

"Right to the business, huh? I could use such behavior from some of my business partners." Tamazuki let his hands fall onto the table, though the fingers remained crossed. "It's way too silent."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that Mizuchi and his lackeys are not doing anything publicly." Then Tamazuki's eyes narrowed in frustration. "And from what I could tell, they don't seem to be scheming anything either. They seem to be… relaxing."

"That should be a good thing." _Should be…_

"I feel like taunting you for saying such a stupid thing, but your eyes show that you don't actually believe it yourself. So, I'll let it pass." Tamazuki's fingers started twitching. "Mizuchi is waiting for something. I don't know what it is, but he must be quite sure that everything will go just as he plans it." Tamazuki finally moved his hands away and then squeezed the area between his eyes. "If it were anyone else, I'd show them the folly of such a laid back attitude. But Mizuchi…"

"That guy doesn't make such mistakes." Rikuo looked down. "At least not where it matters for us."

"Some say that this old bastard is older than the Nue's cleansing, Should we even be surprised?" He then looked at Rikuo with piercing eyes. "Please tell me that you may have some ideas on what he might be planning."

Rikuo shook his head. "I can't even make a guess. The few sympathizers and possible contacts of his that were active around Kantou were slain by our other enemies."

"Shiori, am I right?" Tamazuki made a correct guess, much to Rikuo's surprise. "Don't give me that look. That woman's hands spread far more westwards than you think. Did you forget that her minions even murdered one of Mizuchi's sons and his entire entourage? And desecrated that son's body?"

"You think I can forget? Mizuchi tried to frame us for it." _How wicked must you be to use your own kin's death for your ambitions?_

"Speaking of which, I hear that Shiori and the Shin Sekai had a small war going on."

"You are well informed about our turf's issues. Should I get worried?" Rikuo asked with a small smile, but then turned serious. "It's true what you heard. I don't think it will be a long time until the Shin Sekai starts fighting in earnest."

"Then I hope you put an end to any needless conflicts you have left before the Shin Sekai strikes." Tamazuki suggested, but did not wait for Rikuo's reply to that comment. "In any case, did you guys get to see how they fight?"

"My son found himself facing some of them." Rikuo bit his lip. He did not like the fact that his son found himself in such danger, and even less that his son seemed keen on searching for it. While Rihan complained less than his sister, he also cared less about his own safety.

"So?" Tamazuki's pushy voice suggested that Rikuo stayed silent for too long. "What did he have to say about them?"

"He described them as human soldiers, experienced enough to keep fighting at a youkai's pace for at least a while. He also described their equipment as magical, sci-fi gadgets."

Tamazuki sighed. "It's things like these that remind me that he is still a teen."

"After what I saw in the States, I have to completely agree with his use of words. But I told you already about that, didn't I?" Rikuo defended his son's dignity and then moved onto another topic. "So, how is it down with you? I understand that Mizuchi has been calm lately, but I also heard that you have some trouble down there in Shikoku."

"Damn Kitsunes have become rowdy. I'm starting to wonder if they moved their leader's grave to my island."

"Well, the grave certainly isn't in Kantou anymore." The Kistune Clan's leader was sealed in a stone in northern Kantou, but that stone had disappeared long ago. Of course, humans replaced it with another one so nobody would notice, but youkai could not be fooled. If the stone was not giving off Fear, it was a fake. "But you say they have become rowdy. What exactly does that mean?"

"It's none of your business." Tamazuki crossed his arms. "The Tanuki and Kitsunes have been at one another's throat for what's like forever. This is just another one of their pranks."

"Well, I surely hope you deal with that needless conflict." Rikuo used the same terminology that Tamazuki used a few minutes ago.

"Of course I will." Tamazuki's voice was calm, but Rikuo did not fail to notice that his left eye twitched. "Another thing… I hear that a certain someone had returned to Tokyo."

"Gagoze." If words could kill, Rikuo would have probably killed Tamazuki by saying that name. "With all due respect, I don't want to talk with you about him." _If rumors are true, and this time I hope they are, I'll find that bastard and kill him myself._

"Well, watch yourself. I know you're angry, but Gagoze and whichever allies he might have will not fail to use your anger against you."

"I invite them to try." He said and took a deep breath to calm down. "In any case, I don't have anything else to say."

"And I have a meeting incoming." Tamazuki leaned against his chair once again. "So I will bid you farewell, Nura."

"Yes, farewell." Rikuo said and ended the session.

"Gagoze…" Rikuo whispered to himself and raised himself back up. "Just where are you hiding, you…" He spoke the words which he seldom spoke in his human form.

He had been searching for Gagoze for eight years, ever since Gagoze almost killed his son. But Gagoze was cautious and skilled at hiding, not to mention that he was able to kill off the very few youkai which managed to track him down. In the end, he fled somewhere west, where the Nura Clan's influence was weak.

But now he was back in Tokyo. _Why?_ Rikuo clenched his teeth as he thought about it. The thoughts of making that youkai pay for what he had done were pleasing, but the fact that he dared to return to Tokyo suggested many things that Rikuo feared. _Why have you come? Are you here to finish what you started?_ Rikuo thought while walking circling around the room. _Are you so bold because you have allies? And if so, who would… of course, I know who._

"Sanmoto Shiori." He whispered to himself and looked at a traditional inked painting of a swallow that hang on the wall of his room. It was a gift he got from a human whose son he saved during the Tokyo Tag. _So many humans and youkai lost their lives to that wretched clan and their meaningless ambitions. At least the likes of Nue and Hagoromo Gitsune fought for what they believed was right, even if those beliefs were wrong._

But Hyaku Monogatari was not like that. He did not know what went through the head of this Sanmoto Shiori, but he had already ascertained that she was evil and that too many lives were lost to her and her minions, most of which was inside the Tokyo, the territory which the Nura Clan called its own. He could not find any hints that Shiori was worth sparing or negotiating with, even if they shared their enemies. _So many years and so many changes I did to make Tokyo safer, but these guys still find a way to terrorize the humans and youkai. If someone was aiding Gagoze, it was bound to be Shiori or someone in her group. They are all of the same ilk._

 _Now that I think about it, they were behind the former Gagoze's attacks as well._ _Maybe you're right Tamazuki, maybe I should put a quick end to this needless conflict._

For the first time ever, he did not think about consequences. No price was too large to slay Gagoze and whoever dared to aid him.

* * *

" _Where are you?"_ They could hear the voices of teachers looking for them. _"Show yourself, you will not be punished… too harshly!"_

" _Good heavens!"_ Another teacher could be heard. _"Why is this supernatural Investigation Club ALWAYS causing some kind of trouble?"_

" _Why does such a ridiculous club even exist?"_ Yet another teacher's voice could be heard. _"We should use this situation to shut it down and have them join proper clubs and hang out with proper students!"_

"Alright, it looks like they won't find us here." Onieda Mayuri, who joined the group several minutes ago, voiced her opinion. "So, how do we take care of the Pink Bunny?"

"It's a good question, Mayuri-san." Ritsura noted while sitting on the headmaster Nyudo's table. "We should think thoroughly about that."

"Where are Heiko-chan and Gozumaru-kun?" Mayuri inquired. "Gozumaru-kun could have some ideas and I think Heiko-chan's abilities would prove valuable here."

"They are strengthening their bodies. So they won't be of help."

"I see… so we will have to make use of what we have…"

"Are we really going to just ignore the looming threat of our club being shut down? And those angry teachers who sound like they are on the witch-hunt?" Kibiki Sakura asked, but got no reply. "We are? Okay…"

* * *

"Help!" Heiko shouted while running as fast as her feet allowed her to. "Someone save me!"

"Stop whining and keep running!" Gozumaru, who was raising dumbbells.

"Why?!" Heiko cried while running on a treadmill in the gym. "Why must I do this?!" The rest of the gym had gotten so used to her yelling that nobody even paid it any attention, with exception of those who were happy to see a cute, young girl run on a treadmill.

"Are you kidding? Just how many kilos of cakes have you eaten in that cake shop, huh? Do you want to get fat?"

"No! But there must be a better way!"

"Stop complaining and run, woman!" Gozumaru started lifting his dumbbells more rapidly.

"Yeah, run Heiko!" Mezumaru, whose face was on a phone that sat on the treadmills controls, cheered her on. "You can do it, yeah!"

"Easy for you to say Mezu!" Heiko immediately replied.

"With a healthy body comes a healthy spirit." Gyuki, who was mediating in the corner, noted.

"You aren't even training, Gyuki-sama!" Heiko called up to him.

"Heiko-chan…" Ryota-neko, who was also in the gym with them, joined in trying to motivate her to run. "We both need to get stronger. We don't want to get kidnapped and kept in a flying castle, right?"

"That was your own unique circumstance, Ryota-neko." Heiko looked at him, who also ran on a treadmill, in annoyance and with her cheeks puffed. "And you should not run on all fours here, even if you are technically a cat…"

* * *

"Are you sure he is there?" Ritsura asked her brother while peeking behind a corner.

"Yes, I'm sure." Rihan, who did not have a blindfold this time, noted. "When we met a while ago, I sensed its Fear. I can feel it strongly enough here."

"Okay." Ritsura nodded and looked at her hands. She was carrying a carrot, valentine chocolates and Duracell batteries. Hopefully, the rabbit would want to eat one of those.

"We are ready." Rihan spoke into a cell phone. While the Nura siblings were preying on the rabbit at the first floor, their human colleagues were doing the same on the second floor.

" _We are also ready."_ Mayuri's voice replied. _"Do it."_

The siblings looked at one another and nodded.

"Oh Bunny-kun~" Ritsura jumped from the corner. "I am your biggest fan and bring gifts!" In meantime, Rihan was still hiding behind the corner, ready to jump at the rabt should it let its guard down. "Please come and be my friend~"

Just as they hoped, and a bit surprisingly, the pink rabbit appeared.

_Yes! It worked!_

"Shut up you ugly bitch!" And then his words made Ritsura freeze in place. "I don't want to have anything to do with a heartless madonna like you!"

"...eh?"

 _I have a bad feeling about this…_ Rihan gulped and started making plans on how to save the rabbit.

"I've seen it! All those cute boys and girls that pray for your attention! And you do nothing but ignore them, you heartless beast! Just because you're pretty, cute and kind of cool doesn't mean you have the right to be so selective and-"

"DIE!" She screamed and Rihan had to grab her before another window got broken. "YOU THINK IT'S SO DAMN COOL AND NICE TO BE SO POPULAR DO YOU? DO YOU EVEN KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO FIND TRUE LOVE WHEN YOUR VISION IS CLOUDED BY-MHMMHMHM!" Rihan put a hand over her mouth before she could cause any more ruckuss.

"What is going on here?!" A black-haired girl appeared from a clubroom nearby.

The rabbit was, naturally, gone. But someone else was coming their way.

" _What was that?!"_ They heard their home economics teacher shout.

" _That was Ritsura-kun!"_ Phys-ed teacher replied from the opposite direction. _"Finally we shall catch her with her hands red! Not even the headmaster will be able to save her now!"_

"Oh no… where will we run now?"

"Mhhhm!" Ritsura tried saying something, but Rihan still held his hand on her mouth.

Their answer came when the two of them were pulled back and thrown into the clubroom, with both of them falling onto the floor. The blackhaired girl winked at them, smiled and closed the door. Soon after, Rihan was sure that he heard the sound of a window being opened.

" _Oh, Hikari-chan!"_ The phys-ed teacher met the girl. _"Did you by some chance see Ritsura-kun?"_

" _Actually, yes! She opened the window, jumped on a skateboard and rushed away!"_

" _...really?"_

" _I'm speaking the truth, sensei!"_ The girl defended her lie. _"Why would I even lie? I don't know her."_

" _Hm, that's right I guess… Wait, what are we doing? Quick, let's go run and catch that delinquent madonna!"_ The phys-ed teacher said to the home economics one and both seem to have jumped out of the window and ran away.

"Looks like we're saved…" Rihan said while rising up.

"You sure, little brother?" Ritsura disagreed while also rising up and cleaning her skirt. "This is the Psychiatric Consultation Club. And you must have also heard how pushy Hikari-san is…"

"They are gone." The black-haired girl, Furuta Hikari, said while entering the clubroom. "Now, please sit down and relax." She said while loudly closing the doors, signifying that she would not let them leave easily.

* * *

"Seems like they failed." Shima noted after hearing Ritsura screaming. "Sakura-chan, are you sure that you will do it?"

"Yes!" The girl nodded while holding a carrot and some Duracell batteries. "I have someone I like so he might react to me."

"But he might write something bad…"

"Isn't love about understanding each other?" Sakura put out a tender smile and slowly walked forward. "I'll be happy to learn more about that person, be it good or bad."

"She is so brave," Mayuri noted.

"Yeah, she is." Shima clenched his fist and teeth.

"Do you think it will work?" Mayuri wondered. They had no idea how they could catch it when two youkai siblings failed miserably, but Sakura was stubborn.

"No, it will just make that girl sad." Shima noted.

Not to much surprise, the pink rabbit appeared on the window before Sakura could even say anything. But instead of entering the school and taking the bite, it started writing.

Mayuri clicked her tongue and prepared to take a talisman that Ryuzan had lent them a day ago. They all agreed that they should try using it.

But…

"No!" Shima ran out.

"Shima-kun?!" Sakura looked at him with a surprise. "Eh?" But he then grabbed her and threw her away, towards Mayuri. "Kyaaah!"

"What are you doing, Shima?" Mayuri shouted at him.

"I won't stand for this!" Shima announced. "Come here you stupid coward!" He shouted at a rabbit. "Come and fight me! Or are you afraid? Ha, what else would I expect from a pathetic animal that can only destroy other people's happiness!"

Both of the girls were dumbfounded by Shima's outrage… and seemingly so was the rabbit as it did not disappear. The rabbit then wiped the words it started writing, entered the school as if it were a ghost and faced Shima, who was a giant compared to him. "Of all people, I thought you would understand me the best!" The rabbit, which stood three meters away from Shima, proclaimed.

"No, I can't even start to understand your wickedness."

"Wickedness? I'm not wicked! Wicked is this world, which doesn't allow me to have a boyfriend just because I'm the only one of my species! If I can't be happy, why should anyone else be?"

"I see that I'll need to teach you some manners." Shima said and threw his jacket to the girls. "Hold this for me. We're going to settle this as men."

"You are going down." The rabbit prepared for a fistfight, though claws appeared on its fluffy hands.

"Justice and love…" Shima unbuttoned his collar and took the same pose. "...and love shall never lose!"

"I've a bad feeling about this." Mayuri said.

"I've seen enough Anime to know where this is going." Sakura added.

* * *

While Rihan and Ritsura were sitting in the clubroom, Hikari was talking on a cellphone in the corner. Seemingly, she was having an important conversation with one of fellow students when Ritsura's scream interrupted her a while ago.

 _Furuta Hikari, huh?_ He remembered hearing that name, though he never got acquainted with her. The girl, right now dressed in the school uniform, had raven black hair with a short pony-tail and moved with a certain kind of energy. Her face shone with friendliness, comfort and invited one to rally on her. Her voice fit it as well: it was kind of soft, and pleasant to listen to.

"Oi, little brother." He felt a cold air on his cheek.

When he turned his head, he saw his sister looking closely at him. "What?"

"You already have Araya as your girl. Should you really be gazing at another girl like that?"

"I'm not _gazing like that_." He moved his head away.

"Yeah right… I guess that even having a girlfriend can't stop a boy from looking at that girl as if she were a goddess."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We'll talk later." She nudged him because Hikari was done with her call.

"Do you guys want me to fetch something to drink?" Furuta Hikari asked the two siblings as she got closer to them. "Or something to eat?"

Ritsura shook her head. "No, don't bother going all the way to cafeteria for us."

"I'm not going only for you two." Hikari softly tapped on her stomach. "I was just preparing to grab a snack myself." She then winked and put her hands together. "I know it's not in good manners to leave guests alone just to grab something to eat, but I think we could make a compromise if I grab it for all of us."

"Then one of us two should be-" Rihan started to make a suggestion but Hikari cut in.

"No, it would break my consciousness if the teachers caught you… and my tummy."

"Well… then I'll welcome some cold drinks." Rihan felt like she would not accept no from the two of them.

"And I could use a sandwich and some cold soda." Ritsura raised her hand.

"Alright! Please wait for me~" Hikari nodded and left.

"So sis… what kind of place is this?" rihan asked while looking around. Unlike most clubrooms, it had walls painted in soft pink colors, had a soft couch on the other side of the room (but neither of the siblings dared use it), a Virtual Reality headset in the corner and several books on a bookshelf.

"Psychiatrist Consultation Club (PCC)." Ritsura leaned against her chair and crossed her arms. "It's a club that offers… mental help to students." Ritsura made a mocking grin. "And she no doubt has a lot to say to you and me."

"Maybe she just wants to hang up with us?"

"Hikari? No chance in hell. You must be a special kind of person to open such a crazy club. In other words, she is very crazy about this." Ritsura put a hand under her chin. "Or… maybe she wants to poison us?"

"Now why would she do that?"

"The SIC and the PCC are both known as _Those Crazy Clubs_. Since we are competition, maybe she wants to erase us so her club could claim that prominent title for herself."

"Yeah, riiiiight."

"Anyway, that Hikari-chan is dangerous." Ritsura pointed her index finger at Rihan. "Lower your guard and she will force you through a psychological analysis and recreation. And then you will start worshiping her like all those other boys."

"Oh, you did mention something about her being a goddess. What is that about?"

Ritsura sighed. "Isn't it obvious? It means that her club-work gives good results. She's best friends with many girls and boys, and some of them even view her as a goddess. I once even overheard one student asking her where she lives so that he could turn his head in that direction while sleeping. Some of them literally think she is a Buddha. That's how nice and helpful she is!"

"And… what did she say to that question?"

"She said it was around north of his home and his face trembled. Seems that even his reverence for her could not stop the common superstition that sleeping while facing north leads to a short life."

"I think she just lied because that request is downright creepy."

"She probably did. But these guys trust her so much that they probably never thoughts about it."

"I'm back~" Hikari returned, holding a plastic big with some snacks and drinks.

""Welcome back!"" both of the siblings greeted her and accepted their orders while Hikari only bought a sandwich for herself. Both of them started eating in silence that felt awkward to Rihan, the only one not eating.

"So… what is the VR for?" He asked while looking at the Virtual Reality headset.

"I use it when I must take students somewhere or show them something." Hikari explained. "For example, just today I had a student who started developing depression for never leaving the city so I used it to take her to the Grand Canyon, Africa and Santa Claus.."

"To… Santa Claus?"

"Childhood fantasies calmed her down." Hikari shrugged. "But more importantly, what were you doing there Ritsura-chan?"

"Uhm…" Ritsura froze a little.

"I heard you yelling something about love and being too popular."

"Nothing… I was just annoyed by an evil pink rabbit."

 _Wait, does she know about the youkai?_ Rihan wondered.

"I see… well, believing into such things is what one would expect from a member of the Supernatural Investigation Club I guess. I presume that you were looking for that School Mystery."

_Oh, so she doesn't know that youkai do exist._

"I do hope you won't be trying to heal _that_ part of me." Ritsura said.

"No, I'll leave that for now. Instead, talk to me about your love life."

_She won't do that._

"Sure."

_Huh?_

"You se…" Ritsura started and then took a bite. "Msmvn njsdn snmsd msd nsd." She then took another bite. "Mmmnssmm mmddndmm mmm." And then another. "Mhhhm! M mmm mddmdneerrr." And then she took the last bite. "Mrrrmd! Mmm, mmrrrm, mrrrm! Mmm!" And then she was done eating. "Thank you for letting me talk to you, Hikari-chan." Ritsura said and rose up. "It really had done wonders to my spirit. Now if you don't mind, we've to go."

"Well, I'm glad that I could help." Hikari said with an expression that would come with a large sweatdrop if this were a Manga. "I look forward to speaking to you another time. Bye!" And then Ritsura quickly walked out of the clubroom.

"I… apologize for my sister's behavior." Rihan said while bowing a little.

"Ah, I'm used to it. She always finds a way to get away from my questioning." Hikari noted.

"This isn't the first time you two talked?"

"No, I tied several times before. She always finds a way to evade me." Hikari then clenched her fist. "But one day, I'll succeed! Just watch me!"

"Oh, I see. Well, good luck to both of you!" Rihan said and took a sip of his drink. Only then did he realize that he wasted his opportunity to flee away.

"Speaking of which, I think both of us could have a talk as well."

"Hmm…" Rihan took out his cellphone and once again checked an SMS that he got an hour ago. He was not in mood for more rabbit-hunting and did not mind the idea of staying here so much, but he had agreed to meet someone soon. "I'll need to pass. My girlfriend is waiting for me." He said while confirming that the time is soon.

"Oh, I see." Hikari tilted her head. "A shame, I guess I was unable to diagnose either of you two."

"Well, maybe another time." Rihan said while rising up. "Maybe I'll come and visit sometime."

"Please do. You seem to have quite a lot of burden yourself."

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"Your eyes." Hikari pointed at her own pupil. "I've seen many people and learned what their expressions mean. I see that your emotional state changes constantly. That's a bit worrisome."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Sometimes you seem laid back. A minute later, and you seem worried. And then you get the look of an excited man."

"Well… okay." Rihan made an awkward smile. "Well, cya!"

"Cya!"

 _Sis was right. She IS dangerous!_ But then again, it was not like he minded such kind of girls.

* * *

"What… the heck happened here?" Ritsura asked Sakura and Mayuri.

"A miracle." Mayuri replied.

"Truly!" Sakura made an over exaggerated nod. "Shima-kun got cool for a moment and did NOT get humiliated but instead beat the rabbit to a pulp."

"I… see." Ritsura made an awkward smile while looking at Shima wiping the sweat from his forehead and taking back the jacket that Sakura guarded fo him. In the meantime, the rabbit was lying on the floor, with several signs of beating. Shima too had a few cuts and bruises, but he was still standing..

"Justice will always win." Shima said and walked away with the jacket on his shoulder. " See you again, girls. You know where to find me if you need help again." He said and walked away, just like that.

"Well, this was a strange ending." Ritsura shrugged.

"Mm… are you alright, bunny-kun?" Sakura asked the rabbit, though she kept a safe distance.

"I see… so that's how it is…" The rabbit started rising up. "Thank you Shima-kun!" He looked up and clenched his (bunny) fist, with tears streaming out of his eyes. "Your fists talked to me and they resounded so strongly! No more will I satisfy my own pettiness by harassing innocent couples! From now on, I'll help them get even happier!" Then a gust of wind filled the room and he disappeared ."Thank you Shima-kun! I'll never forget this!"

"Wat?" Mayuri looked confused.

"I see… so this must be the famous _Fated Battle Between Men_!" Sakura said while looking excited.

"And the ending just got weirder… " Ritsura added.

* * *

He found Shiori in the library. This came to no surprise, for she told Rihan to come meet her there once the club activities were over.

He could see that she was deep in thought, for she sat beside the window with a cup of some dark drink in her hands, and staring outside. Yet, she did not look like she was looking at anything in particular.

"Oi." He called to her as he silently closed the door.

"Oh, you've come." She put on a meek smile. "I could hear you guys from here. It sounded like you had a lot of fun."

"We did." He said while looking around. The library was empty and he could feel Koko-no-Kira's Fear. He was not sure if it kept others away or just kept watch, but there was not much practical difference. The important thing was that they could speak about whatever they wanted. "You should have been with us."

"The moody me would just ruin the fun." She put down the cup and looked out of the window again. "No, that's wrong. I am done mourning. Now, I'm just tired."

"I can see that." He sat in front of her, but with the stool turned in the opposite direction so that he could rest his chin on the stool's backside. "My clan was pretty busy with those Shin Sekai guys and I guess you were even more."

"Wrong."

"Huh?"

"Unlike you Nuras, there wasn't that much that I could expect to learn from investigating. We, the Hyaku Monogatari, already know enough about those guys." She put her hand under her chin while still staring outside. "Add to that the risk of my guys meeting the Nuras and it becomes counter-productive."

"So what were you doing that made you tired?"

She looked at Rihan like he should have known the answer already.

This reminded him of the different kind of looks that he got at the mansion recently, though he guessed that they were caused by the same issue. "Gagoze."

He knew he came to Tokyo. He knew that he was there somewhere, possibly looking for him. But he tried not to think too much about him while in company of others.

Shiori continued talking. "And what do you think the appearance of Gagoze means for me, and for the rest of your circle of friends for the matter?"

Rihan did not need to think too much about it. "I could feel the eyes of my clan on my back this entire day." Rihan noted. "Was I the only one?"

"No. Your father ordered the youkai of the Nura Clan to keep an eye on all your friends, it seems." She put on a bitter smile. "So now I, the great goddess of the Hyaku Monogatari, am being constantly tailed by your clansmen. And I expect it to get worse soon enough."

"Well, at least you won't be jumped by Gagoze."

"Yeah, I won't be able to give you his head on a plate." She said. "Figuratively speaking. I'd just take care that you get to behead him yourself." She moved her body away a bit and leaned against her chair. "In any case, my safety doesn't matter. As long as the Nura Clan tails me, I can't move as I want. It's ironic, but in trying to protect me your father forced Sanmoto Shiori to take a vacation. And not only me…" She crossed her hands and closed her eyes. "The entirety of Nura Clan is in uproar. Some want to keep you safe at all costs, others want to avenge you and yet others want to clear the Nura Clan's pride."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning that the entirety of your clan are diligent, looking at anyone who might be an enemy and suspecting without much consideration. Just yesterday, a dozen and half of unaffiliated youkai were almost harassed by the Nuras on bases that they might be Gagoze or might be working for him. A dozen more were outright attacked. Any youkai who is not affiliated with the Nuras and tries to collect Fear on their turf or acts suspiciously is going to be found by them and thoroughly questioned. So all of those youkai will need to be taking a vacation, and that includes my entire clan. Seven of them have already been slain."

Rihan gulped. He saw his clansmen become motivated the moment when the rumors of Gagoze's return arrived, and he felt the Fear of the Nura Clan reach the new limits. But hearing a report in words just made it clear how much they cared about avenging him.

And that hurt him, especially now that he looked at this girl. His clan was angry for someone who may not deserve it.

"In order to minimize our losses, I had to quickly give many different orders to many different people and youkai… quite a challenge due to the Nuras looking at my every step." She put a hand over her forehead. "I lost the entire night's sleep thinking about how to do it properly, and a lot of energy doing it while the enemy eyes looked at me from behind."

"At your pretty ass and legs? Perverts." He said and she threw the empty cup onto his head. "Anyway, what is your next course of action?"

"You are surprisingly calm." She noted while looking at, her arms still crossed and his question ignored. "I thought you'd be the one most excited for Gagoze being in Tokyo."

"It's good if even you get that impression." He said. "That means that dad and the rest may think that I'm wise and I won't do anything stupid."

"Will you?"

"Depends. But I don't see a reason to rush, for I feel like Gagoze will find me soon enough." He raised his right hand and looked at it. "And then I will…"

"Hmph, I hope you make it a tale worth telling." She smirked. "It would be a shame if you don't for it would be a waste of that pretty look in your eyes."

"You are the only one who would say that's pretty." He immediately calmed himself.

"That's why I'm your honey and not someone else."

"Now could you answer my question? What is your next course of action?"

"Get a peace of mind and enjoy my vacation." She explained. "In other words, I accepted Kubinashi-kun's offer to stay at your mansion for a while."

"Wait, he actually asked you that?"

"Mhm. They asked Saaya as well, and I expect the rest of the club will be asked the same question. Kubinashi at least explained pretty well that my life was in danger."

"I see… and just like that, you will be staying at the enemy's household?"

"Won't be the first time? Besides, if I can't contact anyone and nobody can contact me, the chances of my identity being revealed are minimized." she said with a smile, but then she became more serious. "That is, unless someone found out about it already and this is a trap… and there is a chance that my identity is revealed _while_ I'm there. With how inquisitive the Nura Clan is right now, anything is possible."

The atmosphere had gotten cold, at least in Rihan's mind. He turned the stool around and sat down properly. "And what if that happens?"

"Ahhh… now comes the most exhausting part for my psyche. It's time to stop playing around and delay the inevitable." Shiori said while taking out a small box. She opened it and put two red lenses on her eyes, after which she looked at him with a resolved gaze. Right now, she was neither his friend nor his classmate. She was Sanmoto Shiori, and nobody else.

"I have five orders for you, _Kokuhan_." She said and crossed her arms. "Order number one: if I decide that I have orders to give to my clan, you will be the messenger. No matter what I say, you will do it and you will do it properly. I shall know if you do not." Her eyes shrank. "If I order an attack on a member of the Nura Clan, you will bring the order to those who need to hear them. Sidobey or reject and I, and my clan, will not be dealing with you anymore."

He did not respond.

"Order number two: if my identity is revealed, you will get me out. The costs do not matter, you shall do it even if you need to kill. Disobey or hesitate for too long, and my youkai will act. If that happens, I will take it that you are siding with the Nuras and we will label you as our enemy."

"I understand." He gave an answer, but not a confirmation.

These two orders made one harsh fact clear: he will soon need to choose his side. This ugly realization made him feel a bitter taste in his throat. Up until this day, Shiori was always lenient: she rarely ever gave orders, and usually allowed him to decide himself if he would do what she wanted or not. But this time, she gave him orders. And disobeying a request and disobeying an order were two very different things.

"Order number three: deal with the source of this problem. Find Gagoze and eliminate him."

Rihan raised an eyebrow, but did not comment.

Still, she caught on his reaction. He was sure that she expected it. "Nura Clan's Rihan would do it, yes. But right now, I'm not talking to Nura Clan's Rihan." She raised her own eyebrow. "Or am I?"

A cold sweatdrop flew down on the backside of his neck. She was not holding back in anything. He knew that she was making a point.

"Order number four: find out who is behind Gagoze and deal with it as you see fit." She said this with an eerie smile.

"What do you mean? Who are you talking about?"

"Gagoze only kills human children for pleasure. When he kills others, he usually does it as a hired killer. Or did you really think that he acted by himself when he stabbed one of the Nura Clan's heirs, and that he was able to leave Tokyo without anyone's help?" She tilted her head and cold shivers went up his spine. This was one thing he never thought about. "You will find this person or the group. And you shall deal with it." She rose up from her seat.

"What do you mean by saying that I should _deal with it_?" He asked while she walked past him.

"I leave that decision to you." She said and stopped walking just when she stood a feet behind him.

He looked at her smile. "And what's the final order?"

"The fifth order…" He felt her hands land on his shoulders. Another shiver went up his spine and he remembered that time, at the theater in Nejireme, when he found out who she was. That was the last time that he felt the fear that followed this human girl as if it were her puppy… and now again, he got to feel the same terrifying Fear that proved that she was not some minor player. "You will publicly make it clear with whom you will be siding with."

The clouds hid the sun outside, and the whole library turned darker.

No matter what happened, he could not avoid having to choose a side.

Yet he did not dare talk about it. "What will happen once Gagoze is dealt with?"

"The Grand Festival." She let go of his shoulders and continued talking from behind him. "Without spoiling anything, we shall declare an open war against all our enemies. And in the same vein, I shall make my identity known."

"All… your enemies?"

"Against my honorable ancestor, against the Shin Sekai, against the Kyushu Clan… and against the Nura Clan and its allies."

"That's… the entire youkai world? You don't mean to-" He looked behind himself.

"We do." She cut in. "We shall fight and we shall either win, or perish completely." Her face showed no hesitation as she said that. "What's with that look?" She smirked as she asked that question.

"What's with that sudden boldness? I know that the Shin Sekai's attack was-"

"Hahaha…" She laughed at his words. "You think that this is something I decided recently?" She tilted her head a little. "This bold plan was decided at least two years ago. So it's quite an old decision, and one that was reconsidered many a time"

"Why go that far? You could just keep doing as you are now, or fight them one by one."

"We can't stay like this. The Shin Sekai's attack weakened our Fear already, and we need to reply in earnest." She turned around, facing Rihan with her back. "Besides, there is a certain cause we fight for. And to accomplish it, we need to become a major player. We need to gamble, and to get the highest reward, we need to gamble our all." And then she started walking away. "But enough talking. I'm sure there's much that you want to think about."

"Sure." He said and turned his head away, facing the table.

"And a word of warning. Every group has people who scheme against their leaders, including ours. Someone may make a move against me or you or even aid Gagoze, so stay cautious."

And then she left the library, leaving him alone.

 _In the end, it truly can't be avoided, huh?_ He realized that, sometimes, breathing alone can be hard. But even so, he thought that he was calmer and more understanding of this fact than he thought he should be. In a way, that disturbed him even more.

* * *

Shiori sighed as she left the library. "I have done it now. But, it was something that I needed to do. I can't stay soft forever."

She had already been delaying it for a long while. Although she knew that it was necessary because acting too soon would result in her facing defeat, she did sometimes feel as if she was doing it just for her own sake… and, after he found out about her, for Rihan's sake.

But that could not go on forever. The Shin Sekai's attack was a major strike at her pride, reputation and Fear. Even if she needed to delay it for a few more months, it would be too risky. Another such an attack and her clan's Fear would become too weak.

_In any case, I hope Rihan soon realizes… that Gagoze isn't the only devil that he will have to deal during this current tale. This darkness runs deeper than that._

* * *

Gagoze was breathing heavily, yet it was not due to physical exhaustion or disease.

He was mentally exhausted. Gagoze had underestimated Nura Rikuo and the Nura Clan. Ever since he entered the Nura Clan's turf, he was on the edge. No matter where he went, he could feel hatred and malice that searched for something. At days, they were disguised as humans, thus Gagoze was growingly paranoid of every human around him. Yet he could not do anything about it for it would just arouse suspicion.

Nights were even worse, as it was then that the youkai went out in their full. Gagoze would have been caught already, were it not for the fact that Tokyo was filled with unaffiliated youkai, Urban Legends and the youkai of the Hyaku Monogatari. Too many times was Gagoze looking as the Nura Clan's youkai harassed those not with them, too many times was he only a meager few feet away from them.

He heard many talk about how hard it was to enter eastern Japan, but never did he know that it was so hard to survive in it, at least as someone so passionately hated by the Nuras.

 _But why haven't I been found yet?_ Gagoze wondered as he sat on the ground in a dark alleyway, smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol in order to look like a delinquent or young hobo. _I was saved by coincidences was too many times. Nobody's that lucky._ He looked at his cigarette. _Is that my client? No, they said that they wouldn't help me._

_No, don't overthink it. It just makes me more paranoid and I don't need that. I'm afraid enough to smell like a delicious meal to every Nura that may get too close to me._

As he sat and thought, he heard someone crying.

He heard a small child crying, and his blood boiled. _I have to calm down. If a child dies or disappears, they will know that I was here today._ He repeated the words that he told himself so many times.

Yet, the child continue crying like it was calling to him. _And it may be a trap. There are many youkai masquerading as harmless children, and they might be trying to lure me out._

The child continued to cry, but Gagoze ignored it. He will have ample time to entertain himself once the young Nurarihyon lies dead and he leaves Tokyo.

 _I need to think of my next step._ He lit another cigarette. _Should I find and kill Rihan before the Nuras find me? No, rushing will put me at a disadvantage and the Nuras are no doubt guarding him tightly now that they know I'm here._

_Should I look for allies? The Urban Legends and the Hyaku Monogatari hate the Nuras, but even they may find it too risky to deal with me… or they may even sell me out._

_Maybe I should lay low and have the Nuras think that I have left Tok-_

" _Gyaaahh!"_ The child suddenly screamed. _"A monster!"_

" _Hkraaaa!"_ A monstrous scream replied to the child.

 _Fuck!_ Gagoze rose up and ran. By the time he looked at the woman with the head of a crocodile, he had already beheaded her.

Someone else killing a child so close to him would be the same thing as if he killed it himself. The Nuras would suspect him and pay more attention to the area and everyone suspicious-looking they may have seen.

"You alright kid?" He looked down at the annoying bratty girl who was so diligently trying to get him caught and killed.

The child looked at him with horror for a few seconds, but then smiled. "Mr. Hero! Monster-slaying Mr. Hero!"

Her naivety made him avert his gaze in order to hide his own monstrous smile. But he had to hold his desire to not stab this naive little thing, otherwise this would have all been for naught.

" , what is it? Are you sick? Hurt?"

"I'm just tired." He said and sheathed his blades. "Shall I help you find your parents?"

"Hai!" The girl, who so foolishly trusted him, rose up and smiled. "Please help me find my papa!"

"You were just attacked by a monster. Why aren't you afraid that monsters exist?" He asked.

"But isn't that common knowledge?" The child said while following him out of the alley. "I mean, they are everywhere in cartoons."

 _This bratty girl is more naive and foolish than I thought._ "That outlook is good enough." He concluded and then decided that he would need to make himself look less suspicious in case someone saw them together. "Now tell Onii-chan how you got lost."

"Yes, Onii-chan! So will you come with me to my _Papa_?"

"That's what I was saying."

For some reason, she puffed her cheeks. "Please say it properly! Will you come with me to my _Papa_?" She asked and offered him her hand.

Gagoze sighed. _Maybe I should just kill her._ He accepted her hand. "Yes, let's go to your _Papa_."

And then something cut him from inside his head… or at least it felt like it.

 _Huh?_ He felt something was weird, but he could not let go of the girl's hand. _What is going on?_

The girl was not leading him out of the alley, but towards it's blind end. "Where… are we going?" He wondered and tried to resist, but he could neither stop his legs nor let go of the girl's hand.

"To Papa of course!" The girl said, but she looked different from before. She moved like a doll on the strings, one of her eyes was button from a jacket, her lips were sealed with a string and her free hand looked like it was made of wood. "My papa, the Dollmaaaaker, shall see you now." The girl said while pulling him towards the blind end of the alley, where a portal made out of shadows appeared. The body of the youkai he beheaded also rose up and started walking towards the portal, with the lifeless crocodile head rolling with a blank look in its eyes.

 _Shit! She made me trust her humanity and make a promise which I now can't break!_ He thought for a way out, and then noticed something connecting him and the portal. He could see the same thin, things connecting the girl with something from deep inside the portal. _Are these… strings? Am I being controlled?_ The girl did not have any Fear, but the string did. _So that is why I hadn't suspected anything… the youkai is too far away._

He could see more dolls inside the portal, in shapes of children, adults and even monsters.

* * *

**Author Notes**

It was a very long Season Break, but the new chapter is finally here as is the new arc!

\- I decided to start light-heartedly. The characters themselves deserved a small break and something to fool around with. Yet, we can already see Shiori's connections to the SIC breaking apart

\- We also introduce a new character: Furuta Hikari. Let us see if she will have some role in the events to come…

\- The scene between Rihan and Shiori was quite a cold one, as is the requirement that Rihan finally makes his choice. Will he disobey Shiori's orders and stay loyal, go "Heil Hydra" (I'm so, so sorry!) on his clan that so loyally seeks to avenge him or maybe even find a third way?

\- The name of another titular Urban Devil is introduced: the Doll Master. And it's quite ironic to have Gagoze enter a horror story with a creepy child. Ha!

* * *

**Replies to Reviews:**

**chessvain**  (FF) **:** _"They have all been great chapters one thing i have been wondering is when kaito talked about the seven human leaders of the hundred tales was he talking just about shoiri's group and is shoiri included in that number or is she above the 7 leaders."_

It's only Shiori's group. And yes, she is the part of the Seven Leaders, though she is above the rest.

 **Cistimsan** ( **FF): "** _And now that we're talking about numbers, "veterans from wars that took place in the last three centuries"? Were you trying to say "decades" or does the SS have such hiring skills?_ "

Onieda Masato: "It was the writer's mistake. We can't hire dead war veterans… yet."

* * *

**Review-inspired Omakes:**

**Citsimsan** (FF) **:** _"And Rikuo, I'm not sure Tsurara is joking. She may end writing a book about 'Description and habits of Onmyoji in their natural environment'."_

Excerpts from the book, written by Nura Tsurara and edited by Nattou Kozou:

" _Female Onmyouji seem to be tsun-tsun by nature. Never dine with a nervous female Onmyouji near you, or it will get loud. Sometimes, in my younger days, I had to buy new dishes because of a certain female."_

" _Unlike the females, the males lack the tsun-tsun behavior. Instead, they are sneaky, deceptive and outright rude creatures! I'll never understand why my daughter keeps one at our home as a pet."_

" _The author has never seen Onmyouji mating habits in person, but she guesses that it is filled with males mocking females and females acting all tsun tsun."_

" _From what the author heard, some Onmyouji keep giant pets, like giant mythical snakes or electric mouses, inside their bellies. Icky."_

" _Unlike popular beliefs, the Onmyouji DO seem to be able to digest the ikigimo. When an expecting mother of an Onmyouji eats Ikigimo regularly, the child rapidly grows in her belly. The author has witnessed one such mother give birth to a middle-aged man. It was truly a horror to behold."_


	83. Raiding the Archives

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gagoze had returned to Tokyo, which led to an escalation of conflicts between various youkai factions in heart of the Nura Clan's territory. Furthermore, the Hyaku Monogatari's Rose Coalition prepares for an all-out war with the Nura Clan, which puts Rihan into an unenviable position…

**Chapter 83 - Raiding the Archives**

Rihan sat on the cold ground of the school's roof. The sun was setting and the skies were dyed orange above him as he gazed upon the town.

After Shiori's orders, he decided that he wanted some cool air to think through on her words, and so he decided to come to this place. _I am with the Nuras or with her, she said._ Rihan sighed.

But the truth was different. Back at Nejireme, he already decided that he would not stand with the Nura Clan. And nothing happened over the past two months to change his decision, so he still wanted to break away from them and carve his own place. He would not be siding with the Nura Clan, and Shiori knew that as well.

Yet, Shiori's words were not wrong. It was just that the context is different than it would seem at first. _In truth, what I've to choose is if I'll stand with her and fight the Nura Clan and, with it, my own family… or if I'll stand aside, leaving both to fight one another but stay back from fighting against either. But Shiori shall not see me as an ally anymore should I stand aside._

And that was the hard choice. Fighting with Shiori was something he did not mind, no matter who her enemies were. But the Nuras were the exception to that rule, for they were still, no matter what, his family. To stand with Shiori would mean that he would be an enemy to his sister, his father and his mother. To stand with her would mean that he would find himself in a situation where he may need to kill a youkai of the Nura Clan.

As he thought about it, he remembered that night when he went berserk and killed one of his comrades. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his forehead with the palm of his hand. No matter how much time passed and even though he knew that Shoumen Kongo manipulated him, it still made him feel sick.

On other hand, the idea of staying away from it all made him cringe as well. While one could say that this path would mean that he would not become anyone's enemy, it also meant that he would not be anyone's ally. Not to mention that if he chose a side, he could do more to keep the bloodshed to minimum. If nothing else, it might make the opposing side more hesitant to fight… or at least, it would make his father and sister more hesitant. He could not imagine Shiori being as soft, especially after she made such a bold declaration to him. But that assumption might be just his wishful thinking.

He decided that he spent more than enough time sitting on the cold concrete of the school's roof, so he rose up. _At this point, even I don't know what will happen._ He looked through the fence, with his eye looking for whoever might be keeping their own eyes on him. He did see someone but, to his surprise, it was not one of the Nura Clan's youkai.

_Just what is she doing here?_ He wondered and then jumped over the fence on the roof, right into the school's courtyard and in front of the _Koko no Kira's Pillar_.

"Hi there, Rihan!" Minezawa Kirie, one of Shiori's human allies, greeted him. "How ya doin'?"

"Fancy seeing you here." He replied and looked her from head to toe. "What's with that strange getup?"

"What strange getup? I'm wearing normal clothes." She noted while tilting her head. She was wearing a gray T-shirt with a black broken heart on it, black capri pants and white sandals.

"For a girl who _always_ wears Goth clothes, that getup is everything but normal."

"Rude. I can be normal too, from time to time."

"What's going on, Kirie?"

"Shiori said that they attract attention." She said while puffing her cheeks. They usually tried not to say words that would put them in danger if they were overheard, but Rihan guessed that Koko no Kira would alert them if someone was eavesdropping. "And right now, Nuras are looking for everyone that attracts attention. Well, I guess it doesn't help that they may suspect me already. Any day now, I'll need to go into hiding."

Rihan felt stupid for not coming to that conclusion, even if his mind was busy with other things. "So, what are you doing here? You don't attend this school."

"Well, I was waiting for you of course! The Archivist is getting impatient, you know!"

_Huh?_ Rihan tried remembering what was this about, but nothing came to his mind. "What are you talking about?"

"We are to go to the Archivist and get something from him. Didn't Shiori tell you?"

"She told me a great many things, but that wasn't one of them." Rihan said and, just in case, opened his cellphone. "Oh…"

"You didn't notice the mail?"

"I forgot to turn the sound on when the classes ended." Rihan said while reading the message. _Meet Kirie in front of the pillar and then go with her to a person called the Archivist. He has something for you._

"So, will we go now? It's rude to make a lady like me wait twenty minutes for you, but it's even more so towards cranky, old men."

* * *

Two men were sitting at the table, one facing the other. One looked like a wolf dressed in a simple white yukata and he went by the name Houkou, while the other looked like a regular brown-haired Japanese human and he went by the name Nura Rikuo. They did not gaze at one another however, but at several maps of Tokyo's wards. Circles and letters were drawn on them using markers of different colors.

The black marks represented larger lairs of Urban Legends, no matter their affiliations. Blue marks represented Nura Clan's territories, yellow marks represented suspected Shin Sekai supporters, green marks the possible hideouts of Gagoze, purple marks suspected allies of the Hyaku Monogatari, red marks confirmed territories under influence of the Hyaku Monogatari.

And then there was the orange marker which was used to draw arrows and numbers, representing plans of attacks. There were also pins, each with a kanji written on it representing one group of Nura clan's youkai. Since it was possible that a large battle between the Nura clan and the Hyaku Monogatari erupts at any moment, Rikuo, Houkou and Karasu Tengu agreed that it would be for the best to mark the positions of Nura Clan's high-ranked members so that these maps could be used as war maps in case a large-scale battle occurred.

Houkou and Rikuo rarely exchanged words. Instead, one just pointed at the map and the other replied by nodding or shaking. After all, most of what had to be said was said during the large planning session earlier in the day, when more of Nura clan's leadership was present. Houkou and Rikuo were now just deciding on finer details and gave the decided plans second thoughts.

While both of them were still staring at the maps, a crow flew into the room. It held a piece of paper in its beak, no doubt a message sent by the Sanba Garasu. Houkou was the one to take it and read it. "The Strike Captains say that everyone is in the position." Houkou looked at Rikuo after reading the message.

After Rikuo gave him a nod, Houkou rose up and left the room in order to send a reply via tree spirits. Rikuo gave another look at the maps and then rose up as well. He would not be participating in the tonight's operation, but he would still go out and patrol.

But that was to be only the first of the several planned operations for the next few days. Rikuo and some of the Executives agreed that they may as well remind everyone which clan was in charge of Tokyo.

"Is the meeting done, Rikuo-sama?" He heard Tsurara call to him.

"Yes, it is." Rikuo replied without looking up as his eyes went over the maps one more time. "Sorry for making you wait." Even though she was his wife now, Tsurara was still his aide and bodyguard, so she would accompany him on the tonight's patrol. "Well, are you read-" Rikuo looked at her and then stopped for a moment, "Tsurara, I think you misunderstood something."

"I did?" Tsurara asked him with a smile while slowly walking towards him. He expected her to be dressed in her usual white kimono, but instead she wore a white blouse, a long dark-blue skirt that reached to her knees and white heels. She also wore a snowflake necklace, some golden earrings, a small white bag and her usual white scarf..

In translation, she dressed as if they were going on a date. "Tsurara, we are searching for an enemy."

"I thought you said we were going on _patrol_." She tilted her head and feigned confusion.

When the two of them were younger, they used patrolling as an excuse to go on dates, and still sometimes used that term whenever they went out. Still, Rikuo somehow doubted that she really misunderstood his intentions. "Tsurara, this is not the time for-"

"Rikuo-sama, you need to cool down." She said while putting her hands on his cheeks, and literally cooling his face. "You were on edge for too long."

"Tsurara, you know that Gagoze is-"

"I know. And trust me, I wish as much as you to put something sharp into his head. But you can't let it consume you." She then took his hand into hers. "If you go on like this, you will be too stressed and tired to deal with him. We _can't_ let him get out of our grasp _again_."

"Damn it… why do you need to make sense now?" Rikuo sighed. "But I've got to search for him. Even if the chance of me stumbling upon him is small, I can't help but try to catch that chance."

"And that's what you will do." She rubbed her fingers over his. "We'll go patrolling, like we usually do. We will walk around, take drinks, look around… maybe we even stumble upon him. It's the same as when you just walk around alone, you know. Nothing changes." She looked at him with a warm smile. "And when it's time to go back home, eat dinner and go to bed, we'll just go to a hotel, eat something and spend some time together. Does that sound good?"

He thought about it for a moment, and then conceded. "Yes." Rikuo sighed and smiled. He could not deny that he could use a small break and spend some time with his dear wife.

* * *

In the computer sciences room in the school, Onieda Mamoru was sitting in front of a computer with three monitors. Like he often did, he tried hacking into the Shin Sekai's servers via possible cracks in security.

And as usual, it was troublesome. The Shin Sekai's security was top-notch and the only reason he knew how to fight them was because he was once a member of the organization, and helped develop several of these security systems.

Unfortunately, the Shin Sekai's security systems were not static and improved nearly every day. It also meant that Mamoru and his allies had to improve too. And they did, but it was clear that the organization's growth was faster and better.

But he did not allow that fact to hold him back. He felt that if he gave up, even once, before giving it his all, that it would lead to him spontaneously losing his will to fight. He had lived for long enough to know that the only way to keep doing a properly was to not slack even once.

"Allow me to save you the trouble and tell you that the organization noticed your hacking attempts a good fifteen minutes ago, nii-san." He heard a young, feminine voice speak, which prompted him to raise his head. "The IT Security division is having bets on how long it would take you to realize that it's pointless." His sister Mayuri spoke while sitting down front-right of him at the same table.

"Damn it…" Mamoru said and closed the connection. "Did they tell you or did you ask?"

"I have people loyal to me there." She leaned against the chair she was sitting on and crossed her arms. "They asked me if I wanted to put a bet."

"Very kind of them, to tell you such things."

"Of course. Unlike some here, I'm actually on their side." She looked at him. "And that makes them willing allies."

"Are you going to critique me again?" Mamoru asked. Their relationship had become cold during last two months. Mamoru knew that the truth would make some things awkward, but like everyone else he was surprised that Mayuri sided with the organization. And the one who wanted to change the organization from inside did not like the approaches of the one who wanted to destroy it from the outside.

"What do you think you will accomplish like this, nii-san?" She asked him, ignoring his earlier question. "You can't fight the organization as some lone hacker whose lips are sealed, you know that well enough."

"I have to try."

"You are trying it the wrong way." She noted.

He knew what she meant by that. "It's more correct than certain other ways. Stare into the abyss for too long, and you will find yourself falling into it."

"Run away and you will find out that you are too far to do anything about the growing abyss." She replied without thinking too much about it.

But he expected her to say something like that. "So you agree that the organization is something worth labelling as an evil abyss?" She frowned when he pointed at that. "An abyss can't be changed, and neither can the organization. The ones doing the change are those falling into it."

"I didn't know we were discussing philosophy, nii-san."

He rose up from his seat and hit the table in front of him. "The _point_ is that the organization is not something worth saving, not even part of it. Even if some of its inventions could be used to help people, the power could be abused in the future. It must die, and so must all of its inventions. It-"

"Then I need to die too, right?" Mayuri said something that immediately turned him silent. "After all, my life was saved by that grand evil. Why don't you take a pencil and remove me?" She pointed at her neck.

"Don't… that doesn't count." He said through his teeth.

"You hesitate. And you'd hesitate if you had to kill those innocents it keeps alive, as shamefully few as they are." She also rose from her seat, but in a slower and more dignifying manner. "By your words, all Shin Sekai's experiments are evil, besides the ones that are not. That's just hypocrisy. You define what is right and wrong, and close your eyes where it fits you."

"That's what morality is: deciding by your own intuition what is right and what is wrong."

"Intuition doesn't exist. Only personal bias and convenient beliefs."

"You sound just like father."

"If you say so, nii-san." She sighed and turned around. "I came here hoping it would not end like this, but who am I kidding." She said while walking away.

Soon enough, he was standing in the classroom alone. He sat down sighing, wondering how it came to this. He wished he could stop her, but he realized already that Mayuri is too old to be told what she needs to think and do. She decided on the road she would walk, and he had to respect that.

But respecting did not mean that he had to like or support it.

* * *

"So…"

"Yes?" Kirie replied after a while.

The two of them were walking towards wherever the Archivist was, but Rihan had no idea where exactly they were going or who was the Archivist. "Who is this Archivist?"

"A member of the House of Sanmoto. For centuries, he and his branch of family were responsible for safekeeping many artifacts we created and collected. He's also responsible for safekeeping all of our historical records." She answered while eating an ice stick. "He's also one of the seven leaders of the Rose Coalition, so I guess he does more than just that. But if so, I don't know what exactly."

"How can you not know?"

"We are a secretive group, and don't tend to give one another utmost trust. Shiori is the one who knows the finer details of all of us, but I'm sure there are secrets even she is unaware of."

"I see." _Hm. I knew that there seemed to be some plotting and secret-hiding between these guys, but I had no idea that they were so open about it._ "So? What are we going to the Archivist for?"

"I don't know. We've to get something, but Shiori did not specify what. Also…" She looked at him. "The Archivist said that he would like to meet you."

"Meet me? Why? And why such a worried face?"

"It's not a worried face, but a cautious one."

"Why'd you be cautious about that?"

"I shouldn't. But you should." She turned her gaze to the front. "What do you think? That all of the seven leaders accepted the fact that Nura Rihan became their champion? That they are putting their Fear in the hands of a Nura?"

"No, I guess not. But Shiori-"

"Is the Big Boss, but not the Absolute Monarch. Additionally, forcing others to behave as you want is the very thing Shiori preaches to be against."

"So the other six leaders are autonomous?"

"Not only them, but all of the youkai. They stand together when fighting a common enemy, but other times they are more often at each other's throat than not. Hikine, for example, is on deadly relationships with the most of the Hyaku Monogatari's eviler youkai, even though he's also one of their main protectors."

"Sound screwed up."

"It's what you get when you put Freedom far above Justice and Peace. But let's return to the topic." She said and threw away the stick that was left after eating her icecream. "Each of the seven leaders needs to decide to accept or reject you. Shiori nominated you so you have her on your side. The fact that I did not make a move at you but instead just showed myself to you means that I'm officially accepting you."

"Officially?"

"Of course. But you can trust me if you want." She said mischievously.

"Thanks for the warning… you may now continue."

"Kaito was on the fence so when you two met, he sent you to deal with the Endless Thief and his sister. I guess that since you beat his tale, that he accepted you. Well, he's dead now so maybe we'll never know, and his opinion sure doesn't matter anymore.."

"Why do I have the feeling that the term _meeting_ plays a major role here."

"When a major character shows themselves in the story, they usually have a major part in it, right? It's something like that: once they meet you, they will need to decide to support you, reject you or test you. While they stay away from you, it means that they are still thinking it through. Well, officially at least…"

"So the fact that the Archivist decided to meet me means that he made his decision?"

"Yes, though I take it that he'll first want to talk to you. It's also possible that he put up a trap for you and will test you by trying to kill you."

"You guys sure don't perfume your words."

"If you intend to be with us, you'll have to get used it. We are not a warm and fuzzy group of people." She noted and then raised her hand. "And here we are." she said while pointing out at what looked like an Antique Shop. _Quite a fitting place for someone like the Archivist._

And one could hear the sound of a conversation from inside. _"You sound worried."_ An old man asked a question.

" _Yes oji-san, I am worried."_ A young woman answered.

Rihan felt like eavesdropping for a while, but Kirie just grabbed the door handle and pushed inside. "We're here." She declared the arrival.

"Yes, we are." Rihan sighed at the lose of a chance to eavesdrop on some delicious drama. _I expected more of you, Kirie-chan._

Now that he was inside and closed the door behind him, Rihan looked around. The Antique Shop did not just pretend to be one, but it truly was an Antique Shop. It was a large place, with several shelves and even another floor by the looks of it.

Yet, it did not look like it was used much, for dust was everywhere, including on most of the artifacts. One could think that this was a warehouse or someone's attic. But Rihan could also feel that a lot of these items were Tsukumogami, while other items looked like they were supernatural in their own right. He could imagine humans getting scared by this place's Fear and leave without even entering. _I wonder what happens to those who do enter. Do they just browse a while before they get freaked out by the atmosphere, or does the Archivist trap them in some horrific tale?_

Then his eyes felt on the man behind a counter. If he was an evil old man, he hid it well: he was a bit plump and who looked like he was in his late fifties, wearing a checkered lime and white colored shirt and brown pants, with a large moustache that would make any _Uncle_ proud, to the point that Rihan felt like he would give him some pocket money or cookies any moment now.

"Oh, if that isn't the young Kokuhan-sama?" The plump man said. "Just in time for some tea and cookies!" He said while pointing at an ancient European tea set and a bowl of cookies.

_I fucking knew it!_ The man's uncle-like looks almost made him accept the cookies, but he remembered what Kirie said to him and the Hyaku Monogatari's use of tea. "Maybe later, thanks." He kindly rejected the offer.

He wanted to look a while longer at the man who was obviously the Archivist, but his gaze turned to a more pleasant sight. The one whom he heard talking to him was a girl, or more exactly a young woman seeing as she looked like she was in her early twenties, that stood in front of the counter and to the Archivist's right. She looked like she came from a rock'n'roll concert, as her attire was made of a jacket with various pins, some black short pants, pitch-black stockings with holes in them and she wore feminine black boots. Additionally, her nails were polished black and she had a black collar around her neck. But the biggest sell-off of her looking like a rock-band member was probably the guitar bag that she wore on her back. Her hair was black, and turned into a small ponytail, though a few long, curvy bangs hung down from her . _I'll guess that she is the Songstress._

He did not look long at her when she took a cookie and moved away, so Rihan looked back at the shops owner. _I guess she won't be announcing herself today._ "You are this shop's evil overlord I presume?" He asked while returning his full attention to the Archivist.

"I'm the Archivist, if that's what you mean." The man said while tapping on his belly. "Ichimaru Shinsuke is the name!"

"I think I'll just call you jii-san." Rihan said and took a cookie, but without the tea.

"All younglings end up calling me that." He feigned a sigh. "So what brings you here, Kirie-chan?"

"Aren't you supposed to know that?"

"I know that Kokuhan-sama had come for the shard, but didn't hear anything about you."

"Ugh… so Shiori did not announce me, huh?" kirie shook her head. "Anyway, you say the shard is going to him?"

"That's what the boss said." The Archivist said while taking out something from below the counter. "Here, be careful not to lose it. Our ancestors invested a gerat deal of money to acquire this shard.." He spoke while handing Rihan a small, blue box.

"It's locked." Rihan said and knocked on it. "And I've a feeling that this is some very durable metal."

"The boss is the only one who has the key. Hopefully she still has it because you won't be opening that one otherwise."

"You said that this is some kind of shard and that you spent a lot of money on acquiring it?"

"Yes, it's a shard from the Maou's Hammer." The Archivist informed him. "One of oldest, broke up when Sanmoto Gorozaemon and your grandfather fought in Edo centuries ago."

"From what I hear, the Maou's Hammer eats its victim's Fears which makes it stronger with each slash. In that case, wouldn't it make this shard the least valuable one?"

"If you want the devoured Fear, than absolutely! But, there are two things that make it valuable in other ways!" The Archivist explained while pouring himself some tea. "For one, the shard is hungry and its hunger did not weaken over the nearly four hundred years it was sealed. And we all know into what a hungry animal turns into."

"But still, what good is a hungry shard?" Rihan asked while putting the shard into his pocket.

"Having the unfed shard means that we have the piece of the original Maou's Hammer. A good Spirit Smith can use it as the base to make a strong blade. A very good Spirit Smith could use it to create a sword even stronger than the Maou's Hammer, and since the shard came from the sword while its spirit hadn't matured, it is much easier to weave its properties."

Kirie was the one to react to this. "Ahhh, I see it now. So basically, Shiori is ready to forge a blade from it?" She then looked at Rihan. "And give it to him."

_Now that I think about it, she did promise me a sword._ Still, he kept silent.

"Well, I hope she at least confirms this boy's loyalty." The Archivist said coldly, but smiled when Rihan looked at him. "No offense boy, but I'm not too fond of the idea that a Nurarihyon gets one of our greatest treasures, especially the one who may turn into an enemy in near future."

Rihan opened his mouth to reply, but the Archivist continued talking.

"Or at the very least, he won't be using it for our benefit."

To this, Rihan did not have a reply. "So, am I to take you as an enemy?" He remembered the warnings that Kirie gave him a while ago.

For a while, the Archivist looked at him in silence. "I see that you understand something about us." He then sipped some more of his tea. "But no, I'm not your enemy. I don't have the means to challenge you." After putting down his teacup, he looked up at him. "But I won't be supporting you unless I'm sure you are on our side. If the boss decides to give you something else that I'm guarding, I'll reject her demand. I only agreed to this because I had a large debt to pay off to her."

"I see." Rihan could not feel any malice from him so he lowered his guard. "Would you mind if I look around a little?"

"Sure do so, but don't touch anything."

"Don't bother Kirika too much." Kirie added as she correctly guessed where his interest lay. "Or I'm taking photos and sending them to Shiori."

"Honestly, I think you are being more jealous than she would be." Rihan smirked at her and then went to browse the shop, leaving the two behind, but not before taking another cookie.

_This shop is bigger than it looks from outside._ Rihan mused while looking around. He guessed it was thrice as big. _Must be some kind of a tale or a spell._

He also started wondering if the Archivist lied to him and was actually planning on trapping him in this place and releasing the Tsukumogami or who know what else onto him. _Well, I'll cross that bridge if I ever reach it._

_But there really are some cool toys around here._ He looked at an antique, large clock that looked like it came from the Victorian Era, and the clock looked back at him. He saw some swords, naginatas and other weapons as well, displayed on the wall and radiating with malice. _I think these might have been fearsome weapons in the past centuries, but lost their power at some point. Their users probably suffered humiliating defeats._ He saw some notebooks, one of which was opened and called to him to read it. Rihan walked up to it, it's voice becoming stronger, and then he closed it. _I'm not falling for that trap._

_All in all, if I ever get my own house I'll need to pay a visit to this place. Some stuff from here would make a neat furniture._ He thought while jumping over the couch that tried to eat him.

He found Kirika near some antique musical instruments, with her eyes closed and playing a violin.

"That so does not fit your looks." Rihan commented when he reached her. She opened her eyes and looked at him, but did not reply. "I thought you'd be playing an electric guitar."

"That's my main weapon, yes." She gave him a simple reply.

Rihan tried to guess if she was a human or a youkai, but could not feel any Fear from her. So for now, he guessed that she was a human. "So why play a violin?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"You got me there." Rihan had to give up. "But come on, don't be so stingy with words."

"One day I'll be too old to play a guitar. So I practice the violin too, so that I can change my profession when I start looking silly dressed like this."

"Oh, you are quite thoughtful of your future. I look women like that." He teased her and then noticed that several items around them started shaking. "By the way…"

She must have guessed what he wanted to ask. "This violin is an artifact that temporarily turns things around it into Tsukumogami." She said and then stopped playing the violin. "And then they will kill everyone but the one who plays the violin." She explained while putting down the violin.

"This shop feels more like an Armory than an Antique Shop." Rihan said while avoiding, and then kicking, that couch that tried to eat him.

"To be honest, that's what it is."

"Well-" He started, but then his cellphone rang. "Sorry, I've to check the mail."

"I'm not sure why you are even talking to me, yet alone apologizing for taking a break from talking." She said while looking away, towards some doll that looked like a red-riding hood with a smug face and pointy teeth.

When he checked the message, which the Endless Thief sent him, he clenched his teeth. "Shit, why…"

"What is going on?" Kirika asked, though Rihan was not sure if it were due to his reaction or because the atmosphere outside the shop turned menacing.

"I had one of my followers keep a watch on me from afar." Rihan explained while putting the cell phone into his pocket. "There's trouble coming."

Kirika looked at him with an eyebrow raised, and then looked back at the doll. She frowned at it, and then moved towards the counter, near the entrance.

Rihan did the same. _Was I followed or did I stumble here at the bad time. Either way, I better give my order…_ He started typing on his cellphone as he walked forward.

* * *

"Come on Saaya-chan, don't be so angry~" Ritsura begged Saaya as the two girls in their school uniforms walked towards Saaya's home. "Forgetting is in the human nature… and in the youkai nature. And I'm both!"

"Grrr." Saaya replied with a small growl and her eyes closed. She did not take well to Ritsura being late, but when she found out that Ritsura remembered about having to meet her only when she was halfway to her own home, Saaya got even grumpier.

"I said I'm sorry." Ritsura said while facing Saaya and walking backwards, holding her bag behind her.

Saaya opened her eyes a little and looked at the smiling Yuki-Onna. "You do not looks sorry to me." She frowned some more. "If anything, you look like you are having fun."

"Nooo wayyy~" Ritsura said with a mouth shaped as 'o'. Then her walking backwards resulted in her stumbling and starting to fall onto her back.

But Saaya caught her by her collar. "Look. Where. You. Are. Going." After Ritsura fixed her position, Saaya let go of her collar and resumed walking. "If you think I'll help you do homework and study at the hospital, you are dead wrong."

"You saved my life, Saaya-chama~" Ritsura said as she caught up to her, this time walking properly. "I'm in your debt."

"Talking about debts…" Saaya put a hand into her bag and started rummaging as she walked, albeit with a slower pace.

"Now now now, let's not be hasty." Ritsura, who knew what Saaya was looking for, started sweating. "This is just a figure of speech, you don't need to write that down."

"I'm not talking about this, though now that you mention it I could write a numeric value for saving you from embarrassment as well." Saaya said while taking out a black notebook, with a sticker saying #9 to it. She also took out a pen from her pocket. "That will be 500 yen."

"Saaya-chama!" Ritsura feigned crying. Saaya's dad often donated his money for the good of the Nura Clan but Saaya, who would one day inherit him, viewed it as a debt and wrote down each one of them, especially Ritsura's. In other words, Ritsura would one day to have to pay off the debts.

"Wasting my valuable time due to your own irresponsibilities: 1000 yen." Saaya wrote down the text and number. "Helping you study: 1500 yen."

"You can't be serious! Aren't you helping me study because we're friends?"

"Friendship and all its privileges are a monthly fee, that's true." Saaya noted and crossed the last entry.

"Wait, I'm paying you to be my friend?!"

Saaya then put the black-colored marker into her pocket and took out a blue colored one. Ritsura gulped because the black entries usually felt like jokes, but Saaya used the blue pen for more serious debts which Ritsura could not deny had to be paid. "Destruction of my family's property…"

"You are talking about destroying that mansion where the Endless Thief took shelter? Wait, that is mostly NOT our fault! You should send the bill to the Keikains."

"With what? Postal service?"

"Keikain Yura is your father's friend, right? Why don't you use that to talk to her about it?" Ritsura hit her own chest. "Be reasonable!"

"...alright, 20% is your clan's fault, and another 30% will be your fault if I'm unable to have the Keikains pay."

"Ahhh, thank you Saaya-chama…" Ritsura sighed. It wasn't the best possible deal, but it was good enough and any more complaints could result in a 100% fine. Still, Ritsura gave her best not to listen to the monetary values that Saaya was saying aloud. "Oh look Saaya! We are at your home!"

"Indeed." Saaya noted and looked around. "Seems like the limo is gone. Dad must have gone somewhere." Then they reached the door and Saaya tried to open it, but it was locked. "Mom must be out too." Saaya took out the key and unlocked it, and the two girls went in. "Please excuse me, I need to call my mom."

"Sure." Ritsura shrugged and look around. "That is one fancy statue… though I'm not sure if I appreciate seeing my dad in such-"

"The statue doesn't exist, Ritsura." Saaya cut in while typing on her phone.

"But it's right-"

"It does not exist, got it?"

"...okay, sure. Here, I flushed it from my memory. Wait, what did I flush from my memory and what did we even-"

"Quiet! Hello, mom? Yes, I'm home." Saaya talked while the two of them climbed the stairs towards her room. "I was waiting for Ritsura so we could study together, that's why I was late." They reached the second floor. "But where are you two? Oh, I didn't know she had a Birthday. Aha. Mh. Mh." It looked like it was Saaya's mother's time to talk, so Saaya just nodded and replied with small sounds.

Finally, they reached the room and opened the door… but ended up not entering.

_...what?_

"Hmmm…" The two girls gazed as another girl lay on the floor, with her face on the carpet and looking at under Kana's bed. "Hmmm…" And she sounded like she was thinking about something.

_O… O… Onee-sama!?_ Ritsura recognized the girl in the question, even though she wore a pink, knee-long skirt, heeled white sandals and a white blouse pink white buttons, instead of her Onmyouji uniform.

"What I'm doing now you ask?" Saaya answered to a question on her phone, but with such a low tone that she would not disturb the girl in front of them. "I'm looking at some girl's butt while she stares at something under my bed."

"And now she is raising up and jumping onto my bed, under the blankets." Saaya continued. "Wait, why was that enough to conclude that this was Keikain Yura's daughter?!"

"Ahhh!" Ryoko shouted and for a moment, the two girls thought she became aware of their presence. But instead, it looked like Ryoko found something on the bed that shocked her. "So it _is_ true!" She mumbled while looking at something in her hand.

"I'll call you later." Saaya said to the phone and put it into her pocket. "And I thought only the youkai were crazy… Ahem!" She feigned a cough to get Ryoko's attention.

"Oh?" Ryoko turned around. "Ohh…" She then looked down at the bed, and then back at them with a smile. "Um… nice weather today, wouldn't you agree?"

"Just what are you doing in my bed?" Saaya asked and Ryoko turned towards them enough for Ritsura to notice what she held in her hands.

"Are those pieces of my hair?" Ritsura inquired.

"Yes… Speaking of which, should I leave you two lovebirds alone and come at a later date?" She seemed earnestly awkward.

"Ryoko-chan, was it?" Saaya asked with a wide smile and her eyes closed. It was one of creepiest faces Ritsura saw her do, so the Yuki-Onna took a step back. "Just what kind of conclusion did you come up with?" She asked while quickly taking out some breakable things from her bag.

"Well, Ryuzan reminded me that I had to come visit you and take care that you have no curses on you due to my prank from a while ago… and from that _Black Ball of Doom_ we fought at your old home." Ryoko explained. "Which is why I'm here."

"Very interesting." Saaya said with her smiling expression unchanged and while putting some heavy books into her bag. "Please, do continue~"

Ritsura shook her head in hopes that Ryoko would get the message, but her elder sister just crossed her arms and then closed her eyes while still sitting on Saaya's bed, thus stopping herself from seeing Ritsura's signals.

"Then I noticed Ritsura's bangs around the room, which meant that she was a common visitor, maybe too common. So I got suspicious…" Ryoko explained while not opening her eyes, which meant that she did not see any of Ritsura's signs to stop talking. "When I saw that even on the bed there were numerous bangs, my suspicions were confirmed."

_I just like reading comics and magazines there while Saaya studies at her desk! Don't say anything stupid now!_

"Oho? And what's your final conclusion about this mystery?" Saaya said while making sure that all of the zips on her bag were fully and utterly closed.

"Well, something like this…" Ryoko started with her right index finger raised.

" _What are you doing here?" Saaya asked while lying in her bed, dressed in pajamas and with a blushed face. "And it's so late…"_

" _Late is why I'm here." Ritsura said while caressing her cheek and unbuttoning the upper part of Saaya's pajamas. "It's an exam tomorrow, we should get rid of stress right? So we should-"_

_Wait, why are you spinning that bag around?!_

**CRASH!**

And so the scene ended up prematurely when Saaya propelled a bag filled with heavy books right into Ryoko's head. "And stay down!" Saaya yelled while steam came out of her head. Ryoko now lay unconscious, with her upper half of the body on the floor and the lower half still on the bed.

"Ohh! White with pink stripes! Even down there she has matching colors!" Ritsura noted while using the opportunity to take a look. "Do you think she came from a date with a boy who has special privileges? Or that she's going to go on a date once she is done here?"

"Well, she can show off her new horn, free of charge! Seriously, I like I don't have you to deal with already! It's like you two are sisters!"

"Well… about that…" Ritsura started but then her own cellphone rang. "Oh, Aotabou is calling me. Excuse me for a moment…" Ritsura said and then left the room, leaving her half-conscious elder sister alone with Saaya who was striking her left palm with her right fist. "Hello?"

" _Ojou-sama, is that you?"_

"Yes, it is." Ritsura answered in a serious tone. "Were there complications?" Although she did not participate in tonight's operation, Ritsura was informed on what would happen.

" _We are all in positions. We're waiting for an order to attack."_

"Why are you calling me for that?"

" _Well, Rikuo-sama left all to Houkou and then went on a patrol with Tsurara, but some of the yokai are stubborn about waiting for an order from above. Since we can't get him, Kurotabou here guessed your order should be enough. Also, there's the matter of…"_

"Of what?"

" _The young master is in there."_

"...what?" Ritsura's brows lowered. "Why?"

" _We don't know. He came in with some girl."_

"I see… It's possible that this girl led him in a trap. Ensure his safety." She said, though her own thoughts were different. "Understood?"

" _That was the plan. Now, should we attack?"_

"Oh, I see. Then turn on the speaker so others can hear me." Ritsura took a deep breath. "Alright guys! Commence Operation _'Capture the Archivist!'_ "

* * *

It took longer than expected for them to make a move, but finally the door of the Antique Shop was forcefully opened and a dozen youkai stormed inside, and soon in every corner of the shop a youkai stood, ready for a fight. Rihan was certain that there were no blind spots, and their eyes were on everyone.

Finally, the leaders of this little raid arrived: the monks Kurotabou and Aotabou entered. Both of them saw Rihan, but then averted their gazes to the Archivist who still stood behind the counter and trying to look natural, but sweating from every pore of his body. "Are you the person they call Archivist?" Kurotabou asked him.

"And who'd like to know?" The Archivist asked.

"You aren't even trying to look ignorant." Kurotabou noticed.

"What's the point? With so many Tsukumogami and supernatural artifacts, it's clear I'm part of your world." The Archivist's mouth and moustache rose up in a mellow smile. "So, what brings the Nura Clan's renown Strike Captains to this place?"

"Yeah, what is going on here?" Rihan demanded to know.

"Give us a moment." Kurotabou said and then both of the Strike Captains turned towards Rihan. "Young Master, this place is dangerous."

"I see that it is now." Rihan looked around. "What's going on here?"

"This is a trap, Young Master." Aotabou said and looked at Kirie who stood not too far from the Archivist. "I don't know what that girl told you, but she is one of them."

"And a high-positioned one." Kurotabou added. "We believe that she brought you here in order to take you hostage… Or worse."

"Kirie-chan, is that true?" Rihan looked at Kirie, feigning surprise.

"Hmph." Kirie put on a mocking smile. "And it went so well." She said with her fingers on her chin. "But alas, I guess the jig is up." _Good acting!_

"What's with that acting?" Rihan's blood cooled down when Kirika got in the way. "He's here to talk." She then put a hand on her hip and looked at the Strike Captains. "Or what? Is talking now a crime too?" _On second thought, this might be better in the long-run._

"As if you guys would just _talk_." Aotabou showed disgust on his face.

"Well, he was here for quite a while, but not even a hair fell from his head." Kirika noted while looking towards Rihan. "We let him browse through the goods and then intended to have a little chat. If we wanted to harm him, he'd be in shackled by now, dead or in middle of a fight."

"And just what did you want to chat about?" Aotabou asked with his arms on his hips.

"A lot of things, but ends up he already has a girlfriend so we lost our motivation." Kirie noted. "But we just return to feigning that something evil was going on? That's way cooler than a girl's broken dreams."

"Young Master, these people are suspected to work with Gagoze." Kurotabou said to Rihan, ignoring Kirie's jokes. "Most likely, they were delaying you so that he could come and-"

"Gagoze? Now that's interesting." Kirika cut in again. "We are talking about that guy who came to Tokyo recently and rustled your people's jimmies? What is the basis of this accusation?"

"Good question." Rihan crossed his arms. "I can understand mistrust, but why would you think they work with Gagoze?"

"You must be kidding Young Master… these guys protect many youkai like Gagoze. What-"

"True, we do." The Archivist finally spoke up. "The Gagoze Group had been one of most important parts of our organization, and I'm ashamed to say that the current Gagoze's father, who was a mass child murderer, had been under our protection. Rumors say that he was even considered as a leader of our great clan."

The whole place turned silent, but the malice coming from the eyes of the Nura Clan's youkai was downright toxic.

"Ah sorry, it wasn't us. It was that other clan that protected a child-slaughterer… what was its name again?"

One of other youkai, whose name Rihan did not know, was the one to reply. "Don't get full of yourself, old man."

"My point is…" The Archivist sat down onto his stool. Although he was defiant, it was clear that he was terrified of the situation. "Why do you look at us, when this guy may as well be affiliated with one of you guys? Unless you have a proof-"

"If you have nothing to hide, then please stop talking and come with us." Kurotabou spoke up. "And we will take your famous archives. I'm sure that, if he isn't affiliated with you people, he won't be in your archives."

"Yes, that's the only reason you want these documents." Kirika spoke up once again. "And I'm sure that you will be letting him go once you are done."

"If he doesn't fight back, he'll be safe." Kurotabou fixed his hat. "The same goes for you two. Cease your cooperation with the Hyaku Monogatari and we shall have no problems."

"What a bunch of yakuza." Kirika replied to noone in particular.

"And why don't we all just calm down?" Rihan raised his voice before any other words could be exchanged. "Is there a legit reasoning for this attack?" He asked the two Strike Captains.

The two of them looked at him in surprise, while some of the other youkai looked at him suspiciously. "Young Master, please. These people killed your grandfather, brought a lot of pain to us and many others and they protect-"

"Protect evil guys, just like you guys did." The Archivist tried making the whole situation worse by speaking. "Speaking of which, why did the two child-protecting youkai like the two of you ever let the former Gagoze run around again?"

"It's ancient history!" Kurotabou replied to him, but it was clear that he did not remember those days dearly.

"As are your qualms with them." Rihan added.

"This is pointless!" One of the youkai shouted. "It's clear that they filled his head with all kinds of bullshit!"

"Let's take these guys down and talk about this later!" Another youkai said.

"I agree." Kurotabou fixed his straw hat again. "Young Master, we need to act against our enemies now. We shall _not_ negotiate with these folks!"

"Good, we aren't interested in delaying you guys any longer either." The Archivist finally rose up onto his feet. "Our allies are already here and ready for war."

"Guys, some Urban Legends have appeared!" One of the youkai from outside shouted. "They aren't attacking but... "

"Please do the honors." The Archivist pointed with his hand. "You are the attackers here after all."

_Damn it, is there no way to defuse this situation?_ He had already come up with a plan to minimize the damage, but he was not sure it would succeed.

Then, he saw Kirika point at something above him. Rihan automatically looked up, and saw the Red riding Hood doll float and grin, all while claws grew from its hands. _Why can't I feel any Fear coming from this doll?_

Nobody else noticed it, including both of the Strike Captains, the Archivist and Kirie. "Unless you let us go." Kirie spoke up, unaware that an attack was going to happen. "We don't want the Young Master to get harmed, right?"

Rihan wondered why the Doll did not feel like a youkai, but soon realized that it would strike at someone unless he acted. Rihan pointed his finger. Then, an ice spike struck through it and the doll got stuck in the ceiling. Yet, the doll madea wicked smile as if it's goal was achieved.

Whatever the doll's intentions were, this sudden action caused an uproar.

"The Archivist attacked!" Someone shouted, and the youkai started hitting and breaking all the suspicious items in the shop. In retaliation, the various Tsukumogami and some of the items fought back. Kirie jumped onto the floor with a chalk and started drawing something, while Kirika joined her in hiding. The Archivist, who could not move as fast, got struck by one of Kurotabou's blunt weapons in the head and fell down, holding his head.

Outside, another battle started between the youkai of the Nura Clan and the Hyaku Monogatari.

This was also when a certain youkai affiliated with Rihan was supposed to make his move, and that he did. The glass broke when a figure in an old-fashioned black hooded monk robe landed in the shop, catching everyone's attention. This youkai, the Endless Thief, raised his pitch-black hand in the air and the shadows started jumping towards all of the Nura youkai. Fearing it was an attack at them, they all dodged the shadows, but then the shadows engulfed everything in the shop and, one after another, artifacts and Tsukumogami were devoured by them no matter if they were on the shelves or inside containers, until only a few items were left and the shadows returned to the Endless Thief's arm.

"Stop him!" Aotabou shouted to everyone. "If he runs away, this will all be for naught."

The Endless thief then ran towards the three humans behind the counter. _He won't get there in time!_ Rihan went towards him, and the Endless Thief struck him so hard that he flew towards the other end of the shop, crushing into the shelves. It was an action that Rihan told him to do. " _If I attack you, strike me as hard as you can. That should buy you some time."_ As Rihan had hoped, this made the Nura youkai look at him and, for a mere moment, forget about the Endless Thief.

It looked like it was not enough time, but then Kirie hit whatever she drew with her chalk and a flash of light blinded everyone looking at them, with exception of the Endless Thief whom she warned to hide his eyes by putting her hand over her own.

" _Ichiya Datsubashi!_ ( _One-Night Escape Bridge!)_ " The Endless Thief shouted the name of his newest technique, and a black shadowy portal appeared on the ground. He pushed Kirie, Kirika and the Archivist into it, and then jumped into it himself.

_Well, looks like they all got away. That saved everyone trouble, and Shiori from having to act._ Rihan sighed in relief. _Now, I hope that nobody noticed me walking beside the Endless Thief in the last few days or I'll have a hell to explain._

* * *

Fifteen to twenty minutes had passed since the Archivist and his allies ran away. It did not take long for the youkai of the Hyaku Monogatari outside to notice that their masters safely retreated, which prompted them to retreat as well. Several youkai of the Nura Clan tried going after them, but the Strike Captains stopped them due to possibilities of luring them into a trap and there being no point in taking such a risk anymore. So they just turned to insulting their enemy's lack of courage.

In meantime, Rihan was still inside the shop, sitting on one of the remaining chairs while the Nura Clan's youkai investigated every nook and cranny of the shop. As it proved, the Endless Thief did not manage to steal _every_ item and most of second floor was untouched, though the shadows seemed to have gotten through the cracks on the floor and cleaned the basement. Rihan could hear the sounds of crushing from above, which he guessed meant that the Nuras were destroying most of the items there.

Rihan wanted to leave the place, but Kurotabou and Aotabou stopped him, telling him to wait until they confirmed that the Hyaku Monogatari was not preparing for a retaliation. He decided not to push his luck and stayed in the shop for the time being.

He looked at where the ceiling, where the doll was struck. But he saw only a hole. _I guess the ice melted._ His suspicions were confirmed when his gaze fell on the floor just below it. He did not see the doll from before. In its place, there was a different doll: a simple wood-carved one. It had limbs and a round head, but nothing else. _I wonder if it turns into this once it dies. But was this even a youkai? I could not feel any Fear coming from it. It could be used as a powerful assassination tool… but by whom?_ His first guess was that it belonged to the Archivist, but then why would Kirika treat the doll with suspicion, even to the point of alerting Rihan about the doll's actions? _Now that I think about it, the dolls purpose was most probably to start the fight… or maybe create at least one victim? If anyone died, the tensions would have escalated._

But he did not have much time to think about it. "Where's my son?" He heard his father's voice.

"I'm here." Rihan replied on instinct, taking the attention of the youkai with a gourded hair. Both of his parents have arrived in the shop.

His father said something to his mother, after which she went upstairs, probably to Kurotabou and Aotabou, while his father went towards Rihan. "I heard what happened." He was dressed in a dark-blue and black yukata with no patterns. To Rihan, this meant that his father was ready to fight on this day, as he did not like to wield his word while dressed in western clothes.

"What exactly did you hear?" Rihan asked while raising up.

"Everything that happened here." His father said. "Why were you at a place like this, Rihan?"

"That girl, Kirie, asked me to help her find this place. When we arrived, I decided that it seemed interesting enough, so I decided to browse a little. Then Kuro and Ao attacked."

"Did you know this girl from before?" His father asked while looking at some of the broken items on the floor.

"We met a few times, but I can't say I know her too well." Rihan did not exactly lie by saying this. "Is there a reason for this interrogation?"

"I'm not interrogating you. I'm just worried." His father looked at him once again. "The Hyaku Monogatari are a manipulative bunch and their words and petty plots tend to be more dangerous than their own fangs. That girl was no doubt leading you into a trap, or trying to poison your mind." He then frowned. "Son, why did you delay Kurotabou and Aotabou when they arrived?"

"I felt like their attack was uncalled for."

"I would not order this attack if it was uncalled for. For one, unlike what you think, the problem is not just that they have connections to the Hyaku Monogatari. The Archivist is an evil man himself, and is infamous for safe-keeping and selling items for dishonest, and often horrendous, murders." He looked at the broken items again, whose remains still radiated with malice.

"Then why didn't you take him down before?"

"Because his shop changes locations every few days. By the time we find out where one of his merchandise was sold, he had already moved his shop elsewhere. We finally got a tip that he just moved to this place and made a move."

"A tip? From whom?"

His father shrugged his shoulders. "We don't know, it was some youkai who came, told us about it and then disappeared when the one who received the message averted his eyes. But their intel proved valid. In either case, there was no reason to stand on his side. He would have gotten better treatment than he deserved anyway."

"If you say so. But from what I understand, you did not attack just to remove him from the streets."

"No, we didn't." His father shook his head. "This is not the first Archivist of the Hyaku Monogatari. They are a family of Archivists, loyal to the House of Sanmoto since the Edo Period." He told him what Rihan already heard, but he had to pretend that he did not know about it. "Alongside safe-keeping the artifacts, they also safe-keep many of the important documents and historical records. We believed that we could find out something about the current Gagoze from them. No matter if he were affiliated with them or not, he might have been mentioned. It's hard to believe that the Hyaku Monogatari did not have dealings with him while he was still in Tokyo, be it on cordial or hostile terms."

"I see." This gave Rihan an idea. _I'll have to speak to the Archivist one more time._ "By the way, while we are talking about the youkai called Gagoze…"

"Yes, I heard what the Archivist blubbered." His father looked annoyed. "Gagoze joined the Nura Clan during your great-grandfather's reign, but ceased with his sick hobbies with his actions because your Great-Grandfather saw killing children as weak and unworthy of a truly strong youkai. When your Grandfather became the Supreme Commander, Gagoze was almost executed on the basis that he killed some children. He got away, but there were no more incidents… not until your grandfather died." His father then frowned. "And then he met the Hyaku Monogatari, who convinced him that he should not only return to his hobbies, but also dispose of me and take control over the Nura Clan. But I'm sure the Archivist would not have talked about that part."

Rihan did not have an immediate reply to this, though his mind did try to look at both sides of the argument. "A clan built on killing children ceased their activities for the entirety of four centuries? I find that hard to swallow."

"He was one of youkai who helped form the clan. Unless we had strong enough proof, moving against him would have shaken everyone's trust in their Supreme Commander. People change with time, and the clan believed that Gagoze did too. When it proved false, I was the one to kill the Gagoze Group's leader."

"Yes, people change indeed."

"I see where you are going with that." His father sighed. "Look, my problem with this Shiori and her little group is not that they call themselves Hyaku Monogatari. My problem is that this Shiori and her followers show no signs of being different. They are still a group of people who kill and torture for their own pleasures."

He had no reply to that. While he could make a few arguments for Shiori, in the core of the argument his father was right and he knew well enough that her followers were usually worse than her.

But then again, he also did not have much interest in their moralities. He once tried to care, and those were the dark days for him. Yet, he still felt annoyed at some of the things said.

"But enough about that. I remember there was another girl here. She was more communicative than this Kirie person." His father changed to another topic. "Do you by some chance know anything about her?"

"She's cute and seems to be a fan of Rock music. Other than that, I've no idea. Unlike Kirie, I never met this girl before." Rihan than remembered to ask another thing. "Speaking of which, you seem pretty sure that this Kirie person is an enemy. How come?"

"Did she act like she wasn't one of them when the attack started?"

"No, but I'm asking about what occurred before that. I got an impression that you guys knew about her."

"Yes, we've been aware of her affiliations for a while now, ever since one of our youkai caught her create some drawings that turned into youkai."

"And you just let her be?"

"We could either strike at her immediately or observe her movements and try to learn something. Unlike most of her group, she did not seem to be very observant." His father frowned then. "But I doubt she'll be so easy to catch now that she is aware of us. We should have had attacked earlier."

"You should have." _I better inform Kirie about this._ "Can I go now?" His father crossed his arms and looked annoyed, no doubt wanting his son to return home. "I can look after myself, dad."

"Like you did when this Shiori person filled you with bullets?"

"We learn from our mistakes."

"Does it even matter? Why can't it wait until tomorrow noon? The streets are not safe right now, especially for you."

"My youkai blood feels like parading around, if you don't mind. Though you can try to keep me here, but the moment you remove your eyes I will sneak away."

His father sighed. "Yes, by now I'm aware that I can't stop neither you nor your sister from doing as you like. Just be careful, okay?"

* * *

"This must be the place." Rihan mumbled to himself while entering an empty house whose address he got over a mail. He took good care that he was not followed by his father's youkai, lest he brought even more trouble to the Archivist and Kirie.

"Good to see you again, boss." The Endless Thief met Rihan as he entered through the window. "Sorry for hitting you back then."

"It was on my order, so no need to apologize." Rihan said and then looked around. "Nice place you have here." There was nothing unique about this place, for it was just an average modern Japanese household. _But still, it does look cozy._

"The owners will not return for a few more months, so I made it a temporary lair."

"I see that." Many of the items that used to be in the Archivist's shop were on the floor everywhere in the house. "Where are our friends?"

"That _Rocker Girl_ and the _Uncle_ are in the cellar. I guess they feel safer down there. Kirie-san said that she had to take care of some things now that her cover was blown."

"I see. Well, take me to the Archivist."

"Follow after me, boss."

They soon reached the cellar where the Archivist was holding a bag of ice on his head and sitting on a stool, while Kirika was leaning against the wall. "You go and keep a lookout." He told the Endless Thief and he left after replying with a nod.

"I'm not sure if I should be glad to see the boy who so generously helped us, or pissed that a Nura just appeared in my vision." The Archivist met him Rihan with bittersweet words.

"You should be grateful. I had no reason to save you guys in the first place." Rihan reminded him.

"Fine, but don't complain if I'm a bit grumpy. And I doubt that you came to check on my well-being, so please spit it out. I've to move what was left of my merchandise to a new shop… and create a new shop before that I suppose."

"I've three things to discuss."

"Three? That's a lot seeing as you had little to talk about before."

"Time flies, things change." Rihan shrugged with his shoulders. "First, my clan thought that you knew something about this Gagoze or at least had it in your archives. Seeing as I've a personal business with that guy…"

"You'd like to ask for it as a payment for your help I suppose? I hope you don't intend to rat me out if I give you what you want."

"Why rat you out now? I could have just let them interrogate you or read your archives."

"I could think of a few reasons, but I'll go and trust you." The Archivist put the bag of ice down and started talking. "This Gagoze is a hitman. You pay him, tell him whom you want dead and he will give the victim a messy end."

"That's not news for me. He's still a hitman from what I hear, and a more successful one since he stabbed me."

"But you should be interested to know that he had many clients from Tokyo… even after he fled the city."

"It's be strange if he didn't, seeing how many people live here. Who usually hired him?"

"I would lie if I said that the the Hyaku Monogatari had no dealings with him."

"You'd be a big fat liar." Kirika noted. "You hired him yourself several times, right?"

"Thank you for your help, Kirika-chan." The Archivist gave her an angry look. It was clear now that the Archivist was not a nice uncle that he looked like at first glance. "Don't give me that look boy. I can't create youkai like most of them, but my position is more dangerous than you think. I need weapons, and hitmen are that weapon for me."

"Which enemies could _you_ possibly have?"

"The clients who abuse my merchandise. Thieves and robbers. The Shin Sekai, the agents of Kyushu and Sanmoto Gorozaemon. Many inside our branch of the Hyaku Monogatari. Even some less honorable members of the Nura Clan. I sit on a treasure pile boy, robbing one of my shops can turn a dozen weak youkai into a force to be reckoned with. And some of my more malicious merchandise should not stay outside of my shop for too long for obvious reasons, so if someone decides to not return them back… I need them disposed and the artifact returned. Me using these hitmen may seem evil, but it would be even more evil to do nothing."

"We're getting off the point here."

"That's true. In any case, I stopped using his services three years ago, when Shiori-sama became our boss. She had some grudge against him and so he became our enemy for reasons I don't know myself."

_What could she have against him? I can understand now, but back then?_ "That's interesting and all, but I need something more useful."

"This _is_ useful. I'm loyal to the boss so I stopped using Gagoze's services, but I can't say the same for others. It's possible that some in the Rose Coalition help this guy. Your friends were right to suspect us."

"Do you have any suspects?"

"If I were you, I'd suspect everyone but the boss."

"So you are saying one of you allies is affiliated with him?"

"I'm not. Gagoze might have been hired by Mizuchi for all I know, or even by the Shin Sekai or Sanmoto Gorozaemon. Or even by…" Then he paused.

"Why are you hesitating?"

"This may sound biased, but the Nura clan is also a suspect."

"Huh?"

"Not the clan itself, but some of its members. Some of Gagoze's hits have been terribly convenient for some of the Nura Clan's Executives."

"Before or after the events of eight years ago?"

"Before that incident eight years ago, Gagoze used to kill people that were a thorn in the eye of some of the Executives. After the incident, suspiciously many enemies of the Nura Clan were killed in the Chubu Prefecture, where some of the Nura Clan's associations try to expand on cost of the local youkai clans."

Although the Nura Clan was based in Kansai, it also had territories across Chubu, reaching all the way to Mount Nejireme in Kansai. He could see why the Archivist would bring this up.

"Do you have any proof of this? And who might the Executives in question be?"

"I've no hard proofs at hand, and I don't remember with certainty who were the suspicious Executives. I can look in my archives, but you'll need to visit me in a day or two. And even then, it would be mere suspicions.

"Even that will be enough. I might get a clue."

"Well, then until I get to check the Archives, I suggest you do some of your own investigating. If nothing else, those Executives might be able to help you track him down."

Rihan nodded in agreement. He doubted that anyone in the clan would have been the current client, but they could help him find Gagoze. _I don't even need to persuade them. If I find them, they will have to spill the beans lest I spill the beans to dad or sister._ "Since you are so suspicious, care to give me your theories on who it might have been?"

"Depends on the client. If it's Kyushu, he should be targeting you and your sister. If it's Goroazemon, he should be trying to kill the Boss. If it's the Shin Sekai, he should be trying to kill Nura Rikuo. If one of ours hired him, it could be literally anything, from elimination of a rival to something as trivial as having fun. For others, I've no idea why they would hire him."

"And eight years ago?"

"My words don't change in that case."

"Hm." Rihan tried to think about what else he could ask on topic of Gagoze, but could not come up with anything. "Enough about Gagoze for now. Let's move onto topic that might be more to your interest."

"What do you mean?"

"Did you know that someone tipped your location to the Nura Clan?"

"No… I thought they just found my themselves… which little shit tipped me off?" He had a dangerous look in his eyes and his choice of words became less polite.

"I don't know, and neither does my father. Some youkai came, gave us a tip, and then vanished when he got a chance."

"Damn it… if you find out something, please let me know. And if you kill the bastard, I'll put in something for you."

"What something?"

"A reward. You won't even need to return it back."

"I'll keep my eye and ear out." Rihan accepted the deal. "So, who could have known about your location?"

"Someone from the Rose Coalition, but I don't know how they could do it without breaking the _Primary Rule_ and getting torn into countless pieces by those dolls."

"Speaking of dolls…" Kirika spoke up. "Did you have an evil Red Riding Hood doll in your shop?"

"Like that one which this boy struck with ice? No, it was not mine. Speaking of which, where did that thing come from?"

"You seemed to know something about it." Rihan looked at Kirika. "You were suspicious of it even before the doll moved."

"I suspected that it belonged to the Dollmaker so I decided to keep an eye out for it."

"The Dollmaker?" The Archivist spoke before Rihan could. "Are you sure it was his?"

"No, I just get paranoid whenever I see a doll." She said and when Rihan looked at her with a confused look, she explained herself. "His dolls killed some of my acquittances. That puts you on the edge whenever you see a doll, you feel me?"

"Does it help if I mention that the doll had no Fear of its own?"

"Ah yes, a youkai would know such a thing." Kirika scratched her chin. "Yes, it does help. As a matter of fact, it answers our question."

"If it had no Fear of its own, then it is most definitely the Dollmaker's. His dolls are like that." The Archivist spit on the floor. "Damn it, he may have been the one to tip me off."

"Who the heck even is the Dollmaker?" Rihan asked.

"The Dollmaker is a powerful Urban Legend, able to create and control all kinds of dolls."

"Really? That doll did not seem strong to me."

The Archivist frowned. "Tell me, what happened to the doll after we left?"

"It turned into a small, wooden mannequin."

"If it was made only out of wood, that means that it was one of his weakest dolls." The Archivist rose from his seat and started walking around in frustration. "He makes his dolls from all kind of materials. Wood, porcelain, metal… and most notably out of flesh, blood, bone and souls, both from human and youkai." He looked at Rihan. "Beware the ones made from the last ones. Those dolls are as strong as an average youkai, and our reports say that some are above average in strength."

"Why? Am I his target?"

"If you aren't now, you might be one day." He then started musing to himself. "He definitely seems to have had a hand in all this."

"You really think he tipped you off?"

"Maybe. If nothing else, he must have known that the Nura Clan would raid my shop. Why else would his Doll infiltrate it, and then attack while we were arguing? I doubt he had benevolent intentions."

"You are quite worried about this Dollmaker. On whose side is he?"

"It's not known." Kirika jumped in. "But he seems to be an artificial tale, so he's most likely part of the Hyaku Monogatari, though it's unknown of which coalition."

"If he's an artificial tale, then shouldn't you be able to find out who's by tracking down the source?"

Kirika sighed. "If only it were that easy…"

"Let me explain." The Archivist spoke up. "This guy's tale is told through a poem, a comic book, a novel, a web novel, sprayed walls, a song, an indie video game, a powerpoint presentation, a jigsaw puzzle sold in stores, a traditional painting, a digital painting, a dating sim, a wood carving…"

"Okay I get it." Rihan stopped him. "His creator went out of their way to hide the source behind multiple works."

"Yes, and they also use that to mock those who try to find out the truth." The Archivist added.

"What do you mean by that?"

"You'd think that every tale is the same, right? Well, while they do share the fact that he is a youkai that creates dolls from all kinds of materials and a few other elements, each variant of the tale has something unique. In some, he is controlled by Sanmoto Gorozaemon, in another he ate his creator, in yet another he can transform into any youkai, in one he enslaved his own creator… and so on. We could find the source if we found out more about the Dollmaker but… the bastard himself takes good care to make every variant seem likely."

"Well, I've to give credit where it's due: someone sure put a lot of effort into this." Rihan shrugged. "But if there are so many tales, wouldn't that mean that all variants are true?"

"If it worked that way, don't you think that everyone would create countless variants of a tale?" The Archivist pointed out. "No, having such a large amount of tales would create multiple youkai, especially if they are mutually contradictory like his are. And each of those youkai would be weakened by the other's existence."

Than Kirika joined in. "And since the Dollmaker is by no means a weak youkai, one variant is the absolute while others are ignored."

"Well, not really ignored." The Archivist shrugged. "The other variants were born, but they died soon, probably killed by their creator so they wouldn't get in the way."

"Okay, I didn't know that." Kirika said shrugged.

"Some of the youkai witnessed the deaths of some of them, most of them killed by dolls of the Real Tale. And all that before we could witness their unique characteristics."

"This is getting more complicated at the second." Rihan sighed and scratched his head. "Well, I got all I needed to know so I better go before my clan starts looking for me."

"Wasn't there a third topic you wanted to discuss?"

"The third topic was the doll, so we just finished with that topic." Rihan noted. "Anyway, since the Endless Thief must not be seen with me, I'll leave him with you to keep you safe until you move."

"I very much appreciate it, boy." The Archivist nodded. "Beware as you walk the streets, who knows what might happen."

"Thank you for the useless warning." Rihan said and weaved back.

And as he passed Kirika, the girl spoke up as well. "You better take his warning to your heart. You should beware the Puppet Master."

"I will." Rihan nodded and left the place.

* * *

There were not many things that could make Gagoze feel sick in the stomach. Those who had suffered through unimaginable tortures, and then put others through the same, were less sensitive than the rest of the world.

But the _Dollmaker's Domain_ was a different story and although it did not make him feel sick, it made him feel worried. The Dollmaker's strings made him walk through what looked like a giant, hollowed wood, with dry branches growing towards the inside and a thick mist engulfing the whole place. From the ceiling, various dolls were hanging… and not only dolls, but also humans of both genders and all ages, as well as different kinds of youkai, who bled and wept while flying dolls tortured them. And then there were those who hung up in higher places, surrounded by what looked like those winged babies that humans called angels. He could not see that well, but he felt that whatever those _angels_ were doing was much worse than those physical tortures.

The girl that led him noticed what he was looking at. "Pretty, isn't it? Papa will turn all these materials into beauuutiful brothers and sisters!"

"Materials you say? I take it that he creates the dolls from this?"

"Yez, yez! Papa is an artist!" The girl jumped as she said that. "They are cut up and modified to be _just perfect_! Yaay!"

"And those things that look like angels? What do they do?"

"They shape the souls and minds of the materials! Papa can create new souls, but existing souls are stronger he says. But I wish my soul was created by Papa! I wish every fiber of me was created by Papa! But if I'm strong, I can help Papa a lot more so maybe it isn't _so_ bad!"

_So he turned the child into this. If I'm a sick monster, then what does that make him I wonder?_

"Maybe Papa makes you a child too? Than we can be siblings!"

"Sorry, but someone else took this child and shaped him into his doll." Gagoze replied to the enthusiastic girl. The images of his foster father, the former Gagoze, appeared in his mind.

"Awww… ah, we are here!"

"Yes, I see that…" Gagoze gulped as he looked at the sight in front of him. From afar he thought that it was just a statue, but now he knew that he was wrong.

He stood in front of a large doll, which in its sitting position was already five times Gagoze's size. Its head was a large white ball of wool, its eyes were giant buttons and its mouth was a moving hole in the ball that was supposed to be its head. Its body was very slim, and dressed in a brown coat, while its hands were made of porcelain from whose fingers countless almost invisible strings were moving. On his palms there was something that looked like something that could open and reveal a perfectly round hole. It did not need to be said that the size of his hands was proportional to its body, which meant that he could squash Gagoze without much trouble. _And now that I look at it, he doesn't have legs. How does he move?_

What was more, he had an audience. Everywhere around him, the angels that Gagoze saw from afar flew. Now that he got to take a closer look, he could see that these angels were made of porcelain, had bodies of babies, wings and had expression of pain on their face, with black tears flowing out of their eyes. And they all sang some song that gave Gagoze shivers. _I feel like this damn song could break my entire body apart… but I'd be a loser if I let this scare me!_ And he tried to keep his composure.

"I see that our guest has arrived." The giant doll spoke to him. "Glad to make your acquittance, Gagoze-san. I'm the Dollmaker, the King of this little world." The Dollmaker made a western-styled bow.

"I guessed as much. Now, would you mind removing these strings from me?"

"All in its due time." The Dollmaker grinned. "But first, we should discuss a cooperation."

"I hope that it doesn't require me to get turned into a doll."

"I thought you already were turned into a doll by your father." He grinned at Gagoze's surprise. "All that my dolls hear, I hear. All that my dolls see, I see. So I know what you said to that one." He pointed at the girl that brought Gagoze to this place. She jumped up and down in joy of being noticed.

"Who the hell are you and what do you want with me?"

"A potential ally. I think you and I could help one another a lot." The Dollmaker stretched his hands and grabbed a hanging human and a hanging lizard-shaped youkai. "After all, one can't fight the forces that make Tokyo their home alone, right? One can only hide so long while the Nuras search every corner of the city for you." The Dollmaker threw a screaming human and a curse-spitting youkai into his mouth and started chewing on them. The sound of bones breaking and flesh being ripped apart soon replaced their screams, and blood started pouring from the Dollmaker's mouth.

"You seem to be doing fine enough without me. So why would you need my help?"

The Dollmaker put his hands together, and spat out the remains of the human and youkai. "You have value, Gagoze. The Nuras hate you as much as they fear you. And you have especially high value to Nura Rihan and those closest to him." With incredible speed and precision, the Dollmaker started weaving the remains of those he chewed upon. Soon enough, they were all turned into strings, and then into body parts, just like how wool could be turned into clothes and other items. "And that makes you especially valuable for me. But, fortunately for you, in a different way than to the ones mentioned."

"So? What is it that you want?"

"That does not concern you." The Dollmaker raised one of his hands and a hole opened in it, releasing some pieces of porcelain, all looking like a skeleton. "What concerns you, is that we can help one another." He then continued weaving the flesh and skin around the porcelain skeleton. "And that while I would prefer to have you willingly join my side, I don't actually _need_ it to be so." Finally he put on the ground his creation: a human with lizard eyes and large teeth, but with scales that looked like they were made out of human flesh and a long, spiky tail with a sword on its end. "Understand?"

"Yeah… I get that this is a threat and that I don't really have a choice."

"Good… my dolls will bring you to your quarters. Take a rest, I'm sure you need it." And then the Dollmaker went to grab some more _materials_. "In meantime, I'll continue creating an army for you, and move the pawns on the chessboard that is the world above." He then took the youkai he created and threw him into the air. "And shape our victims for the grand play."

The thrown doll did not fall back down.

"Where did you send him?"

"To help us in moving some pawns and traumatizing our victims. Nothing hurts more than meeting a new friend, and then losing them, right?" The Dollmaker made a large grin. "Now, I better hurry and make some more dolls. I may need them this same night."

* * *

_Calm down, Eiji._ A boy told to himself as he walked beside his crush. _Hikari-chan will notice it if you're scared!_

"Is something wrong, Eiji-san?" The girl that walked beside him, Furuta Hikari, asked.

Knowing already how perceptive she was, he decided to just tell the truth. "I'm anxious to be walking with a cute girl. You can't blame a boy for that."

"Hahaha… that's true I guess." Hikari made a large smile as she said that. "It is such a change, isn't it?"

"What is?" He asked this, but he already knew the answer. After all, it was the reason why they started hanging with one another in the first place.

"You were a chronic liar, remember? You'd lie no matter how unimportant it was."

"Yes, I did… but you cured me, Megami-sama!"

"Please don't call me that." Hikari sighed. "It feels like you are making fun of me."

"Well, I can't help it. You saved me." He made an earnest smile.

"I'm glad to hear that." She made a cute smile. _How could I not fall in love with such a girl?_ Even though he knew that he had no chances with her, especially with such a large competition, he still hoped that he could earn at least some important part in her life, no matter how small. _Still, waiting for her to walk her back home from her extra classes in psychology… will that really be something remarkable?_

"Khrrrrr…" He heard some roaring.

"What was that?" Hikari wondered.

"Probably some dog." Eiji said that and believed his words, but somehow he had a bad feeling that he might have been wrong. "Let's hurry."

"Hrrrrrr…" The growling could be heard again.

Although the two of them exchanged no words, they were still creeped out enough to hurry up with their walking pace.

"KRRRRRRRR!" The growling became louder and echoed around them, and Eiji could feel his entire body shake. And that made him grab her hand and run.

"Eiji-san?"

"This ain't no fucking dog!" Eiji shouted. "I can feel it in my bones!"

"GRAAAAAHK!" The creature roared even louder. _It's near… it's freaking near…_ He felt the instinct of letting go of this slow girl, but his heart wouldn't allow that.

"Eiji-san… I think we… we should get to somewhere with more humans!" Hikari advised. "It may be just superstition but… I hear evil spirits avoid groups!"

"Yeah… I heard as much." He agreed with her advice wholeheartedly, Even if the rumors were wrong, he would rather be together with others during this predicament than alone. "There! There are some people there!" He saw three people in the distance and they turned to run towards them.

"KRA!" just when he started hoping, something jumped above the two of them and landed in middle of those humans. The three of them only managed to look at the figure before this creature, that stood on two legs, had scales on its skin and a large tail, ripped them all apart with its tail and claws. Various uncomfortable sounds could be heard as the monster ravaged them.

"Eiji-san… that's…"

"A monster, Hikari…" Eiji's breathing got slower, as it it could somehow take the creature's attention off him. _Maybe… he starts eating them. Then we might be able to get away safely…_ Eiji hated the fact that he hoped that such a creature would do something like that to those poor people, but it was the only thing he could imagine would save their lives.

But when the creature turned its gaze towards them and when Eiji saw the glow in those snake-like eyes, he knew that there was no hope.

"Hikari-chan… don't let go of my hand."

"Eiji-san?"

"And run as fast as you can… I beg you, run as fast as you can…" And then he started running, pulling her with him. "RUUUUN!"

"KHRAAAA!" The monster growled and soon after Eiji felt something sharp stab into his shoulder, and then the sensation of his shoulder's meat being ripped away. He was sure the monster took some bone with it as well.

"AHHH!" He screamed and fell down, pulling Hikari with him.

"Eiji-san, are you-"

"No, I'm not! He immediately rose up and continued running. "Run!" It hurt like hell, to run after one's shoulder was ripped off like that.

"KHRAAA!" But then the monster struck him again, this time through his chest.

"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" He screamed as a terrifying level of pain filled him.

Hikari looked at him with shock, but he pushed away before she could say anything or scream. And then he pushed backwards, hoping to get the monster away from her so she could get a headstart in running. He wished he could scream something to her, give her some words of encouragement or final words, but he was not that resistant to the pain.

And then his body froze when he saw the creature's tail in front of him, moving towards Hikari's head. The time slowed down as he looked at it going towards this girl he loved and to whom he was indebted to.

And then some silhouette grabbed Hikari and moved her away from the tail with inhuman speed… and seemingly cut part the tail in the process.

Eiji was able to move his head a little, and saw that Hikari was saved by some boy of his age. _Ah, Rihan… so the rumors were true._ The boy looked like Nura Rihan, a boy from his school. His hair may have been gourd-shaped now, but it was definitely him wielding the sword and keeping hikari safe. _He looks like… he_ will _keep her safe._

The monster pulled its arm away, leaving Eiji with a large hole in his chest.

_Hikari-chan… I'm so happy I was able to keep you safe for… just long enough._ He felt a tear flow down his face while the monster put both of its hands inside the whole of his chest.

"EIJI-SAAAAAN!" Hikari looked like she wanted to grab him, but Rihan kept her from moving and even blocked her eyesight. Eiji wished he could thank him for that.

_I'm so glad… I could be of help to you too, Hikari!_ And then the creature spread its hands, ripping his body apart.

* * *

**Author Notes**

Well, here is the new chapter guys and gals! I'm so glad that it did not take so long, even though this ended up being the largest chapter to date (it's a little above ch37).

\- and so after the lighter Ryoko arc, we are back at the truly dark stuff with Rihan as the main character. Things gonna be bloody this arc!

\- Kirie's sentence about fighting for freedom rather than for order or peace is a reference to the Anime called Concrete Revolutio and its major villain Claude, who claimed that heroes usually fight for one of the following: Peace, Freedom or Order and often that puts them at odds with one another. I believe Nura Clan would be peace in this categorization

\- the scene with Ryoko, Ritsura and Saaya was directly inspired by the "Yura at the _**House of Kana**_ " omake from the Manga (I think it was animated in the Anime as well, but I'm not sure). There, Yura did the same kind of strange things in Kana's room while imagining Rikuo and Kana having an affair. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree it seems

\- only one chapter passed since Shiori's warning, and Rihan already found himself between the two warring clans. He managed to get away lightly and minimize the damage, but that was mostly due to luck. Yet, his behavior is bound to make some of the youkai suspicious

\- and we already have some tasty mysteries concerning Gagoze's clients and the Dollmaker! Let us see if people will solve the plot that goes behind the curtains this time!

\- a lot of info is revealed by Kirika and the Archivist. Seems like trust may become a valuable currency soon enough

\- I won't lie, the Dollmaker is inspired by the character of the same name from video game "Alice: Madness Returns". I hope he lives up to that creepy bastard (though his real human counterpart was much, much worse)

\- yes, the Dollmaker was called Doll Master in last chapter. A mistake on my part, somehow ended up mixing the two...


	84. Save the Light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the tensions between the youkai of the Nura Clan and the youkai of the Tokyo's Hyaku Monogatari Clan rise, a new villain shows his face and targets Rihan

**Chapter 84 - Save the Light**

"Aaaaaaahhh!" Hikari screamed through the empty street as the monster tore the boy apart by pulling its claws from inside his guts. Although she could see nothing due to Rihan having put his hand over her eyes, he did not doubt that she could hear the sounds. Rihan immediately jumped several feet backwards, so that she could not see the scene once he removed his hands from her eyes.

 _Shit._ Rihan clenched his teeth as he gazed upon the scene. He managed to save Hikari, but the youkai had already inflicted a fatal wound through the boy's chest by the time Rihan arrived at the scene. The boy would have died from lack of blood in a few minutes anyway, but Rihan could feel nothing but disgust at the way he was finally killed. The fact that this boy was from his school also pissed him off, even if he did not know his name.

"Please stay here, Hikari-chan." Rihan said to the girl as he put her down. She was so shocked at what occurred that she immediately fell onto her knees. "I'll go and kill this bastard."

She did not reply, but he could hear sobbing. _After what she has gone through, that's not surprising._

Rihan readied his weapon and looked at his opponent that slowly walked in his direction. It stood on two legs like a human would, but his eyes, teeth and hands were those of a lizard. He also had a long tail that was now split apart due to Rihan's earlier attack, and scales that looked like they were made out of human skin and flesh.

Yet, Rihan was unsure if this creature really was a youkai. _I can feel small traces of Fear from it, but less than I can feel from Nattou Kozou. And this guy is so far above their level that he should feel more menacing._ That was not to say that the creature was not terrifying, but it was all due to how it looked and what it could do. It was not like other strong youkai, where you could feel a certain sensation by just being in that youkai's presence.

But he did not have enough time to think about it for long, as the creature started running towards him. It reached him and tried slashing him with its claws, but Rihan blocked it with his sword. Immediately after, the creature swung his other hand upwards, but Rihan dodged it without much effort. Yet, the creature did not stop there and quickly turned around, trying to slash with its tail. Rihan deflected the strike with his hand and jumped backwards while throwing a small ice spike at the creature, just to see how it would counter attack. The creature crushed the spike with its teeth.

"You sure do use every part of your body, huh?" Rihan smirked, more to himself than to the creature whose tail fixed itself and once again had a blade at the end of it. "And regeneration… well, isn't that just perfect?"

He threw a glance at Hikari, who was sitting on the ground and crawling backwards while her eyes were opened wide and never blinking, and her lips opening and closing all the time.

 _I need to finish this soon._ He readied his sword and ran towards the creature before it could run at him. As expected, the creature evaded him and then raised its claws to slash at Rihan, but the boy kicked it in the legs and made it start to fall. He then struck down and slashed the creature over its right shoulder and its chest. The creature did not scream or blink, and instead it attacked with its tail.

Rihan jumped backwards again and gazed at his enemy as it raised itself up and looked at him. _It looks like it doesn't feel anything when I strike him, and why no blood? As a matter of fact, I felt like I was chopping wood when my sword went through him._

Then he could hear sobbing behind him and remembered that Hikari was still there. _All this thinking is pointless. I've to kill this guy and take her to safety._

He took a fighting stance and started accumulating his Fear. As expected, the creature ran at then slashed at the creature's left arm with all his might, and used the _Meikyou Shisui Doku_ , a technique that would overwhelm his enemy's senses and break them from the inhuman amounts of pain. This creature was one of those villains that Rihan did not believe were worth sparing.

But to his shock, the creature did not even flinch, just like it hadn't flinched when he slashed at it earlier. _What? Why?_ While Rihan was shocked, the creature raised its tail and moved to stab him. Rihan managed to move away, but not before the blade on the tail struck his left shoulder.

The black and silver-haired boy bit his lip and moved around the creature, tapping it from behind before raising his sword. _No reaction to that… doesn't this thing have any senses?_

But even though it did not react to Rihan's tapping, the creature moved around and exchanged blows like it knew exactly where Rihan was. Rihan even tried to mask his presence and create mirages, but the doll was unaffected and always knew where he was. _Could this be…_ After coming up with a theory, Rihan moved into rapid counter-attacks. The creature deflected them all with its claws and its tail, but soon Rihan did what he set out to do and the creature's left arm flew into the air.

Rihan then kicked the creature into the guts and threw it away, and then risked looking at the hand that was still flying in the air. _There's very little blood… and is that wood?_

Rihan then focused his senses and focused on the creature. More precisely, he focused on the air around it. _I can see them… they are masked by Fear, but I can see strings around this guy if I focus._

_There's no doubt anymore: this bastard is not a youkai. It's one of the Dollmaker's dolls. That's why it doesn't feel like a youkai, why it acts like it can feel nothing and why it collects no Fear._

_And this is why I can't hide my presence from him or confuse him with mirages. Unless I confuse the senses of the one who controls this doll, my Nurarihyon techniques are worthless._

_Truly, this is like I'm facing my natural enemy._

But illusions were not his only techniques, for he was also a natural born warrior as well as a Yuki-Otoko. And since he did not want to let Hikari wait any longer, he decided to put a quick end to this fight, no matter the risks. _I hope this shitty sword of mine survives until I finish him off._

As expected, the doll was unable to feel the sense of dread that enveloped the area as Rihan changed his Fear to _Aggressive Mode_. The doll ran at Rihan, but he avoided it and put more distance between himself and the doll. The Fear enveloped his sword as well as his muscles, and his hair fell down.

Once again, the doll charged at him. But this time, he met it head on. The Dollmaker, or its doll, probably did not expect Rihan's strength and speed to increase. The Doll's claws did not even reach Rihan when his sword slashed through the doll and broke it into countless pieces. And just to be safe, Rihan used his ice Fear so the pieces froze and broke into dust.

Unfortunately, his sword could not stand the pressure so it also broke into pieces. _I need to get the hang of creating ice weapons one of these days… but creating complex stuff out of ice and keeping it in place is such a pain in the ass._ Last time he trained in those skills, he needed an entire hour to create a fork that broke just after being swung a little.

"In any case, that takes care of it." While letting go of his Aggressive Mode, Rihan muttered and turned towards Hikari, who was holding her hands over her face. "Hikari-chan, it's over. Let me take you home." He said, to which she reacted by looking up with her reddened eyes.

She went to say something, but when her eyes widened and looked at something behind Rihan, he knew that something bad was going to happen.

He immediately turned around, and gulped when he saw who came out of the shadows. There was a naked clown with another clown's head on his chest and with a lower body of a scorpion. A baby-sized doll dressed as a Princess but with a fanged mouth and blood seeping out of it. There was even a ball that had two hands, each holding a bleeding, severed head. These, and a dozen other abominations, decorated Rihan's vision. _And all of them are accursed dolls._ Rihan took a step back. _Good one, Dollmaker… you make me waste everything on one strong doll while the rest hide and wait until I'm near helpless._

"Hikari-chan, I think we'll need to run…" Rihan spoke while turning around. Hikari was already on her feet, but behind her…

A small foxlike doll jumped up and aimed over Hikari's throat with one of its tails, drawing blood from her pale skin. By the time Rihan realized what was going on, he already held Hikari with his left arm and had crushed the doll with his right.

He could see one or two more dolls from the corners of his eyes, but he already realized that the best course of action was to get away from them. So he took Hikari's entire body into his arms, while holding his fingers on her slit throat so he could attempt to heal her, and jumped away.

"Stay alive, Hikari-chan!" Rihan spoke to her, and gave his best to sound calm and trustworthy. "I can heal you, but not if your body gives up too soon." He was not sure if such words meant anything in reality, but he thought it was better to play safe.

For the first time in a long while, Rihan hoped that he would stumble upon members of the Nura Clan. Avoiding the various attacks from these dolls, like flying heads, thrown axes and even cars, all while healing Hikari and running as fast as he could was no easy feet, not to even talk about the fact that their lack of Fear meant that he could not feel their presence. He practically felt blind. _I better get used to it. If I'm supposed to fight those humans of the Shin Sekai again, the situation might be the same while the enemies would be deadlier._

He looked down at Hikari's face. Her wound seemed to be healed for the most part, but it was obvious that she was physically and mentally exhausted. But what truly made him worried was the amount of blood on her clothes. _She's lost way too much blood. If she suffers just one more injury and starts bleeding, she will die._ When he noticed her fingers desperately squeeze the end of his jacket, he felt even more worried. She trusted him, and he did not want to betray that trust.

"What nice weather it is tonight!" A sound came from beside him. He looked in its direction, and saw a floating head of a straw doll.

"Who are you?"

"Don't worry, this doll lacks weapons. With no weapons and no Fear, it's harmless." The doll assured him, though Rihan still felt tense. Judging by the fact that her fingers dug into Rihan's body, Hikari felt the same. "You should worry more about my other dolls."

" _Your_ other dolls? Are you the Dollmaker?"

"I, the Dollmaker, speak through this doll. I felt like we could chat while you run for your life."

"Go to hell. I've seen enough of your tricks to know that you probably just want to distract me." Rihan punched the head away, but the string that controlled it stopped it from hitting anything.

The doll ignored his attack and just kept following him around, albeit at a wider distance. "How must it feel, for the mighty slayer of Bonnouma, to be running away from a horde of mere dolls that are lacking in Fear? How the mighty have fallen…"

Rihan did not reply to it. He tried to ignore its words, but _curiosity killed the cat_.

"More importantly, how does it feel being torn between your lover and your clan, all while protecting an innocent girl from youkai serving your lover's group?"

"My lover's group? So you are in the Rose Coalition?" Rihan spoke aloud. Too late did he notice the trap.

"That's right little girl, this guy's spending his free time with guys like me, who do things like murdering that friend of yours! Why, we are technically comrades!"

 _You little bastard!_ Rihan was frustrated that he lacked a weapon or something to make this doll shut up, especially when Hikari started trying to wrestle out of his grasp.

"Hikari-chan, listen…" He tried to come up with an excuse, but when another axe flew past his head, he concluded that this was not the time. "I'll explain later, okay? For now, remember that if you fall down, those dolls will tear your guts out!" He said in a threatening tone and released some Fear.

Hikari immediately calmed down, with a shocked expression. However, she was no longer holding to him. _Well, I guess I finally sound like a proper villain._

Rihan looked back at the speaking doll, which just flew silently with its mouth wide open. He tried saying something that would reveal secrets of the Hyaku Monogatari to Hikari, but for a mere moment he felt the time stopping and a deadly aura enveloping him.

With his suspicions confirmed, he spoke to the doll. "Didn't you just break the Prime Rule?"

"No rule is absolute. Every rule has loopholes." The doll explained. "As the trust between the Hyaku Monogatari and the Shin Sekai dwindles, more and more people will find flaws in the rule. The future will be interesting. I look forward to it."

"That's a shame since I'll probably kill you before you get to see it."

"Well, it was nice talking to you. The seeds of discord have been planted so my work is done." And after saying that, the string behind the doll disappeared and the head fell lifelessly to the ground.

_Seeds of discord… this little shit sure causes trouble in many different ways. But I wonder what seeds he is talking about… the ones in Hikari, or something greater?_

While he was contemplating on that, what he hoped would happen finally happened.

"Oyraaaaa!" A loud voice echoed and crushed two of the dolls behind Rihan.

"You are pursuing the wrong person." Kurotabou's voice joined in and countless weapons destroyed four more dolls. "Are you alright, Waka?"

"I am, but the girl's in danger." Rihan said as he reached Kurotabou. Several of the other youkai passed him and joined in fighting the dolls. "I'm glad you guys are still around. My sword broke and these guys are immune to my illusions."

"These guys…" Kurotabou raised his head and frowned as he looked over them. "They are youkai but… they don't feel like they are."

"They aren't youkai. They are just a bunch of dolls controlled by a youkai." Rihan explained while still holding Hikari in his arms. "And you better keep that in mind while fighting them. The youkai controlling them makes good use of the fact that they're dolls rather than real youkai. The guy controlling them is _very_ cunning."

"I see… I'll keep that in mind." Kurotabou fixed his hat and looked at the girl. "By the way, who is she?"

"Someone they wanted to make into a victim." Rihan said. "She is from my school… and the dolls already killed another one from the same school."

"We'll show them no mercy." Kurotabou noticed his frustration. "You better take her to the Household then. She will be safer there."

 _No chance. The last thing I need is for her to tell you guys that I'm friends with Shiori's group._ "It's too far and I know better than underestimating them. If I stay here, they will find a way to strike. And with every minute on the streets, we are getting closer to her dying." Rihan noted. "I'll take her to the school. Koko no Kira is a mysterious one, but he protects its students from dangers trying to enter the school."

"The enemy is that formidable?" Kurotabou asked while looking rihan in the eyes. When the boy nodded, he sighed. "I see. It's rare for you to have such a worried look. Though I'm not sure if trusting Koko no Kira is…"

"I'm glad you understand. You keep them here if you can, and take good care that nobody sneaks past you. Their lack of Fear and ability to feel fear makes them hard to notice." When Kurotabou nodded, Rihan turned around and resumed running. "Good luck." And so he left the dolls behind.

Once again, he felt Hikari's fingers clench to his jacket again. _I guess that I earned some of her trust back._

 _In any case, I'll also need a doctor._ He took out his cellphone and typed in numbers 1-1-8-7-7. _But I can't let it be Zen or anyone else from our clan, just in case she turns chatty._

He looked at the screen. As expected, she reacted to typing in that number. " _Oh, Kokuhan-sama! _ It's very rare for you to call me!_ " Those were words that appeared on the screen of his cellphone. Then more words appeared. " _What do you need of 'lil Netto no Yose? :3_ "

He quickly typed in the response. " _Tell the Plaguesdoctor to IMMEDIATELY come to Ukiyoe High School. In human form if possible._ " That youkai gave him the creeps, but he believed that he could trust him. " _Also, tell Ao-Ju to send some of his youkai therel._ "

" _You sound so cool when you take command! o_ "

 _Yeah, whatever._ Rihan put his cellphone back into his pocket and looked at Hikari. He felt a shiver go through him when he saw that she was calm and that her eyes were closed, but he was relieved when he noticed that she was just sleeping. _Poor girl, she went through a lot this night…_

And so he continued going towards the Ukiyoe high School, where Koko no Kira should help keeping any threats at bay.

* * *

"Ah… I see. Well, keep me posted if anything happens again." Rikuo ended the call and sighed. He was in a hotel room, naked and sitting on a bed. He and Tsurara were at a hotel, where nobody could disturb them.

"What was it?" His wife asked him from behind. "It sounded serious. Though seeing as you're still here, I guess it's not _that_ bad."

"It's our son." He said and lay back onto the bed with his upper half. "Not long after I left him, he fought a small army of youkai while carrying a girl with him and healing her wounds." He rose back fully onto the back and pulled a blanket over himself. "Everything seems to be fine now and I asked the others to keep a close watch in case something happens, so hopefully there won't be any more surprised tonight."

"Fufufu…" In contrast to his frustration, Tsurara found his words entertaining. "I wonder whom he takes after."

"At least he could have waited a bit longer. Just how much time has it been since that ruckus at the antiquary? And now some unknown girl is in trouble too."

"Well, he probably fought to save her. I'm sure she'll be fine as long as he is there." Tsurara got closer and put her head onto his shoulder and her cold, left arm over his chest. "But who was the enemy this time? The Hyaku Monogatari." He could also feel a soft sensation on his left arm.

"We don't even know. Supposedly, it's some strange guy who can create and control dolls, but Kurotabou isn't sure to which group he belongs and if to any. Hahhh…" He made another large sigh.

"Is something else the matter?"

"We already have a lot of enemies and are spending all our resources on finding Gagoze, but more and more enemies just keep popping up and then running away. Where're the good old days when they'd attack, we'd defeat them and everything would be over?"

"They didn't fear us back then." She rubbed her head over him. "But they fear us now. They don't dare to attack us upfront because they know they would lose."

"I know that… but it's tiring. And through all that, I also need to watch over my kids." His past wars were tense, but he did not feel as stressed and felt those times were more exciting. _Is it age, or did the nature of war just change too much, I wonder?_

"Both the kids are grown up. You don't need to follow their every step."

"Gagoze is looking for them, and it was not that long ago when Shiori-"

"Rikuo-sama, I worry too. I also worried whenever you jumped into the fray, fearing that the next time I saw you it would be the last. But I trusted in you and you should trust in our son. He can and will be able to take care of this."

"To be honest…" He started, but then stopped.

"...what is it? "

"I've this feeling that I'm missing something important." He spoke while looking at the ceiling. "Ever since the battle at Nejireme, I have this feeling that he's getting more and more distant."

"I see…"

He looked at her, who looked like she was in thought. "Do you also feel like that?"

"Yes… but I think it's natural. As things are going, Ritsura will inherit the clan while he doesn't seem to have any interest in it. I feel as if… as if our little bird will leave the nest soon. That makes me a little anxious, y'know."

"That's… true." _But is that what I'm fearing?_

And while he was thinking about it, his wife climbed onto him. "Should we make another bird?"

"Come on now, we should at least wait until…" He started but had to pause in order to accept a kiss. "...until the war is over."

"Mmmm…" She made a pouty face. "Didn't you talk to me about making another one just a few moments ago."

"Sorry, I was just teasing you.." He immediately apologized.

"Well, you're still right. I may need to be in full shape to protect my current kids." She then lowered herself again and gave him another kiss. "But we can still go for another round."

"You still aren't tired?" He asked with a smile

"Nope." She said as he put his arms around her. "I feel you might be too busy in following days and our home is going to get even more filled up soon."

"I see… I guess that I'll need to-" He took her and rolled her over together with himself. "-take out whatever energy is left in you."

Then he gave her another kiss and the two went to spend their time together the best they knew.

There was no telling what the next few days would bring, but Rikuo felt that it would not be anything good.

* * *

Rihan was slowly walking over the rooftop of the Ukiyoe High School. He walked with a slow pace, gazing upon the town around the school. He could not feel any Fear coming out of the Dolls, but he could still see them. And as was with every youkai, Rihan's eyesight was better in the darkness than it was in the light.

He expected that a few dolls would eventually attack the school, but none of them came. Even the fight from afar seemed to be resolved, and the youth saw some of the Nura Clan's youkai join Ao-Ju's subordinates in guarding the school's surroundings.

The young Nura was relieved that the trouble seemed to be gone, but also a bit disappointed that the end was so anticlimactic. He even found himself a wooden sword in the school, but it did not look like it would get any use.

_I wonder if the dolls would be immune to Koko no Kira, but I guess that I won't find out about it tonight._

Furuta Hikari was safe. He took her to her clubroom and the Plaguesdoctor was treating her (naturally, in his human form so he would not startle her). Rihan trusted in his medical skills, even if he was more a murderer than a doctor, so he was not worried about Hikari's health.

Or at least he was not worried about her physical health. Her mental health was a different topic altogether. _I so hope that her amateurish interest in psychology helps her get through this._ But Rihan knew very well how painful mental wounds were, so he was not feeling very optimistic.

Finally, he saw someone, but it was not an enemy. Rihan jumped over the fence and landed in the school's courtyard. He now stood beside an bald European male in his forties, dressed in a business suit, with glasses on his eyes and holding a bag. "Ah, if it isn't one of the Nura Clan's beloved heirs. I didn't see you since an hour ago." He went by the name Giovanni Ventura and he claimed that he was the personal doctor of the Ichinoe family. Rihan first met him a few months ago, after Shiori shot him with bullets and Ichinoe Araya conveniently got him to his doctor.

"Very funny." Rihan shook his head. "So, is Hikari-chan alright?"

"She is fine physically. You did a good job with your healing abilities."

"I'm glad to hear that." Rihan felt relieved. He feared that her wound may have been too deep or that she lost too much blood, but if he said that she was fine that she probably was. "What about her mental state?"

"Psychology was never an area of my expertise so you better ask someone else about… her state of mind."

"So much about you being an all-round doctor." Rihan shook his head. "So? I hope that you didn't make her suspect that you are a youkai."

"Oh don't worry, young master Rihan. She is fine." A shadow engulfed Giovanni and left behind a different person, this one being dressed like the old European Plague Doctor. "Besides, I'm an expert in hiding my real identity."

His appearance reminded Rihan of asking him another question. "Just to make sure, Plague, you didn't fill her with any strong chemicals or diseases, right?"

"I wouldn't even dare think about it." The Plaguesdoctor shook his head.

 _Yeah, as if a bigwig like you would be afraid of me._ "What's Hikari-chan doing now? Is she sleeping?"

"She looked tired, but I don't think she'll be sleeping."

 _Of course not, she is too upset._ "Good. May I ask a few more questions, unrelated to Hikari-chan?"

"Well, it's not like I can stop you." The Plaguesdoctor shrugged with his shoulders.

"What do you know about a youkai called Dollmaker?"

"He's a mystery." The Plaguesdoctor looked at the distance. "His tale is scary and popular, but rarely does he actually act. Even rarer it is for him to attack someone. It's strange, really."

"What precisely do you think is strange?"

"Everything. He kidnaps people, human and youkai, without anyone being able to even guess where he might be hiding. His dolls are strong, yet he rarely uses them. He-"

"You are lying through your teeth." Rihan frowned.

The Plaguesdoctor looked back at Rihan. Since he wore a mask, Rihan was unable to see his expression. "And why would you think that?"

"You looked away when you started talking about him. You sound like you are reciting poetry. You know nothing about him, but you know a lot about him." Rihan took a step closer to his acquaintance. "And you, one of the highest ranked youkai in the Rose coalition, should know a lot about the youkai who confirmed that he is one of you."

The Plaguesdoctor did not reply, and just continued to stare at the hanyou.

"What are you hiding and why?"

Plaguesdoctor sighed. "There are forces that I do not dare to cross."

"Are you saying that you are afraid?"

"Yes, I'm afraid. I don't want to play a major role in this tale."

Somehow, Rihan was not too surprised about his reluctance. The Archivist and Kirika also seemed cautious of the Dollmaker and Rihan felt himself how dangerous this mysterious youkai was, "Is this the part where you tell me that I should also fear the Dollmaker?"

"Unfortunately for you, you have no choice but to play a major role. Indeed, this is an important chapter of your tale, Kokuhan-sama." He addressed Rihan with his alter ego's name for the first time. "You have the unenviable mission of having to defeat the Puppet Maker in this game."

Rihan raised an eyebrow. Although he never fought the Plaguesdoctor, he heard that he was Shiori's first tale and was one of the strongest tales in the Rose Coalition.

"And one more thing." Plaguesdoctor said as he started walking. "If I had to name this chapter of your tale, it would be _Lust for Power_. No term describes the plot threads as well as that one." And after saying that, the Plaguesdoctor continued walking away.

_This just gets better and better, doesn't it? Anyway, I better go check on Hikari-chan._

* * *

Rihan found Hikari where he left her: in the clubroom belonging to the Psychiatric Club, a club whose existence Rihan still considered to be awkward.

The room was dimly lit, with Hikari sitting on a couch and enveloped by a blanket. She looked exhausted, but her eyes were opened as she stared at the floor.

"How are you doing?" Rihan broke the silence and closed the door behind him.

Hikari looked him in the eyes. "I'm in a very pitiful state." And then she looked away.

 _That's right._ Now that he took a better look, no traces of the cheerful girl from before could be seen. _Not even half a day ago, she was so filled with optimism and desire to help. Now, all she has is hopelessness._

"It's ironic, don't you think?" She squeezed her blanket. "I always knew that human mind was the most sensitive part of every human. I've spent half of my life observing human behavior, reading books and articles on psychology and I even planned to go to a college that would allow me to become a professional psychiatrist." She pulled her legs up and hugged them. "Yet when I need help, all advices I could give sound so hollow."

He did not reply as he felt that she needed to speak out whatever was troubling her. So he just sat on the table in front of her.

"I can't get any of it out of my mind." She let her face fall on top of her knees. "I can't stop reminding myself of Eiji-kun's smiles. I can't get the image of him getting so brutally… ahhh!" She caught her head with both of her hands.

"Don't worry, nobody will hear you here."

"AHHHHHHHH!" She screamed out of her lungs. "AHHHH! WHYYYYY?! Why did it need to happen? Why?" She said and lowered her hand onto her knees once again, weeping.

Rihan could only sigh and keep guard while she vents out her emotions.

He did not trace time, but ten minutes had passed when Hikari spoke again. "So youkai really do exist, huh?" She noted with her head still sitting atop her knees. "I thought you guys were just trying to avoid having to join a proper club, but I guess you're legit…" She then raised her head and looked at Rihan. "And you are one of them too."

For the first time ever, Rihan wished he could say that he was a good youkai and not one of those who were seen as the bad guys. But he already abandoned the right to make such claims. "I'm a half youkai, as is my sister. Though I should say that-"

"That not all youkai are evil?" She made a bitter smile. "Don't worry, I'm smart enough to know better than to think that all are evil. But…" Her smile faded. "I'm afraid." She said while piercing through his eyes. Rihan could see fear in her, and she lowered her gaze a little so she would not look directly at his eyes. "The way that the doll's head spoke… made it sound like you yourself are one of the bad guys."

Rihan closed his eyes. _Yeah. I already knew that you heard that. So much about the Prime Rule being unbreakable._ "It's a long story…" That was all that Rihan could say in his defense.

Hikari made a sad frown. No doubt, she hoped that she was wrong. "I see… but you'll have to explain it all to me one day. I think I deserve it." She said those words and then surprised Rihan by bowing. "But still… you risked your life in order to save me. And for that… I'm honestly thankful."

Rihan bit his lip. Right now, he would have prefered if she cursed him. How could he explain to her, who suffered all this, that he was with them for selfish reasons and that it was impossible for him to tell her about his situation due to the _Prime Rule_.

"Hikari-chan, you should sleep." Rihan suggested, partially for her and partially to end this conversation. "I know it may be hard, but it'll just get worse for you if you are tired with the state your mind's in."

She looked surprised for some reason. And then she made a gentle smile. "It seems like… you talk from experience."

"Well… I had gone through some bad things myself."

"I see." She tilted her head. "I hope that… we can talk about it someday, if you don't mind."

"Sure." Rihan said and jumped from the table. "But you go and rest now. I'll make sure that you stay safe."

"Sure." She nodded and he turned around. He could feel her eyes following him.

"By the way, just to make it clear… my sister is one of the good guys so if anything occurs, you can trust her and anyone she calls friend. But…"

"...don't tell anyone about me, right? Sure… I guess you have quite a complicated life."

Rihan took a look at her, just to ascertain that she was honest and not afraid.

"Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me." She said while looking straight at him, her eyes showing no hidden intents. "You can leave me alone here. I can see that you feel too much regret around me."

"You… read me like a book." Rihan smiled and then left, closing the doors behind him. _Ahh… I guess that I still ain't a real villain._

* * *

"Why don't you join us for some Poker and booze, Reiko?" One of the Urban Legends, more concretely the one that looked like shriveled old hag without eyeballs, called to Kashima Reiko who was lying atop a large cooler.

"I'm not in the mood." Reiko replied without even looking at them.

"Come on! Don't be such a killjoy!" They were all in a dirty cellar of an old shop. It was quite spacious, which is why the Urban Legends often used it to hang around and play poker. Reiko wondered if the shop's owner was even aware that evil spirits resided there, though the old man seemingly knew better than to look into it.

"Leave her be. She has been in a bad mood for days now." A giant, bipedal, transparent white dog replied and put down a card.

"Aren't we all in bad shape today?" A youkai that looked like a school's model of human anatomy added as he moved like a robot to take a bottle and drink. "Because of that Gagoze dude, the Nuras are hunting down anyone who doesn't look like he rides with them. How can one bully people in such a situation?."

"I don't think that's it." The dog shook his head. "She has been like that since Vandal-sama passed away."

"Oh yeah, she used to be friends with that loser." The human anatomy model nodded by moving the entire upper part of his body.

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here!" Reiko started to feel annoyed. "I'm in a bad enough mood that I may cut you all in halves."

They all gulped and changed the topic. "Don't you guys think this game is getting kinda boring?" The large hound asked his two playmates. "We've been playing like what, twenty rounds already?"

"My coin purse says it's thirty four." The eyeless hag noted.

"Then it's worse than I thought." The dog sighed. "Anyone having any other ideas?"

"What about playing Joker Game?" The Human Anatomy Model suggested. "That game is groovy."

"Impossible." The hag shook her head. "Look around yourselves. It's only us three and Reiko, but we need more people for that one. And with Nuras rampaging all around, we can't even invite friends."

"Also, do either of us have the skills to play that one?" The dog asked, but nobody confirmed. "Yeah, that game is out of question."

The three of them played and drank in silence for an entire minute, until the Human Anatomy Model spoke up again. "What about Monopoly?"

"AYRAAAKKKKHAANAAAAA!" The hag flipped the table.

"What's your deal?" The Human Anatomy Model asked while shaking around.

"She got her hut stolen and demolished by some evil tycoon." The dog explained while the hag threw bottles and cards around. "She goes a bit crazy whenever something reminds her of them."

"Man, that's unlucky!" The Human Anatomy Model noted while flying through the cellar, due to being thrown by the hag.

Kashima Reiko was starting to feel annoyed by her tantrums. "Shut up already, you brat!" She yelled at the eyeless hag. Although the hag looked older, Reiko was both older and stronger than her. Generally, Reiko was old and strong by their standards.

"Okay okay, calm down Reiko!" The giant dog started bowing. "We'll return to our games, don't you-"

But as if a child's tantrum was not annoying enough, someone opened the door and walked into the cellar. Everyone, including Reiko, tensed and looked at the guest, fearing that it was someone from the Nura Clan.

It was not someone from the Nura Clan, but it was still someone indirectly related to them. More precisely, it was one of youkai serving Ao-Ju, Nura Rihan's retainer.

"Am I interrupting anything?" He asked them. He was a pretty boy of ashen hair and with a tiny ponytail, dressed in a policeman uniform, but instead of a gun he had a katana with black sheath on his hip. Reiko thought that the clothes of the Edo Era would fit his face and stature better. "Why so tense?"

"What does a lackey of the Nura want here?" Reiko asked while sitting atop the cooler.

"I don't serve the Nuras, but Ao-Ju and Kokuhan-sama."

"Is there a difference?" The eyeless hag put her hands on her hips. "Not only are you practically serving a Nurarihyon, but I read Twitter tonight! You guys and the Nuras have joined forces!"

"We are looking for a certain youkai, and so are the Nuras." The pretty boy pulled a stool and sat down, his legs crossed. "We have not joined forces in any other way."

"Sure you hadn't." Reiko rolled her eyes.

"Leave it be, Reiko." The giant dog said while putting the Human Anatomy Model back onto his seat. "So if you aren't looking for us, who are you looking for?" He asked the pretty boy while fixing the table. "But don't expect us to help. We won't betray our own."

"We are investigating the Dollmaker, whose dolls assaulted Kokuhan-sama. You guys know anything about it?"

"I was just a pup when my mom told me the tale of the Dollmaker." The giant hound, who promised not to say anything, started speaking.

"What are you talking about? You were never a pup!" The hag sat back at the table that now hosted four youkai.

"Shut up! I'm trying to set the mood here!" He admonished her and then looked back at the pretty boy. "I hear he killed his creator and now kills little children to build himself a son."

"Yesterday, I bought a grimoire that can be used to summon the Dollmaker if you can decipher its texts." The hag added.

The Human Anatomy Model also had things to say. "I hear that he creates dolls with cameras to peek at girls on the toilet, dude. Sounds more disgusting than harmful to me."

The pretty boy sighed while taking notes. "Anything concrete?"

"All just rumors and gossip." Kashima Reiko felt annoyed and decided to give an answer in hopes that it would make Nura Rihan's lackey leave the cellar. "He is strong and can make dolls strong enough to challenge even the strongest youkai. NOBODY knows where he lives. NOBODY knows who created him and if that person is alive or enslaved by its creation. And NOBODY knows what the hell he is."

"You are Kashima Reiko-sama, right?" The pretty boy looked at her. "Did you ever meet the guy?"

"No." She crossed her arms. "The point is that nobody knows anything about him. If anyone did, the chances are good that they would be dead."

"Is there a reason you think so?"

"He, or his creator, spread countless false rumors about him. Go and guess how much he likes the idea of people knowing anything for certain about him."

"I hear that you are acquainted with more than a few Tale Makers, including Shiori-sama. You never heard _anything_ about him from them?"

"No, I didn't. And if I did, I would not serve that information to a servant of a Nura." She frowned. "I'm done answering your question, pretty boy."

"I guess I'm out of luck." The pretty boy sighed. "Well, others fared as bad so I guess I'll end my investigation for the night." He turned back towards the others, who already picked up all the cards and brought out new booze. "Do you guys mind if I join you?"

"No, we could use someone else to play with."

"Sweet! I'm gonna get rich, mommy!"

"Well, then I'm leaving." Reiko said and flew up. She did not like the idea of having to spend any more time in the company of someone who called a Nura their boss.

"So cool!" The human anatomy model spoke up. "I wish I was strong enough to go out amongst all those Nura youkai with such a straight face."

"The Nuras got tired and most of them left home." The pretty boy added while Kashima Reiko was floating up the stairs. "The rest are guarding the school. So as long as Reiko-sama stays away from the school, she won't end in trouble."

"You spoiler-loving killjoy. Now she won't even be able to get excited!" The dog said as Reiko left the shop.

* * *

"Damn it." Reiko muttered to herself as she floated around the city without paying any heed to anyone or anything. "Even amongst my own, I can no longer hide from the shadows of the Nura Clan."

Not many in the Hyaku Monogatari were pleased when Rihan, or Kokuhan as he calls himself amongst them, and Reiko was amongst those highly displeased. In a way, she felt betrayed by this, for few are those that Reiko hates from the very depth of her heart as the Nura Clan.

And the feeling was mutual, she knew that much. Every now and then, some upstart from the Nura Clan tracks her down and tries to make himself famous by killing her. But in their desire to become famous by killing the one whom the Nura Clan considers a dangerous enemy, they forget that she is a _dangerous_ enemy. Usually, it ends in their death, though they often manage to kill some of her acquittances.

And she needed every friend she could get in order to retain what was left of her humanity. Even now, as she gazed down upon an occasional human, she felt a desire to kill in her guts. And as she often did, she resisted the urge to kill.

While averting her eyes, she saw something unusual. He was a human boy who looked like he was four years old, playing on the road. He did not even notice the car behind him, nor the fact that its driver drove as if he were drunk.

Her human self wanted to fly and move the boy away, even more so because she herself died when a vehicle ran her over.

But her tale forbade that. Kashima Reiko was a murderous ghost, unable to feel mercy, sympathy or anything else but a ravenous urge to kill and desire to find her legs. Her hands tried to summon her scythe, but she forced herself to stop. She wanted to move the boy away, not split him in half. But the words of humans reciting all the variants of her tale echoed in her head, trying to make her kill it.

 _But her tale forbade that._ The best she could do was muster strength to not kill the child. But she could not move to do anything else and could only watch as the child turned around and got ran over by the car. The driver stopped, looked out and then fled the scene, leaving the beheaded body of the child behind it.

And the sight of the child's head being severed from its body reminded her of when her legs were severed from her own body. And with the visual memories came the sensation of pain. As a result, her body fell onto the ground and she started vomiting.

"I do so wonder…" She heard a voice behind her. "What exactly is it that bothers you the most?" She immediately flew up and turned around, but she saw nobody. "Death of the kid you could not save, or the fact that its fate was just like yours." Once again, the voice came from behind her and she immediately turned around. "Or was it both?" This time, the youkai talking with her stayed where it was. She met a doll that looked just like a certain youkai from some paintings.

"Dollmaker…" _There is no Fear… so it's true what I heard a while ago, that his dolls aren't youkai._

"It's such an honor that Kashima Reiko-sama, one of the strongest Urban Legends of Japan, recognizes humble me." The floating doll, that was as large as the body of a baby, bowed to her.

"Are you mocking me, Dollmaker?" She summoned her scythe, just in case. "I hear you yourself are a force to be reckoned with."

"Maybe, but I still have to prove the worth of my tale."

"What a coincidence. I meet you so soon after you started causing trouble." Reiko looked at the child that was ran over. "Is this your doing?"

"Yes, it is." The Dollmaker raised a hand, and the body moved up and re-assembled. "I'm not sure how you fell for this one. Even I couldn't quickly procure a child at this hour of night."

"So you _are_ mocking me." She slashed her scythe through the air. "What is it that you want with me, Dollmaker?"

"I want to talk with you."

"You want to talk with me?" She raised an eyebrow.

"By the way, you can put down that scythe. This doll can't fight, and killing it won't actually harm me."

"You want to talk, Dollmaker? Than talk to me _and_ to my scythe."

"Alright. But let's first move to somewhere where nobody will bother us." He looked up, raised his hand and flew up by using his strings.

After some consideration, Reiko flew up and met him atop a tall building.

"You're such a petty youkai, you know that Reiko-sama?" The Dollmaker spoke as if mocking her, but Reiko did not react. "Humans betrayed and killed you, and then other humans turned your sensitive soul into an evil ghost. You claim to loathe them, yet you also fight to keep what is left of your humanity even though it brings you so much pain. You wanted to save that child, because what you want the most is to become a normal girl again, not a slave to human tales. Don't you know that letting it go would put an end to pain and guilt? Of course you know. It's not like doing all this allows you to free yourself of the chains of humans' twisted imagination."

"Why are you talking like we are in a Manga or a Light Novel?"

"Putting the fact that your struggle is pointless aside, you can only do so much. Year after year, your memories slowly fade one after another. It's no longer a struggle to retain your humanity, but something else."

"Seriously, why are you telling my life story to me?"

"Now you want two things: revenge and death. You want revenge against humans, but also against the Nuras who killed many of those you came to care about during your long life as a monster. And you want to die before your humanity vanishes. But then Nura Rihan joined-"

"Didn't you skip the parts of me joining Shiori-sama in hoping to make it all better?"

"Pointless details. Your hate for bringing in Kokuhan-sama just made you revert to crusading against the Nurarihyons."

"If you already want to recite my life story, then do it properly, you bastard!" She showed him her fist.

But he ignored her remark. "Now, you want to bring down Nura Rihan. You'll get revenge by killing him and death by being hunted down by the Nuras for killing their beloved son. Ishikawa Kaito was supposed to make a tale that would lead to a climactic confrontation, but he kind of went and forked himself."

"I see… so you, or your master, wants to take his place?"

"Oh come on, I didn't even get to make the proclamation! Why must you be such a killjoy?" The Dollmaker shook his head. "So? Do you accept an alliance?"

Reiko frowned. On one hand, she felt like the Dollmaker was not trustworthy and she felt uncomfortable in his presence. But on other hand, she was desperate for allies. And nobody else wanted to make a pact with her. "Fine." She said, knowing that she had no choice. "But I won't be one of your dolls. We will exchange intel and help one another, but I won't be listening to your ideas if I don't like them. Is that alright with you?"

"It's fine! It's fine." The Dollmaker nodded. "The three of us will make such a nice trio of Urban Devils, don't you think?"

"The three of us? Who is the third?" She asked, but then she realized the answer. "Gagoze… It's Gagoze, isn't it? What is it that you want, Dollmaker?"

"That question came out of the left field!" The Dollmaker tilted his head.

"You know why I want to take Rihan down. And I can guess why Gagoze wants to. But what is your motive? Why do you go so far to recruit one of the strongest Urban Legends and the Nura Clan's _Most Wanted_ just to take down Rihan?"

"For a very good reason." The Dollmaker made a wicked smile. "A more natural reason than the one you two have, as a matter of fact. For one, I'm the only one amongst the three of us who has something to gain from this little plot that isn't some petty revenge or self-satisfaction." The Dollmaker spread out his arms. "His death will be the first step to me becoming the Maou and painting Tokyo red with the blood of the Nura Clan and… my other enemies."

So strong were the controller's emotions that Reiko could now feel Fear radiating from him, and could even hear faint sounds of singing. The song felt so sinister that even Reiko felt shivers from listening to those faint sounds.

She finally understood with whom she was dealing with and that she could no longer turn back. _What'd I just get myself into?_

* * *

"Why are you so silent, Kejorou-san~?" Sanmoto Shiori, or Ichinoe Araya as she was known to these people, asked Kejorou whom she followed while carrying one of her bags.

"I'm a little tired." Kejorou answered with a smile as she lead Araya and held one of her bags. "The last few days have been quite hectic, and I didn't get a lot of sleep. Ah, here is your room, Ichinoe-san."

"It's because of that guy because of whom I've to stay at your place, right?" Araya said and entered the traditional Japanese room.

"Yes, of course." Kejorou sighed as she put down one of Araya's bags. "Really, I was so excited when I heard that we may finally get our hands on him that I forgot to rest. Now, I'm just waiting for a chance to take a nap."

"Well, I for one hope you catch him." She said a lie, for she wanted her guys or Rihan to find him first. "Nobody stabs my boyfriend and gets away with it!" She said while raising a fist.

"To call the young master like that at such age and with such a straight face. You're bold as always."

"Really? I think it's normal. Wait, is that because Kubinashi still-" She started, but her words made Kejorou turn blue. "Oh, sorry… I'm sure he will understand one day."

"Ha ha…" Kejorou turned around and walked away while swinging her body left and right. "Good night, Ichinoe-san."

"Good night…" _I guess I touched something I shouldn't have._

Araya looked at her two bags. One held her clothes, while another held her other items, mainly textbooks for school. _I better be careful. It would be lame if my secret got out because of some minor accident._

She decided to leave the unboxing of her things for later or tomorrow, and since the tatami mattress and a blanket were already brought out, she had nothing interesting to do. So she decided to take a small stroll through the mansion, both to kill boredom and to find out how the Nura Clan's youkai are faring.

It did not take long for her to stumble upon two potential victims. "Hi there guys! How are you doing?" She greeted them.

Kurotabou and Kubinashi immediately turned around. "I-Ichinoe-san?" Kubinashi made an awkward smile.

"I see that you accepted the Commander's invitation." Kurotabou added. He looked tired, and Shiori already got enough reports to know why he would be like that.

"Of course I did." She smiled and put her hands behind her back. "I'm not sure how safer I'll be here, but it's worth a try."

"What are you talking about?" Kurotabou sounded insulted. "There's nowhere safer than here."

"Indeed." Kubinashi nodded. "No enemy will be able to walk past us."

"Really? I heard from the siblings that a boss of an enemy clan spent years inside this very household, right in front of you."

"Ugh." Kubinashi turned pale.

"We admit that the leader of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan, Sanmoto's brain, found his way here and dined with us for many years. But that is in the past!" Kurotabou also looked as if he had a regretful past. "We've grown since then. Not even their best spies will walk past our eyes! I assure you that, Ichinoe-san."

"Ah, really?" She feigned a happy smile. "So the leader of the new leaders of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan won't be dining with you again, right?"

"Of course." They said with proud and resolved faces.

"Well, that's good to know! Well, I won't be holding you anymore, I'm sure you have important things to do! Bye bye!"

"Bye and good night, Ichinoe-san."

_For the best effect, I must make sure that I eat dinner with these two one of these days._

"You seem to be enjoying yourself, girl." A feminine voice said quietly.

Shiori did not immediately recognize the voice, but she recognized the cold air. "Ah… Setsura-san."

"Come with me." She said and walked forward.

"Okay… but where are we going?"

"To talk." Setsura gave a short, but clear, answer.

_Of course, I should have expected her to confront me. After all, she knows my identity. I guess that she wants to know if I'm protecting the one who almost killed her grandson._

"Come on in." Setsura said after they reached a room at the far end of the mansion.

"Ummm…" Shiori looked at the broom that Setsura took. "What's that for?"

"Ah… a lady like you doesn't know what this is? It is a broom. You use it for cleaning the floor." As she said that, Setsura started using it.

"I know what that is. But aren't we going to-"

"Enter the room, girl." She repeated and made the air colder.

 _Something's not right._ Shiori opened the door and looked inside. She bit her lip, but then took a deep breath and entered it. Then she silently sat in front of a small table.

"What's with the surprise, girl?" He said while smoking a pipe. "Even if she is retired, she is still sworn to me. But that aside…" He looked right at her, his gaze feeling like it could pierce her skull. "We have to talk, you, girl, who call yourself Sanmoto Shiori."

The old founder of the Nura Clan said while smoking his pipe and making a face that immediately reminded Shiori of the fact that she was inside a yakuza lair. She could also see that he held a sword on the floor, though she had to focus in order to stay aware of its existence, which suggested that he was trying to hide it with his Fear, although he did not put in enough Fear to fool someone of her caliber. _He is ready to slash at me at any moment. This old man sure doesn't take chances when he is serious._

She could not hesitate or think too much about it. "Indeed we do." She put on a smile and lowered her eyebrows. "But do you have something to drink? Oh, thank you…"

* * *

**Author Notes**

And the new chapter is _finally_ here. Sorry it took so long, the end of my graduation is nearing so my free time is tighter than usual…

\- the average chapter length of this fic has definitely increased: we didn't have a chapter under 10k words since ch76

\- Koko no Kira, Neto no Yose, Giovanni Ventura (ala Plaguesdoctor)... we sure got to meet some old faces again! Hopefully you guys and gals remember them all

\- the moment you start thinking about how "Good old Times" weer different, you know that either something is going very wrong or you are growing old. Or both

\- yes, I shamelessly referenced the Joker Game Anime. Sue me

\- I got to like the three stooges that were with Reiko. Note to myself: find a reason to have them appear again in near future

\- for those who forgot, or know about Shikoku arc only from the Anime, the Nura Clan was infiltrated by the leader (well, at least in name) of the Hyaku Monogatari, Sanmoto's Brain, who pretended to be Mitsume Yazura, one of the Nura Clan's executives. He was also the one who invited Tamazuki to Ukiyoe thus helping them infiltrate the Nura Clan's territories

\- aaaand Nurarihyon knows. Of course, if the all-out conflict between Shiori's Nura's groups was just a matter of time, then Setsura alerting her sworn commander was also a matter of time


	85. Nightly Dialogues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rihan managed to survive the latest battles and saved a schoolmate. And while his day was practically over, the night is long and others have yet to rest

 

**Chapter 85 - Nightly Dialogues**

Setsura took the broom into her hands and slowly cleaned the floor. In case the conversation between Nurarihyon and Shiori went on for longer, she brought some other cleaning tools as well. After all, her mission was to keep others from overhearing the conversation.

However, Setsura was too interested in the said conversations to keep herself away from it, so she kept the door slightly opened. Neither Nurarihyon nor Shiori did not mind it, if they even noticed.

_I'm sorry Shiori-chan, but I had to tell him._ As long as Shiori looked harmless, Setsura did not feel like talking to others about her. However, the times changed and she decided to inform Nurarihyon about it. Even if she put the girl into danger, it was still her duty.

Setsura threw a glance into the room. Nobody was dead yet, and the two still sat on their respective ends of the table.

"Just what are you planning, girl?" Nurarihyon asked Shiori. "I was more than a little chocked when Setsura told me about you." Setsura could feel his Fear radiating more intense. "And just what are you planning to do with my great-grandson?"

"Me and Riha-chan are in a relationship." Although Nurarihyon's Fear right now was strong enough to scare even the braver humans, Shiori not only remained calm and composed, but spoke with a smile. "I wish it was part of some cool plan, but I was too soft to make use of that."

"Oh really? And you came to Ukiyoe, entered the same school my offspring attended and even entered their circle of friends. And you accidentally started a relationship?" Nurarihyon released a larger puff of smoke. "Try again, girl."

"I'm enemies with the Shin Sekai and the sect led by Yanagida-san. Coincidentally, so it the Nura Clan. So when I needed to hide somewhere safe, Ukiyoe was the best choice." Shiori explained. "If I wanted to use the situation to harm the Nuras, your clan would've suffered a catastrophe lon ago."

"Unless you needed years to prepare yourself."

"I'm surprised that I managed to stay hidden for three entire years. If I wanted to attack, I'd do it as soon as possible." She tilted her head. "Though if you want, I can count you the numerous situations where I could have done something nasty."

"Tz, no need." Nurarihyon took a smoke and considered on the next thing they should discuss. "I take it that even you can't say anything about the Shin Sekai?"

"Unfortunately, I can't. Though I can say that you really, _really_ don't want to have them around."

"I already figured that one out."

"May I ask why we are talking here?" Shiori was the next one to ask a question. "Why am I still not behind bars or something? And why do I've a feeling that you want something?"

"I'm unsure about how safe you are, but I trust in my great-grandson. Still, I've to talk with him as well." Nurarihyon said and relit his smoking pipe. "But you're right, I've something to ask of you. If you agree to it, I'll let you prance around without anyone being wiser of you… for now."

"Oh really? You'll take such a risk?"

"I lived for long enough to know that one has to make risks to get anywhere. Still, you'll be following my rules while you are here."

"I can guess what they are, but it won't hurt to listen."

"Hmph, what a pushy woman." He raised his thumb. "First, if anyone dies or gets hurt while you're here, I'll be suddenly finding out about you. The same applies if I notice you doing anything suspicious."

"Natural."

"Second, you will be notifying me or Setsura if you have to leave somewhere. I want to always know where to find you and if you ever, even accidentally, find yourself somewhere else without notifying me, I'm hunting you down."

"That's so that you can easily find me if something happens, like me breaking the first rule, right? And I guess you'll sometimes be sending youkai to check if I speak the truth."

Nurarihyon nodded. "Third, you will do your best to keep your people away from direct conflicts. I can't stop my grandson, but I can make it harder for him to act."

"That doesn't sound very reasonable. If my youkai are attacked, they have the right to defend themselves."

"Naturally, I won't hold it against you if that happens. But you will make it clear to your guys that they should stay at complete defensive. If too much blood is spilled on either side, then I'll take it that we just can't co-exist and will take care of you."

"I see… can't say I like it, but it'll have to do. But I want the right to explain myself if something happens. Can I have that right?" Nurarihyon nodded after some consideration. "Is there the fourth rule?"

"If I come up with it, I'll let you know. Now onto business." Nurarihyon put his hand into his yukata and took out an envelope. "Here." He put the envelope on the table and pushed it towards Shiori.

She took the envelope, opened it and read it. After a few minutes, she spoke. "That's a lot of names. And a lot of bigwigs." She looked up at him. "What do you want me to do with them?"

"I want you to collect info on the circled names. The rest, I'd like to see dead."

_Huh?_ Setsura stopped moving her broom for a while. _A hit-list?_ She had a feeling that she knew what he wanted them removed for.

"That's quite dark… why do you want these people dead?"

"It's not in my interest to say why."

Setsura released a breath of relief. If Shiori learned about why, she would certainly win something and the Nura Clan would lose. _No, she can still learn the truth just from it._

"I recognize some of these names." Shiori put the list back into the envelope. "Some of them are friends of your clan."

"They are friends only in name, and are using it mostly to keep themselves safe from us."

"I see… if you don't want anyone to connect the accidents to the Nuras, than I'm perfect. Not only am I seen as everyone's enemy, but nobody would believe me if I say that you made me do it." She then put a hand on the table and leaned forward a little. "Also, I see… a lot of hatred in your eyes. Ah, I see… I see what it is about."

_Damn! Did she already realize it?_

"I can't believe you are actually hiding this, though I can understand it." Shiori made a sinister smile. "Are you going to tell me to not reveal this to that person?"

"You can reveal it if you want." Nurarihyon sighed. "I don't even like hiding it, but it might be for the best."

"I agree, it might be for the best. Some secrets should be revealed only when it's due time." Shiori said and put the envelope into her pocket. "It does motivate me to go on this killing spree… though I can't say that I've the capabilities to do so."

"From what I've seen in Nagoya, you sure do."

_Nagoya, what does that have to do with anything?_ Setsura wondered, and then cold shivers stormed through her body? _Huh? What is that?_ She looked back into the room. Shiori no longer had that laid back attitude on her face. Now, she looked like she was ready to commit murder. Right now, she felt terrifying, like a strong youkai. _Oh goodness… did I really harass this person?_

"What?" It was Nurarihyon's time to smile. "Is something wrong?"

"How… do you know about that?"

"When you are old and retired, you need hobbies. One of mine is travelling around Japan and checking on how the world changed since I was last time there. The Chubu Region had gotten especially interesting lately." Nurarihyon emptied his smoking pipe.

"But how… even those who live there… "

"Indeed, even there it is a well kept secret. And from what I can see, even your own youkai are unaware of the true strength of your clan. Ha, to think that they all believe that the Shin Sekai's recent attack weakened them… you sure are a manipulative woman. But do not underestimate the First Commander of the Nura Clan, and the one whose Fear is walking into places where he does not belong. I am very good at surprising people, you see." Nurarihyon grinned. It was clear that he enjoyed her distress. "I wouldn't start these negotiations if I didn't have some assurance that you won't betray me. Treating you as a hostage is meaningless as I'm sure you've plans to get out of any foreseeable mess. But this… whatever ambitions, dreams or whatever you have will die if I speak of this to the wrong people, am I right? It is this information that I will be using to force you to follow my rules."

Shiori did not say something, but the intensity in her eyes did not disappear. But Setsura did not feel like this girl was afraid. It was more like she was ready to do anything to keep the secret hidden, whatever that secret was.

Nurarihyon refilled and relit his pipe, and continued talking. "In any case, now you know what will it cost you to betray me and you can't sell me bullshit that you are too weak to erase a clan or two."

"What guarantee do I have that you won't reveal this to anyone if I follow you rules? What guarantee do I have that you will keep it a secret no matter what happens after our agreement is over?" She asked with a frown. "You basically revealed to me that you are a threat I may not want to tolerate."

"Well…" He took a smoke and then smiled again. "You'll have to trust me, right? After all, we might be family one day ha ha."

Shiori suddenly rose up onto her feet and Setsura tensed up, ready to protect her former commander.

"Fine. Accidents will befall these names." Shiori said, but her earlier easy-going attitude did not return. "We will talk about this again later." She said and left the room. She then stopped and looked at Setsura, after which she put on an obviously fake smile. "Setsura-san, did you know? Silence is golden." And saying that, she left with a hasty pace.

"What just happened?" Setsura asked as she entered the room.

"Just some negotiations." Nurarihyon replied without much worry in his voice.

"Just some negotiations? I feel like you just made this girl very agitated."

"She'll cool down." Nurarihyon shrugged. "But I'd rather have her agitated and on the leash than friendly and dangerous."

"If we are playing with the metaphors, then you should remember that the dog on the leash can always attack the one holding it."

"If she isn't able to trust me, then she has nothing to do with Rihan." Nurarihyon released a smoke. "The girl is startled now, but she will calm down soon enough. She is a bright one, even if she is young and a bit naive."

"Well, I hope you are right." Setsura sighed. "I'm not sure if I really want to know, but what did you find in Nagoya?"

"Something that makes me look forward to the future. I expect it to be fun." He smirked.

* * *

Kiyotsugu Saaya sat in her room, with her legs under the pleasantly warm kotatsu.

But she was not alone there. There was also Nura Ritsura, a girl of silky white hair and amber eyes who was taking out the books out of her school bag with a relaxed smile on her face. Like Saaya, she was still wearing her school uniform, but kept her legs outside of the kotatsu. As a cold-loving Yuki-Onna, she did not appreciate its warmth as much as others did.

And there was yet another girl with them, whom Saaya met only once before. She had raven hair and wore a white blouse, as well as a pink skirt which could not be seen as she held her legs under the kotatsu. In contrast to her current looks, she was an Onmyouji and her name was Keikain Ryoko. And that girl was, much to Saaya's surprise, related to Ritsura in larger ways than just being her acquaintance.

_Epic scandal!_ Saaya could see a school newspaper article in her head. _As your reporter recently found out, everyone's beloved school diva, Nura Ritsura, and her equally famous and handsome brother, Nura Rihan, have another sibling, but from another mother!_

_What is more shocking is that she is an Onmyouji from Kyoto. How come our two self-proclaimed youkai are related to an Onmyouji girl? Should we expect some family drama where these siblings try to beat up one another due to difference in their 'species'? Your favorite reporter can at least confirm that she is as eccentric as her sister so everything is possible, really._

_This is very exciting, but not everything is so good. For one, this girl graduated from high school so there won't be any 'mysterious transfer student' events coming up. I'm sorry boys, but you will have to be satisfied with us teehee~_

Of course, she had no intention to publish something like that as she strongly believed in ethical journalism which does not intrude into other people's family affairs. But nevertheless, she could not hold back from making articles in her head. She loved making up articles way too much after all.

"I'm surprised that she is so silent." She could hear Ryoko talk. "I always expected people to be surprised about such a revelation and ask questions."

"Saaya-chan is probably writing an article in her head." Ritsura hit the bull point. "She is in the Newspapers Club after all."

"Aha… but isn't that kinda bad? Do you want the entire school to know it?"

"She's just doing it for fun, otherwise she would be scribbling it on a paper right now." Ritsura sighed. "Which is annoying. She should just go and write about my awesome Onee-sama already."

"Please stop talking like I'm not here." Saaya voiced her annoyance.

"Would you stop saying that?" Ryoko blushed and pouted at Ritsura. "It's embarrassing."

"I should stop saying what?"

"Calling me Onee-sama, together with adjectives like awesome and beautiful! It is embarrassing, even my much younger siblings don't call me that."

"Sorry, but that's physically impossible." Ritsura said with a large, innocent-looking smile.

"Oh come on!" Ryoko started, but stopped with a large sigh. "Fine, whatever…" She then looked at Saaya. "By the way, I can't really put my finger on it, but I feel like I saw you somewhere else before even coming to Tokyo."

Ritsura replied before Saaya could. "Maybe it was your mom's photo?"

"Now that you mention it… yeah, it might be."

Ritsura seemed pleased for getting the answer right. "Our mothers, and our fathers, were friends in their youth. They were even in the same clubs." Ritsura then pulled one of Saaya's bangs. "And she is just like her mom, but with different hair color."

"Oh, I see… I must have seen her mother on my mom's photo then." Ryoko scratched her chin. And then she looked like she realized something. "Oh my, then we might end up becoming friends like our mothers!"

"Indeed!" Ritsura looked at Saaya with stars in her eyes. "See Saaya? We really are destined for one another!"

"I kind of hate the way you said that." Saaya said with a deadpan look.

"I know that you're just being a tsundere there, you!"

"Whatever, open your books, we need to get on with studying!"

"But-" Ritsura no doubt wanted to procrastinate a bit longer, but Saaya knew too well that it would just end up in a wasted day.

"No buts, we start now!"

"Okay…"

"What should I do?" Ryoko, who did not have a reason to study, inquired.

"I don't know… read a magazine or a comic or something." Saaya said and pointed at a closet. "You have some shoujo manga and magazines in there."

"Well then, I hope there's some good stuff." Ryoko said and went to find some material to waste time.

"I want to read comics too…" Ritsura pouted.

"You have to study."

"Hai, sensei…"

* * *

"Anything to report, Kaede-san?" Ao-Ju asked a youkai who looked like a katana-wielding pretty boy of ashen hair and with a tiny ponytail. Like Ao-Ju, he pretended to be a regular human policeman and was dressed as such.

"Nothing, chief!" The boy replied and saluted him.

"Kaede-san, do I smell alcohol on you?"

"No wonder the Chief is our Chief!" He saluted again. "Forgive me, I played poker with hopes to squeeze some information out of some youkai, but I got too much into my role and don't even have any info to make up for it."

"You are a lazy bum, Kaede-san." Ao-Ju sighed. "At least don't pretend that you tried to do any work."

"I'm not getting fired Chief, am I?"

"Lucky for you, your worth is in your enthusiasm that comes out when things get tight. I have others to do the more delicate jobs."

"Oh Chief, you're so merciful." Kaede was on the verge of tears.

"But I'm still annoyed and I would appreciate if you would scramble away."

"As you want, Chief!" He saluted again and walked away in a zigzag line. "Woohoo, Chief gave a compliment! Go me!" He shouted at nobody and raised his hands in the air.

"Ahh… what a hopeless klutz." Ao-Ju put his hand on his forehead and then looked at the sky. _I can't believe that NOBODY found even a trace of the dolls, or their hideout._ He had his followers check on every building, and forcefully intrude into territories where youkai resided. Yet not only did they not find anything, but nobody knew anything precise about the Dollmaker. _The more Fearsome a youkai is, the harder it is for them to hide themselves simple due to their reputation. Yet even though the Dollmaker is someone who is believed to be on the level of stronger Folklores, nobody knows anything about him. Even the Tale he was born from is enigmatic, hidden beneath dozens of false tales._

_This will certainly be a hard case to crack._ Ao-Ju took a bottle of whiskey from his pocket and took a gulp. _Usually, I'd welcome that, but this Gagoze fellow sounds like very bad news. But maybe my Detective Luck makes him and the Dollmaker Case related. Ha, wishful thinking._ He put the bottle back in his pocket.

"Now, would you please stop stalking and come out?" He called to the shadows. Soon, a young man with a disfigured face, dressed in a raincoat, came out. He was the Endless Thief and like Ao-Ju he was Rihan's follower. "What are you sneaking around for? I hope you are not planning to make any trouble as I have better things to do than drive you to the station."

"I just wanted to talk." The youth said. For a troublemaking thief, Ao-Ju thought his attitude could be too serious sometimes.

"And what would you want to talk to me, kid?" Ao-Ju lighted a cigar. "Just so you know, we don't accept people with criminal records like yours in our force."

He did not answer to Ao-Ju's relatively pointless remark. "It is getting complicated, don't you think?"

"What is getting complicated?"

"This situation… Boss' situation. Don't you feel unsure?"

"And just what would I feel unsure about?"

"The Boss… I can't get a grasp on what kind of person he is." The Thief spoke without moving an inch. Even his body language was dull. "Does even he know?"

"Like you, he is young. And just like you, he has many things to learn about himself." Ao-Ju did not need to think long about his answer.

"So you don't know either." There was a certain fire in the Thief's eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be a good guy? If he turns out to be a tyrant-"

"Why are you asking such pointless questions, buddy?" Ao-Ju cut him off and threw away his cigar.

"Isn't it obvious?" The fire in his eyes was replaced by worry that he said something bad. "I follow him right now, but-"

"Look here, buddy." Ao-Ju turned his body so that he was now standing right in front of the Endless Thief. "I saw how you looked at the Chief. There was awe, there was respect… and there was even hatred. You blame him for many things, don't you?"

"I'm just doubtful."

"No, you are hating. I won't blame you, I know what happened. For a youngun' like you, this must feel complicated." A blue fire enveloped Ao-Ju and he turned into his mask-wielding youkai form. "But I decided to follow and trust in him. I'll bring law and order where he asks me to bring it. If he asks me to bring justice, I'll gladly obey as that's what every policeman wants to bring.." He took a step toward the Thief, to which the Thief replied by taking a step backwards. "But in the least, we enforce law and order… and protect of course. Good and evil does not matter here. Traitors will, as everywhere, be dealt with." He took another step forward and the Thief took another step backwards. "So next time you think of trying to make me an ally in treachery, think twice. We don't take well to such topic, you know."

"You don't care what kind of person he is?"

"Oh, I care. And I pray he stays a good person. But first and foremost, I already decided that I would trust in this boy, and support him. Where he goes, I follow… earnestly believing that he will eventually lead me to a happy ending." And then Ao-Ju turned his back the the Endless Thief. "If you can't think the same, turn around and leave. Nothing forces you to follow the Chief and you will make it easier for everyone if you just leave."

The Endless Thief said nothing, and quickly left the scene.

_How pragmatic I am._ Ao-Ju sighed. _I wonder if I would have said the same thing if I still were a human… probably not._

* * *

"90 points in Math." Saaya announced Ritsura's scores as the Yuki Onna perspired.

"Woo!" Ritsura proclaimed with her right hand in the air. "Thank you Sensei."

"That's quite a growth in points, seeing as her result an hour ago was 45." Ryoko noted while she sat on Saaya's bad and read a fashion magazine. "If Saaya-chan was a little older and lived in Kyoto, I believe my grades would've been better too."

"Well, sorry Onee-sama, but I'm the lucky one here." Ritsura boasted with pride, as if she somehow earned Saaya and her tutelage.

"Don't celebrate just yet." Saaya said to Ritsura as she replaced the Math books and notebooks with the ones for Geography. "We have more lessons upcoming."

"Come on, I earned myself a small break, right?" Ritsura said while putting her hands together. "Please, Sensei~"

"Ahh… whatever." Saaya sighed but continued taking out the books for the following instructions. _Well, not that I mind talking with our new friend here._ "While we are on topic of studying…" Saaya looked towards Ryoko. "What do you Onmyouji do after High School? Don't you go to college?"

"Hm?" Ryoko did not seem to have expected Saaya to talk to her. "No, I don't. I'm busy enough as it is, I don't see myself being able to afford to study while I work."

"You can't afford time eh?" Saaya almost made a mocking smirk.

"Hey, I'm on a small break right now! Overworking won't help me anyhow." Ryoko pouted.

"But wouldn't it be safer if you had college education?" Saaya wondered. "What if something happens and you can't be an Onmyouji anymore? Is the pay even worth it?"

"Ummm…" Ryoko showed signs of sweat on her face. "The pay is not that good in Tokyo I guess… but it's nice enough in Kyoto."

"Nice enough, eh?" Saaya smirked at her choice of words.

"Am I imagining it, or did Onee-sama just ignore a part of the question?" Ritsura added.

"Don't you look at me, Ritsura!" Ryoko pointed at the Yuki-Onna. "You don't intend to go to college too, right?"

"Where did you get that idea?"

""Huh?"" It seemed like neither Saaya nor Ryoko expected that answer.

But Ritsura continued as if they did not even react. "I intend to get enrolled into Todai, and I've already gotten some materials to prepare myself for it."

"Todai, eh?" Saaya smirked and looked at her. "I guess I won't be able to get rid of you that easily."

"I know, right?" Ritsura smiled. "Few more years of adventure await us!"

"But won't it get in your way?" Ryoko was the only one not smiling. "I mean, you are going to inherit the Nura Clan someday and will be having your own responsibilities before it. Won't you be too busy?"

"The Supreme Commander of the Nura Clan must be the shining beacon to both youkai _and_ the humans!" Ritsura proclaimed excitedly. "Besides, I can't waste such an important part of my youth, right?"

"Look guys, I just want a confirmation that I'm fine without going anywhere, okay?" If this were a Manga or an Anime, Ryoko would probably be crying tears by now. "Come on, anyone?"

"Sorry Ryoko-chan, but…" Saaya tried to choose her answer.

"We can't say that. No way. Uhm-uhm." Ritsura was less forgiving. "In this day and age, you must go to college."

"Waaah…" Ryoko looked outright distressed. "What is the world coming to…"

"Don't worry Onee-sama!" Ritsura looked like she wanted to encourage her. "You can study with us!"

"Yeah." Saaya shrugged. "Ritsura will be anno- ahem, studying with my help. So we can do it all together." Saaya tried putting on a supporting smile.

"Uhmm… no, impossible." Ryoko continued being dejecting. "I won't stay in Ukiyoe that long. I'll have to return to Kyoto soon y'know."

"So?" Saaya failed to see the problem. "This is the 21st century. We can just use video chat."

"You'll want to go to Kyodai, right?" Ritsura guessed. "It may be a little tough, but I'm sure we'll manage to even out our studying!"

"No need to bother." Ryoko gave up. "Ryuzan will be going to Kyodai so I'll just swallow my pride and ask him for help, should I decide to further my education." She than made a desperate smile. "Haha… as if I had any pride. I'm just a glorified Neet, aren't I? Haha…"

"Oh?" Ritsura's eyes widened, as did Saaya's but to a lesser extent. "Ryuzan is planning to go to Kyodai?"

"Yes." Ryoko let out a sigh. "He says that he lacks talent to study the more complicated forms of Onmyoudo so he will instead go to Kyodai and sharpen his smarts."

"Ahhh… Ryuzan is going to college." Ritsura smiled and put a hand on her cheek.

Much to Ryoko's surprise, Saaya made the same exaggerated gesture."Handsome, cool, smart, strong, magical and now also a man of high education."

"Yeah." Ritsura closed her eyes. "He is not like those other Onmyouji."

Ryoko frowned. "Are you talking about me? You are talking about me, aren't you?"

"But…" Then Ritsura frowned and turned to Saaya with her hand over her mouth, as if she was gossipping. "An Onmyouji's paycheck, huh? That's no way to raise a family."

"Yeah, that's right." Saaya shook her head.

"You two are acting like you are window shopping for a husband. Besides, he has the entire Keikain family to support him financially, you know."

"Living on someone else's expenses, huh?" Saaya looked downright sad.

"That sounds kinda unmanly." Ritsura added.

"Say anything more and I'll fight you two in order to protect my dear cousin's honor!" Ryoko's eyes turned red.

"She doesn't try to assure us that we are right." Ritsura continued gossiping but now looked at Ryoko. "Maybe she really isn't a love rival?"

"Or maybe she just loves him so much that she would protect him even in front of other girls?" Saaya made it clear that she joined the play.

"Is this is what it's all about? Gah, now listen here you-"

"By the way, the two of them were close, you know." Ritsura ignored her sister and continued to talk with Saaya. "You know what that means, right?"

"What… ah!" It took only a moment for Saaya to realize what Ritsura meant. She immediately walked to her worktable.

"Huh?" Ryoko looked confused. "What are you two now- hyah!" As soon as Saaya found what she was looking for, she and Ritsura appeared on the bed in front of Ryoko, with Saaya holding a tablet in her hands and a big smile on her face. "What… is it now?"

"Photos." Saaya said simple.

"We want to see some photos!" Ritsura explained further. "I'm sure you have made some and have them on a cloud somewhere."

"You want photos of Ryuzan I presume?"

"Well, that too." Ritsura looked up. "But I myself wish to see more of my amazing Onee-sama's life."

"Ahhh… whatever." Ryoko accepted the tablet and started typing on it. "Just stop using those embarrassing adjectives."

"What a short password." Saaya complained. "I don't want to judge but security is-"

"Here!" Ryoko cut in and lowered the tablet. They started checking the photos from newest to oldest.

"That's quite a few photos of Tokyo's cityscape, isn't it?" Ritsura noted.

"I couldn't help it. I find the city impressive."

They then went over a few more cityscapes, Ryuzan being embarrassed by something, some self-posing in front of famous buildings and so on until they reached Ryoko's graduation photos.

"What is Ryuzan-kun doing with you here?" Saaya asked while they looked over a photo where Ryuzan was trying to hold flushed Ryoko in his arms.

"He was showing me that even though I graduated, I was still easy enough to hold by a younger man." Ryoko sighed. "He went a bit too far and ended up hurting his back though."

They then reached a few selfies with Ryoko and her father in his day form. He looked proud, while Ryoko looked happy. "I wish I were there with you." Saaya could hear Ritsura whisper.

They then went past Ryoko taking photos with some of closest friends, including a funny-looking one where boys tried to hold the girls on their shoulders but it resulted in everyone falling onto the floor. "And these are my two little siblings, Yuki and Kamuri." She pointed at two kids dressed in little Onmyouji uniforms. Saaya found it sweet. "And here's a photo of me and mom." Ryoko said and showed a photo of herself holding her diploma and a proud woman that hugged her. Ryoko looked at it for a while and then quickly swiped it away.

"Here the Keikain boys are competing on who can make flashier tricks." Ryoko showed the photos of Ryuzan and other Keikain boys doing various tricks. Ryuzan in particular was trying to make a snake out of water, summoned a dragon and on photo created bishounen sparkles with help of water and some reflection. But they saw the end itself at the very beginning: boys united in attacking him because the Keikain girls, who were the judges, gave highest scores to him.

They continued browsing the pictures for next few minutes, when Ryoko found another point of interest. "Here's me and Ryuzan going to a horror house at a school festival."

"Wait, if we are going from end to beginning… where is the rest? What happened inside?" Saaya asked.

"Neither I nor he got scared so it was too boring to take photos." Ryoko revealed.

"Oh, what a shame. Horror houses are supposed to give fun moments." Ritsura pouted. "Even though we youkai don't understand what is so scary about them… wait, why are we not moving from this photo."

"Well ladies, now comes what you desired… some fanservice." Ryoko winked and moved forward.

"Is that Ryuzan running away from a pig?" Saaya giggled. "You should have caught this on video."

"Yeah, I should have… the way he ran was hilarious. Well, until he remembered that I would shoot down the pig the moment he slowed down." Ryoko shrugged. "Anyway, I forgot about this photo. Fanservice comes after this I guess."

_Oh my!_ Saaya blushed and put a hand over her mouth.

"Ooooh!" Ritsura was more vocal. "Handsome boys in swimsuits! Is this a beach episode?"

"Yep." Ryoko winked and continued to swipe. "I and Ryuzan solved a major youkai problem so we were rewarded with a paid trip to the beach. We were even allowed to invite some friends." They went past several pictures, filled with both guys and girls. "I admit that I may have gone a little overboard with taking photos heh he." Ryoko grinned.

"That's all good and nice, but you mentioned that Ryuzan also went with you." Ritsura noted.

"He did, but he went back halfway in because his father wanted to take him on a task. Thus, he doesn't appear in later photos. So stay patient and consider this an appetizer."

_Or, you know, try not to be so open about what you want. It does not befit a girl._ Saaya sighed but did not actually say anything to her. _I swear, she is compensating for the fact that she gets easily embarrassed when boys try to date her._

Still though, Ritsura did speak what was on Saaya's mind, even if that annoyed her.

"And here we are!" Ryoko proclaimed and they finally reached Ryuzan.

_Oh my!_ It was a photo of a wet Ryuzan in blue trunks, rising out of the sea and fixing his hair with an intriguing, heart-breaking smile.

"Dayum!" Ritsura whistled. "I always hated going to beaches, but I'm starting to reconsider my priorities!"

"He is quite a sight for the eyes." Saaya added. "He doesn't usually look like it due to his dressing code, but he is physically in a good shape."

"See?" Ryoko seemed pleased with their reactions. "Money is not so important, is it now?"

"You are still stuck on that?" Ritsura asked with a sweatdrop. "He looks like he posed for you." I thought you-

"He was paying me back for taking this picture." Ryoko swiped and showed a picture of her standing in shallow water, dressed in a two-piece cream-colored bikini while drying her hair and looking up with her hairpin between her teeth. "Although I can't complain as I think I look quite nice here, if I may say so."

"True, you are also quite a sight for the eyes." Saaya noted.

"Well, thank you!" Ryoko replied with a large smile and continued browsing. There was another picture of her, before she noticed that Ryuzan was taking photos, and then they reached the parts where Ryoko took photos with her friends. A girl with a bandage over her left eye appeared more often than most, and unlike Ryoko she wore a humbler one-piece white swimsuit that resembled the ones in schools. "This is Touka-chan." Ryoko must have been aware of how often she appeared as she introduced her. "She is a shrine maiden from Kyoto and one of my closest friends. She is a bit reserved, but she is always there for me when I need her." Ryoko blushed and scratched her cheek.

They continued browsing and went past few pictures where she was together with Ryuzan. Saaya concluded that they were pretty close, but that there was not much embarrassment between them. _Well, I guess she really does not see him as a man._

Soon enough, they left the beach pictures behind and returned to ones in Kyoto.

The following sets of pictures were not as exciting, but Saaya still found them interesting, if only because it allowed her to learn a lot more about Ryoko.

Several people made common appearances, mainly Ryuzan, Touka, some black-clad Onmyouji with pet fox and a few others. Anybody could see whom Ryoko considered to be her best friends.

Amongst her less major relationships, a pattern could be noticed as she had a lot of photos of her schoolmates, but very few of Onmyouji. Even in most group photos of the Keikain Clan, she looked a bit awkward, a sharp contrast to the other photos where she had a wide smile. Saaya could see why she was in no hurry to return to Kyoto and the Keikain Clan.

There were also a lot of photos with her and youkai. In those photos, she looked especially proud and did not seem to mind it when smaller youkai climbed onto her shoulder and head. This showed what an unorthodox Onmyouji she was, and for a certain reason Saaya could even feel a bit sorry for Ritsura who pouted whenever such photos appeared.

Also, one could see that Ryoko had a lot of acquaintances amongst her schoolmates, especially amongst girls. She seemed to hang around them alone rather than in groups, while boys usually appeared in group pictures.

Saaya then focused more on Ritsura than on the pictures. She looked at the photos with a lot of interest, but looked melancholic. Saaya knew Ritsura well enough to realize that she wanted to be in all those memories.

In comparison, Ryoko showed two different expressions: sometimes she smiled, other times the smile faltered. The photos showed her happy memories, but it was impossible to look back at happy times without also looking at less pleasing times. And instead of having mostly good or mostly bad memories, Ryoko seemed to have a lot of mixed ones.

Saaya returned her attention to the photos. She noticed that the younger Ryoko was, the less often she took photos and more often were they focused only on her close friends. Additionally, as photos went on, she became less pretty and Ryuzan less handsome, but both became cuter.

Yet one person did not seem to change. "What is it about this Onmyouji?" Saaya pointed at the black-clad Onmyouji who was as young in those older days as he was in the more recent days. _And now that I think about it, he is often with Ryuzan-kun. I only remember seeing him alone or with Ryoko-chan in earlier photos._

"That's Kashaimaru, one of my closest friends." Ryoko then giggled. "Although in days that these photos were taken, I guess I and Ryuzan still considered him a mentor as he taught us many techniques."

"Yeah, why is he not aging at all?"

Ritsura was the one to answer this question. "He belongs to the group of Onmyouji that has discovered the secrets of immortality."

"He did not master it, but he can use it well enough that he greatly reduces his own aging." Ryoko added and then looked at the photo where three of them sat in front of a temple and smiled. "Later on, I, Ryuzan and Kashaimaru would act as a trio of Onmyouji. We were called Triple Dragon by some. Fufu, what a cheesy name, but it sounded cool to me and Ryuzan back then." Ryoko certainly looked like she was remembering some very fond memories. "He and Ryuzan were always perfect together."

"What?" Saaya raised an eyebrow.

"Don't leave us hanging Onee-sama. What do you mean by that?"

"They were yin and yang, almost literally. Ryuzan is the cool guy, Kashaimaru is the passionate guy. Ryuzan specializes in water element, Kashaimaru specializes in the fire element. Ryuzan is expert at barriers and defensive style of combat, Kashaimaru is highly aggressive in combat. Ryuzan overpowers his enemies with wits, Kashaimaru overpowers them with brute force." And then her smile faltered a little. "Ryuzan has a heart of an angel, Kashaimaru has a heart of a demon. In the end, that was what ended their friendship.

"Well, you can't really blame Ryuzan for it." Ritsura spoke, showing that she knew some of what happened between these two boys.

"I don't blame him. What Kashaimaru did was wrong. But still, I'm not happy about it." She must have gotten tired of browsing the photos because she closed the window. "I do not exaggerate when I say that they were yin and yang. To us Onmyouji, that is the ideal. When they are together, very few can stand against them for each one's difference makes up the other one's weakness."

"That is very poetic of you, Onee-sama."

"Thank you." Ryoko said and then looked at both of them. "By the way, shouldn't you two be having a studying session."

_Aaaaah, I forgot!_

"Onee-sama! Why doest thou betray me?!"

* * *

The sound of a motorcycle and then the sounds of its brakes woke Ryuzan from his contemplations while he leaned forward on the bridge and gazed at the river, at the dimply light scene.

"Now lookie there!" A familiar male voice spoke to him from behind. "What's a guy like you doing this late here?" From the corner of his eye, Ryuzan could see a familiar figure lean back against the bridge's railing. "I know that the life is tough for an Onmyouji in Tokyo, but I not expect you of all people to become homeless. What happened, did Ritsura-chan kick you out of her house?"

"Fancy seeing you here, Kashaimaru." Ryuzan smiled, but that smile held no sincerity towards the one whom he once called a friend and mentor.

"Ohh? Are you avoiding my question?" Kashaimaru teased him while Firefox played with the end of his pants. "Should I give you some advice on how to reconcile with her?"

"I'd appreciate if someone like you stayed away." Ryuzan rejected his offer. "Besides, right now there are more important things to look at." He threw a threatening glance at Kashaimaru, who confessed that he was Shiori's _Business Partner_. "Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"Tension could be felt in the air throughout the entire city. It is clear that a battlefield will spring up sooner rather than later."

"Should we expect to see you there?"

"It is in my interest to stay on peaceful terms with both the Nuras and with Shiori-chan. As such, I won't help Shiori in fighting you guys." Kashaimaru seemed to be honest "Well, I will give her some talismans to keep the humans away, but I don't think that Ritsura-chan should complain about that one."

"You sound like a lousy Business Partner."

"Oh? You still remember me using that term? Ha!" Kashaimaru laughed for a few moments. "Shiori-chan has many, many more enemies than just the Nuras. I'm quite handy when it comes to these others."

"Is that so?" Ryuzan said and ended the conversation.

"It is." Kashaimaru added. The two stood in silence for a few minutes, when Kashaimaru decided to ask a question. "How is Ryoko-chan doing?"

"She is doing fine."

"She seemed a bit troubled the last time I saw her in Tokyo. What happened?"

"It's best if you ask her." Ryuzan thought it was a fitting answer for more reasons than one.

"Well, aren't you stingy?"

"Trust me, it's better if you ask her about this."

"It's something so serious?"

"More than you can imagine."

"I see."

And then another awkward silence ensued, this one longer than the one before.

And once again, it was Kashaimaru who broke the silence. "What do you think of Tokyo?"

"It's a nice enough city. It's crowded, but you feel like this is where the world turns around." Ryuzan then threw Kashaimaru a glance."But I guess that's not what you were asking me about."

"It's part of it." Kashaimaru retained the smile on his face. "But I asked you as a fellow Onmyouji."

"Hmph. The youkai here are numerous, but they are much weaker than the ones in Kyoto. It doesn't help that the truly strong ones are the ones in the Nura Clan. It's also pretty hard to find a job in this place."

"Yet, it's no less dangerous than Kyoto, right?" Kashaimaru noted and continued before Ryuzan could reply. "You feel it too, don't you? That some strange malevolence engulfs this city. As someone who lived for twice as long as I look, I can say that this city stinks more and more with each passing decade."

"Isn't that the fault of your friends?" Ryuzan frowned. "Those degenerate youkai that the Sanmotos create are corrupting this city."

"They make use of it, but nothing would change even if you erase the Hyakku Monogatari from the face of Earth. They just make use of the situation… and regulate it somewhat."

"Are you trying to get me on your side? Because it won't work."

"Sorry for that remark, it was just a side comment. The actual point is that a new breed of darkness is being birthed throughout Japan, with Tokyo and Nagoya being the epicenters."

"What are you talking about?"

"Compare this place with Kyoto. The air there is fresh… invigorating. Even though some of evilest youkai live there, the city pulses with energy. In Kyoto, Yang is as strong as Yin. And both are elegant."

"And what about this place?" It was strange to see Kashaimaru talk so seriously about something.

"Rot. That's the best word for this: rot." Not even a trace of smiles could be seen on Kashaimaru's face. "There's a rot here, that is consuming both the darkness and the light… both the youkai and the human world."

"Are you talking about the Urban Legends and the humans who _feed_ them by spreading their tales?"

"Urban Legends… what a discriminatory name. They are youkai like any other, but giving them a different label allows one to think that the rot is exclusive to them."

"Are you claiming it isn't?"

"All youkai are given birth by tales. Be it Urban Legends or Folklores, it does not matter. The Urban Legends are just first to fall to it, as they are born into it." Kashaimaru changed his position so that he too was now leaning forward against the railing. "The Nuras are strong in morale and Fear, so you won't notice it here. But go to Nagoya for example, and you will see the rot present even in the youkai born from Folklore."

"What do you mean?"

"Youkai of Tokyo, as I mentioned, have a stronger Fear. The Nura Clan is strong and shining, so they are not affected by the rot. But the youkai of Chubu are different." Kashaimaru tapped his fingers on the iron railing. "Youkai of Chubu live in their past glories, its old members deluding themselves into thinking that they are still amongst the more prominent clans in Japan, when they are actually the most insignificant. But deep inside, they understand it, which is why they are constantly fighting amongst one another. A year does not pass without at least one clan being obliterated and another one rising. The youth is disillusioned." Kashaimaru looked up from the river and onto the starless sky. "I did not understand it when I first saw those youths. Their Fears felt different, lacking in dignity and overflowing with a strange malice. But then I realized… that their Fears are no different than those of the Urban Legends." He now looked at ryuzan. "I do not disagree with you, y'know. Don't tell Shiori, but Urban Legend _are_ degenerate as far as I'm concerned. But that degeneration is spreading onto Folklores as well and if something is not done, a new Age of Darkness will engulf the entire island."

"I can't say that your little speech wasn't interesting to me but… is there a point in you telling me all this?" Ryuzan still did not buy all that Kashaimaru was telling him, but he knew better than to just discard all that he said.

"It is just a friendly warning. The rot is growing ever faster, many thanks to our friends Sanmoto Gorozaemon and the Shin Sekai, which means that you will face it soon enough. You'd do well to prepare yourself for it."

"Why did you mention the Shin Sekai and Sanmoto Gorozaemon?" Ryuzan frowned.

"Sanmoto Gorozaemon is actively trying to spread this rot. What you saw at Nejireme is part of it… and it's just the beginning. The Shin Sekai is the product of it, I feel."

"You feel?"

"Hey, I don't know that much about them." For a short moment, Kashaimaru allowed himself to smile a little. "But wherever they tread, the rot follows. And much of their… magic… stinks of it."

"I'm pretty sure that your Shiori stinks of it as well."

"I'm not denying that, but at least she is one of very few people who seems aware of this problem. She could be bullshitting me, but for now I decided to trust her."

"You don't sound so certain."

"Experience taught me not to be cheap with my trust." Kashaimaru smiled one more time. "But risks have to be taken." Then he got a melancholic look, like he was hoping for something that he knew was hopeless. "And even if she is sincere… she may end up drowning in it like so many others did."

"If you can talk about her like that, then I doubt her being worth of your trust." Ryuzan moved himself away from the railing. "In any case, I'm too tired for your indoctrinations. If you'd excuse me, I'd like to go get sleep now."

"Tsundere behavior should be reserved for girls, y'know." Kashaimaru said behind him. "But there's one more thing that I have to tell you."

Ryuzan contemplated just leaving as he had a bad feeling about this. _I listened to him up 'till now. May as well listen to the end._ "Then make it quick."

"I lied before, you know. Nuras are not exactly immune to it."

Ryuzan looked at him, but did not reply.

"Ah… I see that you may have noticed." Kashaimaru also pushed himself away from the railing. "I told Ritsura-chan a few lies back at Nejireme… or more exactly, I hid some truths, including the fact that her brother was a bit… psychotic so to say. He was almost like a… champion of that rot."

"I think I listened enough." Ryuzan said and cut him off.

"You mean, you are already aware of it. Well, suit yourself." Ryuzan could hear Kashaimaru sitting back onto his bike. "But the good news is that he seems to be doing fine now… well, at least from what I have seen by looking at him from the shadows."

"You sound like a stalker!" Ryuzan shouted to the boy who was a good distance behind him now.

"I'm an Onmyouji! I have to make sure." He said and the sounds of the bike could be heard. "See you later, dude! And greet Ritsura-chan for me, will you?"

_Nura Rihan… yes, I noticed it too. As did Ritsura and Sakura-chan._ He remembered what that Kirishitan Onmyouji told him months ago, about how a strong darkness possessed him.

But she also told him that it was much weaker since he returned from Nejireme. _And now Kashaimaru says the same… just what is going on here?_

Unfortunately, neither of them suggested that Rihan was doing fine now.

* * *

"Enough!" Ritsura hit the table with her head. "I can't do it anymore! I'm tired!"

"Heads up." Saaya said while gazing at the Geography textbook while Ryoko was lying on Saaya's bed and browsed the Internet with saaya's tablet.. "We still have a lot to study."

"I'm sleepy…"

"You only got 78 points at our mock test."

"Isn't that good enough? 78 is quite good!"

"You said we should not stop until you reach all 85s."

"I want to change the rules."

"You also told me not to allow you to change the rules unless you keep to your opinion for three days without second thoughts."

"Damn it! I'm too prepared against my enemies, even if that enemy is me!" Ritsura noted while her head still lay on the table. "I'm my own worst enemy."

_Well, she does look like she is tired._ "You also told me to decide when enough is enough. So let's call it a night."

"Saaya-sensei is such a merciful teacher!" Ritsura tried raising her head up, but it just fell back down onto the table. She moved her head a bit and looked at Ryoko with an eye half-opened. "You've been quite busy there Onee-sama. Did you find something fun?"

"You've gone through my life with my photos, so now I'm checking on yours over the Social Networks."

"Hey! You could've just asked me to show you all of my photos!"

"You were busy so I decided to leave it for another day." Ryoko winked and stuck out her tongue. "But damn, your name appears on a lot of people's profiles."

"Well, I _am_ quite popular." Ritsura said half-heartedly. "To the point that some people get outright creepy."

"Like these photos of you at school that people took secretly?"

"I see that a lot of people will need a good smacking. And some freezing too. Actually, I'll just freeze them, that's safer for everyone."

"Some boy is planning to confess to you next week." Ryoko noted.

"Then I'll expect the love letter."

"Since when do boys leave love letters?"

"Since this particular chick freezes those that hit on her." Saaya jumped in.

"This _chick_ freezes only the boys that don't understand the meaning of word 'No'." Ritsura pouted and looked back at Ryoko. "Is he in a relationship?"

"No, he isn't. But some girl seems angry at his plans. She obviously likes him, but he has the social awareness of an Anime Protagonist."

"Then I'll also expect a Challenge Letter."

"You sure have a lot of experience with this." Ryoko sweatdropped and turned to a sitting position. "But shouldn't you be asking about him? How he looks and all that?"

"I'll see him soon enough. Maybe I'll be surprised and he is interesting." Ritsura pointed. "But generally, I've lost my enthusiasm with all this. It happens way too often."

"Ever found someone you like this way?"

Ritsura released a large sigh. "No, I didn't. I went out with a few boys, but none of them fulfill my needs."

"Your needs?"

"I want a boy I could depend on!" Ritsura finally raised her head up. "A boy who would fight with me back-to-back. Although I guess wouldn't mind someone who is just so romantic that my heart starts thumping like crazy. At best, he'd be both."

"And my 'lil Ryuzan fits in that category, huh?" Ryoko made a small mocking smile.

"Uwaaaah… maybe, but I screwed it all up." Ritsura's head fell back onto the table. "I'm so stupid!"

"I'm sure you'll find someone as great as him." Saaya teased her a little with a smile of her own.

"Blegh to my rival." Ritsura stuck out her tongue towards Saaya.

_But shouldn't you be trying to fix it?_ Saaya wondered and then threw a glance towards Ryoko. _Or is her being here making you hesitate?_ Saaya decided to talk to Ritsura about it once they were alone.

"Anyway, what about you?" Ritsura pointed at Ryoko. "I don't remember seeing anyone who looked like a boyfriend in your photos."

_Yeah, we saw something else._

"Unfortunately, I'm a bit off…" Ryoko looked away awkwardly. "I get too worried."

"Too worried?" Ritsura raised an eyebrow.

"I tried, but a lot can happen when you are with someone." Ryoko scratched the back of her head. "I mean, even if you don't plan on doing something, something can occur. So when I'm with boys, I often get too nervous. So… I should first get around that, I guess?"

"Oh…" Ritsura looked away, no doubt understanding what her half-sister was afraid of.

"Now, it Saaya-chan's turn!" Ryoko leaned forward with an excited expression. "What about you? Ever dated someone? Who's your dream date?"

"I… just want someone normal." Saaya shrugged. "Though I admit that I never had time to go out on dates." _A normal girl wants a normal date, right?_

"How boring." Ritsura pouted.

"You're lying." Ryoko said and jumped from the bed.

"What are you talking about, Ryoko-chan?" Saaya feigned confusion.

"You can't live with Ryuzan and Uncle Ryuji for your entire life and not learn to differentiate truth from outright lies." Ryoko made put on an intrigued smirk. "What are you hiding?"

"Oh?" Even Ritsura seemed intrigued.

"I'm not hiding anything." Saaya shrugged with her shoulders and looked away. "You must be tired like your sister so you're no doubt reading too much into it."

"Oh no, I had a good morning sleep already." Ryoko sat beside Saaya. "Why are you hiding it? Is it something that makes you embarrassed?"

"I'm not hiding anything!"

"Come on Saaya." Ritsura spoke without moving from her spot. "We're friends! You can tell us."

"You're reading too much into-"

"Are you in love with hopeless romantics? You want to be someone's Juliet?" Ryoko asked and Saaya looked back at her. "Or do you like delinquents. That is also something worth hiding."

"It's nothing." Saaya looked away, her lips quivering.

"Is it some fetish that makes you ashamed? Are you swinging the other way?" Ryoko's fingers passed through one of Saaya's bangs. "Or do you love only 2D boys? Are you an M? An S?"

"It's nothing like those!" Saaya pulled away from Ryoko.

"Hmmm…" Ryoko then looked at the cupboard. "Now that I think about it, you have a big amount of Shoujo Manga. Now what is the pattern in the ones that I saw…"

"Why do you care so much about it?!"

Ritsura was the first one to answer. "Because you want to know more about your pals, right?"

Then it was Ryoko's turn. "Besides, you not only saw my past, but you also threw some heavy books onto me." Ryoko gave her a naughty smile. "Vengeance is in order."

"Just let it go…"

"Oh!" Ryoko seemed to have noticed a pattern. "Um… yeah, everyone has their own fetishes I guess?"

"What is it, Onee-sama?"

"Nothing special." Ryoko said and tapped on Saaya's shoulder. "Don't be embarrassed, a lot of people like it extra rough and dark."

"Why are you looking me with such pity?" Saaya was sure she came with a wrong conclusion. "What conclusion have you come up with?"

"Oh nothing. Let's just forget about-" Ryoko started, but Saaya grabbed her collar and pulled her towards herself.

"Misunderstanding is worse than knowing nothing. I don't want you to start spreading rumors and bringing me to the point that I have to say that _I'll never get married now_." Saaya talked in a threatening manner. "So talk."

"Well, I noticed that in all those comics, a girl is abducted by monsters or bad guys. So obviously…"

"WROOOOONG!" Saaya let go of Ryoko and started walking around the room. "Wrong wrong wrong! I'm not into that, I'm into D.I.D.!"

"A diaidi?" Ritsura tilted her head.

"D.I.D.! Damsel in Distress!" Saaya struck the table in despair. "I love the stories where a girl is protected by someone strong, okay?!"

"Hah…" Ritsura seemed a bit surprised.

"Yes, It's true. A normal girl like me who always says that she wants a normal life actually wants a life of a damsel. Haha, isn't that something?" Saaya started monologuing and turned around. "Yeah. that's right! I want to be with someone who'll not only make me happy, but protect and save me from monsters and bad guys." She put her hands over her chest. "When I'm filled with fear and despair, they would come, gently hold me and tell me it's alright. Then they would vanish all evils, and take me home. Ahhh… the _Damsel in Distress_ trope is so beautifully romantic!"

"Well, that's quite something…" Ryoko sweatdropped.

"And I'm in a situation where I would easily find danger. But no!" Saaya turned grumpy and weaved her hands around. "Saaya-chan is too smart so she can get out of most predicaments by herself! Saaya-chan could theoretically wait for someone but NO, she has to be reasonable and not try to be anyone's burden. I can't be a damsel like that!" She grabbed her head.

Ritsura tried to calm her down. "You know, I think we heard enou-"

"Heck! Even when I'm a damsel and there is someone to save me, I sometimes save _them_!" She looked at the ceiling as she continued with her monologues. "Oh look, the handsome Ryuzan-kun is fighting a thieving youkai! Oh my, he is down! Does Saaya-chan beg him to get better and does he miraculously rise up to protect her? Nooo, Saaya-chan couldn't wait! Saaya-chan goes, fools the youkai and saves both of them! Waaaah, why does it have to end like that?"

"Woah!" Ritsura was impressed. "She is so out of character. You sure awakened a slumbering beast, my cunning Onee-sama."

"Saaya-chan, just what do you think should have happened?" Ryoko asked out of interest.

"Should? The best outcome happened already, no matter how you look at it!" Saaya admonished her. "But if this was a work of fiction, the best scene would be the one where Ryuzan rises and continues to fight against impossible odds." Saaya put her hands on her cheeks. "He is struck and struck, but he rises back up with an easygoing smile on his face. Only his clothes get torn up more and more, revealing more of his manly figure and muscles." Saaya continued to look dreamy as she talked. "Then the villain mocks him, but Ryuzan smiles and finishes him off!" For some reason, Saaya made a gesture of swinging a sword. "And he walks to me and reminds me that he told me not to worry. Then even though his clothes are torn apart, he's bleeding a little and obviously tired, he takes me into his arms like I'm a princess." Saaya shook herself left and right as she talked. "I tell him that I'm heavy, but it doesn't matter to him. He takes me away to safety, as my heart goes THUMP THUMP THUMP!"

"Well, that's quite a story." Ritsura commented. "Ryuzan could've done better I guess?"

"You're the one to talk!" In what felt like just a moment, Saaya struck the table and pushed her face over it right in front of Ritsura.

"Hyah!"

"We're so often together, yet you never blessed me with the moment either!" Saaya pushed her face further. "We're friends, aren't we? Then why don't you swing the sword and save my sorry ass and then make a fancy hair flick and a wink? You have the looks and attitude, you only lack timing and some heart-throbbing poses! Aren't you Nuras supposed to be the _Big Darn Heroes_? Give people of Ukiyoe some service, damn it!"

"Ah… uhm… I didn't expect this." Ritsura sweatdropped.

"Your brother is so much better at this." Saaya pulled back. "But ahh… he somehow feels more like a villain. Maybe that's why we didn't last longer than two dates."

"Wait? What?" Ritsura raised herself back up. "You dated my-"

"Uh…" Only then did Saaya realize that she said something _unnecessary_. "It was many years ago."

"Many years ago?" it was Ritsura's time to strike at the table. "Why do I only now learn that we could've been Sisters-In-Law rather than just Sisters-In-Arms?!"

"Yeah!" Ryoko also rose up. "Why only now?"

"You and I did not even know one another until recently." Saaya gave the Onmyouji girl the obvious answer and then turned back to Ritsura "It only lasted a few days, okay? It's nothing worth talking about! And since when were you and I Sisters-In-Arms?!"

"My little brother and my best pal dated! That's not a small thing!"

"Ahhh…" Saaya fell onto her knees. "We should just forget about it! We should forget all this!" Saaya then rummaged through her hair. "What is wrong with me? Why did I just make such a pointless scene? Why did I even throw that bag of books at your sister? Why am I being so aggressive recently?"

"It's nothing special." Ryoko noted and weaved at the air. "It's just one of my curses that you caught at the Safe House."

Saaya looked at her in silence for a few moments. "Ha?" She then remembered that the reason Ryoko was here was because Saaya needed an exorcist to check up on curses she may have caught at the Keikain Safe House or from the enemies at the old Kiyotsugu Mansion. "So I'm cursed?"

"Yep! I've felt it a few times when you got aggressive."

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?"

"Saaya-chan and my brother…" In the background, Ritsura was still in shock. "How come I didn't notice it… I could've made it work. Damn it, we were so close to a perfect sisterhood…" Then her head fell onto the table again. "I'm such a failure…"

"Well, you were kind of busy and during breaks always another topic got brought up. And since none of these curses were dangerous, I let it slide for a while."

"Exorcise me. Now."

"But a damsel eh?" Ritsura continue leading her own conversation with herself. "Wait, did she suggest that she… nah!"

"Oh, okay." Ryoko nodded and then raised a finger into the air. "Take off your shirt! And turn around so I can start offering you my services!"

"You're just asking for someone to use this out of context, aren't you?" Saaya complained with a blush.

"It won't hurt. I promise that I'll be gentle."

"I'm on the verge of deciding that Ryuzan is safer than you." Saaya shook her head. "But is there a reason that I've to turn around for?"

"From what I heard, you were running away, right?" Ryoko became a little more serious. "That means that if they hit you, it was from behind."

"Yeah, that's right." Saaya said and turned around. "But what about that youkai from the mansion?" She asked and took off her shirt.

"I can't sense any alien Fear on you so I doubt that anything dangerous cursed you there. Well, I'll know soon." Ryoko said and put her fingers on Saaya's back.

"That's good I guess." Saaya sighed and thought about what happened a few minutes ago. She remembered that she had to apologize to Ritsura. "Ritsura, listen-"

"Zzzzzz…" But the Yuki-Onna was deep in sleep.

"And there I wanted to apologize." Saaya sighed.

"The Aggression Curse has been removed! Two more to go~" Ryoko said and put her fingers on another place. "What do you have to apologize for?"

"I said some stupid things. Ahhh, I should apologize to Ryuzan too." Saaya could already feel different. "And I should apologize to you too, I guess."

"We'll call it even. After all, I did burn down your mansion. Uhh… no I should apologize."

Saaya did not want to turn this into a battle of ping pong. "Apology accepted." Saaya sighed. "What other curses are there?"

"Another Aggression… which is now gone~" Ryoko then moved her hands again. "And then there's one that makes you courageous."

"What? Isn't that a blessing?"

"This stuff was meant for Ryuzan. And courage does not go well with his talents he he he."

"You and Ryuzan sure sound like you are close."

"We are like siblings. Just like you and Ritsura are. That's why she fell asleep, without caring about your behavior. There, done!"

_Are you trying to sound wise?_ "Tell…" Now that Ritsura was asleep, Saaya decided to ask Ryoko something. "Why didn't you visit Ritsura earlier?"

"You look a bit angry." Ryoko showed a bitter smile.

"I don't know if you noticed, but she was sad that she wasn't part of your life." Saaya spoke in a lower tone and kept a watch over Ritsura so that she would not wake up during this conversation. "And I'm angry that someone made her make such a face."

"Looking back, I'm not sure myself why I acted like a procrastinator. Coming to someone and telling them that I'm their big sister… it felt so alien and impossible."

"Still…"

"I had my reasons I guess… but if I told you, I'm sure you'd say that they're hollow. After all, I can't justify it anymore, now that I look back from where I'm now. But…" She looked back at Saaya and smiled. "I may not be able to change the past, but I want to make up by being there in the future."

"Well, I'm holding you to your word. I may not be cursed anymore, but I'll find a way to kick your ass if you hurt my… sister-in-arms."

"Hehe, I guess I better keep to the promise then." Ryoko gave an earnest smile. "After all, you are the one who has been her nee-san in my place, I guess."

"We're not _that_ close." Saaya replied with a smile as well. _Damn, I sure am such a tsundere. Even though… no, leave that past behind._

"By the way, it is getting quite late." Ryoko mentioned. "Should I-"

"You can stay here." Saaya did not feel like letting her finish. "We have guest rooms here, and I always have pijamas ready for when Ritsura forgets to go home."

"Oh really? Next you will say that I'll get breakfast!"

"Of course you will."

"Oh my… it's almost like you want to be friends with me."

"Even if I wanted to avoid that, it'd be impossible." Saaya rose up and smelled her shoulders. "Come on, let's wash ourselves and go to sleep. Or would you wai-"

"Let's go." Ryoko rose up immediately. "Should we wake her up too?"

"Let her rest, she seems to need it." Saaya said and took out a few towels from a cupboard. "Besides, when she is tired she sometimes freezes the entire pool."

"Pool? Are you telling me that you have a pool?"

"Dad built an inner pool, together with reflectors. I personally don't like wasting electricity so we just go to-"

"Oh my, you sure are rich." Ryoko was so excited that Saaya could basically see yen symbols in her eyes. "You'll truly make a great friend… and an even better girlfriend."

"Thank you but-"

"Come on, my dear Saaya-chan." Ryoko grabbed Saaya's hand and pulled her out of the room. "Show me the way to the pool! Or to the jacuzzi!"

"How do you know that I have a jacuzzi?"

"You actually have it? Kyaaah, you are so hot!" Ryoko pulled Saaya closer. "I think us two have a lot to talk about!"

_Oh yeah, she is a… I think it would be better if I stop talking right now…_

The two of them left the room, just before the plasma TV on the wall turned on and showed film grain like in the televisions of old. And behind the grain, a silhouette could be seen.

* * *

"What is he doing now?" Dohiko asked Amezou while the two sat on a bench and looked at Yanagida who talked on cellphone. They were in a small town in the Miyagi prefecture, northern Japan.

"He is doing some evil calls obviously." Amezou spoke in the same tone as Dohiko, which was the tone one would expect bored people to use.

"Is that why he always makes us sit at a distance we couldn't hear him from?"

"He is too stuck up to allow us to have any fun."

"Why are we watching over him again?" Dohiko kicked a pebble that was at his foot. "I want to be in Ukiyoe with Itaku, Reira and Awashima."

"We can't be with them because we can't take on human forms." Amezou reminded him, like he did almost every day. Although as Toono youkai they could decide to go there, they both wished to be of some use. "And someone needs to watch over this guy until Youbi arrives and we can properly interrogate him." Amezou clicked his tongue. "I hope she comes to Iwate soon."

Fuguruma Youbi was a youkai whose purpose was collecting historical records. Her Fear made it possible for her to create a detailed historical record from just listening to a short story. Conveniently, that could also be used to collect information from someone, in this case it could be used to interrogate Yanagida, the former member of the village who was being suspected for selling them to an enemy group. Although she was not a formal member of the Toono Clan, Youbi had close relations to it and they were sure she would help them check if Yanagida betrayed the village or not.

However, the youkai world was in a state of turbulence for the last few years and that meant that Youbi was constantly travelling around, recording the histories so nothing would be lost to the past. As a result, Toono was waiting for two months for her to reach Iwate Prefecture.

"But you know…" Dohiko broke the silence. "Is there really a point in all this? If he had something to hide, he wouldn't be so calm, would he?"

"He could be pretending and waiting for one of his Kyushu friends to snatch him away." Amezou repeated what he said once before.

"I'm sure that would've happened over last two months. With each day nothing happening, he seems less suspicious to me."

"Or maybe he is waiting for us to lower our guard?"

"For whom to lower their guard? You and I are one of few in Toono who honestly suspect him! And we do it because Rikuo is our buddy." Dohiko explained.

"That's why we should be extra careful. The old guys are still nostalgic about that old man, but it means little to us. We should keep an eye on this guy while nobody else does."

"You don't seem to like him, Amezou."

"I've a bad feeling about him."

"Hah." Dohiko thought a little on what he meant. "I know what you mean. He's just too damn sleazy… and that thing that happened at Nejireme… damn."

"Enough about that." Amezou said and rose up. "It seems that he finished his little call."

"Hmph." Dohiko rose as well when he saw the smiling Yanagida walk towards them.

"Just what are you two doing there? Don't you have anything better to do than wait for me?" Yanagida asked with a sleazy smile.

"Around here? No." Amezou replied while not trying to show his suspicion in his voice. "What were you talking so long for?"

"Unlike some, I've friends who need my guidance." Yanagida explained and walked past them. "And since I can't be there for them, I've to use the phone."

"Whatever." Dohiko said and he, together with Amezou, continued following Yanagida. "Are we going back to Toono?"

"What for? Why would I sit and do nothing when I can go around and collect all these tales?" Yanagida raised the notebook that he always carried with him. "By the way, it seems that Fuguruma-san is going to arrive in Toono very soon!"

"How do you know that?" Dohiko asked.

"It's not like she moves around in secret." They could see Yanagida's smirk on the corners of his face. "Oh, I do so look forward to this. I've been in this boring land for far too long."

"That bastard." Dohiko whispered to Amezou. "And is it only me, or does he have an ulterior motive in meeting Youbi? After all, why would he have his friends spy on her? Maybe he wants to threaten her or kidnap her… or kill her to hide something from her records?"

For some reason, Amezou smiled. "You want to do some ninja stuff with me when she finally comes?"

It took a few moments for Dohiko to understand what Amezou meant. And then he too smiled. "Of course."

* * *

_Sssssshhhhhh._

"Ummm… what is it?" Ritsura was awakened by some strange sounds. If she had to guess, it sounded like water flowing into a bathtub. She opened her eyes a little and saw the table, which meant that she should not be hearing any sounds of water.

"Uhmm… stop it." She closed her eyes, trying to fall asleep again. "I don't know what you guys are doing, but just stop it already." She muttered, but the sounds did not stop.

"Alright, I get it. I'll get up now." Ritsura put her hands onto the table and pulled herself up. She yawned and then looked around. "Huh? Guys?" But she could not see Saaya and Ryoko anywhere. "Where are you?"

" _What do civilized people do before they go to bed?"_ An unknown female sounds spoke to her. _"They go to wash themselves."_

"Huh?" The unknown voice completely woke up Ritsura and the girl turned to the source of it. The Plasma TV on the wall was radiating with Fear, and on the screen the Film Grain was hiding a female silhouette. It was that grain that made sounds that Ritsura earlier interpreted as the flowing water. "Who are you?" Ritsura asked and walked to the front of the TV. "Is that you, Shiori?"

" _You can call me Otone."_ The grain gradually faded until it left behind a woman in mid-twenties. She had black hair tied into a knot and a ponytail, and a serious and unimpressed expression on her face. She looked like she was sitting and had her hands together, the fingers intervening. Furthermore, her eyelids and lips had black-colored make-up put onto them.

Her clothes were unique to say the least: she seemed to wear a one-piece pure white dress that covered her torso and her left hand, with the ends looking as if they were unevenly torn apart as the part of her fashion style. Where she had no dress, dirty bandages were tied up, most notably her entire right hand was, from shoulder to fingernails, tied up in bandages. And they were not even neatly tied up, and in the same style as the torn parts of the dress, many of the ends of the bandages were hanging off her. It made Ritsura feel as if she took the western children's stereotype of a ghost as her inspiration.

Yet her most defining feature were her eyes. Technically, they were normal dark-brown eyes. But even through this screen, Ritsura could feel malice and arrogance in them. It made her feel like she was looking down on everyone, and that at the same time she wanted to bring utter terror upon them.

And in her bones Ritsura knew that she was dealing with someone capable of doing all that. "Otone? Am I supposed to recognize that name?"

" _No."_ Otone tore her hands apart and then rested her head on the left hand while her right fell below the screen. _"I have no need to stay in the forefront of events."_

"Hoo?" Ritsura put on a challenging smile. "Would you mind at least telling me to which group you belong to?"

" _I wish you ill, thus I've no reason to earn your trust by announcing with whom I stand."_

"Ooooh… well aren't we mysterious?" _Hmph, I can't even guess if she is a human or a youkai._

" _Now if you are satisfied with this pointless chatter, I'd like to tell you a few stories."_

"Stories? Are you with the Hyaku Monogatari?" Ritsura tried to get the answer out of her, but Otone just shrugged. "Well, why don't we leave the stories until you give me one good reason to listen to someone who wishes me ill?"

" _You are free to leave whenever you want. It's doesn't really matter that much to me, to be honest."_ She raised her free hand and pointed at where the doors were. _"If you stay, I get what I came for. If you leave, my enemy will be less aware of me."_

"Bah! Enough with this philosophy lesson." Ritsura crossed her arms and, a bit to her annoyance, kept looking up at Otone. "I never intended to leave anyway. I'm too proud for that."

" _I know."_ Her right hand stopped pointing at the door and moved to playing with a loose bang of her hair. _"First, I apologize in advance for the use of an obnoxious cliche. You see, I'd like to tell you stories of the seven sins and later you can interpret about who is it that these sins refer to."_

_What the hell is this gal planning?_

" _First is the story of Superbia, the Pride. Superbia is someone who depends on others, all while fooling themselves that that others depend on them. They think that being Superbia is not only fine, but that they need to be even more of a Superbia. This brings them strength, but alas, Superbia sometimes risks going too far."_

"You are talking about me, aren't you?"

Otone ignored her inquiry. _"Then we Invidia, the Envy. An unfortunate existence, and she made herself even more misfortunate. Stubborn and always desiring of what she doesn't have, she wasted what she could have had and what she now desires more than anything. Yet, a lesson was not learned and Invidia continues on her futile quest to gain what she can't have."_

Ritsura clenched her fist.

" _Then comes Ira, Wrath. Oh how petty they are, thinking that they are upholders of the Divine Wrath. But while you are Ira, you can't do anything worth being called divine. Ira rampages at those they hate, justifying it to themselves. Yet they do not realize that they destroy not only that in front of them, but also that around them. And the ones Ira destroys for are around them."_

In contrast to what she said earlier, Ritsura felt a strong need to leave the room. But she had to listen to the end as it was too late for anything else.

" _Acedia, the sin of Sloth. Acedia procrastinates, and they justify that procrastination. They know that there is wrongness around, yet they do nothing for they delude themselves that they have a plan that will work. However, that is just procrastination. Acedia's plans never work, for they are just the self-satisfying delusions."_

" _Avaritia, the sin of Greed, looks up and around. Like a coward, Avaritia hides in the shadows, patiently waiting to claim what they don't need. For those dull reasons, they destroy those that catch their eye."_

" _The shadows of Gula, the sin of Gluttony, hangs around forevermore. Gula throws their large shadows upon everyone, waiting to devour everything. Their hunger grows and grows, to the point that they can't stay dead even when they die. It keeps looking for new ways to finally feed, thus throwing their shadow and spit even further."_

"Only one more to go." Ritsura noted.

" _The sin of Lust, Luxuria. Confused and acting only on instinct, Luxuria seeks empty love and does its bidding. Like an addict they are, Luxuria searches for self-satisfaction while leaving behind the stares of pity, and stares of contempt. Unworthy in every way, Luxuria falls further into its own emptiness."_

"Oh? Is it finally done? I'm no critic, but nevertheless I'd give it two stars at best."

" _What you think of it matters not."_ Otone put her hands on the table and leaned forward. _"These stories were not made to create a direct impression anyway."_

"What is the point of these stories anyway? I could feel some mocking in them, but I doubt you'd do all this for something so stupid."

Otone smirked a little and the film grain slowly started returning. _"The point was to bury a seed into your subconsciousness. At least one of these stories was poison, but can you find it? And should you even try to find it?"_

Ritsura did not honor her with a reply.

" _I leave you now."_ Otone spoke as the while the film grain grew more intense. _"After my enemy lies dead and the one you love so dearly becomes a smoldering mess, maybe I'll return to play with you again."_ And then the whole screen was covered in the grain, soon after which the television turned off.

"Otone… just who the heck are you?" Ritsura wondered while still standing in the room with her arms crossed.

"Ahhhh… That was nice!" She could hear her sister speak in a pleased tone. "I should visit more often, at least until I get some tan!"

"Yeah, whatever. If you are anything like Ritsura, you'll just burglarize into my house." Saaya replied and the two girls entered the room. They were cleaning their hair with the towels and were dressed in pajamas. "Oh, you are awake Ritsura." Saaya said while looking at her.

"You are free to take a bath now, my little-" Ryoko started but then noticed that Ritsura held a serious and worried expression on her face. "Did something happen?" Ryoko asked with a serious face.

"An enemy just contacted me via this TV." Ritsura explained. "A black-haired woman in her twenties, wearing… I think I'll draw it." Ritsura said and took pen and a notebook. "Saaya-chan, could you look around the net if you can find anything about her?" Ritsura asked and showed a drawing.

"With someone like that, it should be easy to find out if I can find something." Saaya said and took her tablet.

Ritsura nodded and looked at Ryoko who was already taking out her cellphone from the table. "I'll call some of my friends amongst the Onmyouji. Maybe they heard something about her." She then smiled and showed a peace sign. "Don't worry, all of us Onmyouji are awake at this hour."

"Thank you." Ritsura smiled. "Sorry that I'm bothering you both." Ritsura apologized, and the two girls just threw her small smiles before returning to their works.

In the same manner, Ritsura intended to ask the Nura Clan and their allies if they knew anything about this person. _I did not even need to tell them how dangerous she felt. Was it that obvious on my face?_ Ritsura wondered as she put the cellphone on her ear. _Be it as it may, I need to find this person and cut her down. Someone with such eyes… is just too dangerous to leave alone._

* * *

**Author Notes**

And here comes the new chapter, and it's another chapter in the long row of chapters that are over 10k words in length. For all those who prefer smaller chapters, I humbly apologize.

\- Originally, I wanted to have the Nurarihyon-Shiori negotiations happen at the end of the chapter, but I put it at the start so that the reader would not feel like skipping to the anticipated parts and thus could enjoy the rest in peace. Also, the chapter has another scene that serves as a fancy end

\- The mysteries have been added at the negotiation scene: why does Nurarihyon want some people dead and why must it not lead back to the Nuras? And just what did he find in Nagoya that agitated Shiori so much?

\- I really enjoyed to write the scenes with Saaya, Ritsura and Ryoko. It was a small break from all the gloomy stuff, and also allows one to learn more about what makes these girls tick

\- The Policemen youkai who visited those three stooges (in the scene with Reiko) left enough an impression that I promoted him from a nameless fodder to a named fodder. Please give a round of applause to Kaede-san!

\- I got tired of saying "Urban Legend and regular youkai", not to mention that it sounds discriminating. So I'm using the suggestion given by _DigitalWriter_ and am now using the term "Folklores" for older youkai. "Folklores and Urban Legends" has a nicer tone to it

\- We see that there is some cracks in Thief's loyalty. But it's not surprising as Rihan's appearance in his life was a mixed blessing. On other hand, Ao-Ju wa saved by Rihan and Shiori and he got to see their good sides so he is more loyal

\- Anyone remember Rihan mentioning how he used to have two girlfriends way back in ch2 or ch3? Saaya solves half of that mystery

\- Long time no see, Yanagida! Seems like you were waiting two months for Youbi to come. Well, you know the saying: "The girl always comes later than she announced." ;)

\- And another big bad introduces themselves, this time a woman called Otone. And she told quite a few stories that relate to several characters, Maybe I should give prizes to those who can fully guess which story refers to which character? ;P

* * *

**Replies to Reviews and review-inspired Omakes**

**Anime Chick344034** : _"Just like ryoko. Speaking of her I have a question. When nurarhyon first met her he acted like he didn't know her... Does he know thts his granddaughter?"_

If he didn't know before, he sure does now. After all, the entire clan is now aware of it

* * *

**Digitialwriter92** : _"Riku fool nothing has changed for the Nura clan in terms of security."_

"I fear I'll need to argue here!" Karasu Tengu, who sat on a pillow, complained at the screen.

"Hi there, Karasu-san!" Shiori walked past him from behind.

"Hi there Ichinoe-san. I hope you have a good day." Karasu coughed and continue speaking at the screen. "It's true that we had some flaws in our security but-"

"Sorry for the intrusion." A man who looked like Yanagida with a fake yellow moustache appeared behind him. "But I'm a part of the International Youkai Medicine Club and I want to speak with Zen-san. Where can I find him?"

"Just go forward and turn right." Definitely-not-Yanagida bowed in gratitude and went on his way. "We have improved a lot by now. We take everything much more seriously and give a thorough to anyone suspicious in our ranks. Only obvious allies can pass. Like this guy here"

"Where is Rikuo?" Tamazuki asked, for some reason wearing a bazooka, a machine gun and many other weapons. "I've come for some peaceful negotiations."

"Oh, Tamazuki-san. He is probably awaiting you in his dining room." Tamazuki nodded and went on his way. "He sure became a reliable guy since we kind of humiliated him." By the way, who are you? Karasu Tengu asked someone who was just passing behind him.

"I'm just a new janitor here, ser."

"Did anyone tell you that you strongly resemble Mizuchi-dono?"

"I get that a lot ha ha!" The janitor said and moved on.

"Since when did we have janitors? Ah, things change so much and quickly since Rikuo-sama inherited the clan." He coughed a little. "In any case, we are badass now, as the young people would say. Now, everyone has to take us seriously." Then a man in an expensive black coat and hat entered the scene. "And who might you be?"

"I am Onieda Masato, the leader of the Shin Sekai." He said while taking off his hat and bowing.

"Hahaha! Oh you joker! You're obviously just some shape-shifting youkai! Go on, have fun with everyone!" The man introducing himself Onieda Masato left the room, but not before shaking his head in disappointment. "So you see my friend, you can rest assured that we are all safe now. So I bid farewell, may we meet again when you need some more clarification!"

_Jiust for the record, the Nura Clan's inner security actually improved by 68% in just last two years. Unfortunately, it falls to near zero when the one doing the infiltrating is the head of the enemy group. Nobody knows why._

* * *

**Citsimsan** : _"By the way, mentioning Monopoly? That board game generates so many negative emotions that I'm sure it has its own Fear."_

"B-kun, do you feel that?" A girl asked her boyfriend while.,

"Yes Ako, I feel it." B-kun hugged his girlfriend. They were sitting on the sofa of his house when a terrifying Fear enveloped them.

Then the window crashed and a tiny man with a round head and a white moustache, dressed in a black top hat, a black tuxedo and a fancy wooden stick, landed on the ground.

"Nooooo!" Ako screamed. "It's him! It's Rich Uncle Pennybags."

"Could it be… the evil youkai that forces people to play an infernal game!?"

"You think your love is strong, eh good chaps?" He spoke in a British accent. "Well let us test it!" He hit the table with his stick and the infernal game, called Monopoly, appeared.

"No… no no… this can't be…" B-kun tried his hopes with delusion.

"You can't leave this house until one bankrupts." Rich Uncle Pennybags, the world's strongest Urban Legends, laughed.

And so ended the romance between Ako and B-kun: Ako turned rich and B-kun abandoned her when she forced him into bankruptcy. And Rich Uncle Pennybags licked his lips due to the delicious Fea he accumulated.

Are you satisfied now, Citsim?

* * *

**shadowwriter01** : _"If Nurarihyon were going to reveal Shiori, he would have probably already done so. I am asking myself if he wants to offer her some sort of under the hand agrement."_

Looks like you were right! ;)

* * *

**chessvain** : _"speaking of other youkai i'd like rihan to recruit or we going to see tesshin again at some point?"_

We will see Tesshin again in the future, yes. He will play a major role, but I won't say which ;P


	86. Dreams and Daydreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nurarihyon has found out about Ichinoe Araya's true nature, but instead of informing others about it he decided to make use of her. Additionally, the consequences of the Dollmaker's attacks still linger in the air, and Ritsura has found yet another enemy in the form of a mysterious woman called Otone

 

**Chapter 85 - Dreams and Daydreams**

_Here I am, my dear school._ Shiori said in herself as she reached the school gates, through which numerous students were entering. She was honest with her inner tone though, as she did appreciate her time here. Especially since she knew it would not last much longer.

She felt a bit lonely as she passed through the gates. Most of times, she met with the Nuras on the way to school, but this time Rihan did not come home and was instead staying in one of the dormitory's rooms, while Ritsura was at Saaya's and came to school much earlier, in order to talk with Hitotsume and some of the other Nura youkai, who were keeping watch due to the Dollmaker's attacks.

"Speaking of which, how did you miss this one?" Shiori spoke in such a low tone that none of the students around her could hear it. But the one she wanted her to hear, the one who heard and saw everything in the campus, was aware of her words.

Koko no Kira, a youkai she created in order to avoid another Nakano Incident like three years ago, heard her well. It could not talk, but she could feel its frustration in the air. She could also feel anger, sadness and, most importantly, confusion.

"Words blocked your sight, you say." She muttered quietly. "I see, that is all I need to know."

She could feel another sensation in the air, the wish to kill.

"Not yet… if we act too soon, their Fear wins. Today, I'll do what I can to fix the remaining flaws and strengthen your Fear."

The guardian youkai did not answer with an air satisfaction, but that of worry.

"Don't worry about me." She spoke while the fingers of her right hand touched the area under her neck. In that place, under her uniform, a piece of the _Mirror of Condemnation_ hung. "You do what you were born to do, and I'll deal with the rest."

She did not feel its influence anymore, which meant that it understood that the conversation was over. _Hmph. What hypocrisy, for a horror tale and an author of horror tales to lead such a conversation. But, as long as the horror tale is the result, it should be fine._ She put a hand under her chin as she walked into the school building. _So that person's making their move. Can't say I'm surprised, it was only a matter of time. But it's not my place to deal with them, but the Main Character's._

She sighed as she remembered the events of the last night. _I've my own worries. That old geezer… forget knowing my identity, how the heck did he learn about 'that'?_ She clenched her teeth. _I better play it safe, but how do I make sure that he keeps silent? In any case, I guess that I'll need to play along his tune for at least a while._

_The days that are coming will certainly be complicated._ She realized that she was already in her classroom. She threw her bag down and sat onto her seat. _And knowing that person, I won't have the right to step out of the sidelines._

_A game you can only watch is one boring game. And that's kind of unfair, isn't it, my dear cousin?_

* * *

"Yeah, I see." Hitotsume was talking to his phone in the Ukiyoe High's Headmaster's office. "So you don't even have any rumors you say? I see, alright then."

He was not alone however, for a schoolgirl was sitting in front of him, her legs crossed and her fingers tapping on her head in annoyance. "So nothing, huh?" She spoke out after Hitotsume ended the call.

"Nothing, Ojou." Hitotsume shook his head. "From Ukiyoe to our associates in Chubu, nobody knows anything about a person called Otone or a person of her looks."

"Tz." Ritsura clicked her tongue. "They were my last hope."

"What about other clans? Like Tamazuki or-"

"I got my reply while you were still phoning our associates." Ritsura spoke as she remembered the mail she got from Karasu Tengu. "None of other clans gave us a certain answer. Even Karasu Tengu's associates in Kyushu did not recognize her."

"There's no way that they could have checked up on it in so little time."

"And there's no way that they would waste their time doing it either. This is not their problem after all." Ritsura shrugged with her shoulders. "And I don't blame them. I'd be the same in their place."

"And maybe you should do it now?" Hitotsume suggested as he lightened up his pipe. "If this Otone person is so unknown, then her Fear could not possibly be strong enough that she is a threat."

"There's no guarantee that she is a youkai." Ritsura crossed her arms as she gazed upon the white, clean wall. "She strikes me as one of the humans from the Hyaku Monogatari… a wicked person looking for entertainment, that is."

"Even they need to make a name for themselves, to show that their Charisma is strong." Hitotsume puffed out a smoke cloud. "This Shiori person is making herself known to others for a reason."

Ritsura frowned when she heard that name, but tried to not let Hitotsume see it. "Even she started making her name only recently. In worst case, Otone is only now making a name for herself and she is going to make it with a _bang_." Her fingers started tapping on her arms. "And I've a feeling that she fantasies our clan as the thing that _goes bang_."

"Part of me wants to tell you to let her come."

"And what does the other part of you say?" Ritsura asked while eyeing Hitotsume.

"That if she really is part of that group, and seeing as we're on the verge of a new war with them, that is now likely, then we ought to be careful." Hitotsume frowned with his sole eye. "These guys will never meet us on the battlefield on fair terms."

"Yeah, and that's why I'm so worried about this person even if she's done nothing yet."

"Is that really so?"

"Hm?" Ritsura looked at him once again. "What do you mean by that?"

"You're usually more enthusiastic than this." Hitotsume pushed his head closer. "Is there something else bothering you?"

Ritsura was surprised that he saw through her so quickly. "Yes. Something in her words annoys me, which is no doubt why she spoke to me in the first place." She said as little as she could and looked at the clock. "Classes will start soon. I better go." She took her bag and rose up from her seat.

"You didn't actually answer my question."

She walked in silence towards the doors, thinking about what she should tell him. "I'm sorry, but I can't say anything yet." She released her Fear, so that those outside would not notice her presence, and put a hand on the doorknob. "But be prepared for something big in near future." And with those words, she left the Headmaster's Office, leaving confused Hitotsume behind.

* * *

Furuta Hikari, the leader of the Psychology Club, was still in the clubroom where Rihan left her a night ago. She did not seem to have left it, but probably did when she needed to go to the toilet.

Currently, she was sitting on a couch, wrapped in the blanket, and was reading a fat book written in a foreign language, seemingly French or Latin. Still though, she did seem to have gotten some sleep as she did not have any bags under her eyes, even if she did seem exhausted.

"How's it going?" Rihan asked her while leaning against the wall, just beside the couch.

"Huh?" She suddenly turned her head at the boy who was now in his school uniform and held his school bag. "Nura-san… I did not hear you enter." She then looked at the doors. "And the doors are locked."

"I'm a Nurarihyon." The boy who entered through the window winked.

"So you entered in some other way… Don't you think that knowing this would scare the poor girl?" She asked with a sad smile.

"I'm not getting an impression that I need to be _that_ considerate with you. So, thought I could at least help by acting cool."

"Well, I can't say that I don't appreciate your attempts to not make the air sad." She put a sticky note on the page she was reading and closed her book. "But be it a youkai or a human, I prefer to be notified before getting a visitor." She said, with an air of being proper, and put the book onto the sofa where she was still sitting.

"I'll keep that in mind." Rihan nonchalantly acknowledged and leaned against the table in front of her. "So? How are you doing?"

"Distressed, but I guess that my head is sort of cooler." She fondled one of her bangs. "I guess I came to accept Eiji-san's death but…" She closed her eyes, "Not the sight of his death. That was just…" She bit her lip. "That was unnatural. Bloody _and_ unnatural. It's just way over the top."

_I've seen worse._ He did not speak his thoughts as he deemed that it was better left unsaid.

"Tell me, Rihan-san, is this a regular occurrence in your life?"

"I'm amazed that you want to learn more about that brutal, over-the-top world."

"It just… peeked my interest. Looking at you, I see melancholy for Eiji-san's death, but nothing else. Horror, shock or disgust, there's nothing like that on your face… just sadness." She squeezed the blanket closer to herself. "An average person gets sick by seeing a dead body. A coroner, a policeman and a doctor act like it is just another day."

"You got me there." Rihan crossed his arms and looked towards the window. "As much as I hate to say it, it really was just another day for me."

"And I thought so." She sighed. "No, I should've known. You killed that… youkai… in a brutal way as well."

_And I did worse things to some others._

"How… do you feel about living in such a world?"

"You must be doing fine if you're already trying to analyze me." The boy smirked.

"It takes my mind off the ugly stuff. Besides, you did promise that you'd talk to me."

_Well, at least you could've asked me a question that I could answer both honestly and easily._ He sighed. "The minds of humans and youkai work differently, and over half of my blood is demonic."

"So it doesn't bother you that much?"

"That's too simple of an answer." Rihan said with a sad smile. "The thing is that… most youkai enjoy carnage and chaos. A youkai, even if they wish everyone well and all, _will_ enjoy those."

"I see… a belief like that'd make eviler ones even more open to brutality, wouldn't it?" Rather than being surprised or judgmental towards Rihan, Hikari thought of other things while her index finger touched her chin. "And it would make it easier for a good youkai to start accepting evil as alright. In a way, that's a convenient excuse. A several of them, over centuries, could give birth to a pretty dark society."

Rihan's brow twitched. From the mention of just one aspect that youkai thought was common, she was able to decipher so much already.

"But even so, you're not giving a straight answer." She looked back up at him. "How do you feel about it?"

"I…" He feared giving her that. "...am both a human and a youkai, so it's hard to say."

"Yes, you are a human." She said while looking straight at him, her eyes and voice talking as if she was warning him. "Mind you that many humans of old made the same excuses, and many fell to them. Maybe… the youkai and humans are not different, but humans just learned better over time?"

"Maybe." Rihan shrugged. "But unless you learn more about the youkai, it's all just guesses."

"Suppose so."

"Now allow me to ask you some questions too." Rihan proposed suavely, having had questions of different, less philosophical, nature. "Did you call your parents? I guess they would've been worried about you."

"Yeah." She nodded. "That is, they called me after they saw that I did not come back home."

"What did you tell them?"

"I… couldn't tell them the truth, right?" She shook her head. "It is not only hard to swallow but… if the existence of youkai is such a secret then those who know about them are endangered, no? So I just told them that I was staying at a friend's place."

"Youkai don't mind an occasional human knowing about them so don't worry about it. Just don't go preach about it to Onmyouji or any other exorcists, that's something they'll mind." Rihan gave a short explanation on the matter. Then he frowned, due to the question he was about to ask next. "What about Eiji-san's family?"

"Ah…" she squirmed as the conversation returned to Eiji. "That… I didn't inform anyone about it. I know I should, but…"

"I see." Rihan closed his eyes. "My clan will take care of it, if they didn't already."

"What… do you mean by taking care of it?"

"Inform the police about it, stitch… him so it doesn't look as brutal, possibly make it look like a car accident or something." He walked to her and tapped her shoulder. "Nothing dangerous, nothing bad."

"I see…" She released a sigh of relief. "That's good… that his parents won't know the full story, I mean. It may be a lie but… murder and grotesqueness like that… any parent would be broken forever by that much, if death if their child wasn't enough. Few things are as strong as parental love, after all."

"Indeed." Rihan nodded. Her words made him think of his own father for some reason.

"Your clan… they seem like nice people."

"They have some shady parts themselves, but for the most part they are."

" _They_ are, huh? This isn't the first time that you've talked about them in the third person." She put her hand on his, which was still atop her shoulder. "I remember the way that doll talked to you… I remember what we talked about last night… why are you with the bad guys and not with the good ones?" Though the word may have sounded accusative, her fingers and gaze were soft and comforting.

Rihan merely pulled his hand back.

"You still don't want to talk about it?" She inquired. "Even though I may need to know?"

"I'm sure you know pretty well that some answers aren't easy to give. And that sometimes, you don't know what the answer is yourself."

"Are you afraid of something?"

"Of many things… including you." He admitted, to which she blinked in confusion. "I said it already, but it sure is easy for you to forget about everything and start analyzing people, isn't it?"

"It is… it's my life's call, and right now, the only thing that keeps me from weeping."

"It's not often that people see a girl of your age interested in psychology."

"Indeed… I know that myself. I was seen as strange for a long, long while." She looked down, remembering some of her past. "But I thought that it was a great job, you know. To make people feel better, to heal their wounds… it's something I thought was heroic."

"So you want to be someone who helps people?"

She looked back up at him and smiled. "Sure… the name Hikari means light, you know. This… umm, it might be cheesy, so please don't laugh."

"I won't laugh."

"You see… I want to shine light upon others, that is bring light to them. I want to be _the_ Light Bringer."

Rihan snorted. "A Light Bringer, you say?" _So corny._

"You promised not to laugh."

"Hey, I'm still not laughing." He shrugged his shoulders while a smile still adorned his face. "But it's a fine dream, I think. Light spreads itself, after all." He then patted her on the head as if she were a child. "I guess I won't complain about your composure then. A light can't spread properly if it isn't shining strongly enough." Then he let go and started walking towards the door. After all, his classes were about to start.

"You _are_ mocking me after all." She complained while her eyes pierced his back.

* * *

"Oi oi!" She heard a boy's voice from behind. "Don't you know that stress causes wrinkles? I don't think any woman wants that, especially young ones."

The whiter-and-teal haired girl, who sat atop the school dormitory and gazed down at the school, turned around and looked at the Onmyouji boy who was currently in his school uniform. "Oh, Ryuzan. What are you doing here?" She asked and turned her gaze back at school, while raising the orange juice in her hands and drinking it with a straw.

"I was looking for you." Ryuzan said and stood beside her, though he did not sit down. "If you wanted to be on the rooftop, wouldn't the school's have been closer and easier to reach?"

"Yeah, but the dormitory's roof is off-limits to everyone so here I won't be bothered by other students." Ritsura answered and drank some of the juice. She still felt some nervousness around him, and the fact that he did not sit down made the distance between them feel more poignant. But right now, there was not much time to think of such trivial things. "You said you were looking for me?" She asked while eyeing him. "Is this about our 'Ghostly Girl'?" _That must be it._ "What did you learn?"

"Although both you and Ryoko spammed me with these petty errands while I was trying to rest, I've to say that I didn't waste even one minute on it."

"Huh?" Ritsura looked at him with her brows lowered. "Why not?"

"Because it's a waste of time." Ryuzan shrugged.

"And why is that a waste of time?" The girl rose onto her feet and faced the Onmyouji boy.

"This Otone person, if that is even her name, chose clothes so flashy and unique that it'd be impossible _not_ to notice her. If anyone saw her, we'd know it. Speaking of which, I lied a moment ago. I gave up only after I googled her description and found nothing."

"Sorry Ryuzan, but I didn't get any sleep last night so if you could get to the point…."

"Have you heard of the phrase 'Hidden in Plain Sight'?"

"Of course, we Nurarihyons always play with it."

"Well, I don't mean it in a supernatural way, but in a deceptive one." Ryuzan raised his index finger. "While you are all looking for a woman in such strange get-up, she'll dress up normally, put on some sun-glasses, maybe some make-up, change her hairstyle and could even waltz around Ukiyoe. If nobody saw such a woman before, and if she is truly dangerous, than her usual appearance is something else."

"We know that already." Ritsura turned her eyes back at the school. "But even so, there is a chance that she used the same get-up once or twice. If we can find one clue, it will be helpful."

"And I agree. But that is the job I'll leave to you."

"Okay… then what did you come to me for?" Ritsura tilted her head.

"I've come to announce the formation of a small squad of Exorcists, that will be active starting today." Ryuzan saluted, as if he were in the military and Ritsura was his superior officer and took on a more professional tone. "And since we'll be mostly active in Ukiyoe and around, I feel that it is my duty to alert the proper authorities of this territory before I do so."

"Hmph." Ritsura smirked. "I see. So you're happy about getting some Exorcist job and want to gloat in front of me."

"Would you try not to read so far? It makes me feel transparent."

In a reply, Ritsura closed her eyes and smiled. "I'm guessing that you and Onee-sama are doing it because of the troubles that are sure to be coming?"

"I'll never get used to you calling her that." Ryuzan noted to which Ritsura could only shrug with her shoulders. "But yes. No Onmyouji can just sit tight while knowing that spirits will be restless all around them."

"Or they don't want to help the youkai with it?" Ritsura looked at him with an intrigued smile.

"Dad would kill me if he saw how bad I've become."

"It's not like you're trying." She crossed her arms and turned back at him. "Well, I don't mind that. It is simpler for me if the Onmyouji act autonomously. Youkai telling them what to do just feels wrong."

"Besides, if youkai are going to attack humans related to the Hyaku Monogatari…"

"You must make sure that there's no murder, and the guilty get to be judged in a human way." Ritsura already knew what he meant. "I understand, and I agree. I know better than to think that my comrades would let them live, if they had a chance to end their lives."

"Don't you want to end their lives?"

"No. Even if they're humans, they need to be fearsome in front of their youkai. Maybe even more so, because they're humans."

"Which means that if they are humiliated, weakened and incarnated, they won't be much of a threat?"

"And if their youkai are dead… or that's what I hope."

"I'm glad that we're on the same wavelength." Ryuzan said with a seemingly pure smile, but then his smiling face turned a darker shade. "But you'll still kill them if the necessity arises."

"If they don't give me a choice." She looked at the sky this time. "But I can always freeze them until they can't move."

"I think it'll be good if you can live up to that promise."

"So do I… truly, so do I."

* * *

"You're becoming quite a NEET, Onii-chan~" The Doll Girl that brought Gagoze to this place said as she jumped onto his left shoulder.

Gagoze threw her an angry look and then returned his gaze back, thus continuing to gaze at a large television while standing and with his arms crossed.

"It is Rihan-sama still." The doll noted. "Are you becoming a fan?"

"I'm collecting intel on my enemy." Gagoze gave the doll an answer. The Dollmaker proved to possess many abilities, including the ability to save everything that his dolls saw in a VHS tape (though Gagoze was able to choose what he wanted to see, which was not something that old VHS tapes could do). Naturally, Gagoze welcomed this as an opportunity to learn more about his targets. He wondered if, should he survive this mission, he could ask the Dollmaker to lend him several dolls just for the sake of recording.

But something convenient like that was probably impossible.

"So what have you learned?" The doll asked, but Gagoze did not feel like replying. "Come on, don't make me call Daddy!"

Gagoze sighed. She was probably asking on the Dollmaker's behalf and he was no doubt listening and looking through her. If he wanted to avoid dealing with him directly, it was better to just talk to her.

"He's cautious and perceptive." Gagoze started. "He does not rush, but instead picks on his enemies and doesn't use his full power until he's sure that it was both necessary and that he had a back-up plan. But, he's still wet behind the ears as far as this approach to fighting goes."

"What do you mean?"

"It feels like he only recently started using that approach."

"How can one even notice such things?"

"Through intuition." Gagoze's eyes shrunk. "But if I had to give a more rational answer, it would be in the way he slashes his sword when he's sure he's going to kill."

"Hmm?"

"His slashes look brutal, and there is a flame in his eyes when he does them, a flame that he tries to subdue. My belief is that he was more of a direct kind of warrior until a while ago, when something must have happened for him to start taking a more calculative approach. Yet he still has that urge to just forget about everything and give in to the carnage." Gagoze wondered if it reminded him of himself.

"That's some astonishing perception." The doll noted, but the tone felt colder, making Gagoze wonder if this was the Dollmaker speaking through her.

"I worked as an assassin for a long, long time. And this profession is less about killing and more about learning as much as you can about your targets." He, who merely seeked blood to spill, hated it. But it was something he could not let go if he wanted to keep living. As someone wanted by the Nuras and a kind of youkai whom nobody would want in their clan, he had to be of use to others without being anyone's ally.

"I see." The doll said with a colder tone, and then returned to her usual one. "And what else did you learn, Onii-chan?"

"That girl… he fought to protect her and it is clear that he would go to any lengths to fulfill that mission. Yet…" Gagoze put on a small smirk. "His eyes remain cold, free of desperation. It's like he is just doing his job. He is no Knight, that's for sure. I so wonder what goes through his head." After saying that, Gagoze turned his back to the television. He was slowly getting sick of looking at the same scenes multiple times. "What I wonder is what part of him is more dangerous. Is the calculating part of him the dangerous one? In this case, it would be a good idea to try and break him so that he gives in to that bloodlust he is trying to suppress. But it's also possible that the beast within is the more dangerous part of him, in which case…"

"But that is no fun." The doll noted.

Gagoze gave the doll a long look. "I should have asked this before but… is your goal killing him or destroying him?"

The doll gave a large, ugly grin in return, similar to those that the Dollmaker likes to do.

"Thank you for the answer." Gagoze said. He did not mind it, though he feared that the Dollmaker would treat him as a disposable pawn whose role was only to anger Rihan. But he still did not a choice but to cooperate.

And as long as he stays in this place, he would not get to see his other possible options. "Say… I'm starting to feel suffocated. Would you mind asking your father to let me take a stroll in the city?"

* * *

"Hrrrmm…" Ritsura whispered roars under her breath as she walked left and right while the setting sun's rays enveloped her hair.

Her brother Rihan sat on the bench facing her, and had his eyes glued on his smartphone as he read today's news. They were both in the school's campus, which was currently, more or less, empty.

"Hrrrr…"

"Why so cranky, sis?" Rihan asked the girl that was anxiously walking around. "Did you and Ryuzan get into another fight?"

"No, I'm just kind of in envy." The Yuki-Onna stopped moving a puffed her cheeks. "He and Onee-sama will be going on adventures, fighting evil youkai. I want to be with them."

"Is that why we're waiting here? You want to join their little adventuring party?"

"No, I would feel out of place with two Onmyouji. Besides I've my own duties to attend to…"

"No you don't. You're still not the Underboss."

"Well I'll still attend them, dear brother." She threw a menacing smile at him. "Anyway, I'm waiting because Ryuzan said that he has some ofudas to give me."

"Ofudas?"

"Yes, ofudas. If everyone feels like something major will erupt in near future, then we should use any weapons we can get."

"Youkai using Onmyouji's ofudas… heh."

"Yeah, the irony is not lost on me either." Ritsura shrugged. "By the way, it is surprising that you decided to spend time with your dear nee-san. You would usually go separate ways, lately with Araya-chan."

"What can I say. I just felt like-"

"Delaying the talk with dad that's sure to come." Ritsura said with a wide smile and her eyelids closed.

"...yeah." After a while, Rihan confessed with the same expression. He knew that his father intended to have a talk with him since the incident at the Archivist, and the whole incident with the dolls was bound to unnerve his father further. So he kept to his sister as it kept him away from the mansion while at the same time it did not look like he hid from anyone.

He just hoped that his father was getting cooler rather than more infuriated as hours passed.

"While we're on the topic, what even happened last night?" His sister asked him.

"A lot of things happened last night. You'll need to be a bit more precise."

For a while, it looked like Ritsura was thinking through on what to ask him about. In some way, this made him worried more than any question that this blunt girl would have normally asked. "Do you've any ideas why those dolls would've attacked Furuta-san?"

_Now, what should I say to this?_ "I think the youkai tried to lure me into an ambush." He started with what he believed was the truth. "And I guess that I walked right into it."

"You had to in order to protect Furuta-san." His sister pointed out. "Do you think that they're in cahoots with Gagoze?"

"I doubt it… but then again, would anyone else try to strike at me or you while everyone is on their toes about Gagoze?"

"Only if they are desperate or stupid." His sister sat down on the bench beside him. "So let's suppose that Gagoze and these dollish youkai are allies. Who do you think is helping Gagoze?"

"We should ask someone who knows what group these dolls belong to." _Though I guess I classify as a person who can answer that._ "I myself had never met these guys before. What about you?"

"Neither." Ritsura scratched her chin. "Did by any chance any of them mention the name _Otone_? Or have you heard it somewhere?"

"Otone? I can't remember hearing it. Is that the person you set everyone out to keep watch for?"

"Yes" Ritsura nodded. "Just as the dolls made themselves known, she made her name known out of nowhere. A probably dangerous group and a probably dangerous individual greet us on the same night… don't you think it's too much of a coincidence?"

"It sure is." It was Rihan's turn to scratch his chin. _Maybe I should ask Shiori or Kirie about her? Or maybe even the Archivist, he might have a grudge against anyone related to those dolls, seeing what happened at his store._

"Well if it isn't both of the Nura siblings!" The voice of Keikain Ryuzan from afar declared their discussion over, at least for the time being. "Oh wait… we can't use term both _anymore_ , right?"

"I'm a Keikain so I don't think this part changes at all." Ryoko, who walked with him, noted.

As expected, Ritsura had a complaint to that claim. "Not if Nura is used as a short for Nurarihyon rather than a family name." She argued with a satisfied smile.

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Ryoko sighed as the two Keikain cousins reached them. But she smiled a little as she raised her hand to weave to the two of them. "Hi you two."

"Hi Onee-sama!" Ritsura replied with a cheerful tone. It was several days already, but Ritsura was still ecstatic about her elder sister.

"Hi Ryu-nee." Rihan replied with his chosen form of addressal for her. He did not feel like using the same term for both of his sisters. He still felt awkward about the fact that he had another biological sister.

"What's with that somber face, Onee-sama." Ritsura asked while intensively looking at her. "And is it just me, or is something different about you?"

"Ehhh…" She let out a small voice of displeasure and looked at the ground.

"Oh, you have a new set of clothes!" Ritsura and Rihan finally noticed that she was not exactly wearing casual clothes.

She had a small, thin black jacket, with a dark red shirt under it, a black ribbon around her neck, with her pentagram hairpin keeping it together. On her hands, she wore black fingerless gloves, with red pentagrams and some Onmyou symbols drawn on them. She also wore a short skirt that did not reach to her knees, check-patterned by black and red. On her legs, she wore black thigh-high socks and black shoes.

Since Ryoko was not about to say anything, Ritsura turned her attention to Ryuzan, who had a smug smile on his face. "Was this your doing?"

"It's definitely your style." Rihan added with his own smile. "Looks like I was wrong to be worrying about you two looking out of place."

"Yep, it's my doing." Ryuzan nodded.

"This is wrong." Ryoko grumbled. "This is not how Onmyouji should be dressing. We have a dress code that is centuries old, we should be proud of it."

"A dress code that is out of place in Tokyo… heck, even in Kyoto if you get into the more urban areas." Ryuzan admonished her. "But we argued about that enough. You lost the bet, now you suffer the consequences of your victory."

"Wait, huh?" Ritsura blinked in confusion. "What bet?"

"And did she lose or win?" Rihan joined her in confusion. "Your words sound way too contradictory."

"My and Ryoko's argument over the dress code reached a boiling point and we decided to resolve it with a bet." Ryuzan crossed his arms. "I suggested that we should bet on who will win, she or Ritsura-chan. The winner would dress the other for as long as we are in Tokyo."

"But she won our fight." Still confused, Ritsura blinked and tilted her head. "So shouldn't you two be dressed in a traditional style?"

"She got to declare her bid first." Ryuzan shrugged. "And for some reason, she bet on you, leaving me to bet on her."

"...what?"

"It made sense at the time." Ryoko continued with the explanation. "I lose the bet, but I'm proud because I won the battle. Or I lose the battle but win the bet. This way I win either way, right?"

"How pitiful." Rihan shook his head. "You should've gone for all or nothing."

Ryoko nodded in approval.

"But Ryuzan in the traditional attire…" Ritsura jumped on her legs and gazed at Ryuzan while her left arm was on her belly and her right arm under her nose, atop the lips. "I wonder how he would look in it."

"He looks great in it. And cute too." The sister replied with a nod. "It is a damn shame. It is downright a crime that he doesn't wear that white attire and his black hat all the time!"

"And you look cute and great in this too." Ryuzan noted to Ryoko while handing Ritsura a package. "Here are your talismans. And I even wrote a detailed manual."

"Thank you." Ritsura took the package and threw it into her schoolbag.

"And for all that is good in the world, please read the manual." Ryuzan spoke with a twitching brow. "I lived long enough in your mansion to know that your youkai don't like it, but for heaven's' sake… I don't want to hear that the entire mansion got cleansed because someone couldn't follow simple instructions."

"Come on, we are not _that_ bad!" Ritsura puffed her cheeks in complaint.

"You are." Ryuzan said with a blank expression.

"We are." Rihan said with a sad expression.

"Oh stop it you two."

"Keikain-san!" A voice of a girl could be heard, as well as footsteps that got increasingly louder. "Sorry I'm late!"

"Ah, the third member of our trio has arrived!" Ryuzan said with a smile and turned towards the girl that was running towards them.

"Sakura-chan?" Ritsura was the first to recognize her.

Just like these two, Sakura was dressed in black. She had a black jacket similar to Ryoko's, though hers was zipped, a tad bit longer and lacked a collar. She had a white shirt underneath it, with its collar noticeable. Rihan guessed that this girl chose this get-up as it reminded her of a robes that Catholic priests wore. She also had thin white gloves, a black skirt that reached to her knees and black shoes.

Ryoko looked at her suspiciously. "Ryuzan, who is this woman?"

"Angry." Rihan whispered to Ritsura. "Jealous maybe?"

"Knowing her, she may have hoped that Kashaimaru would be the third part of the trio, even if she knew it was impossible." Ritsura replied with a whisper. "Or maybe it seems to her like Ryuzan found a substitute of Kashaimaru?"

"This woman is Kibiki Sakura, glad to meet you!" Sakura bowed nervously to Ryoko as she introduced herself. "I'm a newbie in the field, so I'll be in your care from now on! Glad to meet you!"

"Hmmm…"

"Did…" Sakura looked uncomfortable. "Did I do something wrong? Or say something wrong?"

"Nothing you did. I was just being stupidly naive." Ryoko sighed and put on a small smile. "I'm Keikain Ryoko. Glad to meet you, Sakura-chan."

"Hai!" Sakura seemed happy.

"But really…" Ryoko looked Sakura up and down, then turned her gaze at her cousin. "Did he dress you too?"

Ryuzan shook his head, and Sakura spoke up. "Dress me up? Why would someone other than my parents do that?" She noted and hit her own chest with a fist. "I checked out some movies and dressed accordingly!"

"Movies? Is that where dress codes come from nowadays?" Ryoko groaned with a hand on her forehead. "The future is dark for the Onmyouji world."

"Onmyouji?" Sakura was confused by that proclamation.

"Aren't you an Onmyouji? I thought this was an Onmyouji Squad."

"Actually, I'm from Kakure Kirishitan Exorcist Order." She said with a mock salute.

"Eh?"

"The evil youkai will not see it coming." Ryuzan spoke with a thumbs up.

"Yeah… well, you sure made quite a few connections while here." Ryoko said while scratching the back of her head. "I'm surprised that this order actually exists, though it was just a rumor amongst the youkai. I expected someone more… well, secretive." She said while looking over Sakura some more.

"Oh she was very secretive." Ritsura nodded. "If she did not spell it all to us, we'd never learn better."

"If only those people were able to keep quiet." Sakura looked at Ritsura with a pout, and then eyed Rihan.

"Sorry about that." Ritsura scratched her head. She was believed to be the one behind Rihan and Araya learning about it and felt guilty about it.

In reality, Shiori knew about Kibiki Family's associations from the start, which was why she recruited Sakura into the club in the first place. Then it fell on Rihan to find a way to burst out the secret and make it look like he concluded it from Ritsura's mistakes… mistakes which he led her to make. _I'm still sorry for that, sis._

"I want to join the Nagasaki branch of the order in Kyushu, which is the elite in Japan, and for that I need to get both stronger and more experienced. And my skill in combat is… well, not high. So I'll exert myself by not hiding or lying!"

"Which she is good at so no need to practice more." Ryuzan shrugged.

"The fact that you are jealous tells me all about it." Ryoko noted with a smile.

Ryuzan looked like he wanted to say something in his defense, but Ritsura jumped off her bench. "Well, we better leave you three alone." She noted and pushed Rihan up. "The two of us will be going home."

"Now now sis, no need to rush!" Rihan tried to delay it even further.

"Yeah, I've barely spoken with my-" Ryoko started but Ritsura cut her off.

"Oh there will be time, dad will make sure of it." Ritsura started walking, holding Rihan's hand tightly. "Bye bye!"

"Yeah… bye guys." Rihan said as he gave up and waved at the three exorcists.

* * *

Nura Rikuo was eating his dinner in his room. It was a simple one, rice with sauce and meat. Yet, two sounds of chopsticks clicking onto their bowls could be heard in the room, the second coming from the boy in front of him. Like his father, the young youkai Rihan was eating in silence.

Rihan took a while to get home and a while to change into his sapphire blue yukata, possibly because he knew that he would need to have talk with his dad once he did. Yet, Rikuo did not mind it too much for he was busy for the entire day. At least like this, they could talk in peace without the need to rush.

He still wondered about his son delaying it, though it was nothing new. Both he and Ritsura were often like that, even more so while they were younger. He heard from others that it was normal, for children to feel ashamed or worried, thus wanting to delay the inevitable. Rikuo's own mother was easy-going, and he wondered if his own father would have been a different story had he survived. His grandfather could be scary sometimes, but Rikuo was more often angry at him than afraid of his anger.

_Hm, well if we don't count Tsurara._ Both in their youth, and now as his wife, she could sometimes make him anxious of talking with her. So maybe he was not that new to this either. But it still made him feel melancholic about the future that might have been.

And maybe that line of thought made him mellower at this moment. He did not feel anger at his son's actions last night, but rather something else. What, he could not say himself.

And because of that, he was not exactly sure of what he wanted to talk about. But at least he still knew what they had to talk about, which meant that he had something to start with.

"What happened after you left the Antiquary?" He asked his son soon after he finished his last piece of rice.

"I went out for a stroll." His son did not need long to answer. "I guess that I got too deep in thinking about what occurred so I did not notice that I may have strolled a bit too far."

"Took a stroll? Without any of our youkai knowing it?" He did not bother acting like he did not send anyone to monitor his children. After all, it was kind of a public secret. "Having someone tail you around is uncomfortable, be they foes or friends."

Rikuo sighed. As much as he hated it, he could understand his complaints. He wanted to say that it was for his own protection, but that would be saying the obvious and he knew how that conversation would end.

So he decided to take a roundabout way of saying it. "If only it were as easy to escape foes trailing you."

"I assure you that nobody was trailing me, Father." Rihan crossed his hands. "If they were, they were doing in a roundabout way."

Rikuo smiled in himself at his son using that word. As annoying as it was that your own son saw through your actions, it was also something that made a father proud. "Are you really sure about it? The attack on Furuta-san was way too convenient, and you certainly didn't notice the youkai's allies." He wondered how the poor girl fared, but that was a question for later.

"Part of me was serious when I used the word _roundabout_." He looked down as if remembering the events of that night. "There were too many. You can't hide that many youkai in a single place without someone noticing them or feeling their Fear. Even the way they move might be roundabout."

Rikuo frowned. What he said was true, and he knew that his son knew better than to be too laidback while Gagoze and other enemies were possibly preying on him from the shadows. Especially he, who must have been more at guard from Gagoze than anyone else.

"If that's true, then we all need to be extra careful." Rikuo noted. "Especially you."

"You don't need to tell me that." He sighed. "Even more so when…" He started, but did not finish the sentence.

Rikuo knew what he may have had on his mind, but asked anyway. "What did you want to say?"

"Nothing." He looked away.

"If I remember right… you did say that these dolls were like a Nurarihyon's natural enemy, right?" Rikuo put out a bitter smirk at his son clicking his tongue and continued in a lecturing tone. "Logic would dictate that it means that you should never be alone." The Supreme Commander wondered whom he should put as Rihan's bodyguard.

"Yeah, that's right." The boy said after a bit of thinking and looked right at him. "I'll ask Ao-Ju and some of his comrades to stay close to me. Some of his followers are strong in their own right."

Now it was Rikuo's turn to click his tongue. He completely forgot about his son's first follower, and even more about the fact that this Ao-Ju built his own procession in such a short timeframe.

And like Kurotabou, Ao-Ju was an Urban Legend who fought for what was right. And just like Kurotabou in the early days of Edo Era, he hated the idea of running with the Nuras. Even if Rikuo tried to add another guard to his son, Ao-Ju would want him gone and so would Rihan.

"Wouldn't you consider taking at least one of ours?" Rikuo asked in desperation. "I'll even let you choose whomever you want."

"If I desire so, I would ask them."

"Then at least consider it." Rikuo sighed and took his pipe to make use of it.

"Are we… done?" Rihan asked with a specific expression, as if wondering if this were too easy.

"We still have some things to talk about."

"Like what?" Rihan raised his left eyebrow.

"How is the poor girl doing? Her name was Furuta…"

"Hikari. Furuta Hikari." Rihan sighed. "She is fine now, though a little traumatized."

"That's to be expected. The murder of her friend was terrifying to hear about. I don't even want to imagine how it must have looked to a young girl who was living a pleasant life until last night." _And it happened right close to my clan. Even after so many years, I still can't truly protect everyone._

"She is still holding up better than any other girl of her age would given the situation." Rihan shrugged. "That might be due to her interest in psychology, but I think she's also a strong person."

"That's something, but it's still a brutal sight and a horrifying feeling." Rikuo tapped on the table with his fingers. "Unfortunately, making girls like her feel that way is precisely what a lot of youkai desire." His son did not react to that, which was natural as it was something that he always knew. "Speaking of which, what is it that you desire, son?"

"Where… did that come from?" His son seemed worried for some reason.

"You are seventeen now. It's time to think about your future, both as a human and as a youkai." Rikuo leaned in front. "So let's start with your human life. What do you plan to do once you graduate from High School?"

"If anything, humans will likely view me as a NEET."

"Are you sure about that? There's nothing that interests you? No college, no job nor hobby?"

"Not at this time, no." His son said without much thought.

"I see." Rikuo sighed, but was not too surprised. Unlike him, Ritsura and Rihan were more youkai than they were humans. He hoped Rihan at least had some hobbies he was interested in, but clearly that was not the case.

"Alright. Then what kind of youkai do you want to be?" Rikuo moved to the second half of the topic. "I know that, unlike your sister, you have no interest in inheriting the clan either. Or did that change with your return from Nejireme?"

"No, it did not change. I've no interest in inheriting the clan. My sister, who's both more up to it and more interested can have it all as far as I'm concerned." He then raised an eyebrow. "But why are you bringing in the Nejireme?"

"Because something changed in you back then." Rikuo leaned backwards. "I'm relieved for the most part, as it looked like you finally got over the bad mood that you were in since… that day eight years ago." Rikuo frowned. He tried not to mention Gagoze, even if he had become a threat once again. "On the other hand, I couldn't help but notice that you've also become more sympathetic… and not towards the right people."

"Is this about what happened at the Antiquarium?"

"Yes and no. This is just the incident that told me that something definitely changed." When his son raised an eyebrow in confusion, Rikuo continued. "Okay, let's go further into the past then… tell me, why did you go around killing all those evil youkai for last few years?"

A short silence ensued. It was never a pleasant topic when the two of them talked about his killings of Urban Legends. While Rikuo did not care about those evil youkai much, he did about his son's motives, and so they sometimes argued about it. Yet, his son always pretended that he just stumbled upon them.

"I was looking for Gagoze in them." Rihan crossed his arms and, after so many years, finally admitted. "Since I could not find Gagoze, and since I knew I would be too terrified of him, I bullied them."

"...what happened at Nejireme, Rihan? I know you defeated a youkai called Bounnouma but-"

"I realized that I was no better than that youkai, so I decided to change." There was no hesitation in his eyes, though Rikuo still felt as if he were not telling him everything. "So I stopped hunting them down. You call it sympathy, but I think it's closer to apathy."

_No, I wouldn't call that apathy._ "In any case, let us return to where we started. Did your fight with Bounnouma also make you realize what you wanted to be?" Rikuo was still a bit shocked that his son had ended up fighting Bonnouma, who was a youkai of immense power if what Rikuo heard was true. He was annoyed that Rihan faced him alone, but fortunately he came out of the fight alright and a bit wiser. As a father, he was proud of his son. It was because of this achievement that Rikuo was not as staunch on keeping his son safe as he once would be, though it did not completely erase his anxiety.

"Yeah, it did." Rihan smiled a little. "I want to make a name for myself, but not as my sister's follower."

Rikuo knew what he meant by that. "You want to leave the clan?" His son confirmed it by not denying it. "Are you sure about that?"

"There are many things I'm not sure about, but I'm sure about this one. Besides, we both know that those other higher-ups like me as much as I like them, which is to say we hate one another."

"That is not… haaahhh…" Rikuo wanted to deny it, but Rihan was old enough that he knew better than believe such a lie. "I don't like this. You leaving the clan will make our allies not see you as a part of it, but to our enemies you will always be a Nura, and a potential pawn."

"I wonder about that." His son gave him a cryptic answer. "Is this all? I want to take a rest, I did not sleep much last night." He asked while rising up.

"Yeah, feel free to go." Rikuo gave him his approval, after which his son silently left the room. "The bird intends to leave the nest, huh?" He only now remembered that he did not ask him when he intended to leave. _As if I want to know the answer to that question._

* * *

"So now gramps knows too, huh?" Rihan said as he sat on the floor of her room, leaning against the wall. "Your deception is certainly getting weaker."

"What are you talking about, Riha-chan?" Shiori replied while kneeling in front of her table and finishing her homework. "Our relationship was never a deception." She said while looking at him with her brows slightly lowered. _Please don't say unnecessary things, love._

"Yeah, riiight…" Rihan said with an eyebrow raised. He had utmost trust in his abilities so he probably did not feel the need to talk ambiguously. Shiori trusted his abilities too, but she was a bit more cautious on this matter. "Yet he still made you do him some favors."

"It's just my test to prove myself to him." She wondered if there was maybe some truth to that sarcasm.

"Okay. What I meant to ask is what favors did that old man ask of you?"

"I'll let him answer that question." She spoke as her pencil moved through her notebook. "It is, after all, his issue. But I do believe that you should thank him for being so… supportive of us."

"I'd not be so optimistic just yet." Rihan noted as he greased his own chin, as if he were thinking about something.

"Be it as it may, the current situation is better than all of the alternatives."

"Even better than it not being discovered?"

"I don't consider unrealistic alternatives to be legit alternatives. Someone was bound to find out at some point, we are lucky that it was them two. Either way, we'll have to live with it."

"We will, won't we?" Rihan said and fell into silence.

After a few minutes of the pencil being the only one to make sound, Shiori spoke up. "Don't you have questions about the last night?"

"Do I've a reason to have them?"

"Is this your way of asking if the dolls were part of my group? Quite judgmental, I hadn't heard such tone in a long while~"

"You sure do seem light about the whole deal."

"There are those people who claim that smiling people are the most dangerous ones. Who knows what goes through my head as I smile, hm?"

"You know, you could tell me what goes on in that head."

"And save you the fun of solving all those fun mysteries for yourself?" She heard him snort at that. No doubt, he disliked this answer. But she did not like to excuse herself even when she had the right to. She was way too aware that anything that she said would be hypocrisy and, at worst, she may start believing into those excuses too much.

"Alright, then I'll ask. What-"

"We are talking about rumors and guesses, right?" She indirectly reminded him to be careful with his words.

After a short silence, he sighed. "I was wondering which group those dolls belonged to."

"Don't you think it's obvious? I mean, creepy horrors born from urban legends in the heart of Tokyo. Obviously, they run with Shiori."

Rihan stayed silent for a while. "Are you repeating what others say? Or do you have reasons to say… to think so?"

"Between the Nuras, Shiori and the Oniedas, it is unlikely that anyone noteworthy could stay hidden for so long without being a member, or having support, of either one of those three groups, don't you think?" She noted what she thought was obvious. "Not that it means that it's all so simple. Shiori's group is quite anarchical, more of an alliance of people who needed to band together than a group inside someone's iron grip."

"So in a way they aren't Shiori's?" He commented with a mocking tone. She did not mind it though.

"Oh no, I'm not saying that. On the large picture, Shiori will protect them like all of her allies if the need arises, as long as the rules are upheld." She said all this in a lower tone, as it would be too suspicious for Ichinoe Araya to say such things with such certainty. "As a matter of fact, she probably can't even choose sides when her allies start brawling unless there is a good reason to do it… even more so if the parties in questions are high-ranked."

"That's some weak leadership then."

"You think so? I'd say that it is a necessity." She raised her pencil and pointed it at Rihan while still looking over her textbook. "Your sister told me a story once, about how some of the Nura clan's executives one tried to assassinate your father. Tell me again, what happened to them?"

"The former Gagoze got offed." Rihan said with an uncertain tone.

"That was before the conspiracy."

"Gyuki made amends."

"He was the heart of it, but it's known that he did not act alone. Your sister said there was no doubt about it." Now Shiori looked right at him. "Tell me, why didn't your grandfather do anything even after so many years?"

"It became… unnecessary." His tone greatly lacked in confidence, and it looked like it made him think of some things.

"I wouldn't call that _unnecessary_ , my love. But the ugly truth is, a leader often has to tolerate even the things that they don't want as a person. Well, a lot of other people tolerate such defects as well, wouldn't you agree?" She intensely looked at him again, noting that he was the one she talked about.

"Such defects should be fixed."

"Indeed, they should be. And most do try. As a matter of fact, that desire is one of reasons why societies can advance from their primitive roots." She returned to doing her homework. "But one has to stay careful, lest they destroy the very thing they are supposed to lead and protect… and that might be the best of the many bad outcomes."

"Hmph. Trying to be condescending I see." He said and looked up. "So? Will… Mhm, do you think Shiori will do something about it?"

"Now why would I've such intel?"

He looked at her annoyed. "Just ans… no, nevermind." He looked away once again. "I already got the idea from all that you said a few moments ago."

"I'm glad that I was so enlightening."

"So in summary… I believe that the Dollmaker belongs to Shiori's group, that Shiori and he may not necessarily be on the same footing, that she can't do anything as long as he plays by the rules and… wait, what about Gagoze?"

"I think that I want to break his neck~" She said with a cheerful tone. "And I hope Shiori-chan does as well. After all, he cannot be one of her people."

"And why… are you so sure? He is, after all, a major enemy of the Nuras."

"He may be affiliated with a member of her group. As we said, not all care about their leader's wishes." She lowered her tone once again. "But… there are people you can't trust."

"Why not? He is-"

"I think you should learn more about your enemies though. It would be a lousy tale if you two met and you were the one who can only listen to his narrations. Be cool, and show him that he ain't such an enigma to you, love."

"Haaahh… everyone's being so cryptic." He said and rose up. "I guess I better leave and get some sleep."

"Did you forget to give me a gift, love?" Shiori asked him about a very important thing.

"A gift? Ah!" He finally remembered. "You mean this?" He took out a small box and walked to her.

"Yep." She took the box into her hands. "By the way, I really want to go to Mount Osore. Do you think you or the First could take care that you and I go there on Sunday?"

"Why do you need that?"

"To put your gift to use." She winked. "Trust me, you'll like it there~"

"I'll see what I can do." He turned around and started leaving. "Though it makes me feel like I'm running from Gagoze."

"You do that. Good night!"

"Good night." He said with a faint smile and left her room.

"And just when I was done with homework." She muttered to herself. "I also better go to sleep." _I have a meeting to take care of, after all._

* * *

The moment Shiori closed her eyes in her bed, she appeared in another place. She was dressed in a black kimono with red roses as its patterns, and with a haori of the same color and pattern over her.

She sat on the floor, right in front of an ruined Japanese mansion. In front of her, there was a dead forest, with spider webs decorating the dead trees instead of leaves.

She had two purposes in this dream world. The first was the one for which this tale was created, which was to meet with the rest of the Coalition's leadership. She had to give her orders to some of them, and inform them of future plans. Since she needed to make a tale each time she wanted to meet with others this way and the number of times she could do that was limited, she had to take care that all issues were resolved.

The other purpose was to meet with the Dollmaker, or with whomever created the Tale. And judging by this place where she found herself at, that one enforced itself so that Shiori would meet him first.

In front of her some hands sprung out of the ground and started digging up. Soon enough, a human-sized doll found its place, with its lower body still dug into the ground. "You finally came, Shiori-sama." The Dollmaker said while rubbing its hands.

"And there I hoped that your parent would appear." Shiori opened a fan, whose color and pattern fit her kimono, and opened it up in front of herself. "I must say that's a bit rude."

"Who says that I serve a parent, or that they are still alive?"

"Hm?" Shiori mumbled with the fan in front of her. "Well, whatever. Say what you came to say, Dollmaker." She did not intend to let him know how much she knows about his state.

"Are you aware of what is about to happen?" The Dollmaker asked with a malevolent tone.

"Yes. You intend to test our Main Character."

"The intention is to destroy him." The Dollmaker leaned a bit to the front. "I hope your personal feelings won't-"

"-get in my way of being fair." She finished the sentence for him. "But I wonder if I should really stand aside. After all, you are part of the plot that is there to oust me out of power, right?" Shiori smirked, but the Dollmaker could not see it because the fan his her lower face.

The Dollmaker just stared at her for a while, obviously not expecting her words. Then it smiled. "I see… and there I thought that we hid well."

"I added a rule into the entire game without consulting the other leaders, not even my two equals." She moved the fan down, to let him see her expression. "And I've even suffered a major defeat by the hands of the Shin Sekai recently. All those summed, I'd be shocked if my authority were not questioned."

The Dollmaker did not reply, it only looked at her smile.

"So? Excluding me, in the Rose Coalition there are only two others who earned the right to carry the name Sanmoto. Which one is the wanna-be usurper?" She asked, but the Dollmaker did not bless her with an answer. "Or maybe it's both? Or none? Maybe they are unaware that they are being pushed into the leadership, that would be quite a happy outcome for me. Or even better, the actual usurper is from another coalition? Maybe it's even the infamous Pianist?" The Dollmaker shrugged, either because he did not know or because he did not want to answer. "Well, not that I need your answer."

"So you know already?"

Shiori raiser her fan. "Who knows? In any case, this means that I've all the right to mix in, right? To fight together with my beloved. Unless of course I get some insurance?"

A short silence ensued, the Dollmaker clearly checking up his options.

Shiori waited until he opened his mouth that she spoke. "I've two conditions. One, I'll give the Main Character only one addition to his tale. It's the addition that I announced a while ago so it's not exactly a reaction to this. Your doll was in the antiquarium when it was going on, so you know that. Second, you wait until Tuesday."

"So there is only one condition: we do not interrupt the… addition." The Dollmaker frowned.

"Indeed. So basically, I don't actually have any conditions at all! As a matter of fact, you guys can use the delay to your own advantage. See, am I not a benevolent Queen?" She said and closed her fan.

"You seem to be taking this pretty easily."

"Of course. If I were threatened by the likes of you, I'd be so ashamed that I would abdicate willingly!" She let him see her sneer.

"I see… you always did have quite an ego."

"And that ego will be my downfall, right?"

Shiori noted as she tilted her head. "By the way, can I tell you a short story? It's not a tale-making one, just a regular one. For a friend!"

"Then tell it."

"Three little swallows, a chained angry hawk. One swallow goes down, sings and pecks, then lands atop the hawk's head. Another swallow goes down, the hawk's wing it meets, and falls away. Third cautiously pecks the hawk, avoiding the hawk's beak and wings. Many times it does so, until the swallow dies, by the first swallow's peck in the neck."

"Fascinating… and what exactly does that little story mean?"

"You will know in due time." Shiori fans at the Dollmaker, and destroys the world around her. "Now I have other matters to attend to. Have fun."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here it is, a new chapter after so, so much time. Once again I apologize for being so late, but real life has to take priority. I only hope that the plot of the arc is still fresh enough in your memories and that you can continue following it without much issue.

\- Ah, Koko no Kira… how long was it since that youkai was mentioned, as well as the Nakano Incident? Naturally, this youkai is not at all entertained by a death of one the school's students

\- Hikari-chan bring an interesting point: are youkai really different from humans, or are they just telling themselves that in order to excuse their lifestyles?

\- Rihan sure has become a celebrity! Hikari, Gagoze, Ritsura and Rikuo… all want to know the juicy details on what is going on with Rihan

\- And Ryoko has a new get-up! I wonder how many readers will remember the argument that the two cousins had about fashion sense

\- Seems that not all is perfect in the State of rose Coalition


	87. Rippers and Exorcists

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In the wake of growing tensions between youkai of Tokyo, Keikain Ryuzan, Keikain Ryoko, and Kibiki Sakura have formed an Exorcist Trio in order to act as a counter-balance to these youkai factions. But the sinister eyes did not need long to notice them…

 

**Chapter 87 - Rippers and Exorcists**

Gagoze closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. He was not staying at the Dollmaker's place for so long, but nevertheless the cold fresh air felt good, though also a bit cold. But it was his own fault for climbing atop a tall building.

But even though he was outside now, he was not free of the Dollmaker's influence. "I'm not sure how I feel about high places like these." The girlish doll spoke while hanging from his left shoulder. Gagoze did not know how, but she reduced her size and took features of an actual doll, filled with plastic face and eyes. "I like feeling free, like I can jump everywhere. But it's also scary to look below."

"Would you please shut your trap?" He asked, his eyes still closed and his chin looking upwards. For a short while he actually thought that he would be alone, but he had to know that the possibility of Dollmaker actually leaving him alone was too good to be true.

He did consider the possibility of crushing her and throwing her away. He liked the image of such a scene in his mind.

"Please don't get any funny thoughts, Onii-chan. You need me."

"I don't." He lowered his chin and opened his eyes. His gaze fell upon the dark panorama of a modern city.

"The streets below are swarming with the Nuras. I remember you being at your wits end several towns away from Ukiyoe. It's much worse down there."

"And you can help me?"

"My siblings are everywhere. In cats, dogs and even in houses and offices. And daddy ordered them all to tell me where it's dangerous and where it's safe."

"Even so, it won't be perfect." He crossed his eyes and looked at her from the corner of his eye. "If a battle ensues, don't count on me. I won't even hesitate to sacrifice you if need be."

"I know. And don't you worry about me. Just throw me at whatever scares you, Onii-chan." Her plastic lips formed a creepy smile. "But don't forget that you aren't here for free. If Daddy sends an order that someone has to die, they die."

"I'm an assassin. I'll do my work."

"Even if you stumble upon one of the Nura siblings?"

"If I stumble upon them-"

"You won't fight. You'll retreat, or kill a target and then retreat."

"Unless the situation is convenient and I can off one."

"No. If Daddy doesn't order it, you don't fight and you don't kill."

"I don't need your daddy's order." Soon after he said that, the air grew cold, which made Gagoze push the doll away and turn towards her. He went to take out his weapons, but he found out that they were not on his person.

They were in the doll's hands, which had a menacing aura around her. "The plan is **absolute**. The time is **predefined**. Freedom of action will **not** be tolerated." She spoke in a menacing, monstrous voice. " **Betray** , and you will make us your **enemy**!"

Now more than ever, Gagoze wanted to crush this doll. But he knew better than do so. For a while longer, he would have to cooperate.

* * *

_Two Taoists and a Christian enter a bar._ Ryuzan thought to himself while following the two girls, Ryoko who walked determinedly and Sakura who followed in confusion, as they entered a small family restaurant. _I wonder what the punchline is._

It was a well-lit establishment with comfortable, smooth mahogany seats and despite its moderately humble furnishing and decorations, possessing an advanced ordering system, equipped with such gadgets at the circular, white-clothed tables. As it was around the common time for dinner, it was rather packed with people, hence the buzz of noise.

Ryoko sat down on a free seat, her disapproving eyes not leaving Sakura who sat in front of her. Ryuzan, sat down beside his cousin. A few times in the past Ryuzan tried to form a new trio with him, Ryoko and another exorcist, but she was so stubborn about keeping Kashaimaru their eternal comrade that she got hostile to any potential newbies. Normally he would let it slide, but Sakura's kindness made him sympathetic so he would not hold back from pinching or even hitting his own cousin under the table if she got too rough.

"Alright, then let's start the interview." Ryoko spoke in a businesslike manner. She even took out a smartphone and a pen, as if to take notes. "Kibiki Sakura, was it?"

"Hai!" Sakura replied with a confident nod and a confident glance in her eyes, as if she intended to get accepted at a job. Clearly, Ryoko was not the only one overreacting.

"So tell me, what led you to this place?"

The question may not have been presented properly, but nevertheless Sakura understood what Ryoko was asking her. "I asked Ryuzan-kun a few times to let me join him on jobs around the city. And two days ago he asked me if I wanted to have more regular excursions together with another person. Naturally, I accepted without much thought!"

"I see." Ryoko scribbled something on her phone. "What makes you think that you are qualified for this job?"

Ryuzan hit her ankle with his foot, but Ryoko barely reacted.

"To be honest, I don't really think that I'm qualified as until now I merely exorcised lesser daemons." Sakura said it without looking nervous. "But everyone has to start somewhere, so I ask you to kindly give me an opportunity to grow and prove my potential!"

_You're taking this too seriously Sakura-chan! Please stop!_ Ryuzan thought it all with a straight face.

"So you're like a freshly graduated student, huh?" Ryoko took a note.

" _Just to remind you, Ryo, you're actually freshly graduated yourself."_ Ryuzan whispered to her. For some reason, Sakura seemed nervous about the whispers, her eyes quickly darting between the cousins and her hands notably fidgeting.

"What would you say are your best skills and talents?"

"I'm good at deceit, sneaking, and people tell me that I'm good at reciting the exorcising verses. My Latin is also quite good, both in writing, speaking and, most importantly, chanting and praying."

"I'll have to perceive that as a good skill for your profession." Ryoko took another note, and moved the phone away when Ryuzan tried to spy on it. "Approximately how many youkai have you exorcised by now? Killing, sealing, beating up or persuasion are all included in this."

"I've exorcised many possession types from people, usually without them even being aware of it." She puffed with pride. "On Nejireme, I also fought two strong youkai. The first fight was not an actual threat, as I found out later on, but the second one was dangerous." She then raised her index finger and continued. "No one would believe me, but I fought the infamous Crocell himself! I don't know what he was doing on Nejireme or who summoned him, but I swear it was Crocell himself."

"I believe you, but that might be because I don't know that name." Ryoko nodded.

" _Maybe we should put_ _ **you**_ _through an interview?"_ Ryuzan whispered to Ryoko, who replied by hitting him under the table.

"Ahh…" Sakura must have misinterpreted his whispering as she got nervous and continued talking. "Alright, I admit that he was not as strong as Crocell is supposed to be, probably because his summoner may have been far away." She bowed with her head. "I'm sorry for boasting too much! Pride is a hard sin to oppose after all! But I swear that he was a strong enemy!"

"Now now, I didn't say anything about-" Ryuzan tried to calm her down, but Sakura looked to Ryoko for help.

"It's fine, I now remember that a guy called Crocer made trouble for him too." Ryoko pointed at Ryuzan. "So it's good." Sakura looked relieved. "But let's continue. Where do you see yourself in five years?"

"I see myself as a proud exorcist, banishing evil from the shadows so that good people can continue their lives without distraction!" She said confidently, but then her eyes fell onto Ryuzan. "That… that is at least my wish." She looked at him as if begging to not be too strict.

" _I think you are scaring her, Ryu."_ Ryoko whispered the obvious to him.

_Yeah, I noticed that! But why?! I'm on her side!_

"Alright, then let me ask for your honest opinions about your potential comrades." Ryoko said and then pointed at herself. "I know we only met, but what's your impression of me? But can you promise me that you'll be honest?"

"I promise!" Sakura said with an exaggerated bow.

" _As deceitful as she may be sometimes, she usually doesn't lie if she doesn't need to."_ Ryuzan whispered to his cousin. _"And that includes white lies."_

"I promise!" Sakura repeated again, this time with more fear in her voice. Obviously, she once again misinterpreted the whispers that she could not hear.

"Calm down, please… so, what do you think about me?"

"Well… you walk and act confidently, so I take it that you are a strong and reliable exorcist. I'd be proud if you could be my senpai!"

"Good good…" Ryoko frowned and took another note. "Just for formalities, what's your opinion about my dear cousin Ryuzan?"

"He is a strong and powerful Onmyouji, and a very experienced one. But… I never know what he is thinking about! Everything feels like a lie around him, even when he is telling the truth." She trembled a bit as she spoke. "I thought I'd get less worried the better I got to know him, but… now, I know I'm not one to talk, and I always feel guilty for lying to people. But he… takes pleasure whenever someone falls for a lie! At this point, I think that he hates me deep inside him!"

Ryoko snorted with a smiling grimace, while Ryuzan felt like he was being betrayed. _I know you promised to not lie to her but… would it have hurt so much to answer with a white lie?!_

"Sorry young-uns, but…" A voice of a man came from behind Ryuzan, and the three of them turned towards him. He was an older, plump male, with a moustache, wearing some old-fashioned clothes, as if wanting to fit in an older time period. But generally, his face looked like it would be a good model for a stereotypical uncle. "I may be wrong, but something tells me you are more than just normal teenagers."

Ryuzan smiled and prepared to assure him that they were normal teenagers, but Ryoko had other ideas.

"We may not look the part, but we are exorcists." The black-haired teen said with a smile that she usually made when she smelled money.

"Oh, you do look like young exorcists to me. I've seen a few in my lifetime so I know."

"I see… do you have work for us maybe? Two of us are from Kyoto, and Tokyo has proven to be less welcome to our kind." Ryoko then tapped once on Ryuzan's leg. After a moment of pause, two more times.

"There's something that has been bothering me, so I was wondering whom I should come to." He put a hand into his pocket and took out a white envelope. "Could you please take this to your teachers?"

"We can take care of that ourselves actually." Ryuzan accepted the envelope with one hand, and used his other to reply to Ryoko's tapping by tapping on her own leg.

The old man frowned at those words. "Please don't. I don't claim to know what adult Onmyouji are capable of, yet alone the young-uns. But if something happens to you, I would regret it for the rest of my life. Please spare this old man some worries and don't go after this."

"Sure, we'll give it to our families." Ryoko assured him by tapping on his hand. "But why don't you tell us what is going on?"

"No. I don't want you to go after this, so I'll keep my mouth shut. Just make sure that this envelope finds its way to the actual exorcists, unopened." He put a hand in his other pocket and took out a vintage clock, which Ryuzan only saw in movies. "I'm sorry, but I have to go now. My wife will kill me if I'm late home again." He put the watch back into his pocket and looked back at the three exorcists. "And once again…keep away from that place, I beg you. I feel it in my bones that this isn't something you young-uns should dabble in."

"Sure, whatever you say." Ryuzan lied, to which the uncle nodded and left.

"There's a strong darkness surrounding that man." Sakura whispered as soon as he left their hearing range. "And the people in the establishment look delirious."

"Yeah, he was clearly telling us to go there." Ryoko crossed her arms. "This is a trap, no doubt about it."

"Is it though?" Ryuzan voiced his own opinion.

"Ryuzan-senpai, I thought you would recognize his lies." Sakura looked at him with astonishment.

"He did. He told me, under the table. This old man was lying through his teeth." Ryoko said to her and then looked at Ryuzan. "Now, please clarify what you meant by your suggestion?"

"He didn't even try too much. And if he wanted to set a trap for us, there are better ways to go with." The brunet onmyouji gazed at the doors through which the old man left. "I think he's trying to lead us somewhere. But even so, it's bound to be dangerous." He then looked at the two girls. "In any case, I know who this man is."

"You do?" his cousin raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"Ritsura sent me a photo of this man. Supposedly, he goes by the nickname _Archivist_ , and he is a high-ranked member of the group that creates youkai."

"Sanmoto Gorozaemon's group, right?" Sakura tilted her head and took out some hairpins out of her pockets.

"Sure enough." Ryuzan nodded. "Which means that we shouldn't go after him. If we did so, we'd probably just find out that he prepared for something like that and we might end up fighting some dangerous youkai."

"So should we call Ritsura-chan and tell her about him?" Sakura inquired.

"No." Ryuzan was the one to answer. "I like Ritsura and I like the Nuras, but I'm afraid that this would have quite the nasty consequences … like starting a war, or even putting us on this man's hit list."

"So should we just let him go?" Ryoko asked.

"You put a spell on him when you touched him a while ago, didn't you?"

"I put several of them." She smiled a little. "But if he's truly so high up, then he might find a way to expel the curse."

"Which is why you put several weaker ones and a strong but well hidden one."

Ryoko answered with a large grin. When she was keen on it, nobody could find her spells.

"So should we just go where he told us to?" Sakura asked while slightly changing her hairstyle.

"I don't want to play completely by his rules." Ryuzan smiled and looked at Sakura. "Could you watch over us from the shadows?"

"I'll give my best, senpai!" Sakura jumped from her seat, took her coat off and turned it around, and inside out to wear again, showing that it was a doubly layered coat. Now, she wore a cobalt blue variation, with more colorful floral and abstract motifs on it. "If something comes up, I'll send you a holler." Removing her gloves and saluting, her final note was, "Stay careful!"

"That goes double for you." Ryoko handed her a piece of paper. "Take this so you're not alone. If something happens, the enemy will deal with you and one of my stronger Shikigami."

Sakura nodded with a smile and ran out.

"Alright, now to prepare our own strategy. But I guess we should first see what's in the letter…"

And so the two of them started their short planning session also deciding to order before any waiters unexpectedly interrupted.

* * *

_To the good Exorcists or to whoever else is able to deal with spirits,_

_For a while now, there have been strange happenings in XYZ town, not far from Ukiyoe Town. There is a certain humble shop, owned by a young married couple, which was closed a few weeks ago, after the young sonny of said couple died in a car accident. The couple has, unsurprisingly, closed the shop and left to live with one of their parents for a while, or so the neighbors say._

_Not long after they left, strange happenings started occurring. In the streets near the shop, traces of blood could be found. It was never too much blood, so police could not be called, but enough of it appeared during these weeks to be worried about. And some say that, after midnight, some people saw silhouettes enter and leave the shop, though nobody got close enough to see who it was. The primal Fear caught those got close, and I can say that it truly is a terrifying feeling. And that was before I learned that people in the area have been disappearing._

_But one person, a friend of mine who is bolder than he is smart, got close to one of those silhouettes. And this is where things got strange: the strange person screamed inhumanly and jumped several stories into the air, a bloody cleaver in their hand. One would think they were drunk, but this man never drank even the smallest glass of alcohol in the last ten years._

_We even called a policeman once, and he broke into the shop. A few minutes later, and he runs out screaming. He ran past us, and later that night he was found drowned in the river, while the doors of the shop were mysteriously fixed. We did not dare to report this to anyone, fearing that more good people will meet such an unfortunate end. And this was clearly not a job for the police._

_But hopefully it is for you. I pray that we did not bring you to your death as well, good exorcists. I pray that you really are experts for these kinds of things as you claim you are…_

* * *

It was a densely cloudy night, with the sky not participating in lighting up any of it, and somewhat cold as well. There was a lack of electrical lighting around this area in particular too, along with the lack of public. The medium sized, rather humble shop building standing out in the street was in good condition but had an air of desolation, whose origin seemed to be the final 'CLOSED' sign making its operation known.

"Is that the shop from the letter?" the girl from the onmyouji duo asked her cousin while the two peeked from a corner at the other end of the street.

"It sure is." Ryuzan said. "Unless there are two shops of the same name in the same town."

"Well, the letter certainly was legit. I can feel the Fear all the way to here." Her features twisted into a frown. "And it's quite a sinister feeling."

"I wonder what Sakura-chan thinks of it."

Ryoko's frown deepened. "Are you sure she is even seeing it?"

"She's around, I don't doubt it."

"Whatever… do we walk in normally or guns blazing?"

"Just when did I ever support the idea of running into a situation guns blazing?"

"I don't know, maybe Ritsura changed you." Ryoko shrugged. "Wait, someone's leaving the shop." At those words, the two cousins moved a bit backwards, though they continued to peek. "Seems like it's a woman… and she's walking fast."

"Then should we split?" Ryuzan made a suggestion. "I want to check the store, but I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone."

"I'll go after her. I feel more comfortable fighting in the open."

"And I prefer the comfort of walls. So I guess we have a deal."

The two gave a nod to one another and went their separate ways.

* * *

Before he entered the shop, Ryuzan threw a glance through the windows. If there was someone inside, they did not need light and as such his eyes could not see anything.

The eyesight was the most important sense for the humans, but Ryuzan could enhance another of his senses by fusing with a Shikigami. And conveniently enough, the _Dog_ was the next in line for summoning. So he quickly summoned it and fused with it, and only then did he enter the store.

He walked with a slow pace, to take care that his boots, which moved on the plain floor, would not make any sharp sound in this otherwise silent place. Not long after entering it, he regretted his decision to enhance his sense of smell. The smell of rot invaded his nostrils with such intensity that he felt like vomiting. He knew this smell though: it was the smell of death. Whatever creatures made this shop their lair, they brought in their prey with them. Human prey, most likely. And that infuriated him.

Yet, he could not see any bodies. The smell seemed to come from above and below, but not inside the shop where aged products, dust, and spider webs were the only denizens.

Once he got used to the smell, he could feel another presence. No doubt, this was a youkai and he was certain that this youkai thought that he was unaware of it. As such, this youkai was preparing to strike at the youth from the shadows, unknowing of the fact that Ryuzan was about to turn the tide against it.

And just as he expected, the youkai made an attack from behind, swinging a weapon of sorts. But Ryuzan had already prepared a barrier, which reverted the orientation of any kind of incoming force. The assailant was thus propelled backwards, ransacking the shelves in its wake. Ryuzan contemplated using a more lethal barrier, but the Dog was a good-natured spirit, and that had an effect on him. So he would at least take a look at the enemy before he would end its existence.

But when Ryuzan turned around, he was shocked. The figure in front of him was not a youkai, but a human male. He looked like he was in early thirties and was dressed in a ragged shirt, which was supposed to be white but no more because of dirt, and grey pants, with his face scarred and bloody, and he held a meat cleaver. A lot of youkai had human forms, but this was not the case. True, there was Fear around him, but it was more like the Fear strengthened the human than that it belonged to him.

The human male rose onto his legs, and looked at Ryuzan. Were he not an Onmyouji, the boy would have honestly thought that this was a monster. His red eyes were bloodthirsty, while his lined, unkempt, dusty face was that of a furious man clenching his teeth and preparing for murder.

And murder he did attempt, and with a speed thrice that of a normal human, he lashed out on his target. But Ryuzan had already summoned the pig and enhanced his right fist with it. The Pig moved his hand, struck the strange human into his stomach, and then moved into the new host, cursing him with sluggishness.

Still conscious, and lacking a youkai's ability to delicately control its Fear, the man fell onto the ground. A simple kick into the head was enough to render him unconscious.

* * *

_This woman is a human… but only barely._ Ryoko was following her own target, the woman who left the store a while ago. The mysterious woman was running and jumping through the shadowy corners of the city, taking utmost care to not be noticed. She was used to this, and moved with a purpose.

Ryoko did not get a good look at her, but she could see that she was wearing a cream-colored coat, and a long, torn red skirt, while lacking any kind of footwear. Her hair was long, but messy, as if it did not see a comb for days. She also carried something that looked like blade in her left hand, but the black-haired onmyouji did not manage to get a good look at it.

The girl did not intend to follow after her for too long. As they got close to a park with nobody around, she decided to act. "Hanae, take care that there're no humans in the park while I deal with her." She said to her youkai that could control poisoned winds, and threw an ofuda into the air. Hanae did not reply, but moved as she ordered. "Hiroki, prepare to suck out all of that woman's energy. If possible, I'd prefer not to fight her."

" _As you say."_ She heard a voice come from a human-shaped ofuda that started floating around her.

Ryoko saw the woman got close to the park, and summoned her bow. _Hmm… no, this just doesn't fit this outfit!_ So she let it rematerialize, and it changed into a black crossbow, with white patterns of the same kind that was on her bow. The weapon was attached to her right arm, and she was certain that she could fire from it by just concentrating. _Spiritual Weapons are so convenient!_ _As long as it's a simple one, I can just change it into any kind of launcher or shooter._

But there was not much time to think of what to do next. A bolt materialized in the barrel of her weapon, and Hiroki immediately enchanted it with itself. Then Ryoko sprinted and shot the bolt at the woman when she entered the park.

But it was not fated to be so simple. The mysterious woman promptly turned around and deflected the bolt with her own weapon. She hit the bolt with so much force that it flew past her attacker, too far for Hiroki to strike at her.

And now the woman faced Ryoko, allowing her to get a good look. "Well, this is certainly not something I expected." She said to herself as she gazed at her nemesis. The woman had a large black shirt button as her eye, in a way that one would see on a cheap doll. Her right eye, which was still fine, looked at Ryoko as if she wanted to tear her apart.

She did not hold a blade in her left hand. No, the only bladed item she held was in her right hand, and it was a pair of clothing scissors. She did not even have a left arm anymore actually: it was cut off, and in its stead there was a wooden stick holding large scissors, the ones used for trimming bushes and tree branches. And it moved like it was a part of her body. Bizarrely, It was connected to her shoulder with stitches. Physically, it would be impossible to hold it that way, but physics lose all meaning when Fear is added.

But the eye and the left arm were not the only unusual things on her body. On her belly, and just below her left breast, there were glass orbs… which held working hearts, that connected into the inside of her body with thick tubes.

Yet, Ryoko's senses told her that she was not a youkai. Although barely, she was still a human, though someone or something did inhumane works on her body. Ryoko had no doubts that she would soon become an actual youkai, with her own Fear, but for now she was just a doll made by the likes of _Dr. Frankenstein_.

"I'm so glad that Ryuzan is not here. His soft, humane heart would wonder if we should spare your life." The onmyouji told the woman, who was probably not even listening to her, while weaving her right arm. A flaming bolt appeared in the crossbow, prepared to fly at whomever Ryoko pointed it at. "I'll save you now, you poor thing. And then find the one who did this to you."

"Save me?" The woman talked in a gruff tone. "The one who must be saved is my dear little one." She faced Ryoko and stretched her legs apart, while her scissor-arm swung left and right. "And you will help me with that!"

The woman then jumped at her, with speed and ferocity that would kill a human. It was then obvious to Ryoko that she did not have experience in killing anything above humans, for it took almost no effort to crouch, turn herself and kick the woman into her stomach. Raising her crossbow and firing an explosive bolt into her took even less effort.

"Gjaargh!" The woman screamed as the explosion enveloped her.

Ryoko used an attack that she expected would turn her enemy into ash, but the doll-woman was merely thrown away. Since loud thumps started coming from the woman just before the bolt blew up, the girl concluded that those hearts in the tubes saved her.

And really, once the woman got back to her feet and Ryoko was able to see her front area, she could see those hearts thumping quickly, loudly, and sending something black into her body through those tubes. _And there I thought that Ikigimo collecting is something still done only by old-timers like the Kyoto youkai. I guess some Urban Legends found another use for them._

"Yes, yess… you're one of those special kids, with strong souls." The woman raised her other hand, the one that held the small scissors. "If I take your heart, I'll become invincible!" Then she sent those scissors spinning at Ryoko.

"Why do weak youkai always use such cliche lines?" Ryoko evaded the scissors by moving her head a bit, and then met the real attack from the doll-woman, which was a sideways swing with the large scissors closed. The woman's speed tripled in comparison to the last attack, but she managed to meet it with her left arm. Still though, the force of the attack was strong, and Ryoko was thrown off her feet and pushed aside, though she did manage to land on her feet, and into a pose ready for fighting. Not wanting to waste time, she created another explosive bolt.

But then something small but sharp struck into her left hip. Her eyes instinctively looked down, and that was when she remembered those small scissors that the woman threw a moment ago. _This… she used it like a boomerang? But how?_ She then noticed a thin piece of string, which was now broken.

The woman's attempt to steal her opponent's attention for just a bit worked, and by the time Ryoko returned her attention to her nemesis, the woman's leg struck down her right arm while the sharp blades of her large scissors were framed around Ryoko's neck like a deadly necklace, ready to _snip_ her head off.

She had no way to push her away, the scissors were too large to pull her head away, and there was not enough time to cast a spell.

But she had already readied another bolt, so she decided to use it. Due to the woman holding it down with her foot, she was unable to use it on her. But using it on the ground was as useful for the occasion. The impact was enough to break their positioning by forcing her foot to swerve in the other direction and though the woman did use her scissors when she realized what was going on, Ryoko was no longer being held by her and was able to get away in time by pulling back her body.

Ryoko threw away those scissors that were stuck into her hip. "I should stop underestimating that woman's speed and luck. Hyouhaku!" She then called to her northern Bakeneko companion, and a man-shaped paper talisman flew out. Ryoko fused herself with it, and as a result her clothes turned white, she got a silver fur jacket with a hood that looked like it was the head of a large, silver cat. Her weapon changed as well, and was now a wider crossbow with three silver bolts loaded.

"Why don't you die already?" The woman screeched at Ryoko. "Why does nobody want to help my little one?"

"Hyouhaku, we've to destroy those hearts." Ryoko whispered while aiming her crossbow at her enemy. "But try not to kill her."

" _I'm sure you tried to. Did you change your mind?"_

"Yes." The girl continued aiming while the woman waited to jump away. "If someone can turn a mere human into something so strong, and that before that human even turns into an actual youkai, then I want to find this someone as soon as possible." She said and pulled the trigger.

All of the four bolts struck out, and the woman jumped away. But the bolts changed their trajectory, their angle, and struck right into the doll-woman's chest.

" _It wasn't strong enough."_ Hyouhaku noted.

"Onto Plan B then." Ryoko noted and widened the distance from the woman while preparing for another strike. While the crossbow form made it possible for her to do new things, like what she used to save herself from that woman's grasp a while ago, it took a while longer to create the bolts opposed to the arrows. In that way, this spiritual crossbow had the same downsides as all other crossbows: it took a while longer to get ready for another attack.

She shot her four bolts once again, and this time the woman ran at them and struck them with inhuman precision and speed. She did not even notice that Ryoko put even less power in them and that it was, along with Ryoko pretending to want more distance between them, bait. When she came close enough, four claws sprung out of the sleeve of her left hand, acting as attached blades. She put all she could muster into them, and swung them. _Not all of the abilities I get from my Shikigami are for the crossbow, miss._

The woman tried to block it, but alas: her scissor arm broke and the two of her hearts blew into a bloody mess. She was done for.

* * *

Ryoko let go of her fusion, and Hyouhaku returned to her ofuda form. Still, both of them preserved a certain level of caution, just in case the doll-woman had another trick, or allies hiding in the shadows.

"Why why why… why?" The woman screamed while trying to get up, but she was both too exhausted and wounded to do anything more than stand on all fours. "Even after I got all these powers… why can't I still save him? Why is the world standing in my way all the time?" She wailed into the night, her tears mixing with blood on her face.

Ryoko felt pity for her. She remembered the tale that the old man told her, and could guess both who this woman was and what her motive was. Even so, she did not feel regret in stopping her.

"Whatever you were planning, I'm pretty sure it would not have saved him." Ryoko spoke as she walked to this woman.

The woman threw her a hateful gaze, but her head fell back on the floor. Seemingly, without the hearts her artificial limb could not move. "There is still hope! My dear husband will-"

"My cousin should have dealt with him already, just like I've dealt with you." The victorious onmyouji crushed this woman's hopes with her own hope, stated it in a toneless voice.

"No… he _will_ win! He has to… we've sacrificed so much for this." Her voice became shriller yet feebler, as though her hope was dwindling the same way her pitch was heightening. "We've sacrificed so many… those sacrifices have _got to_ mean something!" With the blood, the tears and the grooves her emotions carved onto her skin, there was no telling how her human form even used to look like anymore.

"They don't." Ryoko was blunt and stood just in front of her. "And deep inside, you know it too."

The woman gazed up at her with more hate than before. She opened her mouth to complain, but then her eyes became teary and depressed while her head fell back on the ground, yet again a repeat of before. She did not say anything. She just wept.

The girl let out a sad sigh. Maybe just telling her that this was all wrong would have been enough to save her. But by the time someone like an Onmyouji got to her, it was already too late. _The Onmyouji can just fix cracks on a bowl. But we can't stop it from cracking. That's the sad truth about our business._

_But I can bring justice to whoever is leading these people astray._ "Who did this to you?" Ryoko asked.

The woman's crying toned down a little and the slightly withered fingers of her only fingered hand scratched the ground, but then she continued crying like before.

But her reaction told Ryoko a lot. "You still have doubts, but you know that you should talk. You know you were abused." And then she went for a bluff. "And you probably suspect, like I do, that this villain may have caused this tragedy in the first place. And even if they hadn't, there's no doubt that a monster vile enough to do this to you merely abused your feelings… that it abused your love for that child."

The woman had already stopped crying, her fingers continuing scratching the dust below her. There was no doubt that she understood what Ryoko was telling her, even if a part of her remained desperate.

She had risen onto her knees, and opened her mouth to speak, when Ryoko felt something above her, flying in her direction.

She still had her crossbow on her and quickly turned up. But she had no time to shoot with it, as she had to use it to block a blade that was being pushed towards her throat. Her new nemesis was definitely a youkai, though it had no colorful features unlike this _human_ woman. Instead, he had the form of a man in dark pants and shirt, with a large hood over his head. His weapon was a simple short-sword and his Fear felt equally simple, but the ferocity and intensity of that Fear was large. He killed countless, and that simple sword was more dangerous than any unnatural scissor or any other kind of a fancy weapon.

And he had a lot of experience in fights, for he abruptly used his sword and body to push himself so that he would land between Ryoko and the woman. The Onmyouji tried to position her crossbow in such a way that it would be aimed at this youkai, but he continued pushing it away with his sword.

And then he forcefully pushed Ryoko away, and swiftly hit the woman with enough force to throw her away for around three meters. He then just as swiftly jumped backwards, landing behind the bleeding woman.

Ryoko knew what he was intending to do. "Stop him!" Ryoko shouted to her Shikigami, but by then this youkai had taken some small knives out of his pocket. When her Shikigami's ofuda flew out, he threw those knives with one hand, hitting each ofuda with one knife. Ryoko managed to fire one bolt, but had no time to concentrate into making that bolt strong. Suffice to say, the youkai just hit the bolt with his short-sword.

He then raised the woman up with his left hand, and then raised his sword with his right and pushed it right into her spine. The way her face twisted in pain, her eyes widened and wetted with excruciated tears and the agonized howl her dying voice released piercing into the nighttime air, would be something that Ryoko would remember for a long, long time.

"You bastard!" the angered girl shouted at him and prepared to shoot. But then a small doll appeared out of his pocket, jumped onto the back of his neck and shot something far away. By the time Ryoko's bolt reached him, the hooded youkai was propelled to safety, in that same direction.

Ryoko clicked her tongue as she looked at him flying away. She took a step forward to go after him, but then remembered her Shikigami, Ryuzan and even Sakura. She could not leave them behind, not when there was a chance that they were in danger.

She sighed and turned around. "Are you guys alright?" She asked her Shikigami. Though it would take more than a few knives to cause actual damage, some of the damage that the Ofudas they were sealed in suffered did transfer to them.

"We are fine." Hyouhaku, who has released herself into her youkai form, said as she pulled out the knife out of her shoulder. As usual, this Bakeneko did not look like she felt any pain. "But is it fine to let him run away?" She asked as she threw down her knife. The other two Shikigami flew into Ryoko's pockets. "I could still go after him."

"No, we don't know enough about these guys to risk you going after him."

"I am-"

"Strong, I know that." Ryoko tapped on Hyouhaku's shoulder as she walked past her. "But I've decided to regroup with Sakura-san and Ryuzan before looking further into these guys."

She could hear Hyouhaku sighing behind her. "As you say." Hyouhaki then turned into her ofuda form and flew into Ryoko's pocket.

Ryuzan was still in the shop, and she did not know where Sakura was. So Ryoko went to look after Hanae. "Hanae, do you hear me?" She called to him.

" _I'm taking it that you are done?"_ She could hear his voice in her head. _"Kibiki-san was having trouble in the southern part of the park, so I think you should check up on her."_

"Trouble?" Ryoko asked herself, but ran without waiting for Hanae's reply. When she reached Sakura, there was not much left to say. "What has… damn."

Sakura was sitting on a bench, fighting for breath. Around the area, a dozen bodies were lying. But term 'bodies' might not be appropriate, as they were more like dolls made out of different kinds of materials. All of the dolls were bizarre, and likely made by the same person who turned that woman into a doll. However, none of them seem to have actually been like her in the way that they were humans before.

Also, none of them were destroyed. It was more like they just fell down dead… or like someone cut a puppetmaster's strings.

"You're back, Keikain-san?" Sakura reminded her that she was there. "Are you done dealing with… her?"

"We'll talk about it later." Ryoko said and walked to her. "Are you alright?" Sakura's clothes had been cut on several places, and she seemed to have suffered a few wounds. Fortunately, none of them looked serious.

"They were scary, but I met scarier people on Nejireme… and even in Tokyo recently." She jumped from the bench. "These… dolls were trying to sneak up to you, so I went to stop them. By the way, how is that lady doing?"

Ryoko closed her eyes and shook her head. "I beat her, but she was killed by some youkai that ran away."

Sakura seemed sad. "I see… then let's give her a few prayers before we go back to Keikain-kun."

"Yeah, let's do so." The two girls turned around and started walking. "I can't believe that I did not feel a dozen youkai moving towards me." It was not surprising for a youkai to sneak up to her, especially since there were always youkai running around everywhere and looking at whatever interesting was going on. But a dozen youkai moving in a group was something that was hard to miss.

"They weren't youkai. It was more like someone was controlling them from somewhere else." Sakura explained. "Which is why I was able to deal with so many in the first place. I cut away the connection a half of them had with… their master… and then did it twice more on the other half while they were trying to kill me."

"This is getting more and more complicated." Ryoko frowned. "And there is still that man who lured us here in the first place."

They had reached the now dead woman so they stopped talking for a while. Her dead eyes were looking at the sky, with dried, darkened blood dirtying her face and her mouth wide open. It was an ugly gaze, but Sakura lowered down to close her mouth and eyes. Ryoko wondered how she would have felt if she was the one who killed this woman.

"This woman was not possessed, but her soul had turned black." Sakura said what Ryoko already concluded herself. "But it's hard for a person to fall that far. Some great evil did this to her." Sakura then cleaned her face from the blood using a plain handkerchief and put the woman's hands together. She now looked as if she were at peace.

"And we are going to find him." Ryoko added before both of them put their hands together in prayer, though each whispered different ones.

"Yes, we owe her that." Sakura said once they were done. "Now let's hurry back to Keikain-kun. I've a bad feeling about all of this."

* * *

The shop's basement was the first place that Ryuzan checked on, mainly because it was the source of the disgusting smell. And even though he was able to guess what he wound find down there from the smell alone, Ryuzan still felt like something started to jump around his throat and stomach.

The entire floor was filled with blood and gore, with human bodies that were butchered. Some lacked limbs, others lacked eyes and most had their guts pulled out. It was a travesty indeed.

Yet there was a small place at the wall that was clean. One small body was lying on a refrigerator, which was used as an altar, with candles on it and around it. Ryuzan also guessed what was going on here.

He walked to the small body, and found a doll made out of flesh and organs of those humans. It was a boy, a small brunet, his hair, eyes, limbs, and no doubt even the internal organs and bones, were stitched onto him.

Ryuzan looked at his smartphone, where he had an article about a boy who died in a car accident. He was the child of the couple that owned the shop, and this doll of flesh was made to be similar to him.

And worst of all, this little doll was alive… and in pain. It looked at the person above it, and at ceiling, with its open mouth releasing some low-pitched sounds. He was not sure if the boy could even make a sentence, or if he even knew how.

This was a classic story: a human loses their family member or a lover, and a vile demon leads them to malevolence by abusing their despair and desperation. It was the kind of evil that Ryuzan considered to be the most vile and cowardly.

"You've suffered enough. Sleep now." Ryuzan put his hand on the boy's head, even covering his eyes, and exorcised him. When he removed his hand, the boy's eyes were closed, he no longer breathed, and his heart stopped working. "Good night." He said, gave him a prayer, and waved with his hand to extinguish the candles.

He had to find out more about what was going on, and who taught the couple how to do all this. So he started his investigation.

This shop was a part of their home, so alongside the small shopping area and the basement, it also had an area where they stored the items that were still not on shelves; a storeroom for inventory. But the storage was just like the shop itself: dirty and unused. He had a feeling that the couple did not even enter the storage since the tragedy.

But there was also the upper floor, where the family lived. The kitchen was there, filled with cans and other packed food. They were clearly in no mood to cook themselves. The living area and the dining room were a mess, and looked like a burglar broke everything he could. He could guess that the couple was using these two rooms to release their anger on the innocent furniture.

And there were two bedrooms, one for the passed away child and one for the couple. The child's room might be the only place that still looked nice. In fact, there was not even a speck of dust and Ryuzan could smell that it was vacuumed not long ago. He would not be surprised if the couple cleaned it a few times per day, deluded into thinking that their child would return to it.

Then he went to the only place that might have some clues: the couple's bedroom. It was clean, at least when compared to the rest of the house. People slept on this bed, while the laptop and several notebooks were clearly used recently.

He turned on the laptop, but it was wiped clean. Even the Operating System was deleted. "The couple did not do this. Someone else did… someone who knew we were coming." It was not much of a surprise though, as the man he had neutralized had a smartphone in his pocket, which was also wiped clean.

He immediately turned off the laptop and put it into its bag, which was sitting beside the desk. He would take it to Saaya, who might be able to find something in it.

_And speaking of Saaya-chan…_ He took out his own phone and called her.

" _Ryuzan-kun?"_ She immediately answered. He could hear from her tone that she was glad to hear him. _"What are you-"_

"I'm sorry, but this is urgent. Someone seems to have wiped out a laptop and I hoped you could learn something about their Internet history."

" _No break for me, huh?"_ She sighed. _"Fine, just send me the address and I will learn what I can. And can you bring me the laptop?"_

"Of course. I'll bring it to you myself." He gave her something to cheer her up.

" _Okay! See you later then!"_ She said and ended the call. She was always quick to take care of such inquiries. Not to disappoint her, he sent her all the data that she might find useful.

Now he went onto something that the mysterious strangers could not wipe out from afar: the notebooks. There were two of them, each one serving as a diary. _They must have started writing a diary to clear their minds. How ironic that their enemy, me, is going to use it to find out what was_ on _their minds._

He opened the husband's diary. The first few pages were just him whining so he jumped onto the last few. Those were equally uninformative, as they were mad ramblings that were repeated all the time, about who they killed, about organs that were fitting for the revival, and about how the child will soon be revived. The handwriting was getting worse from record to record, further showcasing the man's fall into insanity.

The real answer was in the middle. Ryuzan skimmed through it, and it talked about a woman who _saved them_ and about some _Sanctuary_. Ryuzan finally found the record where it all must have started. _"We have discussed it and decided to come to this Sanctuary. I still have my doubts about visiting this place, but Hibiki keeps pushing. Actually, I don't want to go there. I mean, a mail comes randomly and it invites us to come to them to get some help? We'e going to be scammed, I'm so sure of-"_

And then the bell rang and Ryuzan stopped reading. He doubted that either of these two girls would ring it, mainly because they would be anxious of alerting a possible threat. And it could not been a postman or a man needing salary because it was too late, while all acquaintances thought that the couple was still away from the town. So who was it?

Ryuzan closed the notebook and pushed both of the notebooks into the laptop's bag. He had to keep this bag close to him, and safe as it had clues that were important if they were to find this _Sanctuary_.

He looked out of the window, but there was nobody there. However, the door, which Ryuzan intentionally left open, was closed. _Someone rang the bell and came in._ He considered going out the window and either running away or entering the shop from outside, but changed his mind. If the intruder wanted to harm him, he would not have rung the bell. That is, he would not have announced his coming to this onmyouji.

So the boy walked down the stairs without hiding, though he kept his guard up and was ready to summon his Shikigami on the moment's notice.

He quickly saw the intruder, who was sitting on a stool and looking at the man that was tied to the counter with thick rope.

"Ah, so you are here, Ryuzan-kun." The very man who led him to this place greeted him. "Why don't you take a seat, I'm sure you have many questions for me." The Archivist said and smiled.

* * *

"That girl doesn't seem to be pursuing us." Gagoze noted while peeking around one of the corners.

"She's being cautious, Onii-chan." The little doll that hung from his shoulder replied. "And that's good, too. She's not someone you want to mess with."

"Who was that woman anyway?"

"She's one of my siblings, but clearly she's not working as Daddy wanted." The doll shook her head while Gagoze walked through the shadowy streets. "Good thing you got rid of her before she could betray Daddy!"

"I meant the Onmyouji, not that Frankenstein."

"Oh… I thought you knew, seeing as you so bloodthirstily went after her head."

"I don't know her… but she has a familiar smell. Too familiar in fact…"

"Ah, that. She's one Nura Rikuo's brats."

"Hm… is that so?" He smelled the air, hoping that she changed her mind and went after him. "Then I should have stayed behind and killed her."

"That would've ended badly for you, Onii-chan. Papa believes you have a chance against Ritsura and Rihan because you must've been planning it for years, but you don't know anything about her, or do you? And remember what I said? Do **not** hurt any of the siblings unless Daddy orders it!"

"Yeah yeah, whatever." Gagoze had to accept the annoying fact.

"But good thing that she didn't know who you were. If that girl knew that-"

Their conversation was suddenly cut short, when something in the shadows grabbed his leg and pulled him down. "What the-" He tried to look at who it was, and what he saw was something like a shadowy hand pulling at him.

Gagoze raised one of his blades and stabbed towards it, but the shadowy hand disappeared before it could reach it and another one grabbed his left arm and pulled him down.

"Oh no… it's him. I completely forgot about that guy." The little doll must have known what was ensuing. She jumped into the air, threw a string at the oni and pulled him up, out of the shadowy hand's grip. And at the last moment, for someone jumped out of the ground while slashing his sword right at where Gagoze was lying a moment ago.

The doll let go of Gagoze, and he landed on his feet, facing a handsome black Bakeneko with tanned face, holding a sword made out of shadows. _No, this isn't a Bakeneko. But it_ is _a cat._

"Gagoze, I presume?" The boy spoke. "A lot of people are looking for you."

"This youkai is Hikine." The doll landed in a nearby trash can. "Daddy is sending help, so endure until-"

The youkai called Hikine threw a brick at her and ran towards Gagoze. From Hikine's movements and posture, the assassin realized that he was an agile fighter. This allowed him to meet Hikine's sword with his own blade. Since agile enemies often lacked strength, Gagoze decided to counterattack with it: he jumped backwards a little and slashed at him with all of his strength.

Hikine met his attack, but it pushed him out of balance. Gagoze tried to use the opportunity for another strike, but his enemy dodged it by crouching so the blade flew above him.

Now Gagoze was off-balance, and Hikine's turn to use the opportunity. The hooded youkai had already drawn out another blade and had it ready to meet Hikine's. But the cat youkai just pushed up his left hand. By the time Gagoze saw another sword materialize in his hand, it was too late: his sword stabbed through Gagoze's left eye.

"Arrrrgggghhhh!" the killer screamed as he took a step back. But Hikine did not intend to give him a time to get used to the pain, and dashed at Gagoze.

"Get it together, Onii-chan!" The doll yelled at him.

"Shut up!" Gagoze took out all of the blades he had on him, and now held three blades between the fingers of both hands. He slashed with them at Hikine, with bestial intensity. It was hard to fight though, for he had just lost one of his eyes. But he was able to keep going, his survival instinct having kicked in.

The two then entered a dance of sorts, attacking one another and deflecting each one's blow. But Hikine managed to make a few more strikes than Gagoze did.

"Who the hell are you?" Gagoze yelled at him. "I've never heard anything of a youkai like you joining the Nura Clan!"

"How presumptuous. I serve Shiori-sama, not them. And she is the one who put a bounty on your head."

"Isn't she that bitch leading the Hyaku Monogatari? What the hell does she have against me?"

"Several things, but you should worry about me."

Gagoze made a mistake to think about what was going on, and that broke his concentration for long enough that Hikine stabbed a sword through his left arm. And what was more, he felt like more blades came out of that sword's blade, cutting the inside of his arm from multiple angles, grinding at it. The assassin kicked him away, but he lost the ability to hold the blades in his left arm. So it did not take much effort for Hikine to reach him, stop the blades from his right arm, and put his own sword's edge under Gagoze's throat.

"I'm Hikine, and my Tale is that of protection of schoolgirls." Hikine spoke as he looked at Gagoze with eyes filled with contempt. "Speaking of which, I can smell that you killed many young girls." Hikine pushed the blade a little, letting Gagoze's blood trickle. "My blood boils with the desire to cut you up, villain. My very Fear gets stronger and bolder by just looking at you."

"Then why am I still alive?" Gagoze asked in a raspier tone, as he was trying not to get his throat cut by Hikine's blade.

"Because Shiori-sama ordered me to stay alive, and your friends have just come." For a slight moment, Hikine's eyes looked to his left. Gagoze followed suit and saw that several of Dollmaker's dolls have arrived on the scene. "I can beat these soulless dolls, but I can smell Otone coming, and her stench is ever greater than yours. Her, I can't deal with."

"So, does that mean you are willing to negotiate, Hikine-niisama?" The little doll asked, while standing above the other dolls.

"Negotiate? No need, I'll just run away while you're busy with something else." The doll looked confused at what he meant, but the one Hikine turned his attention to was Gagoze. "You've done a good job hiding in the shadows, but shadows are my domain. And I'll come for you again, when I can."

"Let him go, you stupid cat." The doll spoke in a darker tone while Fear seeped out of her, the previous polite tone gone.

"Alright. You know, there is a reason why I attacked you here, even though I've been tailing you for an entire hour or two." Hikine kicked Gagoze away, and then dashed at him. But before hitting him, Hikine turned his sword around so that he would strike at him with the hilt. But the force he put in was above what Gagoze expected, and he was propelled across the street, and right through a window.

There was no light in this building, but it was not empty. No, youkai filled it. This was a gambling den of some kind, with a bit over a dozen souls in it. And Gagoze was literally crashing their party.

"Hey, who are you pal?" He heard someone ask.

Opening his eyes and turning his head, he also saw a familiar symbol on the wall.

The symbol of the Nura Clan.

_Ah, I see… that Hikine bastard must now be running away while the dolls get ready to come and save me._

"Hey, doesn't that guy look like…"

Gagoze rose up onto his knees. He had lost his left eye, and his left arm barely moved due to the damage that Hikine did to him. _Soon, the Nura clan will rain down upon me._

"Hey, that's Gagoze!" The youkai of the bar finally realized. "Someone call the Main House. The rest, come with me and take down this bastard."

_Soon, the Nura Clan will rain down upon me._ Gagoze repeated the same sentence in his head, to tell himself that it was over. There was no more hiding for him.

_It's all over now. No amount of cold-calculated thinking will get me out of this mess._

But he was not despairing, No, his lips widened in sadistic joy.

_There's no more reason to hide my Feaaaaaarrrr, father!_ He let it all out, and all of the youkai stopped moving and took a step backwards as they felt the terror shake up all of their nerves.

But one of them has gotten too close. Gagoze, who had lost all of his blades, pushed his hand upwards through a youkai's neck and through his skull. He then pulled it backwards, killing him in a brutal fashion.

Gagoze was in ecstasy as the blood rained upon him.

"G-g-get HIM!" the youkai around mustered their bravery and ran towards him.

But he just kept smiling, while the spilled blood collected around him. _Come come come… let me slash you all… let me listen to the gentle cracking of your skulls, and let me see your eyes as I suffocate you in your comrade's blood. Youkai, humans, dolls… I don't care, I'LL KilL EVeryTHINg!_

The Fear, that he hid in order to not get smelled out by the Nura Clan, was now all released.

* * *

"So?" Ryuzan raised an eyebrow. "What do you want to talk about?" He was sitting in the shop, facing the Archivist who sat just a meter away from him. They, and the unconscious serial killer, were alone in the shop, but Ryuzan could feel Fears outside the shop. _This Archivist fellow is a big gun in the Hyaku Monogatari, so they are likely his bodyguards… though it's also possible that he brought them here to take me down. I better find out what they're here for, and soon._

"I believe you have several questions for me." The Archivist replied. "So ask them."

"As you wish." Ryuzan frowned. "Am I in danger?"

"Unless you attack me, no."

"And if I don't give you what you want, or disagree with you?"

"These aren't negotiations kiddo, so relax." The Archivist's moustache raised as he made a smile. "I just want to talk, that's all."

"Is this another trap?" Ryuzan did not intend to put down his guard. "Like the one before?"

"Can you really call it a trap, if you knew that I was insincere back then?"

"If so, why did you lie?"

"If I introduced myself and asked you to come here, would you really have come?" The Archivist continued smiling. "No, you would call the Nuras. But this way you wanted to see what I was sending you into. A different approach can make people do different things, even if the intel you gave them is vastly different."

"You still sent us to our deaths." This reminded Ryuzan of a thing he should ask about. "What are the girls facing?"

"This woman's wife, another serial killer." The plump man looked at the unconscious shopkeeper. "But unlike him, she gave up most of her humanity so the girls probably had more trouble than you did."

"They beat her up, you know."

"Of course they did, it would make a bad tale if they died to a fodder."

"I've a feeling that this was all a setup for us to deal with your enemies. What group do they belong to?"

"We are all in the Hyaku Monogatari, Rose Coalition. But we have entered an internal strife."

"Bad timing seeing as tensions are rising between your group and the Nuras."

"Not really. You see, a short while ago, their boss manipulated the Nuras into attacking my antiquarium. And recently, they have been behind a few more incidents, many of which fanned the flames of war."

Ryuzan started to see the big picture. "So their side is trying to start a war between the Nuras and the Hyaku Monogatari? Would they maybe be hoping to have the Nuras kill off your side so they could take charge?" He made his theory, to which the Archivist nodded. "You sure have a cutthroat group there, uncle."

"Don't act so high and mighty towards me, boy. As the Archivist, I collect historical records of every notable faction, including you Keikains. You think that your own thousand years old group was not filled with would-be usurpers? And successful usurpers?" Then he made a more malicious smile. "Or that there isn't strife inside your own family? You do know that some Keikains want to join up with the Oniedas, right?"

Ryuzan felt like clicking his tongue, but resisted the urge. "You sure are well informed. Though I wouldn't call it strife."

"Small things grow into strife, kiddo."

Ryuzan sighed. "Alright, now the important question. What do you want from us?"

"I've two wishes." The Archivist raised his two fingers. "One, to continue your investigation. It's my hope that this'll make the life harder for… the rival group. And trust me, the Nuras will profit from this… or more precisely, Tokyo will become a darker place if they come into charge."

"Maybe I should hear their side of the story first?" Ryuzan hoped to remove the smile from his face.

But he just smiled more. "If you can, be my guest. I'm sure it will be… enlightening."

_He is not lying._ He then threw a glance at the unconscious man. _But then again, they did make this man and his wife into serial killers and necromancers. That's not exactly something redeemable._ "And what's your second wish?"

His smile then disappeared. "That you give up on it?"

"...huh?"

"Maybe I'm just old, but I feel that it's my duty to inform you young-uns about what you're getting into." The pushed his body forward. The lighthearted attitude had completely disappeared. "What you've seen here, and what you'll undoubtedly hear about from those girls, is nothing. This young couple has just started to be corrupted by the one that awaits you at the end of this road. While most of us create youkai by making stories, this one manipulates humans into becoming monsters by their own choice. They might be something that you can't handle."

"And I'm to believe that you, a part of the group that was pals with these people, care about our wellbeing? You need to work on your humor, uncle."

"Very cute of you, trying to understand what kind of person I am." The Archivist rose from his seat. "All in all, take this as a warning."

"What exactly is it that you want from us, old man?" Ryuzan was not done talking. "I understand that certain rules stop you from saying too much, but I'd like something more concrete."

"Basically, I want you to find a place called Asylum and put an end to it, by which ever means you can. Even if everyone there survives, the disappearance of this Asylum at a critical time should turn the odds against their favor."

"So basically, there's no actual goal. You just want us to make it harder for them to win?"

"That's right."

"Shouldn't you want us to put an end to them?"

"That's not your tale, and you should not try to make it into one. Be good side characters and just weaken them."

"You underestimate my cousin."

"You underestimate the big bad of this tale."

"I guess we've reached an impasse."

"Then I'll hope for the best." The Archivist turned his back on Ryuzan and started walking away, towards the exit of the shop.

Ryuzan looked at him as he left, wondering if he should strike at him. But he decided against it as there were other matters to attend to.

* * *

_He's here._ The Supreme Commander, white mane of hair blowing in the nightly air looked around as he sat with his legs crossed on Hebinyoro, the flying snake youkai who had the honor to fly Rikuo around whenever there was need for it. Naturally, several youkai were flying behind him, and even more were running below. _Gagoze is here. But how did he get so close to Ukiyoe without… no, there's no time to think about it._

The young Gagoze, the youkai whom Rikuo came to hate more than anyone else, had finally shown his face a few towns away from Ukiyoe. From what he understood from fragments of information that he had received, Gagoze jumped into a gambling den owned by the Nura Clan and started killing everyone inside. _But why did he blow his own cover? Hmph, knowing his kind, he was probably too hungry for blood._

Then someone jumped onto the snake, just behind Rikuo. There was no hostility so it was not an enemy, but there was a cold air. And Tsurara agreed to stay and guard the kids while Rikuo was going after Gagoze.

"I see that you have snuck out, Ritsura." He looked at his daughter who was sitting behind him, weaving her legs in the air. "Somehow I knew one of you two would sneak away from your mother's gaze."

"Of course." Ritsura nodded as if it were natural.

Rikuo sighed. "I wanted you all, including Tsurara, to stay home so-"

"So we would be safe, we all know that. But we'd also like you to be safe too, y'know?" She crossed her arms. "But I promise that I won't get in your way, Dad. There's no way I'd let that bastard go out unpunished."

"Somehow I doubt you'll do what I say." Rikuo sighed and accepted his fate. "I knew either you or Rihan would come here, though I admit that I gave him higher chances."

"Strangely, he just didn't seem interested in Gagoze." Ritsura frowned. "I thought he was trying to get us to put our guard down so he could try making a move when Gagoze gets close enough but…"

"He had traumatic past with him. He might not dare face him." Rikuo said that, but he did not believe in that theory.

"He was never shy about going after rumors just a few months ago. A lot of things changed since whatever happened at Nejireme."

Rikuo did not say anything back. Sure, things changed and Rihan seemed to have grown after whatever happened, but something felt amiss.

Ritsura continued. "I think he's waiting for Gagoze to come to him."

"I won't let that happen."

"You sure about that, Dad? I'd like to say that too, but…" His daughter questioned him. "The Shin Sekai's recent attack, the appearance of those dolls, the approaching war against Shiori, that mysterious woman I talked to you about… don't you think that someone might be planning to throw obstacles in our plans?"

"Then I'll crush those plans." Rikuo said and rose up. "We're here. Please stay cautious."

"Yes, Otou-sama." She addressed him formally and started putting her hair into the ponytail. "But I've this feeling that we've come a bit too late."

Rikuo frowned at the sight below him. There was a lot of blood, and dead youkai as well as some of those broken dolls.

"Those dolls… did another enemy go past our defenses?" His daughter asked.

"No, we would've noticed at least a few of them. They've been made in Tokyo by someone." Rikuo said and jumped down, his daughter following suit.

"So you say that someone was making an army inside our territory?"

"Yeah, just like the Hyaku monogatari created youkai one by one. And I've a feeling that these dolls are part of that same group." Rikuo looked around until he had found his Strike Captains. "Ao! Kuro! What happened?"

"Rikuo-sama! And Ojou-sama!" Aotabou met his Supreme Commander's gaze. "Sorry, looks like we've come too late. That Gagoze bastard has already disappeared somewhere."

"What do you mean disappeared?" Ritsura inquired. "Somehow I find it hard to believe that he could have just run away." She said the same thing that her father was thinking.

The two Strike Captains looked at one another. Kurotabou was the one to answer. "We don't know… some large dolls ran towards him, blocked our vision, and soon after he was gone."

"We looked around, but he was gone. Gone, Rikuo-sama!" Aotabou proclaimed with his arms stretched. "One of the dolls must have had a teleporting ability or something!"

"We killed all of those the dolls." Kurotabou looked at a heap where youkai of the Nura Clan were tearing the _corpses_ of the dolls apart. "And looked through them, but could not find anything."

"Damn it!" Rikuo struck the ground with his foot, making a small crack as he did so. Some of the youkai shook as they felt a moemnt of Rikuo's raging Fear enveloping the area. "These dolls… Gagoze sure has found himself some convenient allies."

Then Kubinashi appeared on the scene. "I'm not so sure if they were his allies, Rikuo-sama. Gagoze slaughtered everyone indiscriminately."

"Gagoze is a psychopath." Rikuo noted. "If he's gone berserk, then he mightn't have cared about allies and enemies."

"I agree with Otou-sama." Ritsura nodded, still being formal. "The Dolls appeared around the same time when Gagoze came to Tokyo, and now they mysteriously get him out of trouble. We should consider them allies for the time being." She then looked at some of the wounded youkai. "So who gave you guys more trouble? The dolls or Gagoze?"

"The dolls were stranger than they were strong. Like Rihan-sama said, they don't have their own Fear and fight as if someone controls them." Kubinashi said and looked at his hands. "My strings aren't as efficient on them as they are on youkai, and I suspect that others who."

Kurotabou continued. "All techniques that combat Fear directly won't be of use it seems. It's not an issue for me and most others, but is soemthing some other youkai may need to think about." He then looked directly at Rikuo and Ritsura. "And it seems that it's true that they don't use their own senses. So illusionary techniques won't have an effect on them either." He said as he looked at Rikuo and Ritsura.

"As for Gagoze…" Aotabou took in a deep breath and then started walking. "Rikuo-sama, come with me. But you may want to stay behind, Ojou-sama."

However, both of the Nuras followed after him, into the Gambling den.

When they reached it, Rikuo remembered just how brutal Gagozes were.

He looked at his daughter, hoping that she could handle the sight. Fortunately, she still looked serious and unimpressed. "I think I'll skip the next dish." But her words said a different story. "And sleep too. Eating and sleeping is _so_ overrated."

* * *

_So he finally showed his face._ Rihan thought to himself as he sat on the terrace outside his home, wearing a striped purple and blue yukata and leaning against a wooden pillar. _But his attack made no sense at all, not for someone who hides until he kills. Did he trip and fall into a wrong place? That would be anticlimactic._

He surprised himself by how calm he was by the news that Gagoze finally appeared, and so close to Ukiyoe Town. A month or two ago, he would take his sword and rush to him, demanding vengeance.

But now, all he could feel was the sensation that it was not the right time yet, and the annoyance at the youkai throwing away their lives just to avenge him… though some of them were more interested in cleaning the smear on the Nura Clan's pride. He wished there was a way to stop them, and he tried to tell them to calm down and let him come closer. But to no avail: these youkai want blood, and Rihan feared that the only blood many of them would taste would be their own.

If it was anyone else, rushing to him and dealing with him might put an end to it all, but someone from the Hyaku Monogatari clearly had plans for him. And he spent enough time with them to know that the sponsor would not hold back in stopping their reunion until they, in their questionable wisdom and useless bravado, deemed it proper. In other words, him going there might make them unleash an entire army, leading to even more deaths.

_No, the best choice for me is to stay here and wait. The clan won't need to be burdened by having to keep me safe, my father and sister are strong enough to deal with any big threats, and the enemy, whoever it may be, will try to get Gagoze out without a lot of fuss._

_Indeed, the most boring choice is the best. Typical._

Still though, he was worried about his father, his sister, and everyone else. So when he saw Kejorou walking past him, he immediately called to her. "Hey Kejorou, how is the hunt for Gagoze going?" He asked while pulling his body forward, from leaning to a more casual sitting position.

"Oh! We just got news from one of the crows, Rihan-sama." Kejorou stopped and turned towards him. "The Commander and Ojou have arrived on the scene, but Gagoze seems to have disappeared." She bowed as if apologizing. No doubt she had hoped that he would be dealt with. "You don't intend to go yourself, do you?" She asked as raised her head.

Rihan looked at her face. Her tone had been commanding and her expression was stern. She tried to sound worried and to make him feel that he should stay here. There was no doubt truth in it, but the light in her eyes spoke a different story: deep inside, she hoped that he would go out, and heroically deal with the enemy.

It was a funny contradiction, but that was how things were for youkai who tried to act like humans did. Only his father, who was more human than youkai, was more worried than hopeful that the young heirs would go do something bad. He wondered what his grandfather and namesake would have been like.

"Rihan-sama?" Kejorou tilted her head. He clearly got lost in his thoughts for a moment too long.

"No, I'm too tired to swipe every street for the signs of that lowly youkai." Rihan weaved his sword. "I'll stay here and rest so that I can be ready in case he finally decides to pay me a visit. I'd advise the same to all of you."

"You sure are quite laid back Waka, aren't you?" She made a sigh, but Rihan could feel her eyeing him with doubt. A part of her still feared, or hoped, that he would sneak out and join the action.

"I'm just trying to let you all know that you should rest up and stay cautious rather than jumpy." Rihan leaned back against the pillar. "Better yet, just let me handle it all. This is all part of my tale after all."

"A part of your tale?" Kejorou raised an eyebrow. But just when Rihan thought she might get suspicious, she sighed. "You fought some of Shiori's guys again, had you?"

"You could say so."

"In any case, you sure have changed since you came from Nejireme. The old you would-ugh!" She started while eyeing someone behind Rihan, and then froze when that same person, dressed in a dark blue yukata with rose patterns, jumped onto Rihan's left arm.

"Oh my, it was such an exciting and romantic event!" Shiori, or Ichinoe Araya for those not in the 'know', said while looking right up at Rihan. "Oh how he fought, it was a story of legends! And when he declared me the queen of his heart… oh my~"

"Yeah… I think I'll leave you two alone in your moment." Kejorou backed away, turned around and quickly walked away.

"I just saved you from annoying questions." She put on a naughty smile. "Don't you think I deserve a kiss?"

"Indeed." Rihan put on a naughty smile as well, and then kissed her on her forehead.

"Hrmm." She puffed her cheeks in annoyance, and then rolled herself down so that her head rested on his legs. "No more soft service for your arm then."

"Well, that's a shame." Rihan said with a smile. "I thought you have gone to sleep."

"Things happened and I had to delay my beauty sleep." She said with her eyes closed, making Rihan wonder what were the chances of her falling asleep here. _"Just in case you wanted to know, Hikine beat the crap out of everyone's favorite intruder."_ She said with a whisper.

"Oh, is that so?" This made Rihan wonder about something. _"Did he by some chance throw him amongst the Nuras?"_ He asked with a whisper.

" _Yep. He also stabbed out one of his eyes and carved out an arm."_

"Now I'm getting jealous." Rihan started playing with the bangs of her hair. _"But I guess it's to be expected, seeing what his tale is. But I'm surprised he didn't kill him."_

" _The dolls came, so he did the best he could so without risking his own life."_

"Sounds cowardly."

"Sounds loyal." She yawned. _"I'm the one who ordered him to not risk it. I still have need of him, not to mention…"_

" _Yes, I know._ Beating Gagoze is something I have to do." He proclaimed.

"Indeed so, my love." She smiled, her eyes still closed. "Did you talk with your grandfather? Uhm, your great-grandfather I mean."

"Ahh… that old man… I swear, he can smell whenever someone wants to ask him something, after which he disappears to rob some old lady of her candies and chocolates."

"Oh, is that so?"

Their conversation then went silent, leaving only the sound of breeze (and an occasional youkai's yell) around them. Rihan continued playing around with her hair, enjoying the ideal peace of mind. They have lately been cold around one another from time to time, so he thought this to be a comforting break.

"Do you think this will end well?" He randomly asked while gazing at the moon. But she did not reply. "Sh… Araya-chan?"

"Snooore."

"Oh… you actually fell asleep." Rihan sighed and giggled a little. "Well, everyone is busy these days." He sighed and looked around. He was at peace at his home, with the girl he loved. And it was so comforting that he wished the moment to last forever.

But the truth was, his home and his girl would start trying to break one another in near future. And there was nothing he could do to stop that.

_How annoying… so very annoying._

* * *

In the Dollmaker's Domain, a small doll-head made out of wood was floating. Then it grew, opened its mouth and spat out a person drenched in blood.

This was Gagoze, though he lacked his left eye and, judging by the wounds inflicted upon it during his clash with the Nuras, he was about to lose his left arm as well. Even for a youkai, it was impossible to save an arm that was minced to such a level.

The rest of his body was no better. He was slashed, stabbed, burnt and bitten in many places, but none of the wounds were so serious that Dollmaker couldn't fix it with a bit of sewing.

"You sure have done something stupid, Gagoze-san." The Dollmaker said with crossed arms as he looked down on the sorry creature.

But Gagoze did not seem to have been listening to him. "That damn Hikine…" The assassin did not even try to get up. Instead, he just dug his fingers into the wooden floor and raged. "I'll kill that bastard! I'll skewer him and feast on his entrails…" He scratched through the floor, leaving damage and blood behind. "But before that, I'll kill a few little girls in front of him. Butcher them, skewer them… I'll make him-"

"Oh come on now, enough with that." The Dollmaker remained calm and cheery, his creepy angels now singing a tune that made Gagoze feel like he was being patronized. "We all know you're a madman, but you've other targets that you should take care of first." The Dollmaker opened a hole in his arm and took out a small, pink feminine bag… small in comparison to him that is, but otherwise it was as large as Gagoze. "Where did that cold-hearted killer go, hm? Being crazy really doesn't fit you."

"Shut up you stupid doll." Gagoze looked up at the Dollmaker with a bloodshot eye. "Why the fuck did that guy even attack me? Shouldn't Shiori be welcoming me for attacking the Nuras?" He tried to get up, but he was too wounded so instead his head hit the floor with a thump.

"Oh about that… she is kind of Rihan-sama's lover." The Dollmaker made a shocking reveal while he nonchalantly put a rope through a blade (a string through a needle from his perspective). "Maybe I should have mentioned that earlier? That boy is Shiori's ally you see." He then put on a whispering tone. "He's kind of a traitor."

"Huh?" Gagoze looked bewildered. "How can…that makes no sense."

"It makes a lot of sense once you hear the full story." The Dollmaker raised his arm into the air and took out something that looked like a box for holding glasses (from his perspective) and put it down on the floor. "Not that the story is anything good, to be honest. 2 out of 5, would not read again." He said while taking another such box and putting it down beside the first.

Gagoze's remaining eye grew, and became even more filled with insanity. "He is… he… hee… heeeee issss… haha… hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!" And then he started laughing maniacally.

"Hello? Earth to Gagoze!" The Dollmaker called to him while taking a pair of (giant) scissors into his (giant) left hand.

"Yeah, this is not bad… I'll kill him… I'll restore my honor… I'll prooove myseeeelllfff woorthyyyy!"

"Okay, you seem to have kind of lost yourself." He grabbed Gagoze with his right hand and raised him up to the level of his head. "No biggies, I'll just start the treatment."

Gagoze was still shaking from his hysteria, but he looked at Gagoze with fear.

"Here here~" Without any warning, the Dollmaker cut what was left of Gagoze's left arm with the scissors.

"ARRGGHHHHHHH!" Gagoze screamed and tried to stop his blood from spilling, but the Dollmaker hit it away with his thumb and then stopped it with the very same finger.

"You're no good to me if you remain eyeless and armless. So I'm gonna fix you right up! Sorry for the pain, but I think it will make it a good fuel for your future endeavors~" The Dollmaker opened one of the boxes he put down, revealing all kinds of artificial, sinister limbs. "Now let's see here, what toys do I oughtta give you?"

* * *

**Author Notes**

Finally a new chapter is out! I'm annoyed that I wasn't able to release anything on the fic's anniversary, but one can't have everything…

\- Gagoze finally got out of his hiding place, only to regret it soon after. But hey, he is getting an upgrade… though in a messed up way

\- Ryoko-chan sure is keen on defending her "territory"

\- And the Archivist makes his reappearance. He may look like a kind uncle, but he is not too fond of vandals it seems!

\- The story of this chapter was inspired by the Skyrim quest "Blood on the Ice", which was of course inspired by Jack the Ripper. Well, several characters present in the chapter are inspired by that guy, thus the title

\- Ryoko may not be too fond of the clothes that Ryuzan chose for her, but she is still a girl who cares about her looks. Be it her spirit Weapon or her fusions, she has to keep appearances!

\- Ryoko's fusion with Hyouhaku should probably have had a Mahou Shoujo transformation scene, if the Anime is anything to go by


	88. Home

**Chapter 88 - Home**

"Mhm…" Shiori muttered as she woke up. She did not know what time it was, nor did she care to open her eyes to see how much light there was. She continued to rest, at least until her head cleared up.

_I should call someone to bring me something to eat… oh wait, I'm at the Nuras. Ugh…_

Still lying down, she stretched her arms but continued resting. It was comfortable to rest like this, awake but just lazing around. It was weekend, so there was no school. And since she was not at home, there was also no business she needed to attend to as a head of a corporation. _Now if only it weren't so cold… wait, huh?_

She felt a scent of blueberries, and heard someone rub their hands, just before something cold touched Shiori's right arm… the arm where her incriminating tattoo was hidden.

Shiori immediately kicked upwards with her knee, with as much strength as she could muster. "Ouch!" She heard a voice, but before she even opened her eyes she had already thrown herself at the _enemy_ and forced them down.

"What're you doing?" Araya asked, while holding the intruder down.

"Well, I sure didn't expect to be taken down by a human." Nura Ritsura said, though it did not look like she felt anything from the kick that Araya gave her, nor did she resist Araya's hold. "Still, your martial arts leave a lot to be desired."

"Nura Ritsura-chan~" Araya lowered her head down so that their noses almost touched. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Came to wake you up. It's already noon, y'know." She said matter-of-factly. "And then I tried to see what was it is that you are always hiding under your- ITA!" She did not finish because Araya raised her head, only to lower it again for a headbutt. "What was that for?"

"You ruined my happy morning." Araya said and rose up. "And for a moment there I thought it was someone else, and the fact that it was you just pissed me off even more because of that."

"Hoo... I can guess who you hoped it would be." Ritsura turned into sitting position, and spoke while hiding her mouth with the sleeve of her kimono. "A shame it ain't happening, eh?"

"You darn cockblock." Araya said to her and sat in front of the cupboard where she held her clothes.

"Oh my... what a foul choice of words!" Ritsura said from behind. "I expected better of a rich lady like you."

"Just when did I strike you as woman of politeness?" Araya asked as she checked through clothes that she would wear this day. "So? Did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Did you make someone keep an eye out for the evil, thirsty, rich lady?"

"Now now..." Ritsura crawled to Araya's left side. "Why would you ever think that?"

"Because you have the feeling of an angry, envious woman who can't land a proper boyfriend."

"Oh, now we're throwing insults?" She pulled her head away a bit, but still hid her mouth with her sleeve. "It's more likely that a sister protects her little bro's chastity from that evil rich..." She then averted her eyes. "Well, whatever's left of it... anyway, this is turning awkward! Your evil plans are already foiled, so let's talk about something else!"

"You just want to change the topic before we started discussing your failed romance." Araya said with a naughty smirk and raised a yellow long-sleeved shirt, with a broken, white heart in the middle.

"Oh, screw you!" Ritsura pouted and looked at the shirt. "No offense Araya, but that shirt doesn't fit you at all. You always look bad with yellow. And your heart has not yet been broken, dammit!"

"Why did you get so frustrated at the last part?" Araya noted and put down the shirt in order to start looking for something else. "What about this?" She asked after raising a blue button-up blouse with ruffles at the center of the torso. "And with black shorts."

"It isn't making my eyes bleed, so it's fine!" Ritsura said, and then took out some hairpins and needles from who knows where, and held them in crossed hands. "But not with that atrocious pony-tail you wear every day.

"You think I want someone as rough and clumsy as you to shape my hair?" Araya rejected her proposal.

"You want me to be your roommate all the while you're here?" Ritsura made a threat.

"If you make me look like a clown, not even your youkai blood will save you from my wrath." Araya changed her mind and accepted her proposal.

"You bold words are quite tempting, Ara-chan~" Ritsura said and positioned herself behind Araya.

"So, how's business?" Araya asked her. "The clan business, I mean. I hear you guys have been quite busy lately."

"Don't remind me." Ritsura sighed while grooming Araya's hair. "The Shin Sekai, Shiori, the dolls, and now some strange lady who thinks that she's a ghost. It's like giving a full plate to someone who just ate an entire Swedish Table."

"Well, you for one don't need to bother with all of them, seeing as you aren't even an underboss." Araya threw a side-glance at the Yuki-Onna. "Speaking of which, whom would you choose to focus on?"

"Where's that question coming from?"

"Just curious. Later, it might even be fun seeing how wrong you were."

"Haha." Ritsura let out a small, dry laughter. "But fine. Hmm... let's see... Shin Sekai is too far above my league, so I'd let Dad handle them." Ritsura said, and Araya felt frustrated. That meant that Ritsura saw them above Shiori as a threat. "The dolls are mysterious and might be a threat, but I think it might better to leave them for later and focus on the two more imminent threats."

"You mean Shiori and that strange lady?"

"Ou! We shall soon clash with Shiori, no doubt about it. So the more I know about her before that fateful day, the better." Ritsura explained. "While the ghost lady literally challenged me. I can't ignore that, especially since she feels like _big_ trouble."

"And your choice between them is...?" Though Ritsura could not know much about how dangerous either were, Araya still hoped that Ritsura would feed her ego.

"The Ghost Lady stinks of the Hyaku Monogatari, so if I find one I think I'll find the other one as well." Ritsura said. "But if I had to choose who might be more dangerous, it would be the Ghost Lady."

Araya had to give her best to not growl.

"So, what about you?" Ritsura asked her the same question.

"I don't think I classify as a warrioress capable of fighting them." She lied.

"No no, I mean your everyday life After all, you're quite an active one... even though lately you've been very meek about making our club go on crazy adventures. Did your family business finally catch up to you, miss rich lady?"

"Indeed, it has." Araya admitted the truth, though she did not mention on which of the family businesses she meant. "I'll be leaving the club soon." She let it out.

"Huh..." Ritsura's hands stopped moving. "Is... that so?" She said and continued doing her work, albeit at a slower pace.

"You don't sound too surprised."

"As I said, you've been very meek lately, and sadder. It's how someone who's leaving soon acts. But still... it's very annoying. You've become the club's mascot, y'know."

"Then it means that I went too far with my fooling around."

"You make it sound like you've grown out of it... which just annoys me more."

"Yeah... growing out of it might be a good way to say it." Araya looked up. But it was not only the fact that she was leaving, but also that she would become the opposite of a friend to all of them.

"I can feel your sadness without even looking at your face." Ritsura noted. "Why don't you just screw up that family business of yours, leave those pompous rich bastards aside, and just let us take care of you? You would no longer need to worry about those pointless duties, you could enjoy your years as a regular student, and after a few years we can be sisters. The rest of the clan may be annoyed by you, but if Rihan chose you then they too will accept you as their own."

"Thank you for the offer. But as bright as it looks... I'll have to reject it."

"Hmph, you haven't even bothered to give it a thought." Ritsura pouted. "You at least have a good reason for it?"

"You and I are the same in this regard." Shiori crossed her arms. "To me, that idea is as acceptable as the idea of giving up your inheritance in order to lead a more easygoing life is for you."

"That's true, I guess. But I'm happy here. Are you, there?"

"You sure are inquisitive today…"

"A friend threatens to leave my circle of friends. Of course I am."

"In any case, I'm also quite pleased. Why'd you even ask that as if we are different?"

"I never saw you come to our club and excitedly talk about your other life. You brought us to many places, but never to your home or anyplace belonging to you. You were always filled with energy, but only about _our_ hobbies. So yeah, I have to wonder if you're truly going to have fun there."

"And try to dissuade me."

"Of course! You're a dear friend of mine." Ritsura then hugged her from behind. "And my sister, if things with you and Rihan keep going on."

"True that. But to answer your question… you're forgetting one very important thing, Ritsu-chan.

"And that is?""

"I'm a woman who can't follow a life not filled with pleasure and fun. So if I did not like where my life was going, I would just stop walking it… even if it cost me everything."

"Hmmm…" Ritsura pulled herself away. "Well, that's such a shame. And there I thought we might always get along." She finished the conversation, and returned to grooming her old friend's hair. They did not talk anymore on this matter.

* * *

Rihan moved his head as he walked downstairs, stretching out his neck muscles. He ended up oversleeping, and got woken up only by the sounds of crashes caused by Nattou Kozou and his gang. His body did not feel best after oversleeping, so he was now going to the basement, where Nura Clan's dojo was located.

The dojo used to be a place of peace, contemplation, and practice... until it got some new members which did not get along that well. Fortunately, not both of them were down there everyday.

But this was not one of those days. "Nooooo!" A girl's scream resounded, revealing to Rihan that those two were at it again. "I don't wanna! Why can't you let me rest in peace? It is weekend, you know!" Heiko screamed as she ran from Gozumaru, who weaved a wooden sword around.

"You still haven't burnt all your calories!" Gozumaru managed to corner Heiko. "Are you even aware of how many kilos of sugar you ate at that cake shop?"

"Who cares?" Heiko crouched to avoid the swing of the wooden sword, and then went to ran past Gozumaru. The boy put his leg in her way, so she almost fell down, but somehow managed to keep her balance. "I fight with shadows, not with swords! Even if I actually get fat, it wouldn't matter!"

"It does matter! You need your mind to fight, and a healthy mind resides only in a healthy body."

"Now you're sounding like Gyuki-sama!"

"Oh... do I?" Gozumaru got a little flustered at that comment and slowed down with his running.

"That wasn't a compliment! Such behavior is fine for old dudes, but it makes you sound lame!" Heiko said, as if she wanted to make him run after her again.

"What did you say?!" Gozumaru went from flustered to infuriated. "In any case, you need to be ready for everything, even for face-to-face fighting!" Gozumaru explained as he attacked her with his claws, turning the wooden floor in pieces as per the good old Nura clan tradition. "You dishonor your master with your childish behavior!"

"Why're you using your claws?! This is not even fencing anymore!"

"You need to use all of your Fear! Now face me and fight, woman!"

"Nooo!" She screamed while running in Rihan's direction. "Someone help me!"

_Hmm... I guess it's time for me to save the day._ Rihan thought to himself with a smile, while his hair turned long and gourded.

Then Heiko opened her eyes and saw him. And in next moment, she turned around on her heel, made a sword out of shadows, and faced Gozumaru. "Okay, let's fight..." She said in a whiny tone.

"Wait... what?" Rihan blinked a few times. _Why did she change her mind after seeing me?_

Gozumaru was as confused. "Well... it's good you finally have motivation, but why the sudden change of heart?"

"Well... He'll help me while hitting on me." She said and then got more aggressive. "Now fight!"

"Well, you can't please them all, little brother." His sister suddenly entered and tapped his shoulder. "Now let's spar, I'm a bit out of shape." Ritsura said while walking forward and stretching out her arms. "Your girlfriend will be here soon, after she is done bathing, so mind your behavior."

"I prefer not to mind my behavior when she _is_ around."

"Ah right, the jealousy play!" Ritsura said as she turned around and pointed her finger. "So, how is it working for you?" She asked while creating a sword of ice in her right hand.

"She's a tough nut to crack." He said and took a wooden sword that was lying on the floor, probably thrown down by Heiko when she started playing tag with Gozumaru. "But one day..."

"Be careful that she doesn't turn the game against you." She prepare her stance for a fight. "Extra points if she falls for that other one."

"Hmph... you're right, it might be something she could pull on me." He said, and struck towards his sister from above. "But if she can keep a straight face, then so can I!"

"I don't think you're made of as tough stuff." Ritsura deflected his blow. "You'd probably just go to a corner and plan revenge while wondering if you screwed up." She turned her body around and went for a thrust. "Take your sister's advice, and stop with this foolish game."

He easily avoided her pointlessly fancy attack. "A man never gives up." He said in a deeper tone. "Ouch!" And then he yelled when a block of ice fell on his feet. Ritsura's fancy attack proved to be just a diversion.

"Ah yes, all men like to preserve their pride." Ritsura said while her fencing sword made of ice was under Rihan's neck, proving her victory. "Well, you can always say you won't follow your big sister's advice and then go follow it anyway." She offered her solution and lowered her sword.

Rihan did not even have time to contemplate a proper answer when Gozumaru flew above them. "Waaah!"

"Oh, now you don't feel as great and holy, do you?!" Heiko replied while running at him, with what looked like a bunch of shadow-made claws pointing out of her back, clearly imitating Gozumaru's.

"Time out! Time out!"

"Accept the full force of my revenge!" She said while attacking him with her claws, which moved several times faster than Gozumaru's usually did.

"Looks like another week passes without the dojo surviving." Rihan noted. The youkai of the Nura Clan always wrecked it up.

"Okay, I'm so proud of her growth." Ritsura cleaned a tear from her face. "She's growing so well."

"Well... since the dojo will have to be cleaned anyway, what do you say we kick it up a notch?" Rihan said and looked at his sister with a smile.

"Hm?" Ritsura muttered and looked up at him. "Sounds interesting, but what do you mean?"

"I hear you've leveled up while fighting Ryoko." Rihan said while randomly releasing some of his Fear as a gesture of challenge. "So let's stop with pointless fencing and release all of our Fear."

"Hooo... And I was wondering how strong my little brother has grown since he fought the infamous Bonnouma." Ritsura smiled haughtily, also releasing some of her Fear as a gesture of a challenge being accepted. "So okay... let's wreak havoc on this dojo." She crossed her arms.

Both Heiko and Gozumaru stopped fighting as they felt the Fears of the siblings fill the dojo. And both gulped while moving aside.

* * *

"That was a good bath." Shiori said the cliche saying once she left the bathroom. "Well, all things considered." It would have been more pleasant if she did not need to keep her hair dry, lest she ruined the hairdressing that Ritsura did for her. Cleaning without wetting her hair and bathing with her hair outside the bath was quite annoying.

_But I mustn't complain, at least not in front of that Yuki-Onna. I swear, she made my hair before bathing just to mess with me._

"Ah, Ichinoe-san." Another Yuki-Onna's voice said from behind Shiori. "Isn't it a little late for bathing?"

"I slept a bit longer than usual." Shiori said as she took a pause from walking to meet the Yuki-Onna, Tsurara. "Good thing there was still hot water. But if I wasted too much electricity with showering, I'll-"

"Don't worry about it, we can take care of some small bills." Tsurara said with a raised palm, and the two then continued walking one aside the other. "You're a young woman, so you should just take care of your looks and body without worry."

"That comes from someone who could pass as a senior student at our school." Shiori said while the two of them entered a living room, and went to sit in front of a table.

"Hey, I was planning this line for a while." Tsurara puffed her cheeks. "Just let me have the pleasure of being able to sound like a good and wise mom, please."

"Sorry, sorry..." Shiori apologized with a smile. "But still, that's a compliment. "A lot of women would kill to still look so young."

"Oh no, I was just joking." She smiled again. "I am thankful for the compliment."

"Oh good... because I fear that I've trouble getting my words across without sounding... irritating I guess?" As usual, for some reason Shiori tried to leave a good impression on Rihan's mother and grandmother. "Others always complain about it."

"Well, you can sound a bit haughty from time to time." Tsurara said with a sweat drop. "The others just aren't used to it, I guess." She then looked aside. "And you do try to lecture about youkai to those who are youkai."

"Are you sure 'others' is the correct word?" Shiori asked.

"Ahhh... I just can see their point a little. You do sometimes forget that a human lecturing a youkai about youkai is a bit awkward."

_It's my job to be an expert in these matters actually. But I can't say that without revealing what I am._

"But don't take it the wrong way..." Tsurara got flustered a bit. "They too should try to get along with you more, just like you should with them! Especially since... well..."

"Since I am dating Riha-chan, right _Mother_?"

"You sure do enjoy being haughty." Tsurara sighed. "But then again, Rihan seems to like that about you, so I guess it's fine." She said with a more earnest smile. "Anyway, how do you feel about this place?"

"Hm? Where's that question coming from?"

"Come on, it's a simple question."

"Oh, okay… it's a warm and cheery place, which is a strange thing to say for a place that's supposed to be filled with creatures made of Fear." Due to how Tsurara looked at her, with those warm eyes of small anticipation, Shiori decided not to play jokes. "It's a home, that welcomes many, be they humans or youkai, strong or weak. It's a serene place where all those opposites."

"I see, and I'm glad to hear it. Rikuo-sama would be proud to hear someone say that about his home." Tsurara smiled, but then the smile wavered. "But… it feels like you're saying how others feel about it. But I want to know _your_ opinion, Ichinoe-san."

Shiori looked at her with surprise.

"It's you eyes, Ichinoe-san." Tsurara said while pointing at her own. "It's as if they're looking at something far away."

Shiori frowned. _First Wakana-san, and now her. Why are older women so perceptive?_ "That said, it's not a place for everyone, and it doesn't welcome everyone either. For some of us, this cheeriness and honor make this place feel suffocating." This time, Shiori spoke while looking at Tsurara. "I'm sorry. I like this place and I like being here from time to time, but I don't think I'd ever be able to actually call this place home."

Tsurara looked at her eyes for a while. "I'm starting to wonder if your haughtiness is there to hide that dark look in your eyes." Tsurara commented, after which Shiori slowly turned her eyes away. "Just what is your story, Ichinoe-san?"

She did not reply. She could not reply, no matter what.

"I won't pry." Tsurara said and stopped looking at her. "Rihan has a similar look in his eyes, from time to time. I'm afraid he sees this place just like you do." Tsurara looked down. "You know, I asked all this because part of me hoped you could keep him here but… I guess I can see why you two get along."

"I am sorry." Shiori instinctively apologized, though it was only partially honest. "I may have just-"

"Ichinoe-san, this is the one situation where you should be haughty and just stay silent." Tsurara frowned.

"No, I-"

"I don't know if you are lying to me or to yourself, but we both know that deep down, you'd do everything to have him see your way and take him away from us." Tsurara put on a sad smile. "Nothing wrong with that, that's just how love is."

"...hai." She said while looking down. She had no better reply to give to the older woman.

Their melancholic conversation was over when both of them looked at the youkai running in the hall. "What is going on there?"

"I'll find out now." Tsurara said and walked to the doors. "What's this commotion about?" She asked a small oni.

"Don't you feel the Fear growing from the Basement?" The oni said. "Ojou-sama and Waka are going to have a fight!"

"Hm? But they are often practicing down there."

"Oh, I mean a _real_ fight! All their Fears out and without holding back!"

"They are what?!" Tsurara seemed shocked.

"Oh, I have to see this!" Shiori's mood improved and she immediately rose up. She did not want to miss even a second of it.

* * *

_These guys… quick to excite, as ever._ Rikuo sighed as he looked around the dojo. The place was filled with youkai, all of them having come to see why Rikuo's son and daughter were releasing so much Fear. And when they saw that they were about to have a fight, they had prepared to cheer and bet.

_Not that I'm one to talk, seeing as I've also come here._ Rikuo too came, and he had no intent to stop them. It would be interesting to see how the kids have grown. And though he saw his two daughters give it their all, he did not see how much his son has grown. The boy was much harder to follow around than his sister.

But the fight had yet to start. Karasu Tengu took over the center of the dojo and started making out rules, more than half of which really did not need to be said. Rihan has his arms crossed and tapped on the floor with his foot in annoyance. While Ritsura walked around with her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed as well.

Though they were not the only ones annoyed.

_"Shut up, Karasu Tengu!"_ Some youkai yelled. _"Let the young masters duke it out already!"_

But Karasu Tengu ignored them. "And you won't make your blunt blades sharp either." He spoke. "That, too, will be against the rules."

_"Oh come on, Karasu!"_ The youkai continued to yell and twitch. _"That is common sense!_ "

_"What's a little blood? The smell of blood will just spice it up!"_ Some said, but others were of different opinion. _"Especially Ojou-sama's blood."_ Rikuo swore to later find that youkai and givehim a piece of his mind.

"And there will be no leaving the dojo." Karasu Tengu continued. "The fight has to happen right here, and nowhere else. If any of you two somehow gets thrown out, then-" He did not finish because his own wife, Nuregarasu, came and squashed him whole without mercy. Without saying a word, she then grabbed his remains and carried him away.

_"...yeeeeah!"_ Some were happy for it to be over. _"Rest in pieces, Karasu-Tengu."_ Others were paying their respect... kind of.

_"I can't believe you keep me alone at home for things like these."_ Rikuo heard Nuregarasu whisper while she passed him by.

"Hm, I guess I'll have to continue..." Gyuki said, much to everyone's horror, which prompted the Third Head to take action.

"Alright, the rules have been declared!" Rikuo shouted and raised his hand before Gyuki could take a step forward. "When I count to ten, you can start!"

"Thank you, Dad!" Both of them said.

_"Thank you, Third!"_ The other youkai said at the same time, for most of them saw Gyuki try to take a step forward.

"Ten!" Rikuo started counting. "Nine!" Both of the siblings turned towards one another. "Eight! Seven!" The brother and sister smiled, took positions and with their swords ready. Since fencing swords would have broken quickly in a fight between youkai, they used steel ones. But they were blunt, so the chance of someone getting cut was lower… though the same could not be said about some of other risks, like fractures. But if something serious happened, Rikuo would jump in and stop the fight. "Six!"

"Be careful to not get hurt, kids!" Tsurara yelled, killing a bit of tension.

"Five!"

"Mom!" Both Rihan and Ritsura complained.

"Four!" Rikuo continued, and the two retook their positions. "Three!" Their shoulders raised, and feet moved. "Two! One! Start!"

Rikuo lowered his arm, and the two ran at one another.

The siblings reached one another in what a human's eye would register as a mere moment, their swords clashing. They continued pushing against one another, with Rihan clearly having a bit of an edge in raw strength. But Ritsura had better technique and posture, which she showed by repositioning her body so that she made full use of what strength she had. After a few moments, she forced a stalemate.

But since this was a fight where they were supposed to use their Fears, the stalemate would not last for too long. A whirling blizzard appeared around them, and the floor froze. Both would throw anyone out of balance, but Rihan seemed unaffected as his eyes did not react to snowflakes, and he stood on the slippery ice as if it were dry earth.

"Really sis?" He grinned. "I may not look like it, but I still have mother's blood in me."

"Oh, little brother, that is just build-up. It wasn't supposed to attack you." She released her left hand from the sword and lowered it while pointing the palm at Rihan. Since her posture was broken, Rihan broke her defense. Still though, it was not to his benefit. "This is the attack." The snowflakes collected themselves in her hand, and a long blunt spear sprang out of it and struck Rihan into the guts, throwing him away from her.

Rihan clearly felt the hit, but he quickly returned his eyes at Ritsura, who had already thrown several frozen projectiles at him, one after another. For a short while, Rihan just looked at them flying at him, and then broke them all with one arched swing. It was one impressively well timed strike.

But the audience could see that it was not the only attack Ritsura made, for a larger ice cylinder appeared above Rihan and shot down right towards the back of his head. Several youkai took in their breaths as they wondered if the fight would end like this. Rihan himself stayed at ease as he went to put his sword over his shoulders… or so it looked, as he actually used that hand to catch the cylinder with the tips of his fingers, which he then let fall onto the ground.

Ritsura herself just continued standing where she was, her eyes closed and her hair flickering, though in the opposite direction than the blizzard. Rikuo smiled as he, unlike most of others around them, knew what she was preparing for. Yet the light blizzard continued whirling around.

It was then that she, her eyes still closed, suddenly swung her sword forward. It was then that Rihan appeared in black smoke, and disappeared once more. In meantime, Ritsura's hair had turned into a fluttering ponytail.

She did not block Rihan's next attack, but instead disappeared while leaving the mirage of herself behind. Several youkai whooped, as this was a technique which, until recently, she was unable to use in her youkai form strongly enough for Rihan to be fooled.

She reappeared behind Rihan, and went for an attack. Rihan turned around, but too late for her swing struck onto Rihan's hand and threw away his sword. Rihan tried to walk away, but the blizzard blew strongly enough to make him hesitate for a moment… a moment that his sister went to use in such a way that she would put her blunt sword under his neck, gaining her victory.

But Rihan used his left wrist to stop it from moving. They continued parrying like this for a while, until Rihan pushed her arm away and then jumped away himself. He then grabbed one of the larger ice spikes from the ground, struck its end on the ground to make it blunt, and position himself as if the icicle was now his sword. "So you truly have managed to even out your two Fears, sis." Rihan said with a faltering smile.

"Yeah. I have Onee-sama to thank for that." Ritsura swung her sword through the air, and the blizzard around started to whirl more intensely. "But you still seem to have miles to go."

"That's true." Rihan said, with his smile more fixed. "But I've grown in different ways."

"I look forward to seeing that." She pointed her sword forward, and the blizzard started whirling around it.

"Ice again? You know it doesn't work against me, sis."

"Cuts do." Her brows lowered. " _Rest to my bloody wrath, oh unwanted guest. Color be given, to my ice and snow._ " The snowflakes that whirled around her sword froze and turned into tinyx but sharp ice shards. " _Whirl of Frozen Blades._ " AS she finished her chant, the whirl left her sword and flew towards Rihan.

Tsurara shook at this. "Rikuo-sama, this looks kinda dangerous."

"Don't worry, our son can handle it." Rikuo said with certainty. He could even feel that Ritsura was not giving it her all, and that the shards were probably not as enduring as they could be. And Rihan still had strong regenerative abilities.

Rihan made an unorthodox choice in the way that he ran at the storm of blades. When he got close enough, he swung with the icicle at it and broke it apart. Several shards struck into him and he bled on a few places, but none went in deep.

He continued running while the broken whirl reshaped itself and turned once against towards him.

Rihan ran past his sister, though at three meters of distance from her, and grabbed his deflected sword from the ground. When the whirl of ice shards reached him, he jumped at a boulder left behind by dojo's former users and used the momentum to throw himself into the air. He would then throw the icicle at his sister, who disappeared before it reached her, and then struck the ceiling with his foot and landed back on the ground.

He then leisurely raised himself up, not trying to avoid the incoming storm of shards, not preparing to strike at it. Several confused voices wondered what he was doing, but the shards stopped moving before getting two meters close to him and fell onto the ground.

"What happened?" One of the nearby youkai asked.

"It may have been hard to see, but the shards turned around slower as time passed. Rihan, who was in the middle of the match, must have noticed it immediately and guessed when they would stop being a threat." Rikuo explained with a smile. "He's sure grown up a lot." Rikuo remembered when he had trouble concentrating, but ever since his return from Nejireme Rihan proved to be quite capable at this sort of thing.

Rihan was still standing in place, but looked around. Yet, he did not turn his head only to left and right, but also upwards. After all, her Fear could be felt from everywhere inside the blizzard.

"Mom taught her this one." Tsurara said with pride. "Though I don't think it'll be that useful against Rihan. He's also my child, after all." She also said with a proud nod.

"It doesn't really matter." Rikuo said with a pleased smirk. "They are just showing off their abilities to one another." Rikuo did not doubt that the two of them enjoyed this moment of freedom. Not having to conserve their Fears or hide their abilities from unwanted eyes.

" _Welcome, dear Guest, to my home._ " Ritsura's voice echoed through the dojo. " _Rest aside, at my frozen hearth._ " In several places, the blizzard was especially thick, and it's snowflakes turned into ice and growed. " _Prison of Ice!_ " She finished the chant with the technique's very name.

Several whirlwinds of blizzard flew towards Rihan but, just as Tsurara said, his Yuki-Otoko blood protected him. He only had to take a breath, concentrate, and a Fear similar to Ritsura's protected him from damage. Still though, he started moving and tried to avoid the attacks. As Rikuo said, they were showing off their abilities, so Rihan made it his goal to avoid as many attacks as possible, even if it may have been unnecessary,

"' _Rest aside, at my frozen hearth._ '" Rihan repeated the words said by his sister. "I like the cold yet warm welcome sis."

"Thank you." Ritsura said as she appeared beside Rihan and attacked.

"You're welcome." Rihan said as he deflected the blow, and his sister disappeared once more.

She would then re-appear at a larger distance, and shoot icicles at him. Rihan destroyed them, but was almost struck by a falling ice cylinder.

"Why don't you just cut the Fear already?" Ritsura asked as she disappeared once more.

"Because I've something better… something which works wonders against Fears that shape their own little worlds." Rihan said and put both of his hands on his sword. "I call it…" Blackish smoke started pouring out of him. " _Meikyo Shisui - Kuro Hansha (Blackened Reflection)._ " The smoke suddenly spread out, and engulfed the entire blizzard. " _All reflections turn to pitch black in my sakazuki._ "

"Eh?!" Ritsura suddenly fell onto the ground. She quickly regained her footing, but had to witness her own Fear turn against her. More precisely, the blizzards and icicles now struck towards her.

She cut at the Fear with her own sword, but it had no effect. She suffered a few cuts, and jumped away from another attack.

"Enforcing dominance over another one's Fear." Rikuo smiled proudly. "Not bad at all."

"See? Isn't this better?" Rihan asked as he struck from her blind angle. He tried hitting her head, but she raised her left arm to protect herself, though it left a bruise. She then moved away from him, but almost got hit by a flying cube of ice. "It allows me to turn the Fear against its own user, just like how it looks like everything reflected by sakazuki belongs in my hands." He took a step towards Ritsura, but had to take two back in order to avoid a larger icicle. "Though I admit, I haven't yet figured out how to take full control over it."

"Oh? Thank you for that piece of info, little brother." Ritsura said, as her worried expression got replaced by a smug smirk.

"...you have something up your sleeve, don't you?"

"We think alike, you know. I too had fun with reflections." She put her left hand in front of her face, three fingers stretched forward. " _Meikyou Shisui - Kōtta Hansha (Frozen reflection)._ " The flow of time then stopped around her… or so it seemed. Be it snowflakes or rubble of ice, everything stopped moving. Rihan took a look around, then suddenly something hit into his left shoulder. An ice cube was there, and it ricocheted of him only to be frozen in space as well. " _All reflections freeze together with my sakazuki._ " Ritsura spoke, though her body did not move at all.

"What happened?" Tsurara wondered. "She couldn't actually stop time, could she?"

"No." Rikuo realized what was going on. "She just made an illusion of it."

"Hm?" Tsurara looked up at him.

"Basically, she hides all the objects around with her Fear, but leaves behind mirages of them." Rikuo smirked. "And it makes the Prison of Ice even deadlier as you don't know where the attacks will come from."

"Yeah, that's truly so." Tsurara said as she turned her eyes back towards the siblings. "But clearly she's yet to master it… and she's too tired for something as strong as this." She explained as she looked at the scene, where the illusion broke in several places for a while.

"Okay, I should've just cut it." Rihan commented after something hit into his back. "Should've known better than to try it on my nee-san."

"You sure should have!" Ritsura kicked him into his back. She then disappeared before Rihan turned around, thus making sure that he would not see that she was panting heavily.

"I can hear your breathing, sister. You won't last for much longer." Though Rihan's breathing and sweating was no better. "Then let me demonstrate another technique, and put an end to our prison." He struck his sword into the ground, and put both hands onto it. "Nee-san, I'd say you better put all your Fear into defense. And to everyone else I suggest you get as far as possible." He spoke while the ice from the maddened blizzard struck at him, but he ignored them all. "This is a technique I don't like using against anyone but my worst enemies, so while I'll put as little Fear into it as possible… it might still be a good idea to play safe."

The youkai looked at one another, but Ritsura seemed to have taken the advice to her heart as she appeared in everyone's sight and took an unflinching stance, ignoring the attacks around just like her brother did.

" _Meikyou shisui - Doku (Poison)._ " Rihan said and a malicious Fear spread all around him. Even those hesitant to his earlier warning now heeded it, while the weaker youkai ran out of the dojo. " _My sakazuki is mixed with a terrible poison._ "

Rikuo was not sure what the technique was supposed to do, but he could feel that it was something that was supposed to be used on living beings, not on Fear. And he could feel that it was something horrifying.

"This Fear feels a bit… out of place here, doesn't it?" Tsurara commented with a sad expression on her face.

"Hm?" Rikuo looked at her with a confused expression.

"Nothing… a talk from a while ago made me think some things." She ended the topic there, though her sad expression did not leave.

Rikuo wanted to ask more, but from the corner of his eye he saw Rihan raise his sword and thus he returned his attention towards his son.

Rihan raised the sword, then flung it at the ground again. A massive amount of Fear rose up, and devoured the area around, crushing the Ice Prison and the two reflections cast on it. The blizzard died down, yet the way the snowflakes and ice shards chaotically moved made it look like it died in agony.

A moment later, it was all gone. All that remained was a destroyed dojo, free of ice and snow. And the two youths, moving their bodies up and down as they breathed heavily.

"You're more exhausted than me, sis. I win." Rihan said, but then almost fell onto the ground.

"You're barely standing though. You lose." Ritsura then moved her head, as if she almost fell asleep.

"Should we call it a draw?" Rihan suggested.

"Yeah… let's do so." She said and both of them looked toward their father.

Rikuo nodded. "The combatants have spoken. The fight is over in a draw."

A moment of silence ensued, during which the siblings relaxed. Ritsura leaned against her sword, whereas Rihan just let himself sit down on the ground.

Then the silence was over when the youkai cheered up, and ran at them. Nobody seemed to care that the fight had no actual winner.

_"That was amazing, Oujou-sama! I never knew our great heiress could stop time!"_

_"And I never knew that Rihan-sama could steal someone else's Fear… or do that super attack at the end!"_

_"Our heirs are strong! Our clan's future is bright!"_

_"Fufufu… Ritsu-chan is good, but my boyfriend is better~"_

_"Yeah, I'm starting to change my opinion on who should inherit the clan!"_

_"Oh no, he's still not-"_

_"You just had to make them fight around it, didn't you Araya?"_

_"Hohoho!"_

"What do you think, Rikuo-sama?" His wife asked him. "About how strong our kids are?" She asked while her proud smile revealed her own opinions.

"They are growing well." Rikuo said while looking at them. "Each in their own way, developed their own techniques by building on what we taught them."

"That's saying it lightly. These are all fearsome techniques." Tsurara raised her chin with a smug. "I, for one, am very proud of my babies."

Rikuo smiled to that, as he agreed wholeheartedly.

"You have to hand it to Ritsu-chan. Her Frozen Reflection "

Yet, their doting conversation was ended abruptly when Karasu Tengu, who was in bandages due to his wife's earlier treatment, flew down between them. "Rikuo-sama." He spoke with a very serious expression. "We have guests."

"What guests?"

"Our vassals from Chubu have arrived." He frowned. "They didn't give me a full story, but… it seems that the Hyaku Monogatari have gone on a murderous rampage amongst our clansmen there." Silence spread around them, replacing the cheers and excitement that filled the hidden dojo just a few moments ago. "A dozen of of high-ranked members are dead, and one of the clans has been obliterated to the last warrior."

Everyone looked around worried. Their newly appointed Chubu vassals have some of the best warriors from the Clan that were not part of the Main Household and they were always on guard as none knew when the independent Chubu clans might attack, so this said much about their enemy's capabilities. Even Rihan, who was never too interested in the clan affairs, seemed tense. Though for a moment, Rikuo could swear that Ichinoe Araya, who stood beside his son, made a smile for a moment. _The child probably finds youkai wars fascinating._

He turned his eyes back towards Karasu Tengu. "Call all the Executives, and our guests. We'll be having a meeting."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

And here it is, another chapter. The wait was a bit shorter, though it's also a shorter chapter. Didn't have a chapter under 10k words since chapter 77 actually. Originally, it was supposed to be longer, but I felt like the Ritsura Vs. Rihan fight should lead to chapter end, so it's actually just another case of one large chapter being split into smaller ones.

Anyway, the title of this chapter is "Home". While most of it is spent on Shiori, what her home might be, and what effect she has on Rihan's vision of home, the fight between siblings is also a part of it. It's two siblings having fun together, and their large family sharing in the fun.

Though the end of the chapter shows that this home is getting even more fragile…


	89. Horrors in Chubu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What started as just another day in the life of the Nura Clan's main household, ended on a more tense note as the clan's subjects from Chubu region came with the news that the Nura Clan's territories there have been attacked

**Warning:** This is one of those chapters that deserves an M rating due to some of the bloodier scenes. So read with that in mind!

* * *

**Chapter 89 - Horrors of Chubu**

_He dreamed of forests and mountains, untainted by human progress. In his dreams, he saw birds flocking in the skies, and wolves still hunting the prey in these forests that still belonged to them._

_He himself just lay beside a small stream, smiling as he gazed upon the skies with a piece of grass in his mouth. He was an ape, but a highly intelligent one, and he could hear the nature like few ever could._

_He would then close his eyes, and listen to the stream's soothing sounds. It was a bit loud, but nevertheless it did not feel distracting. It was always supposed to be like this._

_He could also hear a little girl's song, probably the work of one of his daughters or nieces. After all, he was not alone in this dream. He was Satori, and so was most of his clan. And they all shared this dream. He did not see them right now, but they were around here somewhere._

_Sometimes they even talked, but they long since got bored by it. They could talk later, after waking up, for why waste this pleasant atmosphere on something like talk anyway?_

_Though he guessed that some of the girls forgot about the value of that. Whose voices were they, anyway?_

_He did not send a thought to anyone, as there was no reason to disturb them. He, the leader of the Satori Clan, would get his answer by just listening to the surrounding, to the world created by all of their unified thoughts..._

_...thoughts that were slowly disappearing, while the song, as he just realized, was actually an u_ _**g** _ _ly a_ _**nd** _ _d_ _**i** _ _s_ _**tu** _ _rb_ _**in** _ _g_ _**on** _ _e._

Satori immediately opened his eyes and returned to the cold reality, only for his eyes to meet two eyeless little girls with blood dripping out of their mouths, their red and yellow clothes torn, and with kitchen knives flying down at him.

Satori did not think too much about it. Before the knives reached him, he grabbed them both by their necks, pushed his body forward, and used the momentum to slam them into ground with such force that there was a shower of blood.

" _Oh little sleeper, little sleeper… where are 'thou?"_

A chill went down his spine as he heard voices of young girls singing in perfect union.

" _Here's minnie minnie mie~"_

These two were clearly not the only ones. He quickly turned his head around, and looked at his wife.

" _Onii-san, Onee-chan… why do you look so sad?"_

He had to bite his lip, for his wife was lying motionless in her now-red mattress. She was stabbed in several places, and someone carved a vicious smile on her lips with a dagger.

" _I know I know, I'll put a smile on your lips, a pretty big red smiiile~"_

There was no time for mourning, for these little monsters had infested the mansion.

" _Then you can return to sleep, forever and ever~"_

"IYAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" He screeched it all from out of his lungs, and even put all of his mental powers to it. ""IYYYAAAAAAAHHHH! He screeched again. Everyone (still alive) had to wake before the little demons killed them in their sleep.

Just as he had hoped and expected, everyone woke up. He could not see them, but he could hear their voices making sounds. Still, he could not hear their precise words, what with distance and walls, what with many of them being too shocked and horrified to make proper sentences, and what with so many screams and yells coming out at once.

But their thoughts were as clear as water, even those that were speechless. Shock, horror, despair, denial, tears… all those came out as more and more of the youkai saw the corpses of their family and comrades.

" _HA HA! HA HA! HA HA HA HA! HAHAHAHAHA!"_ Only those creepy girls were in a good mood, laughing in singing voices in unison, making melodies of their own cruel laughters. _"AHAHAHAHAHA! HA HA HA! HAHAHA!"_

"Grrrrr…" Satori growled as he felt another life diminish. He read his thoughts, and knew that his poor advisor could not even fight back as he held his brother in his arms. "Not anymore, you little shits." Satori's right arm moved very slowly as he took down a katana from the wall. "You aren't killing anyone else."

He slowly unsheathed the sword, put one leg far behind, and sprinted. Satori broke through the wooden walls, and slashed his sword at the closest girl, just before she was able to slit the throat of his old friend.

He did not stop, but rushed through the next malignant Fear that stood way too close to a familiar one for Satori's own liking. Next were two girls, one whom he slashed with an uppercut, and the other whose head he grabbed and squeezed until it exploded in a bloody mess.

He grabbed what was left of the body and propelled it with all his force to his right, right through the walls. It did not kill anyone, but it slowed four of the girls enough for Satori to jump in and save his son, Sarutobi, who was protecting someone else. This time, the girls evaded his attacks, and one of them even caught his arm. He threw her to the other end of the room, but did not manage to kill her. Two of others used the opportunity to jump at his arms, and stab their daggers into them. The fourth then smirked viciously and jumped towards him, her dagger aimed at his face.

"Grraaagh!" He roared, opened his mouth to unnatural proportions, and then bit off the upper half of her body, which he promptly spat out.

Shocked, the other two girls let go and tried to run away, but Satori's son caught one by the neck, and Satori was more than happy to stomp her like an insect.

He looked at his son. No words, verbal or mental, were necessary. One nod was all it took to confirm that they were doing well enough given the situation.

Still filled with bloodlust, Satori screeched into the air one more time. "HYYYAAAAAAGHHHH!" His Fear-filled screech was his declaration of war. Certainly by now the invaders should understand that they were not to be messed with.

" _The scary Onii-chan, growl he does~ But the little girls, many friends have! Many friends have!"_

Another song came as a reply. This was as a cold shower to Satori, for he could feel what they meant with those words: several other Fears were moving towards his home. This was not an attack by some small youkai group who thought too highly of themselves, but an attack from another youkai clan.

Satori took another deep breath, and then screamed words both verbally and mentally. "RETREEAAAAAT!"

True warriors would stay behind and fight to the last men, but the Satori were not true warriors. They were wise ones, the kind that knew when it was time to fight and when it was time to get away. Satori could fight by himself, but the others were still in shock, lacked his strength, and had no plans. What was more, most of his vassals were too far away to come in time to save the entire household. They had to regroup, meet with their allies, and come up with a plan.

Fight was not an option, not while they did not even know who was attacking them and how many enemies there were.

Satori turned around, but decided to shout some more before he started retreating himself. "Go through the eastern corridor, and through the forests! As quickly as possible! Even if it means you have to demolish this entire house!" And then he sprints, following his own orders.

To his surprise, the girls did not try to stop them. Instead, they just stood or sat around and waved at them, too often above their victims' bloody corpses.

Though those gestures were not the only form on mocking they gave Satori and his clan. Everywhere in the building, roses hung from the ceiling and some were put amongst flowers that were in the house before. Satori did not like the fact that these little girls ran around the house decorating it before starting with their murder spree, both due to how disturbing the thought felt and because it showed that they did not fear them enough.

"Dad, we could still kill them!" His son said to him, while he and his frog-like friend followed after him.

"We could, they are weak. But by the time we are done, those hundred youkai would have us all surrounded." He could not count fully, but that was approximately how many different thoughts were around them. More of their allies joined them in the run. They could already see the outside, as well as its nightly skies.

"Still-"

He would not finish his words, for a cleaver broke through a wall. And impaled the frog-like youkai through his stomach.

His son turned around, and Satori could feel the shock and rage bloom in him. Satori did not say anything, but just promptly kicked his son into the guts and thus threw him out of the house. "Don't even think about wasting even a minute!" He shouted, and threw a look back just before continuing. Through the hole he could see that this time it was not one of those girls, but some woman dressed in pink clothes of a nurse, with her face fully bandaged except her bloodthirsty golden eyes and her mouth through which a long, sharp tongue hung.

_I thought so when I saw those modernly dressed girls, but these youkai are definitely not natural spirits! They are the accursed urban legends! How dare they?_

But there was no time for raging. He continued running even outside, and pushed his son forward. Fortunately, the youth continued on, even though he was tearing up from frustration.

But though Sarutobi passed his trial, Satori still had to pass his own.

"Brother!" He heard a familiar voice coming from the mansion, which prompted him to turn around without a second thought.

He saw his brother in front of the mansion, wounded, bleeding, and unable to stand. He was being held up in a sitting position by two of the girls, with a slightly older one, dressed in serene purple kimono with yellow flowers, standing beside him with a kitchen knife under his throat and an emotionless expression on her face.

"No, impossible…" They waited for him to come, but Satori did not do as they obliged. Seeing as it did not work, the girl slit his brother's throat. Satori bit his lip, turned around, and resumed with the retreat. Yet the image stayed engraved into his mind.

* * *

"So you retreated without a fight." Hitotsume Nyudo frowned once Satori was done telling his story to the Nura Clan's board of Executives. "And you are supposed to be conquering Chubu in our Clan's name."

"There were merely one hundred and sixty-nine youkai in our household, seventy-five of whom perished. Of what remained, only thirty-four were fighters, the rest were not." Satori replied without hesitation. "We now know that there were, not counting the countless girls, at least one hundred and a half enemies pursuing us. And I doubt that they brought any youkai unable to handle their own in a fight."

"Hm, retreat was the wisest option." Daruma took Satori's side. "Such numbers are nothing to joke about, no matter the enemy's strength."

"Which just brings another question." Omukade, the giant red centipede youkai, noted. "How were they able to bring such numbers to your doorsteps without anyone noticing it?"

Satori did not like the judging look in Omukade's eyes. "How did so many leave Tokyo without our Edo affiliates noticing it?"

"This is no time to point fingers." Nura Ritsura, the presumed heiress of the Nura Clan, immediately jumped in to calm the tensions. "We will discuss this when we hear what the others have to say."

Neither Satori nor Omukade said anything, but both gave a slight nod in agreement.

"But who were those youkai?" Shouei wondered and glanced at Houkou, the wolf youkai, and then at Kurotabou, the monk.

"They are the Rurabikira. Or spoken slowly, the _Lullaby Killers_." As expected, Kurotabou had the answer. "They are ghosts of the girls that were killed, violated, or… you get the gist." Kurotabou clearly did not like talking about such things, which was natural, given his own nature. "We believe they are part of Shiori's group."

Houkou continued. "They already invaded youkai households and killed everyone in their sleep, although they never attacked households of this size." He explained while looking around. When he saw that the rest were not satisfied with his answer. He continued. "They sing a lullaby, that keeps their victims asleep, and then they kill them. The most cowardly weapon in Sanmoto Shiori's arsenal, little doubt about it."

"You should recite a prayer of thanks to your ancestors for your divine abilities, Satori." Kurotabou rejoined the conversation. "If not for your inborn ability to read thoughts, there might have been nobody from your clan speaking to us now."

"The enemy sure does have many scary youkai, don't they?" Someone said in an unfitting cheery tone.

In response, everyone's eyes turned towards another of the three visitors. This one was a man three meters tall, and he wore a yukata with light-blue and white vertical stripes. He looked like a man in his late fifties, with some black hair surrounding a bald middle and with a large nose, while a smug decorated his lips above a goatee and under a moustache.

He was an Onyudo (giant) from Chubu, called Housei. He was known for always smiling, even in most unfit situations, so his expression surprised few. "They may be Urban Legends, but their terror kind of reminds me of youkai of old, albeit with a bit less dignity." He said while his two fingers rubbed his chin. "Now, let me tell you what happened on our end…"

* * *

Housei stood there, steadfast, three meters tall, wearing a light plate on his chest, and gazing at a two meters tall standing stone in middle of a forest at midnight. Around him, there were thirty of his retainers, each one an able combatant.

This was a small army, and they were ready for war. The stone that Housei gazed upon might look like just a tall stone to humans, but a youkai could feel traces of Fear on it. And the youkai knew what this meant: it marked a border. The side that Housei and his youkai were on was Housei's domain, and in extension the Nura Clan territory. The other side was the domain of the Onikuma, a clan of demonic bears and youkai that served under them.

The forests that Onikuma called their own were old, and filled with Fear. As such, it was Housei's ambition to make this part of the forest into the Nura Clan territory, although he had hoped that it could be done through diplomacy. And for a while, those negotiations went well enough. A bit slow maybe, but the youkai had too long lifespans to be in rush.

But something must have went wrong during negotiations, as two youkai of the Onikuma clan tried to assassinate one of Housei's strongest retainers. The enemy fought to death, like madmen, and they had to be taken down. So nothing could be learned from them.

But Housei would get his answers, one way or another. And he would not bother risking a life of a retainer by sending someone else to for answers. He would come personally, with an army at his back.

And so, he took a step forward and intruded into the Onikuma Clan's territory. The bears would either attack them or demand answers, and Housei was fine with either. What was important was to make the Onikumas understand that the Nura Clan was not to be trifled with.

Everyone was tense as they walked. After all, the Onikumas were no doubt waiting for them. They attacked first and a retaliation was something anyone would expect. And any moment now, they would attack.

But there was nothing, not even the sensation of anyone lurking.

The others were as baffled as Housei was. A youkai who looked like a floating ghost of an old man flew to Housei. "Boss, they aren't…"

"Fhm, they are probably just waiting at a strategically more preferable location." Housei answered with a large smile. "Naturally, they should be afraid of us heh heh. Just don't let your guard down."

Half an hour passed, but there were still no traces of anyone. They passed several places where the Onikuma could hold a strong defense, but there was nothing.

"Boss, are you sure that the Onikuma Clan itself attacked us?" The floating old man spoke out once more. "Forgive me if I speak out of line, but they clearly aren't waiting to fight us. If they did want to fight us, they would not fight so close to their village. Maybe we should retreat before we anger the Onikumas?"

"I respect your words, you know that already my friend. But… you're missing something very important, which makes retreat a bad option." Housei said while raising his finger. "If everything was fine, we'd have stumbled upon patrols by now."

"That's right! So… maybe something happened in the Onikuma's village? Nothing else would make them pull back their patrols, unless…"

"Unless they were fighting someone, right." Housei's grin grew as he saw an opportunity. "Keep your guard up, but let's hurry. If we come in the nick of time and save them from an enemy, they'll be in our debt!"

Housei and his retainers were no longer moving casually, but were rushing through the forest. Though there was a chance that an ambush might await them, Housei decided to risk it.

Soon, when they were close to the village, they stumbled upon the first proof that the Onikuma Clan was under attack: corpses of animalistic youkai were scattered everywhere. Housei and his retainers stopped to both check on the corpses, and make sure that no enemy was hiding nearby.

"Seems like we were right, heh." Housei released a small smirk. "But who might have done this… hmmm..."

The Onikuma Clan only welcomed youkai born from animals, the purest natural spirits, so everyone knew that most of these youkai were Onikuma Clan's as most were overgrown animals or humanoid cousins of animals. But they still had to find out who was the attacker.

"Look thoroughly!" Housei ordered. "I want to know which clan has done this, or if it was done by some Onmyouji. But we don't have too much time to waste, so be quick about it!"

Everyone went to do as he asked, but Housei himself did not bother joining them. Instead, he thought about the situation at hand and what would happen next. At first, he thought that the culprits would be another youkai clan from Chubu, but now he was not so sure. The Onikuma were not allies to anyone, but they were respected by the Chubu youkai, and liked because they did not have dreams of conquests. To attack and kill so many so brutally would be going too far.

 _Maybe it's a clan from the west?_ After the fall of Nejireme, many ambitious youkai and upstart clans from west had crossed into Chubu and Kantou. As such, it was very likely that they were the attackers. _Shikoku is filled with animalistic youkai, but few of them there are fond of Tamazuki-dono. It's very likely that some of youkai living in forests there came here to make a new home for themselves… and maybe Tamazuki once again started dreaming of conquering the Nura Clan._

But other possibilities also had to be considered. _But that's an optimistic guess. Maybe this is the work of humans. The Onmyouji tend to not bother youkai living in deep forests, and Onikumas have not attacked too many humans to attract their attention. However… the Shin Sekai has become active lately. They attacked the upstart Shiori, so maybe now they are attacking another weak clan._ Housei frowned at that thought. Few knew how these humans from the Shin Sekai fought, and if they were here than Housei would need to be cautious. He did not like wild cards.

"You have looked enough!" But all this thinking made him impatient for the real answer. "Have you found corpses of anyone who is not from the Onikuma Clan?"

His retainers looked at him with confused expressions.

 _I see that I won't like the answer._ "Alright, what did you learn?"

"I think… that they fought one another, Housei-sama." One of them answered, and the others nodded. They all seemed to agree. "There are no other bodies and… some of them still have their weapons buried into their comrades."

"Are you sure that they are from the same clan?" He remembered one of his own theories. "Are you sure that there aren't youkai from Shikoku? Or from Chugoku?"

"These two…" A fat, bearded man pointed at some dead youkai. "I had a drink with them the last time we visited the Onikuma village. They were best friends and I swear… even if the Onikuma Clan started fighting amongst themselves, it's impossible that they would be enemies." He continued while Housei walked to their corpses. "Yet alone… for them to kill one another so brutally."

Housei's eyelids lowered as he looked down, at a large Onikuma and an older Kamaitachi, a weasel youkai. The Onikuma's stomach was torn open and his organs were pouring out of it, and a sickle was stabbed through his right eye. The Kamaitachi's legs were broken, and his head smashed into a bloody pulp. Had Housei not already met this youkai and saw him dressed in these clothes, he would never have even known that it was a Kamaitachi.

"You are right… youkai of the same clan could never be this brutal to one another, even if they fought to death. The enemy is using some sort of mind control." Housei frowned. "You." He pointed at the fat youkai. "You. You. And you." He pointed at three more youkai. "You guard our rear."

The eyes of the four youkai widened, but then they looked at the ground, disappointed. "If you say so, Housei-sama."

"I'm sorry. But it needs to be done." He said and started running again. He respected the four of them, but he knew them well enough to not trust their willpower or their Fears to resist a youkai strong enough to turn comrades and lifelong friends against one another. And the last thing Housei wanted was to fight, or have to kill, his own men.

It did not take long for them to reach the Hidden Onikuma Village. It was a large place, filled with mounds that had doors at the bottom, and numerous primitive shacks. In the middle of it, there was a large and ancient tree whose enormous and thick treetop could even protect from rain. On the tree, there were many shacks and wooden boards that made it possible to walk on it, and there was a large mansion builts under the dug up roots of the tree. And many paper lamps that hang from the tree illuminated the scenery, and made it feel surreal.

The youkai of the Nura Clan remembered this place well, and immediately noticed that some things have changed: several huts were destroyed, including the large mansion, where the elder of the clan lives, was ransacked and demolished. Additionally, a dozen youkai hung from the tree, hanged by whichever enemy assaulted this place.

And of course, there was blood and gore on the ground. There was a bloody battle, and Housei was too late to join it. He could also see bodies away from the scene of battle, their backs turned to the village while they lay in pools of their own blood. _Cowards who ran away. The youkai we met before must have been the ones who tried to escape, but they were caught and cut down._

Housei concentrated, and sensed Fear everywhere. Some were hostile, and moving around. Youkai born from animals were so quick that it was frustrating to Housei. There were more Fears inside the mounds, but Housei could not feel any hostility from them. He guessed that the survivors hid there from whichever calamity befell this place.

And there was another Fear, powerful and menacing, but it was impossible to pinpoint from where it originated. Also, this Fear was strong enough to stretch to the entire village so it was impossible to dodge its effects.

"Prepare for a fight." Housei ordered as he took a step forward and his body grew in size until he was four meters tall. "And let not your minds and spirit have even one gap. If the enemy truly uses mind-control, it may prove fatal." He spoke as he faced the numerous Fears around him. He could even see the youkai, mostly Onikumas but also many youkai born from other animals, everywhere in front of him. And he saw their eyes… shaking and red, and many unable to focus their gazes at one point. They were driven mad, no doubt about it.

And then something strange happened: the large tree started sprouting something. Housei knew that it was just an ordinary tree, maybe filled with spiritual energy like ancient trees tended to, and that this phenomenon should have been impossible. Yet, there it was: something red was sprouting everywhere on the treetop. And soon enough, it all turned into red roses.

"What the… hell?" The old man's ghost said behind Housei as they watched the treetop and its roses shaking while the wind pushed it.

And then those roses exploded into a rain red petals that swirled everywhere around them. And as if that was their signal, the maddened youkai attacked.

The youkai of the Nura Clan were overnumbered, but Housei had no doubt that they could win against these youkai.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming Fear from before also attacked. Housei's breathing got harder and a cold sweat took him over, but his retainers had it worse. He heard them screaming and, when he turned his one eye towards them, he saw them hold their heads and guts while screaming and while their eyes were almost popping out of their skulls.

He feared some of his retainers would succumb, but he did not expect it would be all of them. Not wanting to fight them, he decided to run forward, towards the swarm of youkai rushing at him.

But then he learned that he was not above this maddening fear either. The vision in front of him broke like glass, where each shard of broken glass turned into a different color. Then he felt swords stab into many parts of his body, and then dancing all around him. He felt pain, irritation, discomfort, and despair. He felt like a sword was pushing up his spine, as if a drill was gushing him upwards from his lower body, as if centipedes ate his brain, fingers pushing in and out of his eye, and many other horrendous sensations.

He knew it was illusionary pain, but he felt helpless. He knew that eventually he would break and succumb to madness.

But if he was destined to turn insane, then there was no point in acting like a sane person. And if this pain was nonexistent, then he would remind himself of how true pain felt.

With his right arm he grabbed his left under its elbow, violently turned it around several times so that every bone would break, and then he tore it off, screaming as the pain overwhelmed him.

But now that he felt true, strong pain, he could easily focus on it and ignore the false one. Soon enough, vision returned to his eyes, and he saw that the maddened animals have all but reached him.

The four meters tall Housei used his enormous torn out arm to smash the youkai at far left end of the weave, and then pulled the arm rightward and thus threw away every youkai in a one hundred and eighty degrees' radius. The enemies that did not get thrown away got closer to him, but one stomp at the ground created such a force that they all got thrown up, and he then hit them all with his arm, catapulting them away.

Not wanting to use his own arm as a weapon anymore, he let it fall down and squash the last remaining enemy that was close to him. He then saw his own retainers ran at him, screaming and fawning. He moved his right shoulder, and then struck them with his right fist one by one, making sure that they either lost consciousness or got incapacitated. He could heal them later, even bring them all home by himself if he increased his size a bit more.

But such acts would have to come later, as the enemies got closer to him once more. He took a deep breath, and then ran towards them, the ground shaking so strongly with each of his steps that some of the shacks just collapsed. When he got close enough, he jumped and landed amongst them, throwing them all up and then began beating them up one after another. But unlike with his own men, he did hold back and just killed most of them.

A few moments later, and he was left with no more enemies. Everyone was either dead, or lying down and bleeding.

It was then that the maddening Fear started pulling back, towards one of the enemies that lay down. It was a bipedal two meters' tall badger, who was lying down and lying in his own pool of blood.

Then the badger started raising up, in a fully unnatural way for he used only his legs to do so. As he faced Housei, his body started shaking in all directions, and Housei could see that, little by little, something pushed from inside his stomach, his hands, and even his legs.

Then the sufferer opened his mouth, so wide that some of the tissue at the end of his mouth tore up. Then two arms, thin as bone, sprung out of his mouth. They were longer than his body, and continued coming out until the elbows were out, after which the hands moved down and grabbed the ground.

The badger's head practically broke as another head came out. It was made of porcelain, and had a grin adorned with toothy-looking needles as well as a round, bloody red nose. That nose, and the clown's hat that he wore, made it clear that he was supposed to represent a clown.

The creature continued coming out of the badger, which was shaking and clearly still alive, until the thin monstrosity stood in front of Housei, tall as him.

Housei recognized the youkai. It was created when Shiori tried to assassinate Onieda Masato, and it was first seen by Houkou when the Kyushu Clan attacked Kantou and met the Hyaku Monogatari. He did not remember his name, but Houkou did note that this youkai could turn others insane.

"Hello~ I'm Kyoki Dokeshi _(Crazy Clown)_." He introduced himself with a small bow, and holding his hand where his chest was supposed to be. The fingers were so thin that they looked like blades. "And you are Housei-sama, I think?"

"Well, this is unexpected." Housei raised an eyebrow while moving the muscles of his remaining arm, preparing to use it any moment now. "What is an urban youkai doing so deep in the forest? Shouldn't you be rolling over smoke and dirt of concrete somewhere?"

"Kya kya kya kya!" The clown laughed in a creepy tone. "Trying to be humorous, are we?" The clown turned his head ninety degrees to the right. "And just what are you doing here, so deep in another clan's territory?"

"Just answering your invitation." Housei frowned. "You're the one who sent those assassins after me, have you not?"

"Hai hai!" He fixed his head and did two quick nods. "I thought I'd have you all slaughter one another, but you sure have style! To tear your own arm! Kya kya kya! That's the best! Best!"

"No…" Housei took a step back with one leg. "...the best has yet to come." And then he ran towards the clown with the intention to grab and squash his head.

But the thin clown ducked backwards, and then moved quickly through the gap between Housei's legs.

Housei immediately turned around and made two punches, both of which the clown easily dodged. Housei then tried to kick him with his knee, but all it did was throw off one the clown's legs, but that did not even push him off balance as the thin, long leg quickly fixed itself.

"This is not the best, this is dull." Kyoki Dokeshi said as he ducked. Then he propelled himself backwards and landed just before the gates that led into the largest of the mounds. "My Fear has no more effect on you, and your punches can't reach me." He shook his head while shrugging his shoulders. "Let's call it a draw and go our separate ways, hm?"

Housei did not say anything back, but just continued gazing at the clown. Part of him hoped that the clown would leave as he was unsure if he could ever reach him… and if he could keep resisting the maddening Fear of this youkai.

The clown then turned towards the gates and knocked on them. "Yo, I'm leaving guys!" He said, and then some girl jumped from atop the mound onto his shoulder. Housei could not take a good look at her for she hid herself behind his head, but he was certain that it was a youkai. "Remember to not mess with us again." The neh started talking in a deeper tone, as if imitating someone. "One of my allies will visit to update our agreement in accordance to your infidelity." And then he returned to his usual voice. "Oh my, I actually remember it riight!" Kyoki Dokeshi then turned his gaze back towards the faraway Housei. "Bye bye." He said and jumped away. One more jump, and he was far from Housei's eyes.

"Tz, the Hyaku Monogatari has sure grown strong." Housei muttered to himself as he looked around to make sure that nobody was preparing to attack him. Even though the survivors were still in delirium, his earlier attacks left them unable to move.

Housei started shrinking as he walked towards the mound and its gates. "Oi!" The two and half meters tall Housei yelled and knocked on them with full force. "Housei of the Nura Clan's here! Open up and come here! And bring some bandage and alcohol, what's left of my arm needs them!"

It took a few moments, but the gates opened and a frightened, old bear dressed in a yellow yukata peered out. Housei recognized him as the leader of this petty clan.

"Nice to see you, but I'd prefer to see some bandage." Housei smiled as he pointed at the hole in his arm.

The old Onikuma's eyes widened, and then he called for someone who brought out the bandage. "Fix him up, quickly!" He said to a smaller bear that held a roll of bandage and a glass of sake.

"They sure did a number of you, huh?" Housei sat down and stretched the remnant of his left arm. "I'd love to hear what happened here."

The old bear looked around, his eyes shaking and his expression obviously sad. "You know well enough what they did."

"I know how they fought, and I can imagine the rest." Housei said, still smiling. "But I don't know _why_. Animalistic youkai attacking you, I can understand. Everyone needs a home. Other youkai too, one can never have too much territory. Humans are obvious as well. But youkai of the cities… now that's just strange."

The old Onikuma's eyes shook, but he did not dare to look down at Housei.

"Come on, your legs must hurt. Sit down with me." He said and pointed at the ground in front of him with his healthy hand. "I only squash my enemies. You know, people who attack you or hide something important from you."

The Onikuma shook when he saw the murderous intent in Housei's eyes, and then he sat down.

"Now, please chat with me a little. I heard something about agreements, I think. What's that about?"

"We… several months ago, we made a deal with the human woman… girl… that led some youkai."

"A girl… could her name maybe be Shiori?" He asked, to which the old Onikuma nodded. "Oh, of course it is, what do I even ask? That clown is one of her minions, after all. He he!" Housei laughed while the frightened little bear fixed his arm and the old bear looked down. "So, what was the deal?"

The old Onikuma said nothing.

"You know old friend, it's rude to keep quiet. I thought we were friends when I last checked on you."

"The last time you visited me, you convinced me that your offer was good." The old Onikuma decided to give a different answer. "I thought we could gain a lot from allying with you…" Then his eyes and mouth shook. "... and that we could gain even more if we told you what this Shiori was planning… I thought you'd reward us greatly for that information."

"And that information is…?"

The old Onikuma looked up. "Don't you see what happened just because I thought of telling you that? We were prepared to break the oath, and Kyoki Dokeshi… he did all this, but intentionally spared many of us. If I told you that… we'll all be dead before the next moon rises."

"A deal? With Hyaku Monogatari? What the hell could they possibly want from _you_ of all people?" Housei shouted out.

The old bear just closed his eyes and shook his furry head.

 _Damn it! I have to find out what happened here!_ "You can't possibly want to let them get away with this!"

"I… I made an oath with the young lady. Several of them, all to keep the deal a secret. I forgot about… that the curse falls on those who break sacred oaths."

Housei struck the ground with his right arm. "It's one enemy! She could only send one enemy. Two, if we count that girl who hid!"

The Onikuma looked at him, as if he were crazy. "One? If it were one, we would not have been brought to this. No, there was an entire Hyakki Yakou!"

"...what?" He and his retainers did not see anyone as they passed, nor did he get any reports of Urban Legends moving as a group.

"Hundreds of them came here, several of them as horrifying as Kyoki Dokeshi." The old bear looked down as he remembered something fearsome. "They did a number of us, and then left, leaving behind the clown and some girl who did something to our tree."

"The roses…" Housei guessed what her role was, but not the point of it. "Where the heck did that Hyakki go?"

"I don't know… the clown had already started… doing his thing when they started leaving."

Housei closed his eyes and took a deep breath in and out. "Look, the Nura Clan counts thousands of youkai. If need be, we can even find you guys a new home. The north may even have better homes than this lousy forest."

"No no… you can't do anything. The girl will send her horrors to collect another bloody tribute."

"Is that how the proud Onikuma speak?" House asked and looked around at the other bears. He knew that someone amongst these proud youkai would agree.

But that ended up being just a thought. All of them looked down, defeated.

Housei opened his mouth to make another suggestion, when someone landed near them.

Or more precisely, fell near them… and it was a tengu, a member of Housei's clan. "What the hell?" Housei rose up and went after him. He wanted to turn the bird onto its back, but then saw some red scabs all around his body. "What… happened to you?"

"Housei… sama?" The tengu looked up with his right eye. His left had already been hidden beneath larger scabs. "I… feared I would not reach you..."

"What happened to you?" He was one of the youkai he left at his mansion.

"The Hyaku Monogatari… attacked us. Led by some youkai with a bird's mask who spreads disease…" The tengu then closed his eye. "We have lost… and everyone is in retreat."

"The Hyakki Yakou…" Housei looked up as he remembered the Hyakki Yakou that the old Onikuma mentioned. "So that's where they were gone…"

"And it's not only us… Satori, Kijo, Shojo… all the clans loyal to the Nura Clan are under attack… and all have been forced to run."

"Impossible… those lowly Urban Legends to defeat us, some of the Nura Clan's best… ah, I see… they pulled me here as a lure… they probably pulled some traps on the others as well, those darn cowards!"

"Here." The tengu said in a tone that got progressively weaker while raising a letter. The scabs continued to pop out around his body, making him more hideous with each passing second. "Kijo-sama sent the plan to where you should all meet."

"Thank you, my friend." Housei said while taking a stone from the ground. "It must have been hard flying all the way here in that state. You did well."

"To hear those words as I'm dying… I'm so grateful." The tengu closed his eyelid. "It was an honor to serve you. Uhhh… Please, let it end."

"Of course my friend. Let's meet again in next life." House said and then used the stone to behead him in one fell swoop.

He had no time to pray, so he rose up and faced the Onikuma. "That agreement…" He looked at the bear with murderous intent.

"It had nothing to do with this." The bear said while he and some of other bears stood, prepared to fight if need be. "I swear, our deal was to be done later, and not like this."

"I have no time to argue, so I'll believe you." Housei said and turned his back to the fallen clan. His arm still was not fully closed, but most of the work had been done. He could take care of the rest along the way.

"See? You can't protect us." The bear spoke. "As those skyscrapers grow, so does the Fear of these youkai. They will inherit this world, while the youkai like you and me will die out."

"Onikuma, old friend… I'm so disappointed in you." House said and continued walking, all while growing in size. He would take his comrades with him as he moved towards the place where he would meet Kijo and Satori.

Yet, while nobody was watching, he smiled. "It's a shame but… You won't be able to play nice anymore, Commander. This might just be the push we need."

* * *

"And so I left the village, holding my retainers like babes and with an arm less for the count!" Housei spoke to the rest of the clan while weaving around his stump. "If that wasn't an exciting story, then I don't know what is, hehe."

He laughed, but he was the only one doing so. The rest of the clan were just gazing in somber silence.

"The Onikuma Clan too…" Houkei spoke as he put his fingers together. "And to be brought to such a state. No, I can't believe it."

"Well, it happened. A little teenage girl and her friends broke their spirit that stood strong for thousand years." Housei said while shaking his head. "Or they were always spineless but we weren't there to see it."

"Their clan suffered as much as ours." Nura Ritsura spoke out. "They don't deserve such insults, at least not now."

"No, they deserve it Ojou-chan." Housei threw her a glance. "Remember? They made a deal with our enemy, and we all know that it could only be something that would make our clan suffer more. No change of heart they talked about matters. It's a fact that they intended to stab us in the back. They are the lowest of the low."

"So you want to lower ourselves to talk equally to them?" Ritsura noted, to which Housei smirked. "No more insults at their account, Housei. Even if you are right and even if they point their claws at us later, we shall show the world the chivalry that every youkai should hold to." She said and put a hand on her chest.

"Ha, you did me there. Fine, I'll let go of it." Housei shrugged. "As long as you all understand that they deserve to pay their due."

"They'll pay, I'm sure of it." Ritsura said, but in a whisper so that others would not hear it. After all, it was not her place to give such a promise.

"In any case… Kyoki Dokeshi again." Houkou spoke once more. "I feared that I might regret not dealing with him then and there… I should have done so."

"Part of me wants to agree. They may have left someone else to punish the Onikumas, but at least it might have been someone whose head I could catch and squash. But alas, if you fought him, it would have been a tragedy. And not for him."

"Are you belittling me?"

"Oh no, I respect you. But I respected my own retainers too, and yet they all fell to his Fear and all of them, but the two who committed suicide, are now reduced to drooling madmen. And I have no idea how to help them. So yes, you did well to stay away from that creature." Housei nodded to himself. "If there's someone to blame, it's me for falling for such an obvious trap and coming there. If I stayed home, the petty city boys would have failed."

"No Houssei, they would not have failed." A raspy voice of a woman disagreed. "The enemy we faced that night wass not leaving placce for victory."

"Iss that sso, Kijo-chan?" Housei asked a youkai sitting beside him, and spoke in the same way as she did. "Why don't you tell them your story?"

"I sshall do jusst that." His partner agreed and turned to the rest of the clan. "The Rurakiriba and Kyoki Dokesshi were not the only deadly enemies that vissited Chubu that night, I assure you." The deep voice belonged to a youkai who was wearing a red kimono under a taupe hakama and had talons for nails at hands and feet. Her face was decorated with make-up that made it look as if she wore a Hannya mask. From her horns fell two long tresses of straw-colored hair, and her original brown hair, split into long bangs at either shoulder, were showing under it.

She was Kijo, another one of the four youkai leading the Nura Clan's expansion into Chubu. "The Kijo Clan also met a dangerous adverssary. So let me tell you about it..."

* * *

The fight was over, if it could even be called that. The enemies tried to attack Kijo and her clan while they were asleep, but Kijo's retainers noticed that something was off, and ambushed the enemy. Twenty corpses now lay in the mansion and outside of it.

Satisfied with the victory, even if it was an easy fight, Kijo went outside to take a smoke from her pipe. She built her house in the mountains, with a nice view down. The view was pleasantly green, even if human influence could be seen. _Thosse city boyss attacking youkai in the wild… how sstupid of them._

"Kijo-sama, please go back inside." A large, fat snake asked her. "Until we make sure that there are no more enemies, you should stay where it is safe."

"Don't bother me with that bore, youngling." Kijo rejected his offer. "Come on, let uss take a stroll around. You can keep me ssafe." Kijo said and started walking towards the other side of the house.

"I'm not a warrior, Kijo-sama. I'm just your advisor." The fat snake said while following after her. "And, excuse my insolence, you're out of your prime."

"Then make ssome of the strong boyss protect me. Or whatever!"

"They already are, Kijo-sama." He said and looked at the roof, where a Tanuki with a bow looked down at them.

"Great. I'll brew you ssomething nicce later."

"I'm honored, Kijo-sama." The snake sighed. "So? Have you decided if we shall retaliate?"

"Oh, I'd ssure love that!" Kijo nodded. "But alass, it would require uss to visit one of the ccitiess. But I prefer having my armiess at home, not hunting far away."

"So we shall just let them get away with it?"

"Look at it thiss way: do we honor them asss fellow warriorss, or do we ignore them like the inssectss they are?"

"That sounds reasonable." The snake sighed once more. "I'm not one to look for fights, so I won't push for it. But others…"

"Others won't push either. Nobody wants to deal with those weaklings. I mean, what could some petty Urban Legends possibly do to us?" Kijo asked a rhertorical question as they turned the corner towards the side of the courtyard looking at the forest. "...oh?"

They gazed at something that was not there a while ago: a large statue built out of straw, ten meters tall.

"Oi, what'ss that?" Kijo asked her advisor.

"I don't know." He looked at some of the youkai in front of the house, each one of them holding their weapons. "Who built that?"

"It just appeared there." The youkai said. "We don't-"

"Hey, it's moving!" Another youkai shouted. "Only arms, but that's still moving!"

As he said, the straw giant moved its arms upwards, only to push them down and roar. "ROAAAAAAAARRRRRHHHHH!" The roar made earths shake, and a hot wind struck towards them. But most importantly, the strawman turned into a burning effigy, while a giant rose made of flames rose behind him.

"I have a bad feeling about thiss exccited boy." Kijo said and moved her right hand so that it was pointing towards the effigy-like youkai.

Two large balls of fire formed themselves in both of his palms, and he wasted no time in throwing it at Kijo and her clansmen.

Kijo looked at the ball that was falling towards her and could already feel its heat. But she did not move, and instead just turn her hand into a fist when the ball was close enough. As a result, the ball shrunk and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

But the other ball she could not stop, and it struck some of the youkai on the other end of the cliff, burning them alive.

"Order everyone to get out of the house!" Kijo gave an order and started to ceremoniously move her hands. As she prepared her spell, she spoke in the form of Japanese language long forgotten. The effigy was already creating more balls, and this time she would destroy both of them.

But seemingly the fireballs were not only used for killing. "Ki… Kijo-sama! Look!" Someone called to her, and she instinctively turned her head aside.

The youkai killed by the fireball have risen from the ground. Their bodies were immolated and they were slowly turned into ash, but they could move nontheless. They screeched and ran towards her.

"Protect the mistress!" Some called, and all of Kijo's retainers jumped to protect her. Kijo was still looking at the scene when a large shadow fell over her, reminding her what she was supposed to be doing.

She destroyed the fireballs, but due to the unfinished spell they broke into pieces, one of which fell onto one of her retainers, killing it… and turning it into an enemy.

"Zombiess… again." Kijo frowned.

"Where are 'thouuuu?!" The effigy shouted into the air. "Ritsura-chaaaan?!"

* * *

"Haaah? He called for me?" Ritsura cut in while pointing her index finger at herself. "That big mass of fire that throws flaming meteors and turns people into fire called for me? Are you sure you didn't mishear?"

"Yess, he did call to you, Ojou-ssama." Kijo nodded. "I asssure you, otherss heard the ssame. Do you know thiss youkai by ssome chancce?"

"Never even heard about him."

"Looks like you have yet another secret admirer, Onee-san." Rihan, who sat beside his sister, grinned. It was unusual for him to be on meetings, but their father ordered it and did not want to hear no for an answer. "He sure sounds like he's getting all hot for you."

"Ha ha, very puny brother." Ritsura answered with a frown. "Maybe I should let you go meet him and learn what kind of a guy he is. That's what they call brotherly duty."

"On a serious note, this youkai was possibly created for the sake of… taking down Ojou-sama." Kurotabou mentioned. "This IS worrisome."

"Kijo-chan, please tell me you guys killed it." Ritsura looked at Kijo pleadingly, but the old woman shook. "Iiiiiiiiiiiik…"

The Kijo continued with her story.

* * *

The fight against the flaming undead was not going well. Kijo managed to take down two of them with her spells, but of the other youkai only the ones with strong Fears and knowledge of how to cut Fears were able to kill them. As for others, the flaming zombies would just rise up and fight again, even if their bodies were squashed.

Unfortunately, Kijo could not focus much on them, for the Effigy was likely to throw more fireballs once he was done with his tantrum.

And he was planning it… or something similar, for now he was creating Fireball with both hands. And unlike the former ones which felt like stones one fire, this one shone brightly and its heat was emanating everywhere.

"Prepare yoursselves for a big dodge, for I won't be able to sstop this one!" Kijo shouted at her retainers. "Hass everyone left the housse?!"

"Yes!" Her advisor was the one to reply. "They took shelter behind some rocks.

"Tz." Kijo clicked her tongue. Their only path of retreat was in front of them, but she did not feel like getting closer to that youkai. "That view wass so nicce that I forgot how sstrategically vulnerable it made uss."

"He is throwing it!" Someone yelled, and Kijo knew what he meant. After taking a short look at where the Effigy was aiming at, Kijo and the others moved away just when he threw the shining fireball.

Like a beam, the fireball flew in a straight line, right into the mansion. It exploded when it hit the building, taking a few lives that were unfortunate to be too close to it.

Kijo saw her advisor's body fly and fall near her, and then she gazed as it rose up and looked at her.

"Damn it!" Kijo screamed and tried cutting the Fear that kept her advisor in this form of undeath, but she failed. Everyone around her was now even more afraid of the Effigy, and that had likely strengthened the bond with the flaming corpses he created.

"He… he… he is running towards us!" One of the youkai shouted just as Kijo punched her old advisor away with another spell. Kijo threw a glance towards the Effigy, and saw that he was really running.

"Oh no, you don't!" Kijo ran in his direction as well, but stopped after moving only a little. "Boyss, find a way to get uss out of here while I keep the big boy away!"

"Yes, Kijo-sama!"

"And ssomeone please keep thesse guys away from me!" She demanded as one of the flaming dead closed to her, only to get thrown away with another youkai's attack.

Kijo let her allies deal with the enemies around her. While she recited another spell in the old tongue, her hands moved around and her bare feet with tall and sharp fingernails wrote something on the ground. In modern tongue, she was a powerful and ancient witch, and she was about to show that to this upstart youkai.

It took a while for the flaming effigy to reach her, but to her it still felt too quick. It shoved its flaming fist down at her, but it ended up striking into a large invisible barrier that Kijo created. Then Kijo opened her left hand's palm and moved it forward, as if she was about to push it. And push him she did, as he fell off his feet.

But done she was not, nor were her feet that continued writing letters and drawing strange symbols and circles.

And just as the Effigy rose onto its feet and faced her again, she released her final spell by cutting the air in front of her with her hands. It was pleasing to see the effigy getting turned into dismembered pieces in front of her, its fire disappearing together with the Fear that he radiated.

"Kijo-sama won!" One of her retainers shouted. "Kijo-sama killed the bastard!"

Kijo allowed herself to smile for a moment, but then she turned her head and saw that the other battle was still ongoing. The undead did not turn dead after their killer died. This could mean only one thing.

Kijo turned her head towards where the giant was standing when he was still just throwing fireballs. The forest was burnt where the giant stomped, and the trees were smashed down. Thus, she could see that there was someone else hiding in the shadows, but she could get a good look at the enemy before they moved away and hid. But it was as large as a human, no doubt about it.

And then, around the place where she saw the other intruder, everything made of wood started ripping apart and flew at one place. She watched as another effigy, albeit a bit smaller, was being created.

She sure hoped that her comrades had come up with a plan to get out of here.

"Allies! Allies are coming!" Someone declared, and Kijo looked at the youkai, who was pointing towards the cliff. Moving her gaze once more, she saw a few smaller Takarabunes fly towards them.

"Ssatori!" She smiled at the sight. "Everyone! Go towardss the cliff! We are jumping on those sships and getting out of here!"

* * *

"So you fled? Hmph." Hitotsume said in annoyance. "Are all three of you so spineless that you are running away from everyone?"

"I have to agree here." Jorogumo added. "You knew already that someone was creating the effigies. You should have gone after them."

"It wass a rissk I wass not willing to take." Kijo said with her arms crossed. "If the new effigy got finisshed before we left, he might have sshot uss all down. And there wass alwayss a posssibility that there was a trap in the forest." She then looked towards Housei and Satori. "And after hearing their taless, all doubt about how correct my choice wass had vanisshed. Thiss enemy lovess their trapss, that one'ss for ssure."

Kijo then turned her head back to the rest of the clan. "We jumped onto Ssatori's sships, and got away. My next plan wass to reach my vasssals, and lead them to wherever the enemy wass." She then frowned. "However…"

* * *

Kijo and Satori were standing on the deck of Takarabune and gazing down at what looked like a newly built village at the base of the mountains. It was actually a clanhold where some of Kijo's vassals stayed, and guarded the path that led to her place. If an enemy Hyakki Yakou came to attack Kijo, they would have had to pass through one of these _villages_.

But there were no signs of battle, and everything was silent.

Too silent.

"Maybe the enemy ssneaked passt my boyss." Kijo said a theory she did not believe in herself.

"Or a bunch of little girls cut everyone's throats." Satori threw her a look. "Be careful down there, Kijo."

"I'm alwayss careful, Ssatori." Kijo said and jumped down. She was met by nobody, neither allies nor enemies. The only allies she had were the ones that jumped down after her. "Look around, and be careful. I'm going to check the biggesst housse." Kijo gave her order and walked towards one of the houses.

When she slid the doors open, her fears have proven to be true as her eyes fell on a burnt corpse in the hallway, holding a rose in its blackened hands.

"Did the Effigy do this?" One of the retainers asked.

"No, not the effigy. If it did, the whole place would have been demolished." Kijo said as she cautiously walked forward. "It wassn't thosse girlss that Ssatori mentioned either. If I had to guesss, it wass that youkai that created the Effigiess." She was still keeping her senses sharp, ready to reach whenever she felt that guy's or girl's Fear again.

As she walked, Kijo allowed her heart to have some more hope, for she did not see many corpses around. But when they reached the dining room, those hopes got extinguished.

A dozen and a half bodies burnt to crisp lay there, their very faces unrecognizable, but their hands showed that they died in pain.

"What happened here?" Kijo wondered.

"They died here… so they must have welcomed a guest. Look, some are still holding tankards." A youkai whose body was filled with eyes mentioned. "But it's strange… only the corpses are burnt. The house furniture, even the floor… everything is clean."

"It meanss that the enemy doessn't throw fire on you, but makess you burn. A sscary thought." She kneeled down at a body whose figure she recognized as this house's former master. He was young and she had many hopes for him, so his death struck her a bit.

Then that youkai's arm moved and grabbed her wrist, and Kijo felt as if it was being touched by an oven. "Hageshi Seishin (Fierce Spirit) welcomes you once more!" The body raised its head and he started burning. "May the witch burn!"

"Damn it!" Kijo muttered when the body exploded. It ended up throwing her through the wall.

"Kijo-sama!"

"I'm fine!" She did not lie, for she protected herself with a spell that kept the fire away. After all, it was more likely that she would be attacked by a fire-spitting youkai again then by anyone else.

"Tz, I guesss we can't reinforce oursselvess here. My revenge will have to wait a while." She said as she rose up and as she looked the other corpses rise up as well. "Let uss put them out of their missery and then move to where Houssei and the Sshojo will wait for uss… if they haven't been killed already."

* * *

"Hageshi Seishin, you say." Jorogumo repeated the name that Kijo mentioned. "That sounds like quite a versatile youkai." She then looked at Kurotabou and Houkou, the clan's experts at investigating the Hyaku Monogatari.

"I for one haven't heard that name yet." Kurotabou said and looked at Houkou, who shook his head.

"Well, then you know what name to check up on next." Satori said to them.

"So? What happened next?" Aotabou wanted them to continue with their story.

"We met up with Housei, and then sstarted our journey to here." Kijo gave the short answer. "After taking a nice long break away from the route that led to Kantou, that is."

"Huh?" Hitotsume tilted his head. "Weren't you running away?"

"We were, but so were they." Housei said while trying to prepare a smoking pipe, but that was clearly hard for him now that he had only one arm left. "We were tired, and concluded that the enemy would want to reach Tokyo before us."

"After all, if there were so many of them in Chubu…" Satori continued in his stead. "...then their numbers in Tokyo must have been short. If you guys learned about it, I'm sure you would have struck at them while their main fighting force was away."

"That we would." The Supreme Commander, Rikuo, confirmed. "Why didn't you call us?"

"We tried." Kijo went to answer this one. "But whenever we ussed our phoness, some little girl laughed. When we tried to ssend a messsage, ssomeone sent images of fairiess ssticking their tonguess out."

"Netto no Yose." Kurotabou, and many other in the room, recognized that one. "She is a youkai who lived on the Internet. She must have blocked communication."

"Tz. Humans and their fancy digital technology." Housei rumbled on this one. "If we used older technology, she could have done nothing to us."

"Bah, forget about calling us!" Hitotsume looked as if he was giving his best not to jump onto his legs. "Not only did you run like cowards, you also let them pass and so let us lose the opportunity to attack when they were vulnerable. What the hell were you thinking?"

Rihan joined the discussion. "I hate to agree, but that's right. It's so strange that you all ran away."

"All our forces were spread thin in order to protect as much territory as possible." Housei answered with his usual smiling expression while the other two looked as if they were about to start arguing. "Had the Main House sent us reinforcements as we asked, maybe we would have offered some resistance. Had the Hyaku Monogatari assaulted us like proud youkai, we would have definitely won. But alas, we were overnumbered, struck in the most vulnerable spots, and even pulled into a few traps."

Ritsura took their side. "It's clear that this attack was planned to the last detail." She then closed her eyes and stabbed a finger into her forehead. "But why? What do they have to gain by attacking Chubu? The territories we and they fight over are in Tokyo, not in Chubu. Heck, Onikuma's village sounds like the last place they'll want in entire Japan!"

"And it'ss not like they had to gain anything by thinning our forcess." Kijo joined in. "Our job wass to be in Chubu, not fight in Tokyo. Thiss way, they brought uss all here to fight againsst them."

"Whatever their goal was, it was clearly important to them." Satori said with an opened palm. "You don't go this far unless it's very important to you."

"Be it as it may, I think it's time we faced the elephant in the room." Yami, a swordsman with a paper hiding his face, spoke out. "If that fairy still blocking your calls, or do you know what territories we still control?"

"We left a few youkai behind to keep an eye on the situation and, yes, we managed to enter into contact with them." Satori said, but he looked displeased. "The Hyaku Monogatari has left, so the earlier theory that they wanted to conquer us falls into water."

"They left, but ssomeone else came in their sstead." Keijo continued. "The youkai from the Tokaido Gojussanki Clan, the Chubu Intaglio Clan, and even the Tenka Fubu Clan have come and dug themsselvess in what'ss left of our territoriess."

"In other words…" Housei, who managed to ignite his smoking pipe, finished. "...all our territories in chubu have been lost. After the years of expansion, we lost it all in one night. Heh heh."

A short silence ensued as everyone wanted to process this fact, and what should they do about it.

Besides Rihan, who quickly broke the silence. "You sure sound cheery for someone who suffered a humiliating defeat and lost all his lands."

Everyone's eyes glanced between him and Housei. But Housei did not seem touched by it. If anything, his smile grew. "Of course I am cheery, young master. Why wouldn't I be?" Her took in a smoke and then exhaled. "When I think how we will get revenge soon, I get so happy. And after that… I know the Supreme Commander will lead us all into Chubu, to get the _important_ revenge."

"The important revenge?" Rihan raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, young master. Don't you remember, the Onikumas confirmed that the Hyaku Monogatari was conspiring with the Onikumas. Now, here's some math for you all: a large band of Urban Legends strolled through Chubu, territory that should be unknown to these Tokyo city boys, and nobody noticed! Even the other Chubu youkai, with whom we agreed to stand against _any_ foreign intruders, yet they passed silently and without the other disloyal clans offering them any resistance! And then the youkai of the three largest clans came used the situation so fast that you can't but think that they knew it would happen." He inhaled and exiled another smoke. "Let's face it, the only ones who got out anything from this are the Chubu youkai who, unlike the three of us, are not loyal to the Lord of Pandemonium. So…" He then looked at the Supreme Commander, with a dark shine in his eyes. "What shall you do, Supreme Commander? Will we continue with our, sorry if I have to be blunt, fruitless negotiations? Or will they all pay for what happened to our now dead comrades?"

Everyone's eyes now turned towards their Supeme Commander. For most of them, the eyes that shone with frustration now shone with anticipation and excitement. Most of the youkai here wanted to take the harsher road to controlling Chubu, and Housei now made it clear that they had no more reason to hold back.

After a short silence and silent contemplation, he spoke. "Before the week is over, we shall be erasing the Hyaku Monogatari from this city. The plan has already been put into motion, and I'll be ordering the attack soon."

"When?" Kijo asked.

"The moment we're ready. Everyone in the clan is to stand ready to jump into action at any moment. As for Chubu…" He opened his eyes and looked at the three Chubu youkai. "You're right, time for hesitation is over. This time it was the Hyaku Monogatari, next time it might be the Kyushu. We shall recover our last territories and then…" He took a few moments to continue, clearly not fully happy with what he would order against those that answered his call during his war with the Nue. "...we shall make the Chubu youkai join us, one way or the other."

" _For such is the clan's will._ " Ritsura whispered under her breath. She was one of the few youkai who were not grinning at this declaration. The three Chubu youkai were especially pleased.

Kurotabou, another youkai who did not smile for he knew very well that his commander was not happy about it, decided to push another topic. "There's another elephant in the room that we need to face." He said and looked around others, who now returned to their old, stern expressions. "Although they have lost Kyousai, Enchou, and others… and even though they are split into several factions now… Sanmoto Shiori's forces have not proven to only be strong, but might even be stronger than the forces of Sanmoto Gorozaemon that we faced over twenty years ago. Just what is going on here?"

"Are you sure they are stronger, Kurotabou-san?" Kejorou spoke up. "In our last war, their forces numbered ten thousand youkai and all of our clan's members, even the non-fighters, had to stand up and fight." She then looked at Satori. "How many youkai attacked you guys?"

"Many… but not more than thousand, I think." Satori answered. "We did not try to stay close to them."

"Their numbers are lower, that's true." Gozumaru spoke for the first time. "But numbers are not everything. This woman makes good use of what she has, and her main fighters are no weaker than our Executives."

"Or maybe they just leave such an impression." Daruma took the opposite side. "Caution is good, but too much caution is no different than being afraid. They won this battle, but remember that they used every trick they could to do so. Once a real fight starts, we should face them with a strong resolve, and not worry too much about their prowess. That just makes their Fears stronger."

"And what if they pull thosse trickss on you?" Kijo noted. "It'ss eassy for you guyss to look down when you weren't there, but these guys are not to be underesstimated too much."

"And this time, let's not be satisfied by just defeating them." Housei raised a finger. "Last time, we called it quits when Sanmoto Gorozaemon fell. This time, let us make sure they never recover again by crushing them until every last one of them is dead." He tried to punch his other hand's palm, but failed for obvious reasons. "What's enough is enough!"

Most in the room nodded, this time including the Supreme Commanders. Rihan, on other hand, just sighed.

The meeting continued for a little while longer, but wa soon finished so the Chubu youkai could get some rest.

* * *

 _Now it's done._ Rihan thought in himself as the other youkai left the meeting room, while he himself still sat. _In a few days, the war will begin fully. And now it's impossible to stop or even delay it._ He sighed. His attempts were always futile, but he knew that, but now it was made certain. _Both sides clearly think they don't have enough enemies right now._

Finally, he rose up and went to leave the room. There are questions that needed answers, and only one girl had answers to those.

He was not sure if he was surprised or not that he found her just outside the meeting room, leaning against the wall and smiling to herself. Ichinoe Araya, or Sanmoto Shiori, somehow managed to listen in and seemed quite pleased with herself.

"Ah, Riha-chan!" She immediately approached him with a wide smile, and he put up his own. "Come on, I've already started to miss you!" Thus she pulled him away, while some of the youkai were whistling at them.

He let her pull him away, all the way to his room. Immediately after closing the door, he let go of the smile and sighed out. "You sure seem to be in a good mood." Rihan noted.

"You know how it is!" She said and made a three hundred and sixty degree turn as if she were dancing. "You make a bet, spend some time biting your nails hoping it turns well, and then find out that everything went _splendidly_!"

"Oi. You sure don't try to be silent this time."

"With you so tense, I doubt anyone would get close without you noticing it. Even now I feel your Fear masking our presence." She made another full turn, making Rihan wonder if she was really about to start dancing. "So let me enjoy this to the fullest!"

"You sure seem to be happy dancing around the house of hosts whom you were stabbing in the back." Rihan said.

"And you sure seem to cold for someone who is part of that house." She gave her own accusation with one of her mocking smiles. "You're worse, and you know it." She said with a shrug. "Though then again, I'm the one corrupting you."

Rihan sighed, but could not deny what she said. "Now… what was the point of that attack?"

"Hmm?" She looked at him from behind. "Are you asking me to reveal our military secrets?"

"I do think I deserve some answers." He crossed his arms. "After all, I'm in a situation where I think I deserve to know."

"The goal was simple: destroying all of the Nura Clan's influence in Chubu." She grinned some more. "And maybe make those three strongest clans of Chubu fight amongst themselves. That too seems to be working, as the Chubu Intaglio Clan and the Tokaido Gojuusanki Hyakki Yakou have just started fighting over territories that your three visitors left behind."

"So they weren't your allies?"

"Ah, so many cute theories were said at that meeting. No, they are not my allies."

"So how did you manage to sneak in an entire Hyakki Yakou into Chubu?"

"This wasn't a recent plan, my love." She turned fully towards him, her with hands on her hips. "For three full years, I have used most of my resources to scout out the region, learn all of its secrets, and even strengthen my own influence there." She raised one hand then. "There were a few obstacles, but nothing we couldn't take care of… as the good old Onikumas can attest to."

"Just what do you need Onikumas for?" Rihan continued inquiring. "No… what do you want with Chubu, anyway?"

"I want to do what I always do." She stretched both of her arms. "I wish to tell them a tale they will never forget." And then she lowered them, only to raise her right to point up her index finger. "In a way, this battle is far more important than the upcoming one your father is planning to bring to us."

"More important than the battle that is supposed to erase you and your clan? Really now?"

"The Nura Clan has been trying to erase us for centuries now." She shrugged. "But we are established here strongly, more so than you Nuras can even imagine."

"Still, it would be foolish to underestimate the upcoming battle." Rihan frowned. "Besides, why did you attack the Nura Clan's Chubu territories now of all times? It's way too risky."

"The original plan was to do it a few months _after_ this battle in Tokyo is done." Now it was her time to frown. "But… certain circumstances made me change the order of things. I'm happy it ended as well as it did, otherwise it would have been very bad for us."

Rihan raised an eyebrow. "Certain circumstances… what could possibly-" And then both of his eyebrows raised in realization. "...I see."

She smiled again, mockingly. "The plot thickens… doesn't it, love?" And then she looked away.

"I don't think this will end well for you…" Rihan noted, still with a baffled expression on his face.

"That's true, I may have gone a bit far, so I better plan what to do next." But then she lightened up once more. "Well, we are the clan whose purpose is to make horror tales come true, so it can't be helped. Not my fault that some forget about it or underestimate me."

* * *

**Author Notes**

And here we are… after a one-chapter break, we return to the regular schedule of chapters that are over 10k words long. So let's pretend that ch88 never existed, okay? What, no? Well, okay…

\- for all questions, like what the heck are Chubu and Kantou, one should ask Wikipedia-sensei for some help. As for those clan names, like Chubu Intaglio Clan, one should just check those maps on my Bio

\- this chapter was all scenes with new characters that none of you care about, but alas they are here. Well, think of this as their introductions as you will see quite a bit of these three in the rest of the arc

\- One of the objectives of this chapter was to up Shiori as a threat to the Nuras. And though the three heroes have been forced to retreat, I hope I managed to show that even if they retreated in the end, they are not pushovers. But I guess readers will be the ones judging this…

\- two new villains have also been introduced: the Rurabikira and Hageshi Seishin. The clown appeared before, and now just made a re-introduction

That's it for now, Next chap we return to the older characters, and the scenes that were supposed to be the second half of ch88! Until then… well, try not to kill me for my slow writing speed… please?


	90. Crawling Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The youkai loyal to Sanmoto Shiori had attacked the Nura Clan's territories in the Chubu region, and forced them out. The day the two clans clash in a decisive battle is now dangerously close

**Chapter 90 - The Crawling Shadows**

The black-haired girl woke up on her tatami, and glared at the ceiling while the piano music played in the close distance. After counting the two spider webs, one on the corner of the wall and one on the ceiling light, she turned her head towards the window to see the setting sun.

_I guess I took a nap._ Sanmoto Otone rose up. Since she had laid down to take a short rest, with no intent of falling asleep, she was still in her clothes: a dark gray T-shirt, and light gray trousers.

The music continued to play while she rose up and shook her body slowly as a small exercise. Her room was a traditional Japanese one, with very few accessories. Though she was certain that nobody would approve of the fact that she never cared enough to clean it from dust or things that were scattered around.

_My hair should be a mess._ She walked to the large mirror that she put in her room, and confirmed her suspicions. She could let the room, which only she ever visited, fall into disrepair, but her own looks were another thing. So she took a comb, which just lay atop a cupboard, and used it to fix her hair.

After she decided that she was satisfied with her hair, she put the comb down and thought about going to the one who was playing the piano. But her eyes then fell on a dusty photo, taken from different times. She was there, as were two women and another girl, all smiling and making V-signs with their hands. The girl was Midori, or Shiori as she called herself now, while the two women were their mothers and sisters. But the photo could barely be seen from dust, Otone's own face being covered, and she thought about cleaning it like she did every day. And like every day, she decided against it. The times shown on it were the ones she chose to leave behind. Yet she still could not make herself throw it away, a fact that she saw interesting from a scientific perspective.

Finally she averted her eyes and left her room. Having slid the door closed, she continued on through the more orderly hallways that were being kept clean by the servants.

She reached the room where the certain someone was playing a piano. "The shiny sun sets, and the paler light rises in its stead." A man greeted her while his fingers still jumped around the piano. He was dressed in a black suit with a dark blue tie, and he had a black top hat on his head, as well as a white mask that showed a smiling face.

He was the Pianist, one of the members of the Skull Coalition. "Good to see you are well, uncle." She greeted him as well though there was no smile on her lips, and then she entered the room while closing the door behind her.

"Was there a reason to think otherwise?" He asked, but in the moment where it would not hurt the music too much.

"These are dangerous times." She sat down on a sofa, and gazed at him. "What brings you here from Kyushu?"

"Just some business." He spoke.

"Seeing as you're dressed like that, I guess it's not some laidback human business." She noted, her face never changing from the bored expression.

"I went to visit Chubu. Midori-chan did quite a thing there, and I wanted to see what it was."

"And you were no doubt too late." She frowned. "The conflicts were over fairly quickly as I understand."

"That's true, but I could not know at the time." His started playing a different tune, a more energetic one. "But still, it was no waste. The youkai that came to scavenge what was left once the Nuras left were quite tense, even a human could feel their terror." His mask then looked at her. "It must have been a very nice poem. Makes me proud of my other niece."

"Is that supposed to make me feel down?" Otone asked as she leaned against the sofa.

"Well, I'm still waiting for your crowning song. You're my favorite after all." He turned his head back towards the keyboard. "So, you're preparing to put Midori-chan to test. Can I expect something great?"

"I wouldn't look forward to it. This will be a boring song. If something good comes, it will be after I take over the Rose Coalition."

"And join it to the Skull Coalition so we can all bring Sanmoto Gorozaemon's gifts to humanity, right?"

"Now you're sounding like Yanagida-sensei. Did you start adoring our great ancestor as well?"

"Oh no, I don't adore him. I just adore the world that he might create. I do very much believe that it would be…" He hit a key strongly and longer, creating a louder tune. "...extraordinarily fun." And then he started a new play, thus one sounding more laid back and comfortable. "But do you really think that you can defeat Shiori with a boring song?"

"I can't motivate myself to make a better one, not for someone like her."

"That's no way to talk about your boss."

"This _boss_ had an interesting start, but in the last three years has mellowed. Hanging out with the Nuras no doubt did it to her, and then she went and fell in love with that boy."

"Stealing the heart of Nura Rihan is a nice boon though."

"Only if you make use of it. But just like how she did not make use of her position as the friend of the Nuras to cripple them, she made no use of Nura Rihan either. It's clear now that she has no backbone, but is only a daydreaming girl."

"It's all true, what you say." Her uncle agreed. "But, at least she has a drive. She seems fearless, she destroyed the Nura Clan's position in Chubu in just one night, and even went to try and kill that man, Onieda Masato."

"' _But at least she has'_ , huh?" Otone frowned and straightened up her body while still sitting. "I take it that you want to say I don't?"

"I remember the good old days." He turned to playing a very pleasant tune, the one to which Midori's mother used to sing to. "You used to be such a nice girl, wanting to use your songs to help others. And those songs were strong ones, enough to let Midori keep her sanity during her darkest days. Funny, how helping her ended for you." His music then took a darker tone. "You're a different person now that you have learned how boring your old life was, having given into your true nature. And for a while, your songs were so wonderful… only for you to get bored of it as well. Truly, I expected more of my favorite niece."

"And now I have grown bored from you too." she said and rose up. "Excuse me uncle, but I have things to take care of."

"Hoo? Is that annoyance I hear from your voice?" He spoke as she was walking away. "Good… you need more of that." He then started playing a loud and menacing tune. "Hatred, disgust, underappreciation, sadism… whatever, I implore you to let all those emotions into your heart, so we can listen to a truly beautiful, horrifying song!"

She left him and his music behind, all while thinking dark thoughts about him, and about Midori.

* * *

_I have been called!_

Gagoze, who woke up just a few moments ago in pain and agony, walked with unbalanced steps through the Dollmaker's Domain. His left eye was hidden under black bandages, and he his left arm… his shame… under a bloodied blanket, while in his right he held an old smartphone with a broken screen… this phone brought to him by his birth parents was the only remnant of his days as a human.

Yet it was not the past which called to him through the phone, but the present.

"Going somewhere, Gagoze-chan?" The Dollmaker's disgustingly cheerful voice greeted him when he entered the room that he occupied. "It should hurt you still, so maybe you should rest instead, hm?"

As usual, the Dollmaker was making dolls, all while listening to the song of those bizarre angels.

"Onii-chan!" The doll which often clang to Gagoze jumped from the Dollmaker's shoulder towards Gagoze, but he slapped her away.

"Don't you _dare_ follow me tonight." He said to her with a raspy voice.

"Going somewhere?" Dollmaker asked while working on a doll with a giant screwdriver. Gagoze flinched when he remembered Dollmaker using that tool on him. "In that shape?"

"Yes, I am."

"I don't really want to allow it. You may just end up getting yourself killed before we even begin the game." The Dollmaker then puffed at the doll as if he were getting rid of some dust. "And I'm really getting tired of saving you."

"I don't care about any fucking game of yours." Gagoze said while facing the Dollmaker, as if he were preparing for a fight. "And I don't want any of your dolls tailing me this time."

"Hmmm?" The Dollmaker finally rose his eyes to look at Gagoze. "Do you want me to make a pinky promise?"

"I want you to keep the hell away from me. If I see just one Doll… then consider our alliance void. Even if it means that I have to be killed by the Nuras or whomever else, I don't want you close by." Then Gagoze raised his right hand and pointed at his bandages. "And don't think I'm unaware of your strings that connect to my eye… and on my body."

"Now now, that's just an-" The Dollmaker started making excuses, but went silent when one of Gagoze's blades flew through the human-like doll he was working on and impaled it on the high wall.

"Get the strings off me and keep your dolls away." Gagoze spoke, his eyes red. "Or I'll fight you to death here."

"I see… meeting some important friends, are we? Your clients perhaps?" Gagoze said with his usual smile, and then cut something in the air with his fingers. "Here, all done."

"Is that really fine, papa?" The girl-doll asked the Dollmaker.

"Of course it is! We are friends, aren't we Gagoze-chan?" The Dollmaker clapped with his large hands, while Gagoze just turned around. "But please return to me before the sunrise. Else… well, we may not be friends anymore."

"We'll see…"

_I have been called._

* * *

"So?" Shiori's words made Rihan return from his thoughts. "What will it be?"

"Hm?" Rihan looked at the girl who was now holding her hands behind her back, and carrying a smile.

"My attacks on the Nura Clan are a declaration of war. There is no more going back, the Nura Clan has no choice but to retaliate. Everyone concerned is either an enemy or an ally." Her eyebrows then lowered. "I know that you were naively trying to find a solution where we can just run into sunset, magically avoiding a war. But it's not to be."

"Yet, the reason you attacked them now is-"

"Doesn't matter." She shrugged. "I attacked, that's all that matters. And even if we consider the _special circumstances_ , I did more than I had to do. The war is declared, there is no going back now." And then her smile faded. "And now you have to decide where you intend to stand."

"My decision was set in stone long ago. I'll-" He started, but stopped soon after. "Quiet now, someone is coming."

"No, I can't take that!" Shiori started talking with a louder tone, once more taking the disguise of Ichinoe Araya. "I want to sit on those cool meetings too!"

Rihan sighed and decided to play along. "Those stuck up guys would never allow it. Besides, those meetings are boring." And contrary to his act, his right hand and fingers moved. While the footsteps got closer, he could not help but think that Nurarihyon or Setsura revealed Araya's true identity to someone, especially after the recent attack on Chubu, and someone was now going to take her out. As his fingers and hand moved, he thought about how he would strike a possible assailant into guts, but his more rational and darker side said it would be naive so and that it would be more effective to break the neck.

He hated the part of him that thought that way, but he knew that reality may not allow anything nicer.

" _Calm down."_ Shiori whispered. " _Whatever may come, stay composed._ "

She was right. Even if someone came for her, they would apprehend her, not kill her. As long as he acted like he knew nothing, he could easily save her later. He relaxed his hand and his entire body, and hoped he would not do something stupid out of fear for her life.

The door slid open, and Gozumaru peeked inside. "Oi, the Commander and his daughter are seeing the Chubu youkai off." He said with a stern expression. "Many think you should be there." And just when Rihan opened his mouth to reply, Gozumaru frowned and added: "It's your father's order." And then closed the doors and left.

"Well, you can't reject now that nobody is there." Shiori said with a smile.

"They might be trying to push me away from you so they could-" He started, but then she hugged him from behind.

"It makes me happy that you're overprotective, but it'll be better if you stay calm and smart. Not only for me and you, but also for others."

"I know… but anyway, you and I are leaving tonight." He said and left her hug.

"No, I already said that I-" She started but he put an angry face and looked down at her.

"I don't care what you decided. We leave tonight, you take direct control of your forces again, and then we think what next. With no pointless actions or dramas. Preferably, we'll find a way to avoid this pointless war altogether." He took a step forward, and she took a step back. "And then you will tell me what exactly you are planning and trying to achieve. No mysteries or trying to act all high and mighty. Is that clear?"

She looked up at him with wide open eyes, and then blushed and smiled. "He he, I must say I like it when you man up and act so commanding." Before he could complain about the lack of proper answer, she hugged him and lowered his forehead onto hers. "Fine, we'll do as you say. Once we are out, we'll do as you say and I'll tell you everything you want to know."

* * *

"And we just got into a fight before going to sleep." Satori cried about his dead wife while drowning his sorrows in sake. "It was such a meaningless fight… but we won't be able to make up now that she is… I need another cup." He said and pushed his empty cup to Housei, who was using his one hand to pour the drinks to everyone.

The everyone in question were Rikuo, Ritsura, Satori and Housei. Kijo went to hang with her old friend Jorogumo, thus only these two were having a private audience with the Commander and one of his children, though Rikuo hoped Rihan would come soon as well. He was happy that Rihan showed energy and enthusiasm during his mock battle with his sister and so Rikuo hoped that he would be more serious about his position as well, thus why he had him participate in the important meeting, but alas he still seemed to be rebellious about that.

"That's why one should always go to sleep or on a trip with their partner happy." Housei gave his opinion after putting the bottle down and taking his own cup. "In our world, you never know what may happen."

"Better yet, just try to always be on good terms." Ritsura added, taking a small sip of her own sake. She was still below age by human standards, but the youkai would take it wrongly were she not drinking with them. Still, she did take only smallest possible sips. "As you said, you never know when something may happen."

"Ha, you girl clearly were never in a relationship if you think that it's possible to not argue with your wife or husband." Housei smiled at her.

"I'm not so ignorant of those things…" She looked away and raised her cup, but did not actually take a sip.

The doors then slid open, and his son entered. "You called for me, Father?" Rihan said, and then saw Satori and Housei. "Ah, I see… I'm sorry for your loss." He said and bowed. For whichever reason, Rihan looked like he was in a foul mood, for he was looking down and his lips were almost sad looking. Hopefully, he finally realized that his sympathies towards the Urban Legends were misplaced.

"We thank you for your condolences, young master." Housei said with his usual bright smile, whereas Satori just nodded.

"Come on son, join us." Rikuo said and pointed at his left, before his son could get the idea of leaving.

Rihan sat down without objections, so now Rikuo, clad in a dark green yukata and a bright yellow haori, was sitting right between both of his children, just as he liked it. Rihan was wearing a blue yukata with his scarf over it, and was in his youkai form, while Ritsura wore a white kimono like she always did, but this time her kimono had snowflakes as a motif, though some snowflakes also looked like spider webs in places where her kimono was not straight. As usual, she was in her Yuki-Onna form, but she put her hair into a ponytail.

"It's always unusual to see you, young master." Housei spoke up. "We see Ritsura-sama often, but even my acquaintances say it's rare to meet you." He offered Rihan some sake.

"Unlike sis, I don't have much interest in clan politics, nor do I want to inherit the clan." He said while accepting the drink.

"Well, that's a shame. We could have used a small sibling fight to brighten the days." Housei continue smirking. "The whole clan would be better for it, y'know. After all, nothing makes one grow as a person than a good rivalry."

"Now that you mention it, there was a sibling rivalry recently." Satori sniffed in his tears and joined the conversation. "When we found out that our Supreme Commander had another heir he kept hidden."

"Oh really? I thought it was just gossip" Housei said and looked at the Nuras.

"It's true! And she is an Onmyouji of House Keikain, and extremely powerful. She already has a full Hyakki Yakou and they say that she is already extremely powerful." Satori talked as if he forgot that he was in the same room as those who knew best. "She came to Tokyo to steal the inheritance for herself, but Ritsura-ojou-sama managed to barely defeat her in one-to-one battle!"

"Actually, I lost." Ritsura said with a raised hand and sweat on her forehead. She probably still had an inferiority complex towards her older sister.

"Oh… so we have a new heir?" Satori asked. "I don't know… an Onmyouji is a bit… but then again, several Onmyouji have been-"

"No, the battle was not about inheritance." Rihan jumped in. "Her motivations for the fight were… more personal."

"Well, even so you should be worried." Housei spoke to Ritsura. "It would be bad for morale if you inherited the clan while everyone knows that a sibling stronger than you exists." Housei tried to move his missing arm, then realized the mistake and moved his remaining one in order to make an encouraging fist. "So do your best to grow even stronger and make the clan proud!"

"Hai!" Ritsura yelled and drank an entire cup.

It was then that someone knocked on the door, and everyone turned their heads to see who it was.

"Sorry to bother you, Supreme Commander." It was Sorobanbou, a short youkai with a large head, who was the leader of the Demon Merchant Union and one of the Nura Clan's Executives. "Our carriage has arrived, so if you two are ready, we shall leave."

"Ah good, I could use some rest." Satori said and finished his drink.

"Hm? You won't stay here?" Rikuo asked the Chubu youkai.

"We don't want to intrude upon you, Supreme Commander." Housei said, and finished the bottle.

"It's much safer here though."

"That's exactly why, Commander." Satori said in a darker tone as he rose up. "We feel pain for what happened, but that same pain makes us want to get our revenge. Nobody will attack the well defended Main House, or even get close to it, but if action starts, everywhere else will be close to it."

"Besides, we do want to check up on some of our older friends." Housei also rose up. "Anyway, thank you for taking some of your time to have a chat with us." He said and bowed.

"Yes, thank you Commander. It does a lot to this shattered heart." Satori also bowed. "We shall see you soon, Commander."

And with that the two of them left with Sorobanbou. And once they left, Rikuo could finally relax. "Ahhh… this was such a tough day."

"Was even tougher for them." Ritsura added. "They lost their comrades, and some even their relatives. Satori did well trying to keep himself in one piece." She said and put down the half-full cup.

"It was a cowardly, but ultimately a successful attack." Rikuo crossed his arms. "But I'm worried that they risked attacking Chubu at full force while we were preparing to attack them on their home turf."

"Must have been something important." Ritsura added. "It might be a good idea to investigate the motivations."

"We have no time for that. It'll have to wait." Rikuo said.

"Well of course." Ritsura nodded. "But the sooner, the better."

"And so another one of sister's dreams comes true." Rihan said with a smirk.

"Hm?" Both of them looked at Rihan.

"Nothing, just talking to myself." Rihan said while waving his hands in front of himself.

"Either way…" Ritsura rose up and started stretching herself. "We should be going. I'm still a bit tired from the battle, and I'm sure Dad has a lot to do."

Rikuo sighed as she was correct. A lot of youkai would want to hear what is to come, and some of them are bound to have their own ideas that they'll want to say in person.

"See you, Dad!" Ritsura said and left.

"Yeah… see you, Dad." Rihan said in a moodier tone and left with his sister.

"That boy… just what phase is he going through now?" Rikuo sighed once more and rose up as well. This was going to be a busy night.''

* * *

"So? Whatcha think about this, little brother?" Ritsura asked him soon after they left the room.

"About what? The attack?" He asked, to which Ritsura nodded. "What's there to say? An enemy saw a weakness, used it, and scored a victory."

"Alright… let me change the question a little bit! How do you _feel_ 'bout it?"

"Where's that coming from?"

"Oh, just answer!"

"I feel sorry for them, especially for Satori. I can only imagine how it must feel to lose your wife and much of your family to such a horrific attack." And before she could rephrase her question again, he gave the answer she was actually seeking. "But I must admit, that's all I feel. To me, they are still just strangers."

"So, you'll not be joining us in the fight, huh?"

_I'm afraid it might be quite the opposite, sis._

But before he could say anything to her, she continued. "Y'know, this could have happened to anyone. Even to us, or to Saaya or to Shima or… you get it." She then looked up at him. "No matter who the victim is, Shiori is someone who must be taken down. Don't ye think so?"

_Though I know I'm just being paranoid again, it feels like you testing me._ "The same goes for the Shin Sekai, and for Kyushu as well as they have proven themselves to be sneaky too. And for any other enemy we… I mean the clan, shall face eventually." He felt no hesitation as he spoke. "Even if I helped, would you ask me that for everyone else as well?"

"Of course." She put on a bitter smile. "After all, everyone here wants to keep you at home. We'd even use the lowliest methods if need be."

"Is that so? Then I guess I must be careful around you." He smiled and looked away. "But are you really sure that you're in the right?"

"Haah?" She stopped walking, and so did he. "Are you sympathizing with his kind of enemy?"

He took a while to choose his words. "You know sister, for a long while I used to view the world as black and white." He looked at her as he allowed himself to be honest for a moment. "But after a while… I realized, that maybe it ain't so. Maybe it's all just… shades of black."

"You think that even for people who did such cowardly and horrifying things to our clansmen?"

"And just what do we know about Housei, Kijo, and even Satori?" Rihan then frowned. "Actually, we do know a lot about them. We know they are youkai of the old, harsher beliefs. They certainly did not take Chubu territories for the clan with smiles and giggles, and you heard them on the meeting. They all want a quick conquest of Chubu, and let's not kid ourselves. This means that all existing clans will need to be crushed, and the survivors forced into submission." She did not change her expression as he talked. "And everyone in the clan was happy about it."

"And you think the rest of your life'll be freed from it?" She said, clearly accepting that what he said was true. "It might be… for a loner. But we both know our natures. You want your own clan, and once you get it… then you'll be part of all this dirty work."

"And I accept that, dear sister. But don't act like this clan is better than others. It makes my stomach turn." He then continued walking. And his sister followed suit.

"Fair point, but I'd say the difference is in details, like how you act and in your beliefs. I'd say we act with more honor than most, and our ideals are to make a better world for both youkai and humans." She said with a smile and then looked up at him. "But enough of it. I got my answer." Her brows lowered, but on her face she had a bitter smile.

"And what's the answer… and what's even the question?"

"Fufu." She removed her grim face and giggled with a brighter one. "But let's talk about something more fun. Have you complimented Araya-chan on her new hairstyle?"

"Uhg…" He twitched. He noticed that she had put her hair up, but so many things happened that he forgot to say anything about it. "Yeah, not yet…"

"Well, you better fix it before you call it a night. Else, she might be disappointed in you." She shrugged. "You must always compliment a girl. You must always be nice. And, as I said before, stop trying to make her jealous. It won't ever end well."

"I know, I know. You were right and-"

" _And just what're you doing here you thieving cat?"_ They heard Araya's voice from afar

" _Thi-thi-thieving? I'm not-"_ Next they heard another girl's words. _"Why are you saying that?"_

The two siblings looked at one another, and then hurried forward.

" _Oh, I heard that he was having some nice time some girl out there. But to think it was you of all people!"_

When they arrived, they saw an angry Araya and a baffled, but also angry, Hikari. Shiori changed her appearance a little, putting her hair up. She also wore a dark blue shirt, and short black pants. In contrast, Hikari wore a white shirt, and a long white skirt.

"We don't even know one another!"

"Oh, but I know you… miss _Psychiatrist Girl_! And now you come here at this hour, to meet my boyfriend."

One of the youkai looking at the spectacle addressed his young master. "Rihan-sama, this girl was hiding behind the gates, scared of entering. We got her inside, definitely not to eat her, and she said she came to see you. And then… well you see."

"I… uhh… you… you know what? Maybe he needs to be saved from someone like you!" Hikari showed her own fangs.

"Hooo… so we are pretending to be nice, are we now?" Araya showed her own fangs again. "You thieving cat! You copycat! You smartass!"

And then they started arguing even more roughly.

Ritsura scratched her head. "Uhm… I think you should stop this bro-" She looked at Rihan and then stopped. "Umm… Rihan, why do you look like you are going to tear up at any moment now?"

"This is all I ever wanted!" He said with a cry of mock happiness as he looked at the two girls having a catfight as if it were something beautiful. "The world is so beautiful!"

* * *

"I hope you enjoyed your meal, Hikari-chan." Rihan asked Hikari with a shining smile on his face.

"I did. Your mother cooks well." Hikari said as she put down her bowl. "But why are you smiling like that?"

"Oh nothing. I'm just in good mood." Rihan said while Shiori sat nearly behind him and leaning against him, her arms crossed and looking at Hikari as if she was trying to kill her with her eyes.

He reveled in this jealousy, and several youkai were peeking through the doors and the ceiling, but he did not mind it. Everyone should enjoy this unique opportunity.

"So? Why did you come here, Hikari-chan?" Rihan asked. "A place crawling with youkai is the last one where I'd expect to see you."

"It… is my way of coping with my fears." She looked down and scratched the back of her head. "You did say many times that your clan is nice, and I thought that if I saw it… it'd be easier to get over it all."

"Not buying it." Shiori said, to which Rihan gave her a bitter look. "Hmph." But she just looked away.

"I hope it did not disappoint…"

"They discussed eating me."

"They were joking, I promise. No humans ever got eaten here."

" _Or so young master thinks!"_ One of the youkai shouted.

But Hikari giggled at it. "I see, I see… then I guess I'll have to be careful to not get eaten!"

"As expected of a Psychologist, she understands everything immediately." Rihan whispered under his breath.

"Their knowledge of psyches also makes them formidable manipulators. I don't trust her." Shiori whispered in complaint. Rihan still was not sure why she felt such hostility towards Hikari, but he was not one to question something this beautiful.

"But really… I never thought you'd have a girlfriend so possessive that she would move into your house." Hikari said, but her eyes now looked towards Shiori.

"The others made me come here." Her self-proclaimed nemesis replied.

"So why are you the only one here? Where is the rest of your club?"

"Well they… really, where are they?"

"To subconsciously think that you are moving here for proper reasons." Hikari had a mean smile on her face. Rihan enjoyed that as much as Shiori's irritation. "How pitiful."

"Grrrrrrr..."

"Actually, we told her that." Rihan knew this was the time to jump in and keep the situation from escalating too far. It would be bad if Shiori revealed her identity because she decided to go and kill a love rival.

Hikari stopped smiling, looked at Rihan, and, after a short while, sighed.

"What… was that about?" Rihan blinked a few times.

"Because it means you are the possessive one." She shook her head. "To think you'd fool a girl like that just to have her move into your home…"

" _Truly, the young master is so bold!"_

" _He is quite a player, isn't he?"_

"Uh…" Rihan had to get out of this situation. "Well… you should stay here too then."

"Hooo?" Only when he heard Shiori did he realize it was a bad time to suggest that.

" _He is inviting her too?"_

" _A flower in each hand… just like his father!"_

" _Don't tell me… he will also say they should both stay in his room for safety's sake!"_

" _At this point, I would not even be surprised…"_

"You guys outside better stop with your wild imagination!" Rihan yelled at the youkai outside.

"Or giving you ideas…" Shiori noted.

"Oh shut up." _I won't even be here after this night._ He looked back at Hikari. "But really, it's for your own safety."

"Thank you for the offer, but… I'd have to consider the offer."

_You just changed your opinion midway, didn't you?_

"But for today, I'd rather go home."

"I see… you are probably worried about your parents." _I should invite them too._

"Well, they are-"

"On a business trip." Shiori finished.

"...on a business trip, yes."

"So cliche." Shiori shook her head.

"Grrr." It was Hikari's time to growl.

"How did you guess that?" Rihan asked Shiori.

"Hmm?" She scratched he chin and looked up. "There's no way they'd let her walk alone at night, not after her friend was brutally murdered."

"Oh…"

"I see you too are a cultured analyst." Hikari nodded a few times, clearly impressed. "But I still want to break you two apart." Then she returned to being hostile.

Shiori smiled to that. "Well, good luck with that." She said, turned around, and hugged Rihan's left arm. "His soul is already mine."

"Spoken like a true demoness."

"Hohohoho!"

" _Young master is so popular!"_

" _Sparks sure are flying!"_

" _I cheer for the new one!"_

" _I prefer Araya myself."_

" _You wanna fight?!"_

It took only for a few moments for the youkai outside to start causing ruckus. _This beauty is turning into quite a pain…_

* * *

"Eat, Sarutobi." Satori said to his son as the sat in a lonely dining room. Satori had already eaten his bowl, but his son Sarutobi was eating one grain of rice per minute.

"I'm eating." The younger ape said dishearteningly. He went to take another piece of rice, but it fell from his chopsticks back into the bowl. He was in no rush to replace it with another.

"It isn't our family's cooking, but it's food nevertheless." Satori grabbed some of the rice with his own chopsticks and raised it to his son's eyes. "And you need food. Everyone needs food." He then ate what he grabbed himself. "And it isn't like Sorobanbou's cooks did a bad job."

"I have no appetite father." The boy hit the table with his chopsticks and left them lying there. "I just can't stop thinking about it… remembering what has happened." He let his head fall onto his palms. "And I feel like… it will start again soon."

"I'd wish it did. Then we could kill those accursed bitches!" Satori also hit the table with chopsticks, but his broke after making a hole. "Listen! This isn't the first, or even the largest, tragedy our family has suffered through our long history! And it sure won't be the last! So get yourself together and man up!"

Sarutobi did not answer, or even move. If Satori's words did anything, he did not show it.

"Normally, I'd let you take your time recovering from this. But we have no time. We need to get vengeance, and at worst we might suffer another attack." Satori said while putting his hand on his son's shoulder. "So bury your grief and tears somewhere, and let your hate and pride fuel you. We need to show this Shiori what we're made of, and make her regret ever scorning us… and the Nura Clan!" As Satori rose up, it was time to show him that he believes in him. "I know you will get over this, and I know you are strong enough to do it soon. So finish eating this, and then take some rest. Tomorrow we may already be fighting for our lives."

And saying that, Satori started walking away. But before he left the room, he looked at his son once more time, and was glad to see that he took his chopsticks back into his hand and started eating again. Even if it took a long time for Sarutobi to get past the tragedies that befell their clan, Satori was certain that he would be able to fight soon. And that he would fight with more vigor than ever before.

But this was no time to dwell on his family alone. The larger picture was also at stake, and he had to take part in painting it. _The others are no doubt waiting for me._ He walked through the halls of Sorobanbou's estate, until he reached the doors at the hallway, guarded by Sorobanbou's most loyal youkai. No ears should be allowed to hear what they would talk about.

He entered the room, which only held an altar. But this place was only a disguise, as proven when Satori pushed a mat away and opened a trapdoor which led below ground. He took the stairs down, and reached a large and dark room, where up to two dozen youkai could sit. Yet, there were only three of them there: Housei, Kijo, and their host Sorobanbou.

"Is this all?" Satori asked as he walked towards the free pillow, no doubt reserved for him. "I was certain our group was larger the last time we met."

"It's unrealistic to expect us all to convene." Sorobanbou, who sat facing others, said to Satori. "It's easy to say why the three of you would come to my place, but the others coming here would be too suspicious."

"I see. Sorry, I did not think it through." Satori sat down and looked at the symbol of the Nura Clan that was painted on the wall above Sorobanbou. They were all part of the group frantically loyal to the Nura Clan, but not necessarily to its current leader.

And since some actions that were for the benefit of the Nura Clan would never be taken by the Supreme Commander or his closest retainers, these loyal group of youkai would do it instead, from the shadows. The youkai of Chubu, that were loyal to the Nura Clan, were never softened by peace, so most of them were part of this group which cared little about the Supreme Commander Rikuo's human ideals, and much about the clan as the whole.

"Now that we are all here, let us convene our meeting." Sorobanbou said as he fixed his glasses.

* * *

"Why are you walking around like that, Setsura?" Nurarihyon asked the woman who was fidgeting and moving left to right across the room.

"Maybe she forgot to turn the stove off?" Nattou Kozou, the third one in the room, suggested. "Happens often on TV."

"I'm worried that she might come after me any moment now." Setsura said while crossing her arms. "No, not she… but her minions, like they came after Housei and the others."

"Oh, you mean Shiori?" Nurarihyon took a puff of smoke with his pipe before he continued. "Don't worry, if she comes after someone, it might be me. Maybe I should be worried… but I'd welcome some fun."

"You did not do things to her I did, while foolishly thinking she was just a showoff." Setsura finally sat down, at a fair distance away from Nurarihyon. "So what now? She clearly went far above from what you wanted from her."

"Hmph. Have to decide on that one still." He frowned. "A lot of lives have been lost, even though I made it clear I don't want that." He took a pause to take a smoke. "On other hand, going easy would have been dangerous for her side."

"And you did order her to kill a lot of youkai inside the traitor's clans, Commander." Natou Kozou added. He, too, got acquainted with the current events.

"Right." Setsura nodded, but not gladly. "The list you gave her was way too long. If she offed one or two, the rest would be on high guard and unreachable."

"In any case, what happened is my responsibility. Nothing will change that fact." Nurarihyon said with a calm expression.

"Still though…" Setsura spoke once more, tapping with her crossed arms on her elbows. "She failed to kill any of the ringleaders."

"I didn't even mark them as targets."

""What?"" Both Nattou Kozou and Setsura exclaimed in unison.

"But they are the ones who deserve it the most." Setsura blinked in confusion.

"Several reasons. For one, I'd prefer us to be their executioners." He emptied his pipe into a bowl. "And, more importantly, we need to flush the heart of this corruption… the ones who drink and eat with us in the Main House, together with my great-grandchildren whom…" He frowned. "In any case, the conspirators should find it irresistible to meet, if only to discuss what to do in the upcoming battle against Shiori."

"I see… so those who soon go to spend time with them are our traitors." Setsura allowed herself to smile. She had the same reasons as Nurarihyon to hate them. "Yes, yes, that's a good plan. That's why you are our Supreme Commander after all."

"Don't smile just yet. We still have to find a way to get rid of them, and to find a way to make the leader of this whole conspiracy reveal themselves to everyone in the clan. Otherwise, this rot will not disappear and may even haunt us for another generation. And do that while we are all under fire." He started making himself another pipe to smoke. "But Kijo, Satori, Housei, and whoever is now hosting your little reunion… you will all definitely learn that this old man is now out of patience."

* * *

"It's good that the Fourth has finally decided to bring the fight to the enemy." Kijo said as the meeting started. "And I wonder if we could make use of this opportunity."

"What kind of use?" Satori inquired.

"There will be thousands of youkai fighting in the streets. A lot of blood, a lot of chaos, too little time to pay attention…" Kijo's smile grew with each second. "...a lot of death, a lot of misinformation, a lot of dead witnesses… you could kill anyone, and you could easily get away with it."

"Hm, hm. Anyone could die, and it's easy to push the blame." the always smiling Housei nodded. "A perfect time to get rid of any undesirables."

"Hmph." Satori did not seem to like the idea. "I would prefer if we focused our efforts into ridding the world of Shiori's group."

"Your opinion is understandable." Housei was the one to reply. "After all, you lost more than any of us."

"But still, this is a unique situation." Sorobanbou joined into the discussion. "The youkai of Hyaku Monogatari will want to spread the fight across several towns, rather than focus all their forces on one place. And they are enemy to virtually everyone, so whoever dies, it will be their fault. Can we really let go of this opportunity?"

"Hmmm." Satori crossed his arms and closed his eyes in thought. "Fine, but I and my clan will fight the enemy." He opened his eyes as he accepted the proposal. "So? Whom do we want to remove?"

"For one, I'd like to get rid of the parasites." Sorobanbou already had someone on his mind. "Usually, a youkai clan claims pieces of land as their own, and only they are allowed to haunt. But the Nura Clan has for centuries allowed non-affiliated youkai to infest our territories and collect Fear."

"But even so, the Tochigami get prayers from it and send their dues to us." Housei had conflicting opinions. "And any who did get too ambitious, got put into their place."

"No, I'll have to agree with Sorobanbou-sama here." Satori, who already said he would not take part in this plan, still had his opinions. "If the Nura Clan was stricter, the youkai of the Hyaku Monogatari would have had harder time collecting their own Fears. This will always be a hole in our clan's security. Besides…" He then sat at the floor. "We're no longer living in times when humans pray to Tochigami to protect them from us. The humans today, especially in this rotten city, have even less respect for gods than for youkai. Tochigami no longer make up for the loses."

"I'm so glad you understand our situation so well, Satori-sama." Sorobanbou nodded. "As the leader of the Demon Merchant union and the clan's head accountant, I can confirm that we lose too much with this tolerance. I brought this issue to the Commander, but he did not even bother considering any of my suggestions."

"Still though, all we can do is reduce their numbers." Kijo gave her own opinion. "We kill fifty, another fifty take their place."

"Did you forget Kijo-san?" Housei said while smiling even more. "The Hyaku Monogatari lie every day, and it's not like anyone can trust the outsiders. We must only hide from our clan… but let everyone else know that the Nuras will no longer tolerate outsiders."

"Too risky." Kijo shook her head. "Not that I'm against making them pay."

"Well, let's compromise then." Sorobanbou went to end the discussion. "We kill as many as we can, but threaten others. And maybe we could even make it look like these neutrals sided with Shiori. The Commander hates this clan enough to buy it."

"Speaking of assassinations, maybe we should resume that plan of ours? Housei spoke, and everyone turned silent." They all knew what he meant, and they knew that it was utter treachery by everyone's standard. "The reality has already made our Supreme Commander understand that he can't allow himself to be too soft. After all, we are finally getting our dream of destroying the Urban Legends and conquering Chubu Region come true. But he still needs a bit of a push."

"So we resume that plan from eight years ago…" Satori spoke as he looked at the ground. "...to kill someone dear to him… most perfectly, his child."

"Speaking of which, you just went through pain of having to feel what it's like to lose family." Kijo looked at Satori. "Have your feelings concerning this plan changed?"

Satori raised his head to look at the ceiling. "Had the Supreme Commander properly led the Nura Clan, nobody would have dared to attack my own clan." He then looked at everyone, his frowning eyes filled with contempt. "Had he not forgotten what it's like to lose someone precious to you, he would have not fooled around. So I'm all for teaching him a lesson."

"You seem more enthusiastic than all of us now." Housei smirked and then looked at Sorobanbou. "Well, you lead this meeting. Should we restart the plan?"

A silence ensued, as it befits the magnitude of this plan.

"It has already been returned into motion." After a pause, Sorobanbou revealed. "The one who allowed the Kyushu Clan's Orochimaru to prowl around Ukiyoe was me." Sorobanbou looked from one face to another, as if trying to guess what they all thought. "And it was me, and my bribes, which persuaded the Kyushu generals to send Orochimaru here without Mizuchi's knowledge."

"Or so you think." Housei frowned. "Mizuchi knows a lot. He might have known about this too."

"Even if he did, it does not matter. What matters is that they failed, so I called our old acquaintance back to Tokyo."

"Yes, we all heard about it." Kijo smiled. "The Supreme Commander is all mad about Gagoze."

"But I heard he suffered fatal injuries when he met some of our clansmen." Satori added. "Shouldn't we consider him a failure too?"

"No, I have not yet failed." A voice spoke, and everyone turned to its source. Entering from another hidden passage, which led from outside Sorobanbou's mansion, was Gagoze himself. "I know what you think." He touched his bandage, and the arm he hid under the blanket. "But I assure you, these injuries have just made me stronger." His eyes did not waver even for a little bit as he spoke.

Housei jumped onto his feet with a smile that stretched across his face. "Gagoze, my dear boy!" He walked up to him and petted his head. "I'm so glad to see you are fine!"

"Housei-sama… your arm…" Gagoze spoke as his eyes saw what has happened to Housei.

"Just like you, I suffered some scratches." He patted Gagoze's back and made him walk forward. "But come in, take a seat with us!"

"Not so quick, Housei!" Kijo raised her hand in complaint. "There are rumors that he has made some enemies… enemies that might be affiliated with the Hyaku Monogatari!"

"I'm glad to see that you are keeping your guard up, Kijo-sama. More people should be like that." Gagoze bowed as he said those words. "And it's true, I found my allies in that group."

"Quite honest of you." Satori looked with an angry look at Gagoze.

"I have nothing to hide, for I'm loyal to the Nura Clan and none else." Gagoze said as he took steps forward. "And I needed allies. Better if it were enemies I care not about, then to have you risk yourself by aiding me."

"Yet, you came here." Kijo noted.

"I only came bec-" Gagoze started to explain himself.

"That's because I invited him here." Sorobanbou explained it in his stead.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Satori struck the floor with his fist. "He is the most wanted man in the Nura Clan. If Supreme Commander finds out we just as much as said 'hi' to him, we'll all be dead! Maybe our clans with us!"

"If the Supreme Commander finds out what we are planning, we'll be in an even worse situation." Sorobanbou argued back.

"Yes, I've to agree with Satori-sama." Gagoze said and raised his remaining arm, which was covered in blood. "I tried to enter the mansion through a window, but found someone sneaking around. I broke their neck and threw the corpse into the sewer. Then I saw another youkai walking around the mansion, but I left him alone. Another one was keeping watch from elsewhere, and I stabbed his heart with my hand and threw him in what I know was the lair of the Urban Legends." He lowered his hand. "None of these three were Urban Legends."

A silence ensued. Everyone knew what it meant.

"If what you say is true… someone is watching over us." Kijo said. "We can't meet one another anymore… not for a long while to come. It's good nobody else came, otherwise this might have been bad."

"Yet it also means that we have to make our decision." Housei added and looked down at Gagoze. "I take it you will continue your mission?"

"Of course." Gagoze said as he looked at the other three. "Just give me the order."

"Yet we need to decide who should die." Sorobanbou noted. "As we recently found out, there are now three heirs."

"The Onmyouji would be the best." Kijo was the first to give an opinion. "She is an outsider, and could prove to be dangerous for the clan later down the road… not to mention that her very existence strengthens the already too powerful clan of Onmyouji."

"Yet, she could also prove to be a powerful ally should the clan find itself in a pinch." Sorobanbou thought she should be spared. "Unlike the other two, she even has an entire Hyakki finished. She is too valuable, and so is Ritsura and her charisma. I'd go for Rihan, he has the least value."

"Rihan has potential to grow though." Housei shook his head. "I'd rather off the current presumed heir. I've a bad feeling she may be too assertive, while Rihan's ignorance might make him a puppet that would listen to our every word."

"The one who has to die is Nura Rihan." Gagoze cut in. "He is-" He stated but then his face turned pale, as if he saw a ghost.

"Hello? Gagoze-boy?" Housei patted him on the back. "Are you alright?"

"Ah… I'm alright. It's just that some toys… no, forget about it." Gagoze said while cleaning some sweat from his forehead.

"Toys?" the others raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, I see…" Sorobanbou scratched his own chin. "I heard about it… some toy-like youkai are killing whoever is trying to say to reveal the secrets that the Hyaku Monogatari keeps hidden. I guess your alliance with the enemy…"

"...might, shamefully for me, keep my mouth closed." Gagoze looked at his hand, as if he was intending to slaughter it. "In any case, you will have to believe me… if someone has to die, it must be that… that… Nura Rihan."

A short silence ensued, after which Housei spoke. "Well, it doesn't really matter that much who dies and who lives." Housei spoke with a large grin. "Each one has their pros and cons. Just make sure one dies, and the other two survive. It's safer if we have both an heir and a reserve after all!"

"I live to serve the clan." Gagoze bowed. "But… my current allies… have a plan and I'd like to discuss it with you before going on with it."

"Ho?" Housei looked intrigued. "Alright, let us hear it."

* * *

Rihan felt melancholy as he slowly walked through the Household. He walked slowly, and greeted the youkai in the passing like usual.

But this would be the last time he would walk through this place he called home for all sixteen years of his life. Tonight was the night he would leave.

He could no longer stand living amongst these youkai, and smile like he was truly still one of them. After the attacks in Chubu, the Nura Clan and the Rose Coalition were now in an irreversible blood feud. Nothing could be averted or delayed. And so staying at this place started to feel suffocating.

He did not intend to say any goodbyes. Not only did he not know how to explain himself, but he also did not want a warm farewell party which he felt he would not deserve. Hikari was waiting outside to be taken home, and Shiori would accompany them. Once he took the girl home, he and Shiori would not return. That was the plan.

Having reached the exit, he sat down and went to put on the shoes. He did not intend to take any of his belongings with him. They were all part of his old life that he was now leaving behind, not to mention it would reveal his intentions to leave to everyone.

Yet, destiny had its own opinions in the matter. "Ah, Rihan!" He heard his mother's voice behind him. "Going somewhere?"

"I'm going to take Hikari-chan home." It was not technically a lie.

"Ah yeah, it is quite late." As he turned around, he saw her carrying a basket filled with laundry. "A shame I didn't really get to meet her. Looks like a nice girl."

"Doing laundry again? Can't others take care of that?" He tried to keep the chit chat going, just to make it look like it was a day as any other.

"Nope, a true Bride of a Nurarihyon does her own laundry." She puffed with pride.

He imagined Shiori doing the laundry. He was sure he would not be able to sleep fearing about what kind of curse she cast on it.

But this was no time to fantasize. "Sounds like something Grandma told you."

"Haaa… actually she did." She blinked as she looked in the air, and then turned her attention back at her son. "But is this really fine? It might be dangerous out there, especially now that the Hyaku Monogatari have shown their fangs."

"You can't force a girl to stay. Besides, they now have other things to worry than harass her… but they might see her as a target if she hangs around us too much." This was not a lie actually. Shiori would not touch her, but her allies were a different matter.

His mother sighed. "That's true. But still, I'm worried that they might target you." She then put on her strict expression and raised her finger. "Don't even think about going out alone, got that?"

"As if Dad's spies can be stopped." _Well, they can… but I'll take care of that once Hikari is safe._

And then she blinked, and sighed. "Actually no… they are all delegated elsewhere." His mother, who was also in charge of the bodyguards for both her husband and her children, revealed. "You will need to ask someone to come with you."

"Nobody is tailing me then?" Normally Rihan would be happy about it, and part of him was glad that he would not need to worry about youkai hiding around him. However, it was also a sign that his father would be attacking the Rose Coalition very soon. And that he was very serious about taking them down.

"You won't be asking anyone to come with you, will you?" She shook her head. "You're a Nurarihyon through and through."

"I can take care of myself."

"I know you can. You're no longer a child that needs protecting, and you've proven it already." She then smiled proudly. "And you both earned it. Your dad was very impressed by your little fight earlier. And is very proud of you both." And then her smile turned a bit sad. "But you going alone out there can still cause troubles for us all."

"I know." _And I'm sure I'll breach my own record with this._ "Well, farewell Mom." He said and turned around, so she would not see how serious his face was.

"Hai! Take care." She greeted him as he left. "Dinner will be waiting for you!"

It was cruel to leave just like that, but he was sure it would be for the best.

"Ready to go, girls?" He asked Shiori and Hikari. Hikari nodded with ignorant innocence, while Shiori's lowered eyebrows and a slower nod made it clear that she understood that this was no mere night spent outside.

"Alright then, let's go!" He said and pushed them both forward. He wanted to get out as soon as possible.

"I'm starting to feel this isn't just about taking me home…" Hikari did not need long to notice the strange atmosphere.

"And you're right." Rihan said as they left through the large torii gate. After a few steps, he stopped and threw one last look at his home, its lights and the cheerful sounds coming from inside.

And he watched as the gates of the mansion closed, and the voices became silent. After another moment of gazing at it, he turned around and faced the mysterious darkness.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you all the way to your home?" Rihan asked Hikari while waiting for the bus. "It might be safer that way."

"It's fine." She shook her head. "I'll walk through crowded streets, and I doubt something will happen there."

Of course, Shiori also had to say something. "Besides, Riha-chan is a magnet for trouble. It'll be much safer with you away."

Hikari leaned her body a bit to look at Shiori who was standing right behind Rihan. "If you really think so, why not play it safe and come with me, far away from this dangerous boy."

"Oh no, I love danger." Shiori said with a hand over her chest. "Besides, a Knight needs a damsel nearby if he is to function properly."

"I can't believe you are human." Hikari said and then returned her body back to her old stance, from which she could not look at Shiori. "Maybe I should be worried about you? She doesn't seem a safe person to be around."

"She is a bit crazy, but you get used to it after a while." He said, which resulted in Shiori hitting him from behind with her elbow. But he pretended that nothing had happened. "But I'm more worried about your feelings, Hikari-chan. I know you're still feeling anxious, and no doubt looking behind your shoulder all the time." His brows lowered to make a sad expression. "Maybe that's why you don't want us around… you don't want us to see that side of you, or it's hard to keep a straight face for too long."

"...ah." She looked at him in awe. "You're… unusually knowledgeable about this."

"Well, things happened to me as well…" Rihan said while scratching his head.

"An evil youkai stabbed him with large knives when he was only eight." Shiori said the whole story. "So he knows the feeling better than anyone."

"Ah… I… is that true?" She looked at him with horror. "That's… some heavy stuff. I'm sorry…"

"There's nothing to be sorry about… at least not for you." _It's a different story for the guy who is currently prowling the streets._ "Though she had it worse." He said while pointing at the girl behind him.

"Huh?" She took a step to the left, and looked at Shiori again, while a bus just arrived. "Araya-chan, what-"

"The bus is here, enough with your club activities!" Shiori walked forward, and pushed Hikari into the bus. "Now get of here. The sight of you pisses me off."

"I…" She started, but the doors of the bus started closing. "See you both later, okay?" She said while pushing the door open.

"Alright! Stay safe, Hikari-chan!" Rihan waved his hand at the girl, who waved back as the doors closed. In meantime, Shiori looked at her angrily with crossed arms. Even after the bus started moving, Shiori's eyes followed it.

"I know you're jealous, but you better not do something stupid, 'kay?" Rihan immediately said to her.

"Jealous? Ah, I see." She smiled. "Well, don't worry about me. I won't do anything. But maybe you should be cautious?"

"Why?"

"She is too much like a supporting character from some story. Heck, she was already used as a supporting character by the Dollmaker, wasn't she?"

"You're saying that they intend to use her against me?" He looked towards the bus, which could barely be seen due to how far it went. "Maybe I should have gone with her…"

"And then what? You will also help her climb the stairs? Maybe eat dinner with her? Oh, and sleep in her bed just to be sure she is safe."

"You know, you're so cute when you're jealous." He said and patted her on her head, as if she was a little girl.

"...I must say that I feel so angry right now."

"But you're right. I can't be there for everyone all the time." He still looked at the distance, even though the bus could no longer be seen. He was worried about her, but it was realistically impossible to be keep her safe every moment every day. "I guess… that I finally know how Mom and Dad felt during the last eight years."

"Seeing as they are your loving parents, it must've been much worse." She said and looked up at him with annoyance. "You know, though I'm glad you're choosing me… your choice doesn't make me too happy."

"Naturally. Blood is supposed to be thicker than water." Rihan said. "Though I have not given up on them."

"Yes, I know… you will keep giving your best to get the best possible ending." She added and shook her head. "Though there's more to all this… but that's a story for another time." After saying those words, she started walking. Before he could say anything to that, she asked a question. "Is anyone from your clan following us?"

"No, they aren't. They are all preparing to fight you."

"Good… then let's go to a park."

"A park? Why?"

"You'll see soon enough."

* * *

"Alright then! Here we are!" Rihan announced as the two walked through a dark park, though the path they walked on was alight. "We are in a big park at night, filled with youkai and overexcited couples enjoying the bushes. So which one of those interests us?"

Shiori walked away from the cemented path and then turned around. "Haah." She then let herself fall onto the ground, and lay down on her back.

"Ah… are you serious? Here? I know you're bold, but isn't this a bit too much?" Rihan looked around. "We're not even that deep in, and the light is-" And then the light lamps started shining. "Ah… but we're still not that deep in the park."

"Do your best love!" She said with a raised thumb.

"No no no, this is going way too far!" He shook his head. "Look, this is a big day and I'm not in the mood for-"

"And kick his ass!"

"Huh?" Rihan needed a moment to realize what she meant, and it all became clear when he felt someone jump two or three meters behind him. He turned and barely had time to notice that some black-clad man was making a pirouette and his scythe-shaped weapons moved towards Rihan. Rihan quickly took out his sword to block the charge, and this weapon cut everything at around a meter and half of height, and the force of impact threw Rihan flying away.

As he flew above Shiori, who still lay down with her hands under her head and one leg raised, he understood why she had decided to lay down: it was the easiest way to avoid being cut in half.

Rihan flew towards a large tree, but managed to kick it with his foot and save himself from striking into it with his full body. He looked towards the black-clad man of golden hair and a small pony-tail, who looked it he was preparing himself to jump towards Rihan. Rihan would have welcomed his charge, had his sword not got shattered by the impact. _I REALLY need to get myself a proper sword._

After a short while, the mysterious man raised his scythe, making Rihan wonder if he would slash the ground in front of him like in those animated movies, but then Rihan's eyes fell on four circular things on the scythe that had knives all around them. _They look just like sunflowers… with sharp, steel petals… and like something that could fly._ After the man slashed the air with his scythe, the circular items really did start to fly. _Oh shit._

Though there were four of them and each moved on its own, they were all in Rihan's line of sights so he could still follow them all with his eyes. As they got closer, he could predict where they would go as long as the used did not make any sudden moves.

He used his mirage to avoid the three of them, while he used a stone he picked from the ground to strike the fourth into the ground, crushing it in the process.

And then he ran towards the black-clad man. _I lack a weapon, so defending myself will be hard. I better bring this to a quick end._ Since Shiori organized this fight, his life was probably not in danger… probably. But whatever it may be, he did not want to lose.

The man did not prepare to meet him with his scythe, but instead raised his right hand. It was clad in a black glove, with a seven-pointed star.

Rihan did not stop moving, not until suddenly a transparent, white woman appeared and screamed right into his face. This sudden event took him aback, and he stopped moving for a moment. The scream did nothing and the woman disappeared, but the surprise stopped him from moving and thus the flying weapons no doubt got too close.

He had no choice but to turn around and face them. He tried to use his Fear, but some kind of power now surrounded them, and he felt his released Fear being dispelled. _No choice then: I have to do this the hard way._

He grabbed the closest two with his hands. Though the blades cut a little into his fingers and their vibration continued tearing up his flesh, he did not feel much pain. And he knew those would heal soon anyway. He then used the one in his left hand to destroy the third one, thus neutralizing another flying object.

But he had no time to rest, for the sound of footsteps alerted him of the incoming threat. He turned around and met his scythe with both of the flying stars. As he was looking at his long face, Rihan confirmed that he had no idea who this man was. But he was certain that he was a human, and likely an Onmyouji. "Onmyouji, black clothes, and a seven-pointed star. You're a Gokadoin, aren't you?"

"And you're that man's son." The man frowned.

The stars in Rihan's hands started trying to move away, so Rihan had to not only force the Gokadoin's scythe away, but he also had to use his strength to keep the stars from moving, breaking his stance, and thus making him vulnerable to literally any attacks.

But he was the one who was on the higher ground, all thanks to the fact that their faces were close. This allowed Rihan to take a breath, and release some cold air right into his enemy's face.

"Gaaah!" The man was taken aback and grabbed his face with his left hand. _You're lucky it was not one of the women from my family._ Rihan used his newfound vulnerability to make a cross-shaped slash with both of the stars, spilling the man's blood. "Urghhh!" The man then jumped away, to a safer distance.

Rihan, who was getting tired of the stars trying to pull themselves away, struck one into another, breaking them both into pieces. "So? What'll we do?" Rihan asked. "Is this a deathmatch, or are we just playing around? The answer is very important."

"It was a test." The man said and relaxed. "You fought well, even though you lacked a weapon. As far as I'm concerned, you have passed the first test." As he spoke, Shiori rose from the ground, and struck her thighs and behind with her hands to get rid of dirt.

"The first test?" Rihan suddenly felt really tired. "I'm not really in the mood tonight."

"This is it for the night anyway." The man said. "I'm Gokadoin Taisei."

"And you're here because…"

The one to answer this was Shiori. "He's here because he had a package to deliver." She reached them and looked up at the Onmyouji. "But I didn't expect you to come and do the test personally."

"This is supposed to be my greatest work. I won't just give it to anyone." He said while looking at her, after which he faced Rihan once more. "Honestly, giving it to you annoys me, mostly because you look too much like your father."

"I take it you know him then." Rihan scratched the back of his head. "So? What's this package about? And where is it?"

"Right here!" A younger voice spoke from behind and someone walked past Rihan, holding a long, black suitcase in his hand. This man Rihan knew.

"Long time to see, Shiori-chan!" _That Damn Kashaimaru_ said as he walked to Shiori and put his hands across her shoulders. "How've you been doing?"

"Good, thank you." She said and went to push him away, but then her eyes fell on Rihan's annoyed face. Then she smiled and looked at _That Damn Kashaimaru Bastard_ with a shining face. "Good, thank you very much for asking Kashaimaru-san!"

In response, he pulled her closer. "I'm so happy to hear that!" _The Man Who Deserved to Die_ smiled brightly back.

"Now let me go before my boyfriend feasts upon your Ikigimo." It was then that Shiori pushed herself away, after which she took the suitcase. She smiled naughtily when her and Rihan's eyes met. _My wise sister was so very right._

"So, what is that?" Rihan asked as she put the suitcase on a stump and prepared to open it.

"A gift to prove my fidelity to you." She said as she opened it.

In the suitcase, there was a katana, not much longer than Nenekirimaru. It had a dark blue hilt, and a blade which looked like it reflected the black color. Rihan's youkai senses could feel a strong Fear from the sword. The sheath was also in the suitcase, blue and black in color. There was also a place where one would expect a mon or a symbol to be put, though there was none right now.

"Twenty years ago, I was supposed to craft the perfect blade for my great ancestor, Abe no Seimei." Taisei spoke while Rihan and Shiori looked over the blade. "Yet, I was unable to move thanks to your father, so the sword was never finished."

"In fact, it was supposed to be a work made of three people." Shiori continued the story. "Alongside Taisei, Sanmoto Gorozaemon was supposed to offer a shard from Maou's Hammer, and Enchou was supposed to use his Tale-making abilities to give it a higher purpose." She then looked at Rihan. "Well, we got him a shard, and I replaced Enchou, so in the end the sword was crafted."

"But why?" Rihan looked at Taisei. "The Nue is dead, killed by the father of the one you're supposed to give it to."

"Generations of Gokadoin Swordsmiths were researching and preparing for this craftwork. I myself spent my entire life thinking on how to make it." Taisei said and frowned. "I had to finish it, and I did not care anymore who gets the wield it." And then he smiled bitterly. "Though seeing as you're the ally of this woman… maybe I even get my revenge this way."

Rihan did not like this idea, but he understood his perspective. He looked back at the sword. Not wanting to wait for someone to offer it to him, he put his hand down and slowly raised it up.

He could feel a chill go through his body as he held it. The sword tried to terrify him, make him run with a tail behind his legs. But Rihan reacted to it with a smile. He actually liked this feeling, and the power he felt from it made it clear that this sword would not break easily. "I can feel its strength alright. But what's this on the blade?" Since he took the sword into his hands, some white lines appeared and moved around like snakes.

"I've no idea." Taisei said with a shrug. "This is the first time I see it."

"How can you not know?" Rihan asked, but continued to look at the sword as he moved his fingers across the blade's front. "You crafted and enchanted it."

"I know it's strength and potential, but even I don't know what your girlfriend here did to it, nor do I know the effect the shard from Maou's Hammer had on it."

"So you know little about it." Rihan taunted him, and slid his finger across the blade itself. It cut nicely, and Rihan felt like the sword tried to inject something deadly into him, but he resisted it with his own Fear. He could already see this _poison_ being stronger if he put his Fear into his attacks. "It's a strong sword, for sure." Rihan gave a compliment before starting to criticize him. "But I feel Nenekirimaru was stronger, and the same goes for Yukizakura."

"Yukizakura?" Taisei raised an eyebrow.

"Another sword crafted by the Keikains, it now belongs to my sister." Rihan explained. "I do so hope, for your pride, that you didn't do this to compete with Keikains."

"Wait until you use it." To Rihan's surprise, Taisei released a great smile. "Besides, it's not even finished yet."

"It isn't? Or is this a lie to give yourself a reason to reforge it?"

"Just what do you think I need a second test for? No, I gave this sword to you so it would taste blood and battle. Let it mature and grow, and then it will become a masterpiece."

"Well, I sure hope you know what you're doing." Rihan took the sheath from the suitcase, and put the blade into it. "Just so you know, I ended up breaking Nenekirimaru. I can't guarantee it will survive until it returns to you."

"Don't you worry about it. The more burden you put on it, the better." Taisei said and turned away. "We will meet again… if the sword does not kill you or find you unworthy." He said with a wicked smile, and then left. "Farewell both of you."

"Wait! What is the sword's name?"

"Haven't come up with it yet!" Taisei yelled back without turning. "I'm sure one will sprout one way or another."

"Well, I also better go." Kashaimaru said while stretching his shoulders.

"I'm surprised you don't want this sword for yourself." Rihan said to him.

"I do, I really do… but forging this sword would be impossible without Shiori-chan, so she is the one who made the call." Kashaimaru put a hand on Rihan's shoulder. "So treasure the sword, and the one who gave it to you."

"Please stop that. I hate the idea of getting along with you." Rihan was honest with him.

"Yeah, I can see that in your eyes." Kashaimaru pulled his hand back, and then looked at Shiori. "In any case, I hope you know that you should not count on me anymore."

"Of course." Shiori shrugged. "But that goes both ways."

"Naturally." Kashaimaru nodded and then went towards where Taisei left. "Well, see you both sometime!"

After he was gone, and the lamplights started shining again, Rihan turned towards Shiori. "What do you mean you should not count on him?"

"Kashaimaru, the man, is a friend of mine. But Kashaimaru, the one who wants to lead the Gokadoin House, can't be my ally. Or in layman's terms: he can only help a little with my cause, lest he got cut from chance of inheriting the leadership position."

"Oh… so it's possible I get a chance to slay him?"

"...love, we need to talk about your jealousy issues."

* * *

"So, that's done." Rihan said while carrying the sword on his hips.

"So it is." Shiori yawned in agreement. They had just left the park, and Rihan no idea where they would go next. "What now?"

"That's what I want to ask you." He looked in the general direction of his former home. "We can't go back, that's for-"

"Oi, you two!" And then someone appeared. The two quickly turned around, only to see Ritsura. "What? Why are you two acting like the Nue itself came?"

"Sis, what are you doing here?" Rihan asked.

"I'm here to make sure you two are not up to something naughty." Ritsura explained, and then Gozumaru and Heiko appeared beside her. "And to make sure that Araya-chan returns safely to the mansion. You can't seriously intend to walk her around while the whole city is under high threat? Even I'm not travelling alone."

"I-"

"This is not up for arguing. Araya-chan is going back home, and that's not up for debate! The clan has enough worries, without you two adding to them!"

_Ugh, how annoying._ Rihan wanted to get both himself and Shiori out of the mansion, but this complicates everything.

"Fine, fine! No need to get so uptight about it." Shiori sighed. "I'll go back… but what about Riha-chan? You are not asking him to come."

"Oh, I know how that would end." Ritsura explained with her hands on her hips. "He'll either be a bad boy and walk away, or pretend to be a nice boy and sneak up while we're not watching."

"Lately I feel like nobody is trying to stop me…"

"You have to get tired at some po-" Then her eyes fell on Rihan's hip, and she went silent. "Oh my, what is that?" She smiled and looked over it. "Is that a new sword? I can even feel something from it… a spirit sword?" She then finally looked up at Rihan, with a competitive smile. "Just where did you get that?"

"I got some friends of my own." Rihan said. He did not bother to come up with a better excuse, seeing as he was leaving the clan.

"I see, I see… so Yuki finally has a rival." Ritsura nodded in approval. "I hope it looks nice."

"You want me to show it to you, sis?"

"Yes… but a sword looks the best when it is actually being used. So maybe some other time."

"Ha. Here's hoping you don't have to use your rival swords against one another." Shiori added, and Rihan wondered if she actually desired that to happen.

"But that's where the fun'd be at." Ritsura said as she walked past her brother, and then looked at him with a strange gleam in her eyes. "Isn't that right, little brother?" She said with a smile, and moved away. "But 'nuf lollygagging, we have wasted enough time! Let's go home already!"

"Take care, you four!" Rihan said to them.

Shiori waved back, while Ritsura replied in the same style. "You take care too. Try not to get into too much trouble."

Rihan lowered his hand while looking at them. _Something about the way she looked at me… feels sketchy._

"Nura-kun." A girl's voice broke him away from his thinking.

"Ha?" He turned around, and saw a girl who should not have been here. "Hikari-chan?"

The girl nodded. Her hands lowered and their fingers intertwined, while her expression was worried.

"Why… are you here?"

"Something felt off with you and that girl… so I left at the first station, and followed you from the distance."

"I see… and what did you see?"

"I saw that you truly are with the bad guys." Hikari frowned. "Araya-chan… no, Shiori-san… is crazy. And those men… no, their sword is something evil, isn't it?"

Rihan looked at her for a while, and then asked. "So? What about it?"

A long silence ensued, while the two just looked at one another.

"I don't like this." She finally spoke.

"Yeah… so what?"

"I… I'll make sure that-"

She did not finish her proclamation, for someone jumped at a spot just beside them. Rihan tensed up and put his hand on his new sword, but relaxed when he saw it was the Endless Thief. "Ah, so it's just you."

Relaxing proved to be a bad decision, for the same person struck him into his throat with a punch, making Rihan fall onto his knees.

"Nura-kun!" Hikari yelled and lowered herself down to him.

Rihan looked up. "What… are you doing?" The punch was strong, and Rihan still felt some pain. "Ah… I see. A traitor is being betrayed, huh?" Rihan smirked after seeing the resolved look in the Thief's eyes , and some little angel made of porcelain, with black blood coming out of its eye sockets and mouth, flying beside him. "I hope you know what this means." Rihan returned his hand onto the hilt of his sword.

But the Thief moved first, yet what he struck was the ground… and it opened a black portal, just like that time at the Antiquarium.

"Hyaa!" Hikari released a small scream.

"What are you-" Rihan did not have time to finish his question when the portal devoured both him and Hikari.

* * *

"Uhhhh… where are we?" Rihan felt like he awoke, even though he knew that no time had passed since he was devoured by the portal.

"I think…" Hikari was with him, rubbing her own head. "A hardware store?" They were surrounded by TVs, as well as other electronic devices-

"Why would he… throw me here?"

" _Because I asked him to."_ A voice that sounded like it came from a last century's malfunctioning radio spoke. The next moment, all the TVs turned on. There was a large, thick film grain on all of them, something unusual in this day and age, but one could see a silhouette of a woman on the screens.

"Let me guess… you're someone from the House of Sanmoto, right?" Rihan did not need long to make a theory.

" _Indeed… I'm the Songstress, Sanmoto Otone."_ The silhouette crossed her arms. _"And this is the start of a new game."_ The woman spoke in a dull, unemotional tone. Yet, Rihan felt the pride was strong in this woman.

"I don't think this is really the time for games. After all, your group is preparing for a major war." Rihan noted, and then added. "But then again… you might be the one who was throwing oil into the flames to make the war happen."

" _And what if I were?"_

"Then we're fellow traitors." Rihan shrugged. "Anyway, let's not waste time. Do your thing, and let's finish this as soon as possible. There are places I need to be at." While he spoke, the terrified Hikari caught onto Rihan's sleeve while also looking at the screens.

" _Fine then."_ The silhouette raised her hand, and showed three fingers. _"This is a game where three youkai are after your life. You have to win."_

"Sounds disappointingly easy."

" _The catch is, you can't kill them, nor can you hurt them. If they suffer a physical or mental breakdown, you lose."_

"And what happens if I lose?" Rihan did not like this rule, not at all.

" _Nothing good. As the Coalition's Champion, you can't reject participating in the game. And as the same Champion, defeat will bring a horrible price upon you."_

"And how am I supposed to win then?"

" _I don't know, because I didn't make victory possible. You'll have to think of something, I guess."_

"Sounds unfair."

"Well, you see Kokuhan…" The screens started turning off one after another. _"Horror stories are supposed to be unfair."_ And then the last screen turned off.

"Nura-kun… what is going on?" Hikari asked.

"Nothing good." Rihan said. "Forgive me, but please ask me any questions later. I myself have to make head and tails of all this…"

"...right." The girl nodded and put her hands onto her chest.

_After what happened to Eiji-san… she must be horrified. But I have no time to deal with it._

"Let's see where exactly my old friend took us." Rihan looked at the window, but the shutters were lowered. So he walked to the doors, and tried opening them. But they were locked.

"What now?" Hikari asked, still scared.

"Seriously?" Rihan grinned, and then kicked the door open. He then went out, hoping that he would not need long to ascertain his location.

"Where… are we?" Hiakri asked as she walked after him.

"I don't know. " Rihan frowned, for he did not recognize the scenery around him.

Not at first. After a few moments, he knew where he was.

"Nura-kun… why did you turn pale?"

"This… why here of all places? That damn bitch…"

"Nura-kun?"

"This is… where it all began… where so much happened so many times…" He clenched his teeth. "This is… Nakano."

* * *

"I do wonder Ritsu-chan… how did you find us?" Shiori asked her old friend.

"Oh, that one was easy." Ritsura winked. "Since you had Hikari with you, I just had to go towards the nearest station that leads to her home, and then look around the town."

"Ah, stupid question." Shiori sighed.

_And there I thought I was done playing the role of Ichinoe Araya. Well, I can always leave tomorrow._

"Huh?" Ritsura raised her head and stopped. "What is going on there?" She asked as she pointed towards some smoke in the distance.

"Before I left, I was asked if I could help hunt some youkai who were moving too close to the mansion." Gozumaru explained. "Maybe our people found them?"

_Kirie, I told you to not get anyone to close to the Nura Clan's House!_

"I see… so the battles have started." Ritsura frowned as she looked at the smoke.

"Won't you go join the fight?" _If I could make her move away, I could find a way around Gozumaru and Heiko._

"No, the others can take care of that. It would be a bad idea to throw all of our forces at one spot." She said and looked at another road. "Well, let us take a detour around that battlefield."

"Hm, alright." _Well, it was worth a try._ Shiori followed after Ritsura, as they took another route. "But are you alright leaving Riha-chan alone at this time?"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll be fine. Maybe he's even following us." As if checking her own theory, she looked around. "But now that I think about it, you could make him come home." Ritsura winked at her. "Just call him and say that you should go back home, and spend the rest of your life there."

"Are you trying that again?"

"It does not hurt to ask that question again. Three times actually, as third time's the charm!"

"So you'll ask me this once more, huh?"

"Yep! But it'd be nice if you broke the cliche and just said yes!"

"No, I won't." Shiori stopped walking. "As a matter of fact, I want to go home. Your and your clan's nagging is really becoming suffocating."

"Home? But isn't that too far?"

"No, it's not." Shiori raised an eyebrow. "It's quite close, and you know it."

"Really?" Ritsura turned around, and Shiori shook at the sight of her cold gaze and her cold smile. "Nakano is hours away."

Shiori's eyebrows rose up. "What… do you mean?"

And then she dramatically moved her hand upwards, and something like a photo came out of her sleeve. She caught it with her fingers, and pointed the photo towards Shiori.

There was her three years ago, with her classmates, from time when she was still attending her Middle School in Nakano. Her hair was not dyed red but black, but everyone could recognize the face.

"Most of them look like victims of that tragedy three years ago… and there's even text on the other side." She turned it around, revealing the name of the class and the year.

Cold sweat went down Shiori's neck. _Calm down… she only knows I'm Midori, not what it actually means._

"Ahaha… I see someone finally found out about it." Shiori rubbed the back of her head. "I know I should have said something earlier, but-"

"Speaking of which, our clan's intel says that the Kurugayas were the leading family of the House of Sanmoto." Ritsura took a step closer, and threw the photo back into her kimono's sleeve. "Explains a lot that happened in that town so many times." Ritsura took another step forward.

"I don't know what you're talking about…" Shiori took a step back. "I don't know anything about it!" She took another step back, but then met someone. Looking back, she saw Gozumaru and Heiko, both of whose eyes looked at her unblinkingly.

"Next you will say that your parents died, and maybe told you nothing?" Ritsura now standing only half a meter away from her, and seemingly did not intend to move any further. "Will you?"

"What for? You seem to have it all figured out." Shiori understood that there was no point in pretending anymore. "So what happens now?"

"As I said, third time's the charm." Ritsura's eyes narrowed further. "Surrender and, out of respect for friendship I might still feel for you, we'll be able to get along well."

"That question again…"

"I'd say it's a good offer. We stay pals, and you are kept safe from your wretched clan. But if you are truly a person who wants to be part of the Hyaku Monogatari… then we have nothing to talk about anymore."

"Then we have nothing to talk about anymore."

"Then so be it." After Ritsura said those words, a strange cold overtook Shiori. She felt her mind turning blank, as if she would fall asleep any moment now.

But then she sprung up and grabbed Ritsura by her scarf. Gozumaru's sword touched her neck, but she did not pay attention to it. "I must say…" Shiori said with a smile. "...this sure is getting very fun!"

"Go to sleep already." Ritsura said and raised her finger, strengthening her technique.

"Fine…" Shiori could no longer resist, and fell asleep.

* * *

**Author Notes**

And thus the chapter ends. Though it's not the largest chapter out there, it's definitely one of the most eventful ones. So let's go from point to point!

\- the Pianist was mentioned in the passing on one or two occasions in this arc, and now he is officially introduced. He won't have a major role, but he'll have a few appearances

\- Rihan has made his choice and decided to finally leave the clan but, as we see at the end of the chapter, it might have come a bit too late

\- a lot of people guessed that the ones Nurarihyon wanted dead (but could not do it personally) were some Nura Clan traitors. A lot of people guessed that the ones who hired Gagoze to kill Rihan were Nuras. Thus, I decided to not dance around it and just officially reveal this part of the plot. Thus this upcoming battle has practically four sides: Nura Clan, Nura clan's Dark Side, Rose coalition, and Rose coalition's Dark(er) Side

\- the Nura Clan Conspiracy here are a continuation of the Conspiracy that tried to disinherit/kill Rikuo in his youth. Though many head conspirators from those times (Hitotsume and Gyuki) are not present, some are. The current leader of this conspiracy, Sorobanbou, was canonically part of the old one

\- some of you may want to return to the end of chapter 63, where certain someone monologued about bribing the Kyushu Clan's generals to send Orochimaru to kill one of Rikuo's heirs. This chapter now reveals just whose thoughts those were

\- and so Rihan Jr. finally leaves. It was a mellow farewell, but let's be honest: we all know what the real drama should be about

\- the time has finally come: Rihan has gotten his own sword!

\- and thus Otone's game begins! The rules are unfair, he has a girl he needs to protect with him, and he is back in Nakano, there place where he first met Shiori, where Gagoze impaled him, and where an entire school was massacred

\- those who have read the "Ukiyoe Noir" omake should be able to remember Ritsura using Ao-Ju to get her hands on a certain photo. Well, now you know what that photo is about. In any case, not only does Ritsura know, but she has captured Shiori. In meantime, Rihan's in Nakano

* * *

**Replies to Reviews:**

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**Citsimsan:** _"-Satori. That's a familiar name. Anything to do witht he Kyoto youkai of the same name? It was sad to see his household fall so miserably, yet I must commend his quick thinking and sensible, if painful and humilliating, choices during the crisis."_

Yep, there was Satori in the canon as well, but this one is based on the more animalistic myths of him. Well, both fit into the world: Satoris mating with human women is common in folklore, and I imagine the Kyoto Clan's Satori to be born from one such union (Kyoto Clan already has many Hanyous in its ranks now that I think about it)

* * *

**Cistimsan** : _"-The long list of names made me search. The Rurabikira are your creations, indeed. But wait, aren't they the enforcers of the pact of silence or did I mistake them? The onikuma and kijo are legitimate youkai. And what about Housei?"_

Now that I think about it, there do seem to be similarities between the toys that enforce the Pact of Silence and the Rurakiriba. But the Toys are just toys, while the Rurakiriba are creepy dead girls.

As for Housei, he is an Onyudo. That term is used for many youkai, Hitotsume Nyudo included, and Housei is based upon some of Onyudo myths. Satori, Kijo, and Onyudos are all present in Chubu's folklore, especially in prefectures that I imagine the Nura Clan held


	91. (Songs of the Puppeteer) - One Tense Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ichinoe Araya's true identity was revealed by Nura Ritsura, and hse has been taken into custody. In meantime, Sanmoto Otone had transported Nura Rihan, together with his friend Furuta Hikari, to Nakano

  **Arc X: Songs of the Puppeteer**

**Chapter 91 - One Tense Day**

This was one of those mornings where Rihan woke up and was in shape to immediately get out of the bed. No feelings of exhaustion, or desire to just lay awake. He got up, and immediately made his way to the bathroom.

There, he took off his clothes and stood for a while while trying to decide if he would take a shower, or wash himself and then take a bath. In the end, he decided to take a shower as he was too used to taking baths at home.

After washing himself thoroughly, with cold water of course, he cleaned himself thoroughly. He went to take the clothes, but found none.  _Of course, I forgot no youkai would leave them there for me._  He sighed, and decided to just put a towel on his lower body. He would find some clothes in a wardrobe, or take his old ones and borrow some from a clothing shop later.

But before he got dressed, he decided to visit the refrigerator. Fortunately, they had some soda, so he took it, leaned against the furniture, and enjoyed the cold, tasty cola.

Then a sound of someone hitting the table resounded through the room.

Rihan opened his eyes and looked at the source of the sound, which sat at the dining table. "Is something the matter, Hikari-chan?" He asked the girl who was trying not to look at his direction.

"Please put some clothes on."

Rihan sighed. "A man can't even enjoy a cool morning in peace." He put the can on the table, and went to check the wardrobes in the room where he stayed.

"You don't really intend to steal someone else's clothes?" He heard Hikari's objections. "We're already breaking into some family's house, and were wasting their electricity, water… and food."

"I'm sure they can afford a shirt and some pants."

"I can't believe we are doing all this…"

"Better that than sleeping on a bench and spending days in smelly clothes without being able to take a shower or get a change of clothes. Speaking of which, you're still wearing clothes from yesterday."

"I'll buy some later."

"Do you have enough money on you?"

"Uh…"

"Alright, I'll get you some later."

"Please tell me you're buying them."

"Don't look a gift horse in the teeth."

"Uhhh…"

She was rubbing her face into her hands when Rihan left the room dressed in a striped shirt with a pocket on it, and some blue jeans. He felt like he was about to go on a barbecue, but those were the only clothes that fit.  _I'll have to get myself some proper clothes as soon as possible._

"You look stressed, Hikari-chan. Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you." Rihan noted while turning on the TV.

"We were teleported to Nakano by some strange witch, who also proclaimed that this is some sort of a death game." He could not see her face, but Rihan imagined that frustration and worry were showing on it. "And it does not help that the only one who can help us, you, is worried over his head."

"Do I look worried to you?" Rihan asked while turning from channel to channel.

"You look like a man who is so worried over his head that he desperately pretends everything is going nicely, and I'm not sure if you are trying to reassure me that everything will be fine, or yourself." She stabbed her words into him. "You're trying to watch the TV, but you can't keep your attention long on anything. Maybe you even hope that this Otone talks to you over TV again."

"To you, people are just books to be read, aren't they now?" Rihan smiled and turned off the TV. "I wonder if you find it fun, reading them like that."

"I do it because I want to understand them." She said with a frown as Rihan looked at her.

"Now look who's lying." Rihan had a mischievous smile while sitting down. "Can you tell me why you're lying?"

Now she looked more angry than annoyed or worried. "Maybe I do, depends on how you define fun." She frowned even further. "Suddenly, you're not acting nice to me at all."

Rihan looked at he for a while. "Why do you think that's so?"

Now she looked at him for a while. "I'd like to think that's another consequence of you being worried over your head."

"The way you worded it makes me think you wanted to say something else. What is it?"

"You tell me."

"Distrust." Rihan's brows lowered.

On other hand, her brows rose. "Distrust… you think I'm an… enemy?"

"You conveniently get attacked when I'm close, you are conveniently someone strange, you conveniently saw me and Shiori being shady, and you conveniently got stuck here with me. How do I know you're not one of Otone's buddies?"

She jumped from her stool and hit the table with her hands. "That's…" She said while looking down with her eyes closed and biting her lip. "You're horrible!" She looked at him angrily. "I'm not here because I want to be! I don't want any of these! I-" She suddenly stopped, looked as if she was trying to gulp something untasty, and then sat back down. "No, sorry… I don't know you well enough to be angry about it."

"I was lied to for three years, and I won't dare fall for these tricks as easily." Rihan smirked at her. "Though your outburst does seem honest. But still… shall we leave? It would be awkward if someone came while we were still here."

She looked at the window, towards the unknown streets, and sighed. "Yes, we shou-"

And as if it was all staged, they heard the sound of keys turning in a lock.

"Well, I hope you're up for some adrenaline, Hikari-chan." He said while raising up.

"Huh?" She looked from the hallway to Rihan who was walking towards her. "What are you- Kyaaah!"

And so he jumped out of the window with her in his arms.

* * *

Sometimes it takes a while to remember something important when you wake up. But when something is very important, so much that you immediately must get out of bed, you actually remember it quickly.

When Shiori realized that she jumped up onto her legs before even opening her eyes, she knew that this was the case of something so important that she remembered it before even fully waking up.

She looked around, but she was not in a familiar place nor in a jail cell… though that did not mean that she was not in jail. Yes, the clean oval chamber and the large glass windows that looked down on Tokyo were familiar.

 _This is a place that every Japanese would know._  She walked to the window and looked down while her hand touched it.  _This is Tokyo Tower._

But she did not come here to enjoy the view. Instead, she came because of the things that were sticked on the windows: white papers with Onmyodo characters on them. Her fingers slid over the window towards one of them, but the closer they got, the colder it felt, and she had a feeling that something terrible would happen if she went against these pieces of paper.  _They're done by an Onmyouji, but not to keep evil spirits at bay. They are curses, for both youkai and the humans._   _And I can guess their true purpose._

She then sighed.  _No point in stretching this any further._  "Four window panes to my right, sitting on the ground." Shiori spoke out while looking down at the city. "And the other one is behind that vending machine, leaning against the wall."

Only then did Shiori look at the two girls who tried to keep her attention away with their Feaes. The girl who sat few window panes away was Nura Ritsura, dressed in one of her fancy white kimonos and with her sword just in front of her. She looked like she was in meditation, but her eyes looked coldly at Shiori with a small, menacing smirk adorning her lips. Shiori was not sure what to think of it, but her old friend was no doubt dangerous.

The other girl, the one who just walked away from the vending machines, was no doubt responsible for these talismans. Her hair black and her eyes red. She wore a red shirt, and a black and red patterned, short skirt, with a black jacket hanging from left arm. Around her neck was a ribbon, with a pentagram pin on it. This was Keikain Ryoko, the half-sister of Ritsura and Rihan, and an Onmyouji who did not shy from dabbling in darker arts of her profession.

She also held a small crossbow in her right hand. Shiori did not need to look at her cold eyes to know that she would use it on her head without hesitation. Ritsura might hesitate, but Shiori meant nothing to this girl.

Ritsura was the first to break the silence. "You snort loudly for someone whose life is so close to being chained onto the bottom of Tokyo Bay."

"I'm more surprised that there are no chains." Shiori noted.

"It's be a pain in the ass to have to carry you to the toilet." Ritsura leaned back and crossed her arms. "But thanks to Onee-sama and her ofudas, I can keep you chained without having to worry about your carnal needs."

Shiori looked at the ofudas around the room. Some were in the windows, some on the walls, and several more were just beside Ritsura. The latest ones were drawn in red ink and Shiori guessed that getting close to them was not a good idea. It was likely a border of how far she was allowed to go.

"Wouldn't it be safer for you to chain me anyway, and keep me somewhere in depths of your mansion?"

"No way. Forget about the fact that you know that place too well, and may have added some of your… spells in case you needed to run away. Your friends might come after you, and that means that we'd have to defend the place that is supposed to be our sanctuary. No, better to fight them here."

Ryoko decided it was her time to join the conversation. "Even safer would've been to put a stronger curse or two on you." She then frowned even further. "Or just killing you."

"For someone I barely know, you sure do have a grudge against me." Shiori confronted Ryoko's hostility with a smile.

"One of us hunts youkai and strives to follow a virtuous path, the other one follows the path of sin and creates youkai." Ryoko easily replied. "Onmyouji and… Tale Makers are the two opposites."

"What? Not Youkai and Onmyouji? I see you people are evolving with your beliefs." When Ryoko did not reply with anything but her usual frown, Shiori looked back at Ritsura. "So? Where was it that I made my crucial mistake that made you suspect me?"

"It was when your guys tried to assassinate Onieda Masato, and somehow knew we were planning to foil that plan. After some consideration, you were the only plausible leak."

"So early… but was that really enough to label me as an enemy?"

"No, of course not. I'm not that quick to distrust friends. But I kept my eye on you and your activities. Nothing that you did since then lowered my suspicions, to say the least."

"Yet you acted only now. Your brother took only a day to confront me after finding out my secret."

Ritsura's smile grew. "You're supposed so keep your enemies close you know. That's one wise saying. Another one is that a detected enemy spy is not only a dealt-with threat, but also a boon."

The fake smile disappeared from Shiori's lips, and her expression has replaced by a frown. She knew what this Yuki-Onna meant. "You learned where it's best to strike." If she was keeping an eye on her, then she would be able to guess where many of Shiori's allies and bases were located.

"That was the plan." Ritsura shrugged. "But I don't intend to take down more than a handful of them." Ritsura rose from the floor, but not before grabbing her sword. "After all, sometimes defense is the best offense."

It took only a few moments for Shiori to realize what she meant. It was the fact that she was taken to the Tokyo Tower, which was a horrible place to hide someone. She could have taken her anywhere, like a basement of some random house or shop, and Shiori's allies could never find her. But Tokyo Tower was a famous place, and there was no way that Shiori's allies would not eventually learn that someone was keeping tourists and the workers away from this attraction.  _But that plan can only work if I'm someone important. Which means…_

Ritsura seemed to have read her thoughts as a book. "It was refreshing to pull up your sleeve and, after so many years, see what you were hiding udnerneath." Ritsura smiled, but she was clearly angry. "Lo and behold, it was a tattoo that made it so freakin' clear that you were Sanmoto Shiori herself. Now that I think about it, the fact that a Kurugaya fulfills her duty and leads the House of Sanmoto makes perfect sense!"

"Which makes me perfect hostage." Shiori's hands turned into fists. "You'll wait for a day to make my allies anxious, and then you will attack them."

"And just when they get used, they will learn just where their little goddess is kept hostage." Ritsura continued and raised her left hand. "A glimmer of hope." She then she quickly closed her hand, as if crushing something. "Which turns into despair and helplessness when those hopes are violently crushed."

Shiori just glared at this girl for a few moments. She was a completely different kind of enemy than her brother used to be. "And there I thought you strived to be a hero."

"And I do." She stretched her arms. "But alas, before a hero, I'm a yakuza. And we all know what happens to those foolish enough to make an enemy out of a yakuza, don't we?"

* * *

Rihan was leaning against a railing, and watched the clothing shop across the street. As usual for women, Hikari was taking her sweet time while selecting new clothes for herself.

As for himself, he was done selecting, buying, and dressing in half an hour, and now wore light gray pants with many pockets that reached to his knees, and a striped black and white shirt. The weather was getting warmer after all.

 _Was I too blunt with her?_  He wondered as he remembered what happened this morning.  _If she really is innocent, then I was bullying a girl who is going through a tough time._

 _No, it's better that I'm wrong and she is angry and disappointed, than that I trust her and pay for it._  As he told her already, everything about her was way too convenient. She just happened to be attacked by the Dolls, she just happened to get interested in him, she just happened to overhear him and Shiori, she just happened to end in this situation with him, and she just happened to be someone capable of mental manipulation, if she so wanted. There were way too many coincidences. And even if she truly were just an unsuspecting pawn to Sanmoto Otone, she had a role to play.

In other words, innocent or guilty, she was important to whatever Otone and her friends were planning. It was for the best for everyone that he that in mind.

He sighed, and turned his eyes away from the shop.  _But I'm back in Nakano, huh?_  This place held many memories for him, but very few of them were good ones.

The fingers of his crossed arms twitched as he looked around. He could not see that much of the city, but he dreamed of this place so many times that he could see the rest as well, though some streets and squares might have just been existing in his dreams.

 _But we are not alone._  Anyone around him, any of these many humans who walked around, could have been a youkai in disguise, waiting to fulfill their role in Otone's game. Rihan started softly, but intensely, hitting the cemented ground with his shoe. There were definitely enemies around, watching him, waiting… and he wished they could just come so he could take them down and return to Ukiyoe.

 _And one of them could be Gagoze._  He bit his lower lip as he thought about him.  _His timing could not have been a coincidence either. He is definitely somewhere around, just waiting to slash his claws across my flesh and ribs._

_There are enemies around._

* * *

Hikari watched him through the window. She just wanted to throw a glance at him, but she took a few moments longer.  _His fingers twitch, his foot taps the ground, and he is biting his lower lip while looking around… just as I thought, he just pretends like he's fine. To me or to himself, he's lying about how he has the situation under control._

 _Well, not that it matters to me._  She closed her eyes, and moved away to return these clothes back where she found therm, and try out some other ones.

She understood why he acted like he did that morning. Troubled as he was, he likely saw enemies everywhere.

But understanding and being fine with it were two vastly different things. No matter what her mind told her, she felt disappointed and hurt. Maybe she was unfair to expect more, but she was not in the best shape either.  _Is it wrong of me to be a little selfish and dreamy? Especially after…_

Once again, she remembered Eiji's fate, and the gruesome scene in front of her eyes. Her feet wobbled, and she felt like she would fall, but she managed to keep herself balanced. A few people looked at her as if wanting to ask her if she was alright, but pulled back when they saw she was doing fine. But even so, they kept worried gazes on her. _Are they worried about me? Or did they want to show others and themselves how nice they are? The line between selfishness and kindness can sometimes be so fine…_

* * *

"Damn, your weapons sure pierce deep." Aotabou complained while both he and Kurotabou sat on the floor of the Nura Clan's not-that-secret dojo, leaning against the wall and drinking some refreshments. Kurotabou also had removed his hat for a while, revealing his long, black hair. "Not as my fist would though."

"It doesn't matter how strong your fist is if you can't hit me." Kurotabou replied back. "On other hand, you failed to avoid any of my attacks when you were on defensive."

The two of them were practicing (and competing while they were at it), just like they often did. This time, they practiced avoiding attacks. First it was Kurotabou who had to avoid Aotabou's fists, after that Aotabou was the one doing avoiding. Suffice to say, Kurotabou was a bit better at this than his bulky friend was.

"Should we go for another round?" Kurotabou asked with a raised fist and an excited grin. "I promise that I will hit you this time!"

"We better not." Kurotabou took a gulp of some fresh, cold water. "We better rest, you never know when Rikuo-sama will order the attack."

"Hehe, you're just afraid because you know I'd copy your moves and beat you to a pulp." He laughed a little, but did not try to convince Kurotabou to change his opinion. This confirmed that Aotabou actually agreed with what his comrade said. "What do you think, will we finally put an end to them?"

Of course the upcoming battle would become the topic. Though they all tried to talk about other issues, this was what was on everyone's mind and so it often came up in conversations. "I'd like to think so." Kurotabou said. "We are giving our all to get rid of them once and for all."

"Hmph. You don't sound very certain of it." Aotabou made a disappointed grimace.

"I've learned to always expect these guys to somehow squeeze through." Kurotabou shrugged. "Though if we wound them enough, at least we won't have to worry about them while warring against Mizuchi and Onieda."

"Come on, where's your enthusiasm?" Aotabou hit Kurotabou's shoulder with his own. "Don't you see how determined Rikuo-sama is? Didn't his words awaken a spark within you? And our two heirs will fight as well, this will be great!"

"My heart says the same. It's my head that's skeptical."

"Alright… just what worries you?"

"That they know we're coming."

"So?"

"We're talking about a clan which likes to hide in the shadows, and avoids conflict whenever it doesn't suit them. We feuded for four centuries, but only once did they fight us properly, and even then they had a few nasty surprises in their sleeves."

"They still stick to the shadows and try to avoid us. But I see where you're coming from." Aotabou looked like he was contemplating something himself. "In past, whenever we just got close to finding one of their human leaders, they'd completely vanish into air. And their youkai kept a larger distance from us."

"It's like they're waiting for us." Kurotabou put his straw hat back onto his head. "And they just destroyed our forces in Chubu. This is not like them."

"Even so, Rikuo-sama will not fall to them!"

"That's a fact…  _he_ at least won't  _fall_." He was not sure if that's what they should fear the most though.

Aotabou opened his mouth to complain, when one of Tsurara's Tsukumogami, Oryou, flew into the dojo and to them. "Quick, the Supreme Commander has called an urgent meeting!"

"What?" Aoutabou yelled while he, together with Kurotabou, jumped up. "What happened now? Did the Hyaku Monogatari strike again?"

"No… actually, Ritsura-sama has caught Shiori." The Tsukumogami revealed.

"Oh, that's great then." Aotabou said with a large smile, but it vanished when he noticed that Oryou was worried… or sad.

"What is the matter?" Kurotabou was the one to ask. "This should be a matter for celebration, no?"

"That's because… you will know soon enough. I've to go get Kubinashi and Kejorou-san." Oryou said and flew out.

The two monks looked at one another, wondering what kind of news awaited them.

"We better go." Kurotabo usaid, and with a hasty step left the dojo.

"We're getting no break, huh?" As expected, Aotabou followed after him. "But at least we get some good news for the change! And damn good news!" Aotabou grinned. "Having captured Shiori… Ojou-sama sure outdid herself this time!" He grinned from ear to ear, clearly proud of the girl.

"She sure did." Kurotabou also smiled. "I do wonder how she did it though… and why she did it without all of us."

"You know the Nurarihyons, they like acting alone!" He pulled in a lot of air into his lungs, and then puffed it all out. "Damn you, Kurotabou."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because of you, I can't enjoy this properly." Aotabou's smile faltered. "Oryou-chan looked… I dunno… not very excited about it. Like something bad has also…" Then his eyes widened, and he grabbed Kurotabou's shoulders. "Waka! Do you think something happened to Rihan-sama?"

"Let go of me… you squeeze too hard!" Kurotabou pushed his hands away. It was a worrisome proposal, but Kurotabou doubted it. "If something happened to him, she would be panicking, like any of us would!"

"That's true… phew, now I feel much better."

"Let's shut up and just get to the meeting already."

With their pace, it took them a minute to finally reach the meeting room. On their way there, they saw that everyone was acting as usual (at least for the current circumstances) so clearly not many were informed of the meeting. And really, when they reached the room, it was mostly empty.

"Is this all of us?" Aotabou asked as he and Kurotabou sat. "It's kind of empty."

"Yes, you were the last ones to come." Their Supreme Commander, Nura Rikuo, was of course sitting at the podium, where he always sat. Tsurara was not beside him, but Karasu Tengu and Daruma were, as was some thick folder that just lay beside him. As far as higher ups went, only Kappa, Kejorou, Kubinashi, Shoei, and Yami were there.

Interestingly, Kage-Onna Heiko, who was Ritsura's follower, was also there and sat very close to the podium.

"From what little Oryou-chan said, we thought this would be a larger meeting." Kurotabou noted.

"It would take too long to assemble everyone, and it would get in the way of their preparations." Rikuo gave him the answer. "Besides, I'm too tired to deal with all of them. I'll have them informed later. For now, I want this to be a meeting between me and my closest comrades."

"But certainly this is an important matter, Rikuo-sama." Kurotabou said. "It's a matter the entire clan should hear about."

"And why are you so down, Rikuo-sama?" Aotabou asked his greatest question directly. "We captured the enemy's boss, it should be a cause for celebration!"

"We did what?" Kubinashi seemed confused. Clearly, he was not informed of that one detail. "Which boss did we capture?" He asked as his floating head turned towards Rikuo.

Rikuo looked in silence, and then turned his head towards Heiko. "Go on, tell them what you told me."

"H-hai!" The girl made an exaggerated nod and raised her chin. "I'm bringing Aneki's message!"

 _Here it comes._  Kurotabou took a deep breath and fixed his stance. The others did the same, and now everyone intensively looked at the girl the way only an experienced yakuza could.

"Well… you see…" Which proved to be a mistake as the girl started trembling and her eyes turned to the floor. "I… uhmm… Ritsura-sama… Aneki… Uwaaaaa…" And then she started whining. "I'm sorry, could you please stop looking at me like you're gonna throw me onto the bottom of Tokyo Bay?!"

The girl's shout made everyone lose their strict composure, and look at one another.

"Ahh… we are sorry." Kejorou was the one to try and calm the girl down. "We forgot you're new to this."

Daruma looked towards Rikuo who seemed to have been slightly entertained by the scene. "Supreme Commander, maybe it would be for the best if you told them."

"Yeah, you're right." Rikuo fixed his sitting position from laid back to a more upright. "My daughter Ritsura has just sent Heiko-chan here, with information too important to risk being overheard over a phone." He spoke while Heiko whispered apologies for being weak-hearted. "Long story short, Ritsura has identified and apprehended Kurugaya Midori, whom she then confirmed to be the same person as Sanmoto Shiori."

Silence remained in the room even after Rikuo revealed the news, and everyone looked at one another in surprise.

"Also, Heiko-chan brought this." Before anyone could make a comment, Rikuo took a folder that sat beside him. "My daughter revealed that she was conducting her own investigation, secret from us. She, Gozumaru, Heiko-chan, and Houkou actually kept an eye on Midori for the last two months, and used that fact to stalk her movements." He threw the file towards Kurotabou, who easily caught it. "What do you think, Kurotabou?"

 _So much is going on…_ Kurotabou opened the folder, and quickly stormed through the pages. "This… Supreme Commander, if all this is legit than this is a treasure cove!"

"So we caught Shiori  _and_ we gained valuable info." This was one of rare occassions where Yami spoke. "Fortune has turned our way, truly." He spoke in a low and slow voice.

"Yeah!" Aotabou nodded. "With all this, our victory is unquestionable!" He looked at Kurotabou for approval, but remembered their conversation earlier when he saw Kurotabou's anxious face. "Yet I feel like we also have some bad news." Aotabou looked at Rikuo with the same expression that Kurotabou held.

"Indeed so." Rikuo nodded. "The enemy's claws have penetrated deeper than we had expected." Rikuo's eyes narrowed. "What happened with Mitsume Yazura was a great embarrassment, and it happened again."

"What do you mean, Rikuo-sama?" Kubinashi, always the most worried one, moved his head so far that Kejorou had to pull it back.

It was natural, those words made everyone worried. Mitsume Yazura was an old vassal of the Nura Clan, but at some point was murdered by the Hyaku Monogatari and his place was taken by none else than Sanmoto Gorozaemon himself, or more precisely the body he directly controlled. He used that position to burn the flames of rebellion in the clan, to allow the Shikoku youkai to invade Ukiyoe Town, to gather intel that would be used by the Hyaku Mongatari later on, and to do many other nefarious deeds.

If the Hyaku Monogatari got someone else inside, it would be a major concern. Especially now that it was led by Sanmoto Shiori, a woman who seemed more dangerous with each passing day.

"Impossible…" Kurotabou shook his head. "We alčl took extra care that nobody replaces Executive, here or in any of affiliated clans. How could-"

"Ichinoe Araya." Rikuo suddenly spoke a name nobody expected. "That's the name that Kurugaya Midori took on after she disappeared into the shadows."

Another silence ensued. This was the most shocking revelation of them all. Not only because nobody saw her as a threat, but also because of what it meant to the siblings, who saw that girl as a friend… especially Rihan, who was clearly in love with her.

Kejorou was the first to react. "That Smartass Girl… she was an enemy all along?" The idea that this obnoxious nerd, and a close friend of the siblings, was an leader of murderous youkai, was hard to believe.

"Yes." Rikuo said in a calm tone,yet there was fire in his eyes. "That girl befriended my children to get closer to us. She attacked us when we tried to save Masato because she learned about our plans from us. In Nejireme, she was likely behind at least some of the tragedies that befell it. And she likely stayed here for a few nights to somehow, I don't know how, collect information necessary to make that attack on our Chubu territories."

Daruma continued. "And that might be only the tip of the iceberg, as they say. Who knows how many of our secrets she collected while posing as a friend of the heirs, and who knows how many traps and curses she put around. Even our mansion here… even its security might be compromised. There's no telling what kind of things the Talemakers could do."

What Daruma said was all true, and all were causes of worry. Yet, the people in this room were thinking about more humane worries.

Aotabou was amongst them. "Forget about that, Daruma… How are the heirs handling this?"

"Aneki is strong!" Heiko suddenly started talking, her earlier reluctance gone. "And scary too! She looked a bit down sometimes, but at the end of the day, she is ready to do what is necessary!" She spoke like any youkai in a Hyakki Yakou would speak about their leader.

"And what about Rihan-sama?" Kejorou spoke out. "He and Ichinoe were… close. Did anyone tell him about her?"

"My son did not return home since he left last night." Rikuo spoke, his voice betraying his own worry. "Heiko-chan said that he was with Ara… with Shiori the last time he was seen."

"I really hope this is another case of him being absent for too long." Kurotabou thought aloud, and almost everyone nodded in agreement.

Of course, Kubinashi was the one to speak the fears on everyone's thoughts. "What if the enemy learned about what Ojou-sama did to Shiori, and he was kidnapped? It's a possibility we should consider." Again, everyone nodded.

Kurotabou opened his mouth with intent to discuss this topic, and how they should handle it. Seemingly, a few others did the same.

Yet, the one who spoke was Yami. "There's also the third possibility."

Everyone then looked at him, besides Heiko who turned pale and looked at the floor.

And some, like Aotabou, were already agitated. "What the hell are you talking about, Yami?" Yet his voice betrayed that he knew. Nobody wanted to admit it, but everyone knew.

"I did not… know him well… but I even I saw that he had changed since he spent time with that girl on Nejireme." Yami started his explanation. "And then they became lovers. Maybe she did some kind of hypnosis at Nejireme, or maybe she used the old technique of seduction, but…" For someone usually so reserved and silent, Yami could talk. "The possibility of him switching sides should be considered." He suggested, the scribbled paper still hiding whatever face he made while saying such absurdities.

Aotabou reacted immediately, by destroying the floor with a strong punch to say the least. "Don't even think about saying such things ever again. Even as a joke." The others too, Kurotabou included, looked at Yami with hostility.

Nobody knew what face he made, but he certainly did not show any reaction with his body. Everyone thought he'd return to being silent like usual, when he spoke again. "Yes, this is why I had to talk." Yami, who joined Rikuo's group fairly late and spent most of his time away, was naturally the first one who would break the unspoken taboo.

"I respect your opinion Yami, and I'm grateful that you speak so openly." The Supreme Commander, Nura Rikuo, had his own things to say on the matter of this topic. "But my son is not weak to fall into some mind-control trap, nor is he so vain as to fall to a devil spawn's charms."

Nura Rikuo spoke with such absolute certainty that Kurotabou, and the others too no doubt, felt disappointed in himself for ever letting doubt take them over.

"In any case, let's start discussing our next moves… we can't waste time now that we are in such a good position to strike!" And so the real meeting began.

* * *

Heiko noticed how everyone smiled to the Supreme Commander's words. She understood them, she too had her master now whom she looked up to and whose words were law to her.

And that made it sad. She was the one doing most of the stalking, many thanks to her shadows that could be used in numerous ways and even hide from the most perceptive youkai when she put an effort into it.

She had to tell them. Ritsura said to leave it as it is, and Heiko disagreed. She intended to let them know this important information.

But now she understood why Ritsura kept silent. For who could say to these youkai, who so strongly believed in Rihan, that Yami's suspicions were very likely correct.

But whatever the case may be, they would get their answer soon enough.

* * *

The sun was not setting yet in Nakano, but just looking at the skies made it clear that it would soon reach the horizon and paint the skies.

And after the paint, the night would ensues, and with it whatever pawns this Otone person was to send at Rihan. The youkai prefer the darkness after all, and Rihan was no exception. He would be more comfortable fighting at the cover of night than under the rays of the annoyingly warm sun.

It would have been even more comfortable were he alone, but such was not the case. He had someone with him, and thought he was not fully certain if she was a friend or a foe, he had to keep her safe.

That person was Furuta Hikari, the girl that walked beside him. She bought herself some new clothes She now wore a blue dress from her shoulders to her ankles, and a gray vest on her upper body. She also wore a white hat with a blue ribbon, which Rihan stole and put on her head as he thought it made her look more adorable. She accepted the hat, though she was still pouting about his behavior.

He felt like he had to at least try to break the awkward silence. "Want some fries?" He offered her some food he stole from some mean looking delinquent in front of McDonalds, who was too careless and looked away while yelling at someone on his phone.

"Thank you, but I don't eat fast food." She rejected his offer.

"Usually, or just from me?" He asked with a mischievous smile.

"Hrrr." She looked at him, as if trying to see something. "I'm not even sure what you think of me now. I thought you distrusted me, so why this sweet talk and these gifts?"

"That doesn't mean that we can't get along."

"Normally it would!" She said as she pinched her own forehead. "Actually, you act more familiar than usually. So you're either pretending too hard… or enjoy these interactions."

"Which do you think are more likely, miss Psychologist?"

"Hmmm…" She actually took a few seconds to consider her answer. "Both I guess."

"Heh." While biting another fry, he wondered what else he would say, when his eyes finally fell on the place that he was looking for. "Hey Hikari-chan, catch this." He said as he threw the small bag of fries towards her.

"I said I don't want any." She said, but still caught the bag. "Eh?" And then she slightly blushed as Rihan put his hands over her. "...you're going to jump or run, are you?" She asked, with her face slowly turning blue.

* * *

It was she feared it would be. After a few moments, Rihan was enjoying the breeze atop the Nakano Sun Plaza while Hikari sat on her knees and looked at the now empty bag of fries.

"You need to warn me before doing things like these." She said as she looked up at his smiling face. "But you enjoy this, don't you?"

He replied with neither words nor nods, but just turned his head to look at something.

Hikari rose onto her feet, hoping to see what he was seeing at this small roof. But what he stared at was the edge of the building, and there was nothing in that place.

Hikari looked up at him, intending to pose a question, but she noticed the bittersweet smile on his lips, and the unfocused way he looked at this place.  _He is remembering something._

She let him have his time reminiscing, but not for long. She thought of herself as a patient person, but the current situation was not of the kind that made a person calm enough for it. "Something happened here, right?"

"Hm." He nodded. "A girl tried to commit suicide here, many years ago."

"I see… but the way you worded it implies that she did not do it."

"No, I stopped her. She was eight or nine years old at the time, so it's still a disturbing scene now that I think about it."

"Eight… how could a child possibly… it's really hard to believe."

"It was not human things that troubles her… I think." He frowned. "But I clearly remember that scene now. No, she lost her childhood by the time she attempted such a thing."

"Ha… but she still did not go along with it. Am I to guess it's thanks to you?"

"It might… It's still murky for me, but she both gave up on it, and looked a little bit brighter after I had a small talk with her."

"May I ask how you persuaded her to calm down?"

He made a bitter smile. "I told her that, even if her family may be evil towards some people, she should keep loving them… or something of the sort."

"I see… a bit ironic, coming from you now."

"I know what you imply. But I don't really feel it's contradictory."

"How so? You ARE betraying your own kin, are you not?"

"Because I know for certain that I still love them. And I know for certain that, if any of them were threatened by someone, I would come and help them. And, as a fool, I still keep some hope that, somehow, it would not end as bad is it most likely will."

"Is your path really worth it all ending so badly as you expect?"

"I'll have to make it worth it." He said, and she noticed that he had his sheathed sword in his hands. "It's good that you did not eat anything just now, Hikari-chan." He unsheathed the sword, and it seemed as if her were looking at his reflection on it. "But I hope you ate something earlier, you may need the energy."

"What are you…" She started, but the serious, yet excited, glimmer in his eyes told her all she needed to know. And the cold, foreboding feeling that took her over told her even more.

She turned around, only to see orange skies, and a floating torso of a girl dressed in a schoolgirl's old-fashioned dark-green sailor uniform. Her hair was messy, the glare of her dark-brown eyes was intense, and the smile on her face revealed a wicked nature. Not to mention the scythe that she held over her right shoulder.

But her scythe was not scary. Her murderous glare was not scary either. The fact that she was a floating torso was also unimpressive right now. The most terrifying thing was what Hikari felt as she gazed upon the monster.

The monstrous dolls that she saw on the night that changed her life were nothing. Now she felt as if they were merely like… well, dolls. Just standing in front of this monstrous girl made it clear that there were far more malicious and dangerous spirits in this world.

And that feeling was all while the girl gazed at Rihan. When her eyes slid towards Hikari, the monstrous half of a girl grinned even more wickedly. Hikari's arms moved towards her stomach, for she could feel the intent of this monster, which was to cut her in half.

 _Die… die… I'm going to die here… how can one possibly…_ Then a cold hand enveloped her, and another terrifying aura engulfed the area. But this aura and hand, coming from the boy she was spending her entire day with, made her feel more at ease. The aura that was coming from him, and the excited glimmer in his eyes, were not much different from the girl that floated in front of them, but this aura and hand were her allies. She once read that when one's life was in danger, the usually terrifying people could feel as the most desirable friends, no matter what one actually thought of them. She now felt there might be truth to that.

"Finally. I was getting impatient." Rihan taunted the girl without legs.

"You sure are laid back for someone who won't win." She replied back.

"Are you sure I won't?"

"This is a true horror story. Remember the rules, you can't kill me, or even inflict fatal wounds." She moved her scythe away from her shoulder, and cut the air with it, readying it for a fight. "This is a story where we make you suffer until you fall."

"We shall see about that." She said and slashed at Rihan, having moved several meters in less than half of a second.

But Rihan deflected the blow with his sword, and let the force throw him off the building, with Hikari in his arms.

* * *

From the comfort of her office chair and the room which looked as if it was an office in an abandoned hospital, through a TV Otone watched as Rihan jumped from the Nakano Sun Plaza with the girl in tow, escaping Kashima Reiko.

The game has finally started and though Otone was not fully satisfied with the scenario she had envisioned, she hoped it would serve its purpose. She did not have much time to plan it all out, but then again nobody ever has all the necessary time to put a proper plan into motion.

And judging by the upcoming heavy and loud footsteps, she would not have much time to enjoy the start of the game either. Many walked through the halls of this establishment, but these footsteps belonged to none of them. But she could guess who was coming.

"Otone!" A girl's voice echoed after the doors opened no delicacy.

"Kirie." Otone asked as she pushed her chair to turn around. "You better have a good reason for bothering me." She looked at a girl dressed all in black, with long black boots, long black socks, a one piece long black dress, and with a small black hat with an artificial red flower. And with a black purse under her left arm, from which fear sipped. "And for being dressed like you want to kill me."

"I hope I don't need to." She took a few steps forward and then stopped. "Where is Shiori?"

"Shouldn't you, her right hand woman, be the one to know that?"

"She disappeared."

"Or the Nuras snuffed her out. She was too close to them."

"Or you made sure something happened to her."

"Maybe." Otone shrugged, and the two players just gazed at one another for a while. "But if so, it's her fault for falling to one of my Tales, no?"

"We're at the brink of a war, Otone. The Nuras could-"

"The Nuras will attack. No doubt about it now, especially when I made their beloved heir disappear." Otone pointed at the TV with her head.

Kirie clenched her teeth. "I repeat: we are at the brink of a war that might destroy us all. This is no time to fool around."

"No worries. I'll be taking command."

"...you?"

"Of course. Only the ones who have earned the right to call themselves a Sanmoto have the right to lead. One of the three, who lead, just disappeared. I confirmed my colleague does not intend to take responsibility. So that leaves me." Otone said matter-of-factly and, as usually, showing little to no emotion.

"I-"

"Your opinion does not matter to me. As far as I'm concerned, the three Sanmotos in the Rose Coalition are the only ones who should be the leaders. The rest of you four… now that I think about it, I wasted enough time listening to you." She turned her chair around, thus once more facing her TV. "Much more than you deserve. Leave."

She wondered how Kirie would react. Would she turn around and leave? Would she run? Or would she start a fight which she would, naturally, lose?

"Your connections to the Skull Coalition are not unknown, Otone. You intend to use this battle to destroy us, or at least leave yourself as the only survivor?"

"It would be good if the worthless youkai and humans perished, yes… though I would like to see some become my experiments." Otone was certain that Kirie would attack her after this.

But there are always surprises to be had. "Okay. Great! That actually makes me happy."

"Hm?" Otone threw a glance to the girl behind, who was already leaving.

"Do what you want, piss off our boss. That means that, once she is back, you will be gone and our group will become a nicer place to stay at." Before Otone could say anything back, Kirie left the room.

"Once she is back, huh? Impossible." She said, and looked at Rihan. "At least if we make sure he does not come to her aid... though I wonder what trouble Kirie plans to cause for me."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

\- after a hiatus that followed the chapter with so many big moments, we start lightly with a new chapter and a new arc. Technically, this could the same arc, but in my head it felt like a new arc so I made it official. After all, the whole thing is about Rihan fighting Otone's Game in Nakano

\- Rihan's and Hikari's adventure starts, and not with much mutual trust. After all that happened, Rihan (just like some readers) has grown suspicious of Hikari and her role in all this. After finding out that Araya was a lie, he has become more cautious

\- Ritsura reveals some of her own game to Shiori, including how she intends to use her newly acquired hostage. As we can see, Ritsura is not much into tropes where heroes fight mindlessly and nicely

\- recently, I noticed that Wikipedia started having word-counts for books in its articles. Out of interest, I went to compare the size of my story to the word-counts of books from "A Song of Ice and Fire" (the book series that "Game of Thrones" TV series is adapting). Imagine my surprise when I saw that TSS is almost as large as first three books of ASOIAF, and will likely pass them by the time this arc is over. What, will TSS be as large as entire ASOIAF series? What the hell have I created? Don't tell me it will take as long to finish it! (well, with my recent hiatuses, I certainly might already be walking in George R. R. Martin's footsteps…)

\- sorry guys for the boring chapter. But 'tis a necessary evil. The following chapters will be more fun I expect, as each is centered around one conflict! Or I hope so… would be long past the tenth time if I ended up splitting chapters…


	92. Half a Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rihan and Furuta Hikari have been transported to Nakano by Sanmoto Otone, and are forced to participate in a game where Rihan has to defeat three powerful youkai, but without killing or seriously harming them. The dangerous situation is also made awkward by the fact that Rihan is openly suspicious of Hikari. Soon though, Kashima Reiko attacks them

  **Chapter 92 - Half a Girl**

_I was a normal girl back then. That day I was at school, hung with friends, had to keep away from bullies, did my club activities, went out to meet a friend who would not appear, and was now waiting for a train to get me home. I remember it being an empty train station, with nobody around._

_It was an everyday scene, really. It was late Fall, so I had a scarf, breathed into my palms, and wished to hit my head for not bringing a jacket. My dark-green sailor uniform did not do much to keep me warm. In modern times, I imagine I would also be typing on my phone, but we did not have those in years following the war._

_I was supposed to get on the train, come home, listen to my mom being angry for coming home so late, I would eat dinner, do my homework, go to sleep, and then start the cycle again next morning._

_But then someone called to me with my name. I don't remember what my name used to be, but back then I did. So I turned around, only to face three girls from my school, three bullies I did not get along with, but in the past used to do everything they told me to. Were they following me since I left school, or did they just see me as I went towards the station? Well, it did not matter. I was there, they were there, and nobody else was there._

" _Oh, is that you, ?-chan?" The tallest of the girls asked me, with a cruel smirk on her ugly face. She was facing me, while the other two surrounded me from my sides. "Aren't you late going home?"_

" _Why would it matter to you?" I tried not to look afraid. This was not the first time I dealt with these girls. But I knew how much they hated me, especially since lately I made it a thing to protect the other girls from them._

_But I was afraid now. At school, there was always someone nearby. It did not stop them from being jerks, but it did limit how far they could go._

_But now we were alone. True, some adult could come to the station and they would need to disperse, but by the time anyone came they would likely pull me somewhere where the likelihood of someone coming was near to zero. And I could think of several corners around here they could take me to. These demonesses could no doubt think of several more._

_They were saying something as they tried to grab me. Taunted me. It was something about me having to pay for something, for cutting one of them at school… I don't really remember. Even back then I did not listen to them. I was too busy trying to keep them from grabbing me and pulling me away. I had to keep struggling until someone arrived. Otherwise, bad things would happen to me._

_They pushed forward. And I pulled back. I forgot where I was, until I stumbled and fell with my head on the train rails._

_I had not lost consciousness, but the hit did quite a lot of work on me. Everything turned around, I could see all kinds of colors, and my head hurt so much it felt like it was screaming._

_But soon enough, all the colors turned to pure white, and the screaming inside my head started to sound… like an incoming train._

_I tried to get away, and the bullies were looking around in panic._

_But it was to no avail. I managed to move my away upper body away in time, but not my feet._

_Next I know, I was floating. I thought I got away, but one look down showed the dismembered body of a girl, with agony clearly written on her face. I screamed, for I remembered the pain._

_But nobody could hear me, and nobody could see me. Not back then._

_I had become a ghost._

* * *

With Hikari still in his arms, Rihan jumped from one lamplight to another, above the seas of humans who were returning home from work, and the humans who were going to spend the evening outside.

He spared no time between his jumps. As soon as one of his feet touched the top of the lamp, the other one would catapult him elsewhere. Reiko was close by, and she did not need to jump as she could just fly.

And she did not let such opportunity past her by. For the third time now, she struck. This time, she was above him, and swung her scythe downwards.

Rihan deflected her scythe, and immediately jumped forward. Still turning her body around, she cut the lamplight and then turned around to another direction, just so she could hit the cut lamplight with the back of her scythe and shoot it at Rihan.

Much to Hikari's shock, he let go of the girl and turned around to grab the piece of metal and then let it fall where no humans walked at the moment. Before she could fall, or start to properly scream, Rihan grabbed Hikari's hand. He quickly jumped forward, pulled his hand up, threw Hikari upwards, and then caught her, and resumed his retreat from Kashima Reiko.

"I don't think… my stomach… can handle this for much longer…" Hikari complained. "Can't we… just go down and hide in the crowds?"

"There are two things I can tell you about Reiko-chan. First, she is brutal and violent, with occasional fits of insanity. Second, she utterly hates my clan and my family. So…" He let her connect the dots.

"There's a risk of her slaughtering her way through the crowd, huh?" Hikari guessed, to which Rihan nodded. "Surprisingly valiant of you."

"You make it sound like you are fine with taking the risk."

"No, I don't want to take such a risk… though I'd lie if I did not, just like everyone else would, consider the option. But even I can see we can't go on like this, so I certainly hope you have a plan of some sort!"

"Well, floating is not a natural ability of hers so I hoped that if we ran for long enough, she would get exhausted and fall to the ground." Rihan knew enough about Kashima Reiko's tale to know that she originally could only crawl on the ground, and that floating was an ability she developed as her Tale grew stronger. And he knew that she often spent her days in a wheelchair, which confirmed that floating was exhausting for her.

But it did not look like she would get exhausted any time soon so that plan failed as far as Rihan was concerned. "But we may need another plan. For now, I'd like to find some place where I can fight her properly, with no people around to get in the way."

"What about a skyscraper?"

"You'd have no place to hide and only one route to run through, making you easy prey for her. And she  _will_  attack you if given a chance."  _And if you're her ally, I may end up surrounded._

"So, I am getting in your way?"

"Yup, pretty much."

"Rude, but honest. So, you have Plan C?"

"Well, I hate to do it but… I'll use my Fear to run away from her for good."

"Ah yes, that is what Nurarihyons do… could you not have done that immediately?"

"I can't conclude this game if I don't do something about her." He looked behind him, and saw Reiko following them at a leisurely pace. For whichever reason, she was taking it easy and letting him stay in lead, all with a self-assured grin on her face.

"You know you could try concluding it while I'm away and safe, right?"

"You know that, if you're innocent, that her buddies will gang on you if I'm too far away from you, right?"

"…oh. Then we better get away and formulate a plan, right?"

"Right." Rihan focused his Fear. For now, he was using it to hide his presence to everyone around him. It fooled the humans, but not a strong youkai like Reiko. But if he put all his Fear into just confusing her senses, he could easily get away.

And that he did, and just as expected Reiko started looking around for him.

"Well, it worked." He said and jumped into another street. "Now let us find some underground mall or-"

Then unease struck him, and he felt something was about to happen. Out of concern for Hikari, he launched himself onto the ground.

Just before his feet touched the ground, the tremendous Fear assaulted the area. As if she used several hundred meters long a scythe with half a dozen blades, everything around them was cut. The lamplights were cut into three pieces, cars were halved, and buildings started collapsing. By some strange coincidence, only the humans fell onto the ground as if they were struck by a strong wind, though they did seem to suffer some minor injuries.

Rihan and Hikari were not amongst them. Reiko's Fear cut deep into Rihan's back, filling him with pain, throwing him off, and utterly destroying his illusion. Hikari fell as well, and was struck by the weave. Like the other humans, she merely got hit by it and suffered smaller wounds, but she fell on the concrete and rolled around the debris, with some pieces of stone and metal falling around and onto her.

Rihan looked at Hikari in concern, but he had to take her rapid breathing as a sign that she was fine and conscious. He got onto his knee, and turned around to face his opponent, all while blood seeped out of his wounds.

" _I'm not falling for that again, Nurarihyon!"_  Though she was on the other end of the street, just at the crossroads, her words echoed through the entire area.  _"I'm slicing you into pieces, together with your friend down there."_ She declared with absolute resolution. Her body was now pitch black and ghastly, reminding Rihan that she was a ghost. The scythe in her hands now looked like it was made of the same pitch-black smoke, but changing its shape with each second.

The sound of human screaming in panic about what just happened, and about this ghastly creature that caused it all, made the whole scene feel even more terrifying.

Urban legends come with a bang but then get forgotten, and the youkai born from them are thus rarely ever strong for a long while. But the tale of Kashima Reiko endured for around a century, and when summed with her experience and the blood she collected on her hands, she was possibly the most terrifying Urban Legend one could meet.

This was not going to be an easy fight. The fact that Rihan was unable to kill or inflict any proper wounds due to the rules of Otone's game did not help.

* * *

_I was not a murderous spirit from the get-go. At first, I was just a normal ghost: invisible and able to move anywhere, but nobody could hear me._

_My parents did not live much longer than I. Dad fell into alcoholism, and got struck by a car when trying to cross the road in an intoxicated state. The light for pedestrians was red, of course. Mom, who was already shook by my death, committed suicide just before his funeral. Invisible, and unable to be heard by them, I looked as their lives left them._

_I always said that they should have given me a little brother or sister. If they did, they would have been able to find strength to go on living._

_But at least they passed on. Not sure if I'm happy that they did not have to become ghosts like me, or sad that even in death we could not be together._

_Either way, I had nowhere left to go. I haunted my family because that was the only thing I could think of doing, but then I was left without that as well. Then I left for the one last place that meant anything to me: my school._

_Everyone there forgot about me eventually. But nothing bad in that, as I knew I would have done the same. But what about those three bitches that killed me? You think they showed no regret and just went on with their lives?_

_You would be wrong. The word 'just' is a falsity. I haunted them more than anyone else, and once they talked about me in the bathroom._

_They were happy I was dead. They were happy that this nuisance did not stand in the way of their fun games on account of other students. And they made good use of the missing nuisance, bringing in the less assertive girls into the bathrooms and blackmailing or beating them… usually both._

_I wanted to stop them._

_I wanted to make them pay._

_But I had no real powers yet, though I could materialize a little after this resolve. I could make sounds, and sometimes others could see a lonely ghost of a girl without legs. All these were enough to scare them when they tried to do something in the bathrooms._

_It was only a temporary solution, though. The fact that I could often be seen, and the fact that I could not move any other way but by crawling, meant that these bathroom stalls became my new home. The three bullies just had to find a new hanging spot. And they did, in the gym storage room. Eventually, they forgot about me again, and continued with their harassments._

_Still though, there was something good in all this: I made a friend. It was a shy girl who often came to the stalls to cry and escape others. For whichever reason, she did not fear me. It was a nice time._

_But then she came and told me that these three bullies invited some first-years to come and investigate the school at night… and look for me. I had no idea what they planned, but I doubted it was supposed to be anything good._

_So, I decided to give them their wish: they would find me at school this night. I could not move out of the bathrooms during the day, but in nights… well, there were so few witnesses that I could practically move wherever I wanted. And since the night was when we youkai were at our strongest, moving around felt less than a hassle for me._

_I… don't remember what went on there. I remember the smell of people being afraid of me… truly afraid of me, as in afraid I would kill them. And I remember the pleasure that fact gave me, as well as the pleasure of splicing humans in half._

_Before the dawn rose, I was colored in red, the three bullies were brutally murdered… and so were the other kids, all but one who would survive to tell the tale._

_This is how the Tale of Kashima Reiko began._

* * *

Experience makes one strong, and so does the life of fighting to survive. Kashima Reiko had both so Rihan got the chance to feel what was it like to fighting such a youkai, who made no redundant moves and showed no flaws in their defense.

For instance, Reiko was slashing downwards at Rihan, who avoided the attack and went to counterattack. But she continued turning her scythe so that his arm was struck by the scythe's handle, and then he had to jump backwards to avoid another slash as she still continued rotating her scythe.

She stopped though, when he moved away. But before Rihan could do anything, she put Fear into her scythe and slashed at the air. Rihan avoided it by ducking, only to realize that a lamplight was now falling towards him.

He jumped sideways, but as soon as his eyes left the lamplight, they saw Reiko's excited and sadistic smile, only a meter away from his face. He moved his sword to deflect her sideway attack, but Reiko just used this in her favor. Having no legs and being able to levitate, she flew down while keeping her momentum, all while turning around together with her weapon. If he did nothing, her scythe would leave him with no legs.

Rihan jumped up, leaving a mirage behind. She struck the mirage, but did not stop to react. Instead, she kept turning around but flew up. Fortunately for Rihan, he accidentally jumped a little towards her, so it was not the blade that struck him… though it did leave a flesh wound on his back, as he did not fully avoid the blade.

But even this was something that Kashima Reiko would use. She pulled the scythe towards herself, and fortunately Rihan's body reacted before his brain did. He grabbed Reiko and literally threw her away. Still, she did manage to move her scythe a bit, leaving behind a deeper diagonal wound on his back and left arm.

His instincts still holding the better of him, he did what he would usually do and prepared to try to inflict a potentially fatal wound.

But then an extraordinary pain came from his chest. His hand went to the source of pain, and stabbed the fingers around his heart. The pain lasted for only a second, but it was something so painful that he hoped he would never have to feel it again.

" _You tried breaking the rules."_  A voice of a woman echoed through the street.  _"This is what happens if you do so"_

"Damn it!" Rihan said while wobbling. Though she had a smile from ear to ear, at least Kashima Reiko gave him a handicap by not using this situation. If he tried to harm his enemy, his heart would give up and he would die.

Defense and retreat, those seemed to be the only options for him. But Kashima Reiko was too nimble to lose him, and too skilled to not make use of such a feeble attempt.  _I guess it's time I improve my illusionary skills, right here and right now._

_And I just have an idea how._

He raised his sword, as if preparing to strike at Kashima Reiko when she got close.  _She knows I can't harm her. So this will make her bold._  And just as expected, after a little hesitation, Kashima Reiko flew at him.

 _Meikyou Shisui Doku._  He prepared his strongest technique, and a dark aura engulfed him. Kashima Reiko smirked at this, and did not slow down.

 _And now to dilute the Fear._  And then he slashed towards her… but Reiko had quickly put her scythe between herself and the trajectory of Rihan's sword.  _Damn it… but I can't give up now!_ He knew that his plan had been foiled, but something still gave him confidence.

And then he knew what it was.  _The… sword?_  He felt the sword's own fear mixing with his, and to both his and Reiko's surprise, it went through her scythe's handle and slashed through her.

"Waah!" She screamed, but more in surprise than in pain. "What… what is going on?" She looked around chaotically, while her body shook in strange ways.

 _Now!_  He turned around, and started running. "Hikari!" He called and looked around. Soon enough, a girl jumped from behind a heap of rubble and waved at him. Rihan changed the way he was moving, grabbed the girl when he reached her, and ran away.

"What did you do?" She asked immediately.

"To say it simply, I utterly confused her senses. It'll take a while for her to get ahold of herself, hopefully long enough for us to get away." Normally, the technique would bring pain upon the victim, but the effect of it would be so strong that it would be against Otone's rules. So he weakened it, making it so that it would merely confuse the victim's five senses.

"That won't do anything to save us from her." Hikari noted.

"True." He then threw a comforting look at the girl. "So I hope you're good at brainstorming."

* * *

Shiori gazed down at the city, from her high position atop the Tokyo Tower. The sun had barely set, and night would envelop the city in moments. She wondered if this was the night when the unavoidable events would storm the city.

She was anxious, for she was not sure what would happen. And she was annoyed, for she may end up not playing a role in this all. She had preparations done in case she ended up not playing a role, but it was questionable how much it would mean, especially seeing as Ritsura had done her own preparations and Otone would do her best to make things go in a different direction.

"Brrr…" She put her hands around her body. The tower had become cold, and not for natural reasons. Nura Ritsura was doing something to the tower, and her Fear spread the cold around the air. She needed a jacket, but she would need to ask Ritsura for it. And out of pride, and desire to not show weakness, she did not want to ask her for it earlier than it was absolutely necessary.

" _..."_

" _...I'd wish you stayed here though."_

Shiori could hear voices from the other side of the tower's top. By the sounds of it, Ritsura and Ryoko were talking about something. This piqued her interest, so she turned around and walked towards them.

"Trust me, this Asylum place is dangerous." Ryoko explained to her sister. "And they are likely affiliated with the Hyaku Monogatari. So in a way, I am aiding you."

"No no, I understand." Ritsura, who was now actually standing rather than sitting and meditating, replied. "It's just my selfish wish for some sisterly bonding, Onee-sama."

"...I'm  _still_ not used to all this sugar." For a moment, Ryoko had an awkward smile, but then she returned to her former seriousness. "In any case, the barriers will last, and I have left you all the necessary talismans, together with a few memos so you don't forget how to use them." And then Ryoko looked towards Shiori, her eyes containing murderous caution. "In other words, all you need to keep this demoness in check."

"Awww… and here I thought we were finally starting to develop a warm bond of our own." Shiori sticked her tongue with a smile, as she leaned against the railing beside the window. "But the Asylum, huh? That's a high level area, y'know." Shiori commented, and though the sisters looked as though they wanted to say something, they kept quiet. No doubt hoping Shiori leaks a bit more. "It's owned by a dear cousin of mine. But she is a little bit less nice than I am."

"Thank you for the info. Maybe I'll bring her to you as a gift. Then you two can do your own sisterly bonding."

"Woah! You'd keep such a woman close to your little sister? You clearly have no idea what kind of woman you're going to be dealing with."

"Then kindly enlighten me."

"Ha, no. I may give some hints, but I'd never fully spoiler the story."

Then Ritsura spoke. "Is that so? Then Onee-sama has no choice but to kill her. Are you fine with that?"

"Well, chances are good that she will officially betray me any moment now." Shiori shrugged. "So if you save me of such ugly business as me having to execute her for betrayal, I may even send you a postcard."

Shiori felt the air getting colder, but not because of Ritsura's ice. It was Ryoko's Fear sipping out. That, and her now shining eyes made it clear she disliked Shiori even more now.

Ritsura, on other hand, just smirked. "She is that black-haired woman in white who contacted me recently, isn't she?"

Shiori's smile disappeared.  _Sharp one, as usual._  "You connected that pretty quickly."

"Her riddle was big, but one part of it reminded me of having to take you down. I'd move anyway, but it's clear that this woman wanted to make it certain."

"I'll leave you two alone then." Ryoko closed her eyes and turned her head away from Shiori as much as she could, while still being able to eye her sister. "This woman I might meet may be dangerous, but don't forget that Shiori is far more dangerous."

"Don't worry Onee-sama, I know." Ritsura nodded, and Ryoko started leaving.

But Shiori felt like annoying the Onmyouji some more. "Y'know, Kashaimaru-san was right. You sure can feel deadly when you're angry."

This made Ryoko stop, and look at Shiori with blazing red eyes again. "What is your-"

"Aren't you supposed to hurry?" Shiori tilted her head. "We can talk when you come back… if I'm still here that is." Shiori put on another naughty smile.

Ryoko looked at her for a few moments, and then swiftly turned her head away and left via the elevator.

After the elevator went down, Ritsura turned towards Shiori. "You know, eve since I started suspecting you, I wonder what the real you was like."

"And what is your answer? I'm curious."

"You are an even more smartass and taunting version of Araya."

"Oh, so all the reasons you loved me are still there, Ritsu-chan! So you must like me even more than before~" Then Shiori pretended to be embarrassed. "But to be so close to two siblings… I don't think it would work out, and that's too much even for me."

"You sure are a maliciously annoying bitch, Ara… Shiori-san."

"By the way… I noticed that you avoid us talking about your brother."

"We shall discuss that when he comes."

"If you invited him already, we would have come ages ago. So does that mean-"

Then someone came. And though he held a sword, it was not Rihan, but Gozumaru.

"Anything to report, Gozu?" Ritsura asked, but Gozumaru looked towards Shiori. "Oh, feel free to talk in front of her."

It did not seem like Gozumaru approved of that, but he obliged. "Your brother is still nowhere to be found, nor that Hikari girl."

 _So he was with Hikari, huh?_  Shiori frowned. That girl was bad news.

"You sound like you're suspicious of Hikari-chan, Gozu." Ritsura raised an eyebrow.

"She was with him when he disappeared, that would be suspicious enough. Still, I went to check her home and..."

"What?"

"I found a home, but not hers. Then we checked the town register and-"

"Found out that she doesn't live anywhere." Shiori finished. "But you clearly have not spoken with the people who lived at the address you checked."

"Was that necessary?" Gozumaru asked. It was clear he disliked her, but at least it was not as much as Ryoko.

"They'd tell you a lot about her, and if you inquired further you would probably also learn that many things they tell about her is inconsistent. Yet, they really believe what they would say." Shiori then raised a finger to her lips. "In short, they would likely be under a hypnosis. That's my guess at least, based on knowing who is behind her existence."

"You're being suspiciously helpful." Ritsura noted.

"You already know we share my cousin as an enemy." Shiori shrugged. "But this is just a guess of mine. Would you bless me with a bit more info on this girl. Like… who the hell is she, and how did you and Rihan meet her?"

"Huh? She goes to school with us." Ritura said something that Shiori thought made no sense.

"No person called Furuta Hikari goes to school with us. Never did." Shiori said as she crossed her arms.

"Why? Do you actually everyone in the school?"

"Trust me, I'd notice if a Furuta Hikari attended our school." Shiori scratched her cheek. "But let's delay talking about that. What else can you tell me about this girl?"

There was no immediate reply. The one who did speak was Gozumaru, but he spoke to Ritsura. "I don't think you should give an enemy like her anything she wants."

Ritsura continued looking at Shiori for a while, and then opened her mouth. "I'll risk. We knew about her for a while, but got closer to her when we ended up visiting her in her club."

"And what club is that?"

"The Psychiatrist Club."

After Ritsura sid those words with a straight place, Shiori looked in silence. "A… Psychiatrist Club? Seriously?"

"Yeah, we do have that club in the school."

"No we don't. Where is it even?" After Ritsura gave her answer, Shiori knew for the fact that the Yuki-Onna was wrong. "Ritsu-chan, that is the History Club. But the clubroom is empty because the members spend their time in the School's or Town's Library."

"What? No, that's… uhh…" Ritsura's body wobbled as she grabbed he head.

"Ritsura-sama?" Gozumaru grabbed her, clearly worried.

"I'm fine… my head is just… mumbled up."

"I see… so you  _did_ hear the song." Shiori smirked.

"What do you mean?" Gozumaru asked.

"Just one more question, okay? I'm going to propose a story, and you tell if I'm correct." Shiori winked. "One day or night, when Rihan was outside, Hikari-chan was attacked. Someone died, a family member or… oh wait, a student from our school passed away recently, so it must be a classmate. Then she was attacked by either the dolls, or by those Frankensteins that your Onee-sama is going to deal with. And after that, she and Riha-chan became close, right? And then she started giving lectures about morals to Rihan, right?"

Ritsura took a moment to answer. "The Dolls attacked, but I don't know what Rihan and Hikari talked about." She then pointed her finger at Shiori. "Now would you mind answering some questions?"

Shiori ignored her, and then turned around to look at the cityscape. "I see, I see… I see what song you are composing, Otone-chan. Oh, how fun!"

"Shiori!" Ritsura yelled, freezing the air around her some more.

This took Shiori's attention. "Have some patience, Ritsu-chan." Shiori looked back at Ritsura. "As thanks for feeding my curiosity, here's a hint of what you want to do: look deep into all of your memories concerning Hikari. You may end up wanting to turn your thoughts somewhere else, but fight on!"

* * *

"Huh?" Ritsura was getting annoyed, but she thought it would be better to listen to her.

"Come on! Do it! Do it! Do it!"

"Fine , now  _you_  have patience. Calm down." Ritsura closed her eyes and thought back on Hikari.

First, she thought about the flaw in her memory, like how she could forget about the History Club. Her head started hurting again, and she wanted to think about a possibility of a trap, but she fought on.

 _But those books in the clubroom… they were about psychology._  She thought of that memory, but then it started getting blurry. Her head hurt again, and she could hear some whispers. She wanted to think of something else, but focused on the books.

And then the image changed, and she was looking at books about Japanese and Chinese histories.

And the whispers turned into words. They seemed to be singing.

Having cemented that discrepancy, she thought about Hikari. She remembered seeing her at the school a few times, but she was always with other people. Again, she focused on these images. Again, her head hurt. And then Hikari disappeared from older memories, and was replaced by other students. Only in the fresher ones did she remain.

The song became louder, but she could not focus on the lyrics. She registered the tone, but not the words.

It became progressively easier. For instance, she remembered some of her friends talking about Hikari. Soon after, the topic of conversation completely changed.

And then the song exploded, and her head somewhat did so too, with pain. "Ahhh!" She screamed.

"Ritsura-sama!" She could hear Gozumaru.

"I am… alright."

_And then a "new" memory came into her head._

_A memory of a strange occurrence._

_Of a song, that came from the school's loudspeakers._

_It was a weird, bizarre song…_

_About a girl that strived to be a Psychiatrist._

_A kind-hearted girl._

_A girl who opened a club to help her fellow students._

_A girl who was being held by strings of a monster._

_A girl that would be a harbinger of a great tragedy._

_A girl called Furuta Hikari, a true tale._

_And she remembered how this song reshaped her memories._

_She tried to fight it with all her Fear, but it did nothing, The song entered into her ears and right into her brain._

_And then it all became normal._

"What… what the hell was that?" Ritsura asked, with a clear head. "No matter how much Fear I put in, it was useless. It can't be possible… "

"Don't feel so down, Ritsu-chan. It was not a Fear-based power, so it's natural that trying to cut it with your own Fear would be useless." Shiori said, and Ritsura looked at this girl. She was enjoying this.

"Then what kind of power was it?"

"It is the same kind of power as your Great-Grandmother's, Youhime's. It's a power that can awaken naturally in some humans, most commonly in women."

Ritsura did not reply, but she understood what she meant. Both she and her brother inherited a small portion of her power, as did their father. So she knew that this power was not a part of her Fear.

"Fascinating, isn't it?" Shiori continued. "This is the power of our own Hime, the Utahime (Songstress)." She then looked a bit down. "My mother was one as well, but unfortunately I did not inherit it. My cousin did though." She then looked as if she was praying. "Yep, and what a great power it is. It's a song that can make you feel at ease or can clean you of your impurities or doubts." And then she spread er arms and made a malicious smile. "Or, if the Utahime is vicious enough, it can be used to violate your very mind… or even your very soul if she tries hard enough. And the House of Sanmoto never had such a vicious Songstress as the current one. Whoever is misfortunate enough to get close to her… will get their mind reshaped in ways only a sick mind like Otone's can come up with."

Ritsura started understanding the meaning of Shiori's malicious smile.

"Speaking of which, you let your sister go on a date with her, didn't you?"

Ritsura did not believe that Ryoko could really become her victim, but she did not want to risk it. She took her phone and dialed her number, but nothing happened.  _Did she turn it off?_  She then tried calling Ryuzan, but nothing happend again. The same with Sakura's.

"Don't bother, she probably made the'Network Fairy'block all calls to their phones."

"Where the hell is the Asylum?" Ritsura demanded to know.

"When did you think we were so friendly that she would let me know?" Shiori just shrugged the demand off.

"You should suspect."

"I don't know if you noticed, but Tokyo is a huge place. And as far as I know, it could be moving from one place to another. Wouldn't put it past her to do something like that. A few songs, and she can fit anywhere."

Ritsura was not certain that Shiori was honest, but it was clear that she would not get any more information from this redhead girl. "Gozumaru!"

"Right!" The young warrior knew what she would ask. "I'll go look for them immediately, and let everyone else know to do the same." And then he opened the window and jumped down.

"Well, good luck with that." She could hear Shiori speak from behind. "If their calls are blocked, than it means that my dear cousin wants them to visit. And she will not let anyone get in the way. But everyone makes mistakes, so maybe she will make one as well."

"Don't underestimate my comrades, nor my Onee-sama." Ritsura faced Shiori once more. "What's the purpose of Furuta Hikari?"

"Who knows." She shrugged her shoulders.

She was clearly lying. "She is obviously supposed to bring harm to my brother. Should that not be enough to make you talk?"

"Well, what can I say… other than that you shouldn't underestimate my boyfriend?"

Ritsura wanted to reply to that, but then Shiori turned around.

"Ah, I can't wait to see how Riha-chan handles these tales. Ah, the look on Otone's face. Ah, I feel like writing a Poem about it!"

* * *

_After the murders, I have changed._

_For one, I could no longer take an incorporeal form. During days, I had to hide. Out of habit, I usually hid in public toilet rooms. Sometimes, in dark streets, where I pretended to be a grumpy girl sitting on the ground. And sometimes, when I wanted to make sure I would not be bothered, and thus would not have to kill anyone, I hid in the sewers._

_The second change was that I now had a weapon. Whenever I needed it, a scythe would appear in my hands._

_And the third, and greatest change, was that I felt this extraordinary bloodlust. I wanted to kill. I needed to kill. It was like a biological urge, impossible to oppose. Often did I try to fight it, and when I did my best I could hear voices in my head… telling me what Kashima Reiko was supposed to do… what I had to do. But no matter how much I fought back, eventually I would fail and someone would die._

_Basically, I ceased to be a Ghost. Now, I was a Demon. An evil youkai._

_Not that I was the only one. There were other evil youkai in the streets, and I often stumbled upon them. Sometimes we would even look at one another for a while, before returning to our daily activities._

_And eventually, I would become a member of a group of evil youkai._

_It was a day, and this time I hid in public, by sitting under a tree. It was a public place, and I hid the non-existence of my legs with a black school bag and some jackets, both belonging to my latest victims._

_Some boys would occasionally stop to flirt, but I would only need to give them an angry look and they would get scared enough to walk away. One even ran._

_Adults also stopped from time to time, to check if I was alright. I just kept silent, and they would leave after calling me impolite._

_I envied them, all these lives that walked in front of me. They were happy, and doing what I used to do in my oldest memories. Out of envy, I hated them. I hated these elementary school kids for being loud. I hated these Middle School boys for caring about movies as if they mattered in life. I hated these couples for being so cringely lovey-dovey. I hated this old granny who was constantly trying to give me candies and make me talk. I hated this painter who painted something in front of me. I hated this lady who was taking photographs of birds._

_But, more than anyone, I hated myself for my desire to kill them all._

_And I hated this sun, which was setting. For I knew that once it set, and the night fell, my bloodlust would reach a peak again. I would need to kill._

_The painter still sat there, looking in my direction while painting. I thought he was a petty fool, because I would end up killing him first if he did not leave. I tried talking, hoping I could make him leave, but he asked me to shut up. That I was prettier when I was silent._

_I was annoyed, but I still felt like warning him. So I explicitly told him I would kill him if he did not leave. He told I was free to try, because he needed inspiration to properly finish his newest piece of art._

_Back then I was certain he did not believe me. But I shut up anyway, as he clearly was stupid enough to deserve to die. Little did I know I was the stupid one._

_An hour passed, and the last ray of the sun disappeared. It was then that I smiled, and asked him if he wanted to see something interesting. The tanned painter raised his eye, but did not seem too interested. I then removed the bag and the jackets, revealing the lack of my legs. Normally, it would make people turn pale. If they were young and kept to date with trends, they would realize who I was and would ty to flee._

_The painter just gave me an "Mhm" and returned to moving his brush. After that, I did not even feel sorry for him. I jumped a little so my torso was now standing on the ground, and I summoned my weapon. And then I jumped towards him._

_I thought he would look up in horror before and then die, but he just took some of the paintings and threw them into the air. To my horror, the park was now filled with numerous monsters._

_A fight ensued. A long fight, me against these monsters… and some monsters the Painter created by grabbing several girls and turning them into even greater monsters. All that he did with a bored look on his face. At some point I realized that this demonic painter was far worse than I was. Another man, with golden hair and wearing a yukata on which pieces of paper were glud on, joined him in looking as I fought to survive. He did nothing, but he must have been worse… for he smiled at all this, including when a monster died, leaving behind a butchered body of a girl._

_Why did I, who hated this new unlife of mine so much, fight so ferociously to survive? I don't know. Back then, I did not even have a reason to live. Even now I barely have any. But I fought, going over all my limits._

_It was then that the Painter smiled in excited and made another painting. And it was then that I developed the ability to float. No longer needing to crawl and jump, I was able to slay all my remaining enemies with ease._

_And then I collapsed, as I no longer had any energy to fight. The tanned painter looked at me with a smile and said that he gave me a gift, as someone like me deserved better than to crawl. Then I lost consciousness._

_When I woke up, they had already enlisted me in their group, the Hyaku Monogatari Clan. I would soon learn that, yes, I could become an even more wicked existence._

* * *

Rihan took her to some building that lent offices to various small companies. She guessed they were on fifth of sixth floor, but she doubted that it would matter. Both Rihan and that bizarre girl could reach any floor in a few seconds.

The two of them sat under a table, hiding from the windows behind it. Yet, something in Hikari's guts told her that this would not be enough. That this youkai, Kashima Reiko, would somehow find them anyhow.

"Are you scared?" The boy asked her. She felt like punching him for talking, as if Kashima Reiko could somehow hear his words from the streets.

Yet she answered him, albeit in a very low tone. "What do you think?" She felt her body shake. "She can fly, she can move faster than a propeller, and she could turn an entire street into a wreckage in a mere moment. Of course I'm afraid." She pulled her knees and dug her face into them.

"Hey, I can move quickly as well. And I assure you, I can even break a block of stone with my bare hands when I put enough-"

"Please stay quiet. I've seen what happens when you try to do anything to her." She remembered how he caught his chest once. Back in distant, blurry past she once saw a man die of a heart attack. They made the same expression. "We can only run and hide. And maybe you can escape her, but what about me? A sorry human like me will die before the sun rises. Sooner or later, she will catch up to me." She had to clench her teeth. If she started crying now, Kashima Reiko might just hear her. And she wanted to delay her own death for as long as possible.

"That's why we need to brainstorm."

"And just what will thinking do?" She replied angrily, unable to keep her tone from raising. "She will just-"

She stopped when he suddenly pulled her towards him, in a soft hug. "I know this must be very scary for you… and that this moves so fast." He tapped on the back of her head. "But don't worry, I'll protect you."

"Mmmm…" She felt blushing, partially because he pulled her so close that her face was pushing against his shirt, and partially because of his words. Yet, she found this cold embrace to be quite comforting. "You suspect me. I'm afraid of you as well. If you started panicking, you might even-"

"I never attack people whom I suspect, only those that have shown to be enemies. So don't worry, whatever my doubts are, for now you're still just a poor girl surrounded by danger. I'll die before I let harm befall you."

"Uuuu…" She felt blushing again.  _This is no time to be acting so manly…_ Yet, this situation and those words made turned the images of him fighting Reiko from _'Hopeless no matter how strong he was'_ to  _'He can be relied on'_.

"But I  _am_ out of ideas on how to deal with her. Maybe a few ideas from a smart girl like you could help me see a way to end this."

His words of trust in her touched her. The fact that someone like him thought that he needed her made her get, at least a little bit, out of her despair. "Just what could I possibly say that you would not already know?" She pulled back, as this was no time to take part in carnal pleasures like this. "I don't even know anything about youkai, yet alone about her."

"Maybe fresh ideas will be of use." He scratched his chin, and threw a look from the corner of the table, and past the wall, as if wondering that someone came. "Just say whatever comes to your mind."

"Alright… then tell me something about her."

"It would be one long tale."

"I said  _something_ , not  _everything_." She puffed her cheeks. "Just something that first comes to mind about her situation. Something prominent about her."

"Well… I knew her for a while and even asked about her in past. If I could say something that defines her for me." He looked at the ceiling, as if he were in deep thought. "...how should I put this..." He took annoyingly long to give an answer. "Let's say that opinions of humanity shape who she is. Everyone thinks she is this evil, killing machine, and because of that she is one. Though, I think that… no, I'm sure that, deep inside she hates it."

"I see…" Hikari started processing what she heard. "I'm always baffled by how a few words can change the way you look at someone."

"Hm? And just what do you see now that you… so to say… look at her?"

"A petty girl… a marionette being held by black strings that make her move in the way she hates. A girl that wants someone to cut those strings, and her with them. But, though she hates it, she gave herself to her masters, and tries to act the part. But her smile… thinking of it, it did look a bit sad. Most would give into madness, and she tries… but as much as she tries, there's some kindness still some left deep inside of her."

"A fancy way to say what I already did. She moves as  _everyone_ orders her."

"She moves as everyone orders her… as everyone orders her… everyone." Hikari thought about that word for a few moments. "No, that's impossible."

"Why would it be?"

"Please explain a bit what you mean by opinions of humanity controlling her?"

"Well, you know… I'm sure you have heard at least a few tales of Kashima Reiko. For youkai, and especially for Urban Legends, those tales that humans believe in and spread can define their nature."

"I see… yeah, it's definitely impossible."

"Would you mind explaining?"

"Think about it. No matter what person, event, or story you take… never does everyone agree with it. There are always different opinions. Even if something seems to be factually clear, some humans will feel a need to make an opposite story. If there's a politician everyone loves, some will find or make up dirt about him. If someone kills someone, there will be people who will suspect that maybe the victim was the bad one." She raised her head at Rihan, whose pupils rose as he ate what she said. "Basically, there will be white strings amongst the black ones, no?"

"White strings amongst the black ones."

"Yeah. I mean, I remember some cartoons where this Kashima Reiko was shown as a comical character doing pranks in toilets. Could that be one of the strings controlling her too?"

Rihan looked away, thinking about it. "Yeah… it would." And then she noticed that a smile slowly grew on his face. "Yeah, it would!"

 _Uhm… it would still be mostly black strings though._  Shamefully, she did not want to voice that part, fearing that it might remove his smile… the way he liked what she said. "Did it help in any way?" She asked when his smile had turned into large grin

"Oh it sure did. I finally see how this tale could end. Thanks a bunch!" He suddenly pulled her towards him and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, after which he jumped onto his feet. "Alright, time to get back into the game!"

"Wawawawawa…" In contrast to his excitement, she was blushing and shaking.  _Calm down calm down calm down! It was just on a cheek! Platonic, and made only out of-_

"AAAAAAAAA!" A screaming, bloody and eyeless girl sprung out of the ventilation duct, falling towards Hikari with a stretched out hands, that had long, sharp nails smeared with blood. Hikari did not fail to notice that she only had half a body, and that a stomach and other internal organs fluttered from her abdomen. Were she not paralyzed from fear, Hikari would have thrown up at the sight.

But this was not Kashima Reiko, so she was an easy prey to Rihan who impaled her through the mouth with his sword, and then threw her off into the far other end of the office with one swing of his sword, leaving her with a wide, bloody scar across her entire body.

Realizing that the immediate danger was gone, Hikari jumped onto her feet and moved away a little.

"ARHHHHHH!" The numerous screams exploded, followed by the wet bumping against the glass. As Hikari's eyes moved, she saw a sea of bloody girls bumping against the windows and screaming, and smearing the glass with blood.

Then a silhouette behind them moved, and the window exploded in a destroyed the windows also threw numerous girls, decapitated in half, at them. Once again, Rihan got in their way, this time by kicking a large table towards them.

"I see that you brought some of your friends to us, Reiko-chan?" Rihan spoke while resting his sword on his shoulder, all while countless legless girls crawled around the office. "They look nice in their own ways, but why do I have trouble imagining you manicuring your toe-nails during sleepovers?"

Hikari wanted to punch him for taunting someone like Kashima Reiko.

"So, you still have some energy left, Nura Rihan." In contrast to her crawling cousins, Kashima Reiko floated into the building through the broken window. "I had trouble looking for you, so I called my sisters… the other Teke-Tekes, to help."

"What a lovely family you have."

Hikari wanted to punch him again, but instead she slowly walked to him. She wanted to grab his sleeve, but thought that such an act might get in his way. "Can you deal with them?" Hikari asked, wondering why she was so calm in front of such a terrifying scene.

"Now that I know what to do, it's only fair that I get some challenge to compensate, right?" Rihan answered in a confident smile. Though he had to look at Reiko and the other Teke-Tekes, he still managed to take a moment to look at Hikari. "What about you? You look calm."

"I'm better now." She looked overall these girls, wondering who did this to them. She felt pity for them.

She then looked at Kashima Reiko, and their eyes met. Hikari wanted to close her eyes, but a part of her looked at Reiko in defiance. As if rejecting the fear that Reiko offered her.

 _I see… of course. There is nothing to be afraid of._ Hikari rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand, in order to clean the last sweat on her face, before she returned to looking at Reiko who gazed down with a cruel grin… that looked so forced.  _There's no way we would die. Someone who fights to win, like Rihan, and someone who fights to survive, like me, can't possibly lose against someone who fights to die, like you Reiko-san._

* * *

_Under the Hyaku Monogatari, I found a new purpose. Can't say I was enthusiastic about it, but at least it filled my days with something more than sitting around during the day and killing random people at night._

_But it did not make me a better person. Under this cult, worshiping Sanmoto Goarozaemon, I served as an assassin and enforcer. I killed those that were not loyal to them. I killed their enemies. I killed to remove threats, and to frame others for murders. And I still killed humans, mostly innocent ones, to grow stronger._

_I had the option to leave I guess. But that might have put me on their hit list, and I have seen what this clan of youkai born from horror stories do to traitors. Well, I became strong enough to survive even that so that may not be really an excuse… most of all, I guess, I feared to returning to an aimless life._

_Or that's how it was for a while. But even I had my limits._

" _What the hell is this?" I asked, still remembering this relatively recent memories, from a few months before the Tokyo Tag started. Enchou called to show me something at his theater, and of course I obliged._

" _They are your sisters, so to say." The de-facto leader of this crazy cult, the rakugo artist Enchou, answered me with joyful glee as he pointed at 'them' with his left arm. "For your loyalty, we are giving your tale another power-up."_

_I know I was supposed to be pleased, but I really was not. They were girls like me, schoolgirls who lacked half of the body, and lusted for blood. But they were not as fearsome as me, though they clearly had numbers._

" _Explain this, Enchou."_

" _What's there to explain? Your tale has become so popular, that immitations got to be made." The creepy rakugo artist put his hands on my shoulders. "You got to become one of Japan's most popular Urban Legends. Did you really think we would not try to make use of this?"_

_I bit my tongue, so I would not scream at him. Why did others have to suffer the same fate as me?_

" _Though once again, and just like with that monk assassin, copies proved to be underwhelming. I guess even the tale as strong and as dark as yours doesn't change that." He finally let go of my shoulders, and moved away a little. "But at least they are all part of your tale. So, they are part of you. That means that whenever you want, they will obey you. They don't have enough Fear to have their own minds after all."_

" _Can I order them to die?"_

" _No, for as long as Kashima Reiko's tale exists, they will exist. You'd need to die first." He said, and then turned around. Clearly he thought that this conversation was over. "Now, Kyousai said that there's another tale he wishes you to help him with. So go to-"_

" _No, this was enough." I lost my patience at that point._

" _Oh? You really think that you have a choice in the matter?" He looked at me, hiding whatever expression he made under his fan. "We are your family now. And our family does not like our siblings leaving. Especially those who may say too much to the wrong people."_

_Cold sweat took me over, as he gazed upon me with those strange eyes of his. I did not fear death, nor did I fear torture. But Enchou, Tamasaburo, Kyousai, Minagoroshi Jizou… they were all crazy freaks, just begging for someone to give them a reason to show how horrible and messed up they were. These youkai, that ruled over us Urban Legends as tyrants back in the day, had pitch-dark hearts even by our standards._

" _Maybe your tale does not offer her any options, Enchou-san, but mine does." We did not even notice an older human enter the theater. "And I would like to lend this girl, if you don't mind." The man said, while patting my head as if I were some normal girl._

_The Hyaku Monogatari Clan was a youkai organization, but they were closely affiliated with another one, the House of Sanmoto. The first were led by the pieces of Sanmoto Gorozaemon's soul, the later were his human descendants from the time he himself were a human. Both were equally filled with freaks though. I mean, who would patt someone like me on her head?_

" _Ah, nice of you to come visit my theater, Kurugaya-san." Enchou politely bowed to the current leader of the House of Sanmoto. "Albeit outside of the working hours."_

" _Hm, today I was not in the mood for such a show anyway." The human commented while looking at my copies in the theater._

" _Well, onto the business then. What do you mean that you are taking our prodigy with you?"_

" _Well, officially the Nose is taking her." The man took out a scroll from his pocket and handed it to Enchou. "She is calling on an earlier favor, as I understand."_

_Nose was the only of the seven leaders of the Hyaku Monogatari Clan that I did not know at the time. And from what I understood, the Nose rarely visited either of the two groups, and mostly kept to herself._

" _I see… but I guess she is doing a favor to you. What do you possibly need her for? Did you change your mind and will join us in our upcoming fight against the Nuras?"_

" _Still sounds like suicide to me, so I'll pass. Not that we would be of any use to your fighting force… after you took the little we had."_

" _So now you are taking something for yourself, to protect yourself just in case something goes awry."_

" _Aye." He took me by the back of my collar, and started walking away. "Good luck with your upcoming tale, Enchou-san."_

" _Hey, you can't treat me like that!" I complained, but he ignored me._

" _But, in return, I expect the Nose to help us in the upcoming fight."_

" _Yes, she said she will join the fight and even come to Tokyo. Look forward to what happens to the Arawashi Group." He replied back, and then whispered so that only I could hear him. "And that's all she will send, while she herself will probably just relax and read a book or something."_

_Back then, I was confused why Enchou put so little actual effort in keeping me in his group. And why this entire conversation seemed like a show from his side._

_When it turned out he was a traitor, I realized that he was just getting rid of me. I guess I got lucky, the next job might have led to my demise, one way or another._

_So I moved to an affiliated group. My tasks did not change much, though she schedule was eased up, my life did not change much, but at least I was away from those freaks like Enchou and Kyousai. And Kurugayas were always good to me. Both this man, his son, and his granddaughter, Shiori._

_I wonder if things would have been better if I was there. I cared little about the Hyaku Monogatari's leaders, but thousands of my fellow Urban Legends died in this act of betrayal. Maybe I could have saved a few of our lives, and taken a few more Nuras._

_And maybe I could have even split apart the traitor, and personally silence that voice of his which I found to be eerily familiar._

* * *

Once again, they were running through Nakano, with Reiko following after them… though this time she had the aid of her  _sisters_ , who crawled through the shadows, and jumped over the humans while raining blood from their decapitated bodies.

Was it because of his support, or because she was able to read Reiko's character, Hikari was now calmer. This made him calmer as well, for he was more certain that she would do as he asked and the  _sisters_ were less likely to taste someone's fear and instinctively go after her.

"Why is she not attacking us yet?" Hikari asked. "She's fast, she could reach us easily."

"Because of this many humans around us." Rihan gave a quick answer.

"Why would she care? She alone has no reason to be afraid, yet alone together with those… other girls."

"By our nature, we youkai don't like to be seen by this many humans. The more mysterious we seem to them, the less trouble down the line." He threw a glance towards Reiko, who was leisurely following after them at a safe distance. "For her, there's also the fact that causing a commotion might catch the attention of my… uh, the Nura Clan. If some humans recorded us, and my dad saw it on the Internet, the Nura Clan might rain upon Nakano in all their might. And she already caused one uproar, so another might be going over the line."

"...I don't really understand it, but alright. So what's your plan? Where are we going?"

"To some place where we don't need to worry about being seen by too many people." Rihan already had a place in mind. He only hoped it did not change since he was a child. "Then I'll need to fight against Reiko, as well as get rid of the her entourage. And… we are here." Rihan said and stopped running.

They were on a railroad. It was not exactly far away from where humans walked around, but it was enough. Once the youkai started assembling, the humans would naturally start avoiding the area.

"What about me?" Hikari asked as he let her down. He could hear faints of fear returning to her voice. "Should I hide somewhere?"

"No, that's a bad idea. Wherever you went, the Teke-Teke would reach you." Rihan took out his sword and looked at the bizarre girls that now surrounded them from all sides. "It's best you stay close to me."

"With you? But wouldn't that be-"

"You won't be a burden, I can take care of you." He told a white lie. "And I know that you will be afraid of having to be so close to action, but please endure."

"H… hai!" She tried to sound determined, but her tone faltered. He could not blame her, he too would be if he lost all his powers and had to be close to someone like Reiko.

"What an annoying place you chose." The star of the show, Kashima Reiko, finally floated herself to the sky above Rihan and Hikari. He did not need Hikari to tell him that she was acting calm, but actually afraid.  _Good, that's why I chose this place. Nothing gets in one's way than trauma._

"With all the aces you have, I deserve a handicap. Don't you agree, Reiko-chan?"

"That handicap will not help you." She pointed her scythe at him. "Attack, my sisters!" Usually, she would have stormed at him. But now she kept her distance, at the height that a train could not reach. The other Teke-Teke, who probably died for different reasons, were not as scared.

And that all suited him fine. For now, he had to take care of the side characters.  _No, fodder. These petty, nameless girl can't be called anything else._

With a scream, the girls jumped at him. And so started a long, boring fight where Rihan killed one dead girl after another, occasionally suffering a minor wound or scratch. Sometimes they would jump towards Hikari, but Rihan would successfully get in the way.

Kashima Reiko stayed above them all. It was clear that she wanted to descend down, but she did not dare.

Moments passed. Then minutes. And then half an hour, or maybe even a full hour, passed with this banal fight.  _Is there no end to them?_  The girls were weak, but they were numerous. No matter how strong Rihan was, his stamina was not limitless.

"R… Rihan…" Hikari started, with a faltering voice.

"Don't worry hikari-chan, this will soon be over." Rihan assured her before she could waste more time with talk.

"No Rihan, I-"

"Just stay patient." He said, while cutting another girl in half vertically, after which she turned into black dust.

"Rihan!" She then kicked him.

"Hey! I don't have time to-"

"You are killing same girls over and over!" She yelled at him. "Have you not noticed it?"

"...what?" Rihan was dumbfounded, but had to turn his attention back to an assaulting girl. "He did not remember any of them, but then he never really paid attention to them. His eyes were mostly looking at Hikari, Reiko, and only at small moments at the girls."

"The girl is right." Reiko finally spoke once more. "They can't actually perish unless I die."

"Uh… well damn." He was so focused on fighting that he failed to notice such an important detail.  _I literally wasted time and stamina on a plan that could never work. Damn it!_

"So...what do we do now?" Hikari repeated an old question.

"Try to get away. And then think of another plan."

"Do you really need to get rid of them all?"

"I need to focus all my attention on Reiko."

"Seeing as we were free of her only due to this railroad, do you really think that any other place will do? Or that she will let us reach another railroad?"

"...you know, you're a pretty smart girl when you aren't shaking in fear."

"Yeah, screw you too."

"Hahaha…" Rihan let out a small laugh. But she was correct, there was no more optimal place than this. And Reiko would probably come up with something to stop them from reaching another one like this.

He needed to do it here. "Hikari… I'm sorry, but can I make a gamble?"

A short silence ensued, but Hikari eventually realized what he meant. "That's cruel, Rihan. You know I won't survive if you stop protecting me. And you promised you would protect me with your life."

"I know… but I can make them retreat for a while."

"But you don't know if that will be enough, right? You bastard, you probably hope that I really am an enemy. That they would leave me alone, or that this Otone woman ordered them to not touch another pawn."

He did not reply. She was not completely wrong after all.

"Geez. All that talk from before really was to just calm me down. The more I get to know you, the more I see that you really are… haaa." She sighed. "Answer me one question. Do you want to kill that girl? Or bring her harm?"

"I can't do that, you already-"

"I didn't ask will you, but do you want?"

Rihan took a few moments to reply. "I want to, and intend to, help this ghost pass on."

"Then alright." He could see a small smile on her. "Maybe promises don't mean that much to you, but they do to me. And I promised to always do all I can to help others get over their troubles."He could hear her taking in a deep breath, and then let it out. "So fine, I accept your sacrifice. Go and do what you can for that sorry ghost."

"Alright… and sorry for having you fight for yourself for a while." Rihan said and raised his sword. But he did not see this as a breaking of a promise. If they retreated, they'd be on the run until Kashima Reiko won. And while he himself could survive for days maybe, Hikari could not. Sooner or later, he would miss something and she would lose her life. This may have been a gamble, but Rihan still thought the chances for her survival were higher this way. Now he would accumulate his Fear,and use Meikyou Shisui Doku to make the Teke-Teke run away, thus buying Hikari some time.

"Leave. All of you." A voice from above said, and the next moment the girls crawled back into the shadows, and soon after their Fears vanished.

Both Hikari and Rihan turned towards Reiko with confusion, and the girl in question had floated down. "That… was unexpected." Rihan noted.

"It's a whim." She explained nothing. Rihan noticed that the grin, that Hikari called forced, was gone from her face. Instead, a normal, serious expression took its place. "After seeing that little speech from her, I lost my will to deal with her."

"Oooh? You finally realized that leaving the poor human alone is an honorable thing to do or something?"

"A poor human?" She smiled again, but this time in a mocking smile. Comparing this to the last one, Rihan understood why the last one was fake. "No, I just realized that she has no idea what is going on, and though she is ignorant and has a dark purpose, she is not a bad person. And I don't like bullying such people."

"I have…" Hikari started. "No idea what is going on?"

"Indeed. Rihan has to defeat three Urban Devils to win the game. But… who said that there are only three in the game? It would not be above Otone to add another one or two pawns more."

"I… an Urban…"

"Now shove off! Once I start swinging my scythe, I will cut anything and anyone."

Hikari stood there, behind Rihan, for a few moments. It was clear she had many questions. But in the end, she decided to oblige and moved away from the railroad.

"Who'd have thought." Rihan smiled at reiko and prepared for a fight. "You're not nearly as bad as I thought you were, Kashima Reiko."

"And I don't care what you think, you Nura youkai." She said the last part with utter hate, and swung her scythe at the empty air.

"Then let's dance." As he told Hikari, he intended to help Reiko pass on. But now he actually saw it as something he wanted to do, rather than just a means to an end.

After a moment, their weapons clashed and the sparks flew as her black scythe and his black sword clashed and slid against one another.

He was tired and Reiko was as strong as before, but now he had a plan. And that gave him enough confidence to fight with more zeal than before.

The only problem was, he had no precise idea what he intended to do. He knew the result of his actions, but not the method. Yet, strangely, he felt like deep inside he knew even that. To be more precise, he felt that whenever his fingers gripped the handle of his sword.

This was a strange sword that Shiori gave him. Nenekirimaru was special as well, and not only because of what it did to youkai. Just holding it left this feeling like this sword was more than a simple object. This sword was the same. But he also felt like it fit him more, and as if it was a part of him.

 _Let us say that it really IS an extension of myself, and that part of me knows what to do…_ He deflected two consecutive strikes from Reiko as he monologued in himself.  _Then I should not think about it too much. Just relax and act naturally…_

No longer thinking about useless things, Rihan's moves got faster and better. He easily pushed off all of Reiko's attacks, no matter from which direction they came, and at which speed. She was getting annoyed, but also confused. Still, her paranoia that a train would come at any moment kept her from actually doing her best.

He then felt her Fear growing. It was like she was about to destroy an entire street again, but this time she would focus all that destructive power in one close-range attack. If she hi him with that, nobody would be able to save him.

And she struck at him, but then he turned into air. She was so focused on the attack that she must have forgotten about his natural ability.

Yet she did not get confused, and she pulled the back of her scythe back, intending to strike Rihan, who was now standing behind her, into his guts. But he grabbed it, this stopping the attack.

She managed to pull her weapon away, and started turning around.  _A hole in her defense. Not dangerous for her though, as I can't kill her._

But instinctively, his sword moved. And struck her right into her heart.

"Huh?" Reiko was confused.

Rihan was confused too. For a moment he was afraid that he would get another heart attack, but nothing happened. She was not even bleeding.

Yet, like just when he attacked, he knew what he had to do. "Your memories are my memories. Your tale is my tale." He whispered, and white lines started forming around the blade of his sword. It started to look like beautiful engravings, all showing an ukiyoe painting with Kashima Reiko as the main character. And they all moved towards Reiko.

"Wait!" Reiko grabbed the blade with her hand, and tried to pull it away. "What is this?! What are you doing?!"

When the lines finally reached her, thousand images went through his head. He saw Reiko when she was still a human, he saw how she died, he saw how she became a ghost and gazed as her parents passed, he saw her first kills, and how she joined the Hyaku Monogatari Clan. He saw people he heard but never saw before, like Kyousai and Enchou. He saw Shiori's grandfather, he saw all the times that made her hate the Nura Clan… he saw all important parts of Reiko's life.

And then he saw the tales about her, true and false, but all important. They were like malicious whispers, not so different from the ones he sometimes heard in his sleep, demanding that he became evil and destroyed the world.

 _Remember what Hikari said. These tales are practically her chains. Her black chains._  As if this was an order, he saw Reiko in front of him again, but now holding her head as if seeing some memories she wanted to forget. Then thousand black chains appeared, impaled into her and leading away in all directions. Some were transparent, and some looked as if they were made of real metal. Most were somewhere between.

 _But amongst them, white chains should also exist._  And then he saw a few white and grey chains as well, also leading in numerous directions. He grabbed the one white chain that was least transparent. The moment he did, he saw the tale, and memories, it represented. The chain disappeared, but somehow he knew exactly where to go.

And then they all disappeared. The moment Reiko realized it, she slashed at him with all her fury. "What did you do?!"

He answered with a small grin. He now knew what to do next.

"Hikari!" He called. "I'll be leaving soon, so you stay nice and wait for me, okay?"

"What?" The girl answered. "What just happened? And why are you leaving me here alone?"

"Don't worry!" He threw her a smile, all while avoiding Reiko's furious, but uncoordinated, slashes. "You're one of the bad guys, remember? Otone will leave you alone, as otherwise you won't be able to do anything to me. So you'll be fine, nobody will do anything to you while you wait for me to come back." He winked back at her.

"Wha-" Hikari looked as if she had no idea what to say… and no idea if she were to be confused, afraid or angry.

But now he had to deal with Reiko.  _I have to get away and make her follow me. But first, I'll need to have her move away a bit, as I can't run while she is close enough to attack me._

He did not actually need that long to come up with a plan. He grinned at how mischievous it was.

He pushed towards Reiko with his own attacks, forcing her to go into a defensive. He could see worry on her face.  _She's afraid I'd do it again._

"Why are you smiling like that?" She asked, now looking even more worried.

"You know Reiko-chan…" He avoided her latest attack and completely relaxed. He even only barely held his sword. "Now that I look at you closely, you're pretty cute."

"Huh?!" Her worry was no more. Now she just looked baffled. "What the hell are you- hey?" He grabbed her from behind with one hand, and pulled her closer.

"A bit of combing of that messy hair, some make-up on the eyebrows, and a bit of perfume and you'd be quite a babe."

She now looked even more baffled. "What the hell are you doing?" She asked while his hand touched the back of her head. "Don't you understand your situation?"

And then he pushed this incredibly light girl forward and, while her mouth was still open, pushed his lips over hers.

"HMMMM?!" She was already heating up, and they only began. He immediately pushed in, which brought her to the point that even Rihan could feel the head coming from her face. "HMMMMNMM!" In the position they were in, she could easily finish him off. But she was too shocked at what was going on, and clearly too inexperienced, to keep a cool head about it.

She managed to pull away for a moment, but he pushed back at her. She was shaking all the time, and only managed to pull back when he had to catch some breath. But then he went for a third assault. For a moment, her body relaxed, as did her tongue, but then she suddenly tensed up, and pulled away with all her strength… and Fear. The next moment Rihan looked at her, she was several hundred meters far from him, but even from this distance he could see that she was red everywhere on her face.

"For a woman that should be almost a century old, you sure lack resolve and skill!" Rihan taunted her with a shout. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go. Later!" He greeted the girl that was starting to release extremely high amount s of Fear, and started running from her.  _Now, to lead her to our destination…_

" **I WILL KILL YOU!"**  He heard her shout… strangely, she shouted it in perfect unison with Hikari.

* * *

Hikari did not remember if she was ever this furious in her life. "What do you think you are doing?! Rihan!" She shouted as she gazed at Rihan running, and Reiko flying towards him with a speed of a bullet train. And this, having Reiko move away and then follow after him, was clearly the goal of this entire charade. "But how do you even come up with such a plan? How?!"

"And did you enjoy it?! You did, didn't you?!"

After some more shaking and venting, Hikari calmed down.  _Uh, forget about it! This is a killing game with my life on the line. Who cares about some stupid kiss when murderous monsters are running around, your only ally thinks you're one of the bad guys, and you may die at any moment? This is all so trivial!_

…

"Sure, I only get a small, meaningless kiss on the cheek. But that crazy psycho? Oh, she gets a minute-long French service!"

After taking a few moments to realize what she just said, she started aggressively rubbing her head. She knew human psyche way too well to deny what was going on.

"Uhhh… I can't believe I fell for him! I could understand if it were days ago when he still acted nice to me, but now he is a jerk who sees me as an enemy! A rude guy who can't even hold a promise properly! It's not even a Princess Complex…. So whyyyy…"

 _Murder game! Monsters! Me possibly getting killed! Remember!_ Once more, she tried to force her thoughts into the proper directions, and slapped her own cheeks to try and force that fact into herself.  _It's not as if I'm the one or I should be the one being angry here anyway!_

She then felt someone's arm falling onto her shoulder. When she turned her head, she saw the smiling face of Ichinoe Araya, but her eyes were red and her hair was released rather than in a pony tail. "Yeah, you should be the one who is ang- Wait, you are not supposed to be-"

"Owww, the little puppet dreams of love." Araya said, and Hikari noticed that her body was transparent. "But forget about this, I'm here for you." And then her mouth started moving towards Hikari's left ear.

"What? What are you-" And then Araya started whispering a poem right into Hikari's ear. "AAAAAAHHH!" Hikari screamed. It were a few words, but her body and soul fought as if they were more dangerous than any blade. And she felt as if her entire existence was being changed. "STOOOOP!"

And finally, the poem was over and Araya let go of her, which led to Hikari falling onto all fours. "Ah… ah…" She sweat and shaked.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you will like my poem more than Otone's ugly song."

Hikari looked up, but had nothing to say. She could not talk, not after what felt like her entire purpose in this world, and her future, were being rewritten. At least, this was what it felt like.

Yet, she did actually manage to let out some words. "What… did… you do to me?"

"I made you into my pawn, you silly head." She said while kneeling, as if Hikari was a child that needed parental comfort. "But don't let Otone know it, okay? I promised her not to interfere, so this is a breaking of rules. Ah, this tale I just started seems it could be so fun that I just could not hold back from breaking some silly rules."

"Ha…" Even Hikari did not know her own mumble was supposed to mean.

"Anyway, I did my part. The rest is up to you." She put her index finger on her lips, and started fading. "But I know you will do you best. My characters  _always_ do their best." And after that, she faded.

"Ahh…" Once this dangerous girl was gone, and Hikari was not as tense, she fell unconscious.

* * *

"Hrrmm…" Ritsura looked at Shiori, who was now sleeping on the mattress that Ritsura had prepared for her. She was sure that she heard Shiori mumble something cryptic, and the mad speech that Shiori gave earlier made her believe that she truly planned to do something.

 _Did she… is there a way for her to contact the outside? Through her dreams?_  Ritsura wondered, but she knew that she had no idea to learn about that… or to do anything about it.  _No, she would have been saved by now. But what was she doing?_   _She started to talk frantically when she learned about Hikari so maybe this is about her? No, it is definitely about her._

Furuta Hikari. A few hours ago, she seemed like a normal girl. But after Shiori helped her get over a hypnosis, she was certain that there was more to this girl. Something dangerous.  _But what? Damn it, why did Rihan have to get stuck with that girl? Or did she cause his disappearance?_

There were so many things going on… so many things she did not have under control.  _Well, for now I'll focus on doing what I can._ She then closed her eyes, and returned to meditating, and spreading her Fear around the tower. Soon, she would be a Yuki-Onna haunting one of most famous Japanese landmarks.

* * *

For someone who was supposed to be an incredibly strong youkai, Rihan was very good at running from fights. Though seeing as Reiko herself fled from Nuras numerous times, she did not have that much right to complain about it.

But right now, she was so angry at the way he humiliated her that she could not think of anything but making him pay. Even now she was flying at him, on top of this hotel, and would strike him soon.

But once again, he just disappeared, and she flew and destroyed a water tank on the roof of this small hotel. Normally, she would quickly turn around, but right now she was in the mood for breaking things and causing loud, crashing noises. Venting would not get her much good, she knew that, but even so she could not but want to vent her frustration.

She hated the fact that he looked down at her, so much that he would easily risk his life for such a stupid action. More so, she hated the fact that she completely forgot that she had him at her mercy, and even more so hated the fact that she felt powerless while he was doing the thing she hated the most: him intruding into far past personal space and doing with her body whatever he pleased.

She still remembered how it felt, and that made her even more furious. Clearly, though she lost most of her humanity after becoming a youkai, her pride as a woman remained. And she would make this male pay for scorning her like that.

Thinking of it, this was not even the first time he did. Once before, he taunted her the same way, and kissed her on the forehead. Back then, she too made a scene about it. The fact that she was used that was again hurt her pride even more.

 _Calm down, calm down… if I am angry, I'll never get to catch him. Look at him, formulate a plan and IS HE SMILING AT ME? HE IS! YOU BASTARD I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!_  And just like that, she returned to wildly and aimlessly swinging her scythe.

They continued their game of cat and mouse, over the rooftops of lower buildings, over the lamplights, and through the darker streets.

 _He is not trying to escape me._  She finally realized what was strange about this all.  _And he looks around, as if looking for something. But what for?_  If she did not know better, she would think that he was luring her to one of the Nura Clan's allies. But Nura Clan had little power in and around Nakano, and their few allies that were in the area would be of no use against her as they were too weak, weak enough that the youkai of the Hyaku Monogatari just ignored them.

 _Well, no matter._  She smiled.  _I'll catch him soon anyway._  Though she missed him many times, the space between them gradually got smaller and smaller.  _Soon enough, I'll get so close that I'll be able to rush. If the distance is small enough, there will be no way for him to avoid it in tim-_

Too late did she notice that he used his Fear to reduce her focus and perception. Too late did she realize that he went from running with his back turned and at distance of several meters, to being turned towards her and at distance of mere one meter.

She was baffled for a moment, and then he stretched his arms. After what happened a while ago, this made her falter and pull back.

And then he clenched his right fist and the next thing she saw was that same fist flying towards her face. The next thing she felt was great pain in her forehead, and the wind as she flew away. She tried to control her body with her Fear, the same way she made herself float, but her head hurt too much to properly concentrate. The only thing those efforts resulted in was a comical scene where she spun around as she flew, until she finally landed into something soft… and smelly.

 _Garbage…_ She mumbled in annoyance, but her head still hurt too much to move. She was certain that, had he put just a bit more force into it, her skull would have cracked.  _Damn… I'll waste time having to catch up to him again._

When she finally opened her eyes, she saw a little girl above her, staring down with a smile. She recognized this little monster, she was one of the Dollmaker's advanced dolls.

"Daddy said he was tiring of seeing you waste your time." More dolls, of all shapes, appeared in Reiko's field of view. "So we're joining you, okay?"

* * *

Pursuit of Rihan intensified, and now he had to constantly stay above the streets and look towards every corner, all that while being unable to use his illusionary techniques as the Dolls were immune to them.

And of course, Reiko was somewhere amongst them. He took a few glances of her, though he did notice that she was calmer now… and much grumpier. She did not seem to enjoy her newfound company.

The worst however was that he was seeking someone based on the intuition that he gained from touching the chain. He still felt around where this person was, and could recognize them based on the same intuition, but that intuition was weakening. If he took too long, he would be unable to fulfill his objective… unless he stabbed Reiko again, but somehow he doubted she would fall for it again. She might even be able to resist it, now that she had already gone through it.  _I so hate timelimits. They are just the worst kind of challenge._

But if he found that person, what then? It would be fine if Reiko was there alone, but the Dolls might just kill her, if for no other reason than accidentally. He had no idea on how to deal with them.

 _Damn it, I can't reach any more roofs from here._  He stopped and looked at the skyscrapers and other tall buildings, onto which he could climb.  _Where to now…_ He looked around, and saw a small playground, conveniently located in the shadows and away from the busy streets.  _And my target is not that far either._

But as he jumped down, he felt something large above him. He raised his head, and saw that it was now falling… and it landed just in front of him, raising a bit cloud of dust.

"Ahchu!" He coughed a little, and looked in front. The dust cleared soon enough, revealing what looked like a large, long armored armadillo, but with legs that would fit better a kangaroo, and with a head of a large lizard. The head screeched, and then shot flames into the air.  _Fire! Aaaaaahhh!_

"Hi there, Onii-chan!" Only once she called to him, did he notice a little, playful girl atop the armadillo youkai. "Hi!" She repeated, and then her human faced turned to a more monstrous one, that of wide eyes and sharp teeth, and with skin made out of wood. "Hi!" she greeted once again, after which her face turned to that of a normal girl again.

 _Another doll, no doubt about it. And she seems to actually have a mind of her own._  After hearing some sounds, Rihan looked backwards to his left, and then backwards to his right. Various Dolls were now behind him.  _Numbers behind, and fire to the front. All bad stuff._  He put his hand on the handle of his sword, ready to take it out at any moment.  _And no way to get out of this without some serious fighting._

But of course, a fire armadillo in front and a legion of Dolls behind were not enough. Something else was missing, and it was coming from above. Having gotten used to her timings, Rihan easily side stepped and avoided the scythe that dug deep into the concrete.

"And the main character returns." Rihan noted while looking at her. Rage was gone, but there was now some worry in her eyes instead. Though she looked at him, he did not feel like he was taking all of her attention.

_I guess she is not getting along with these Dolls._

"Alright! Onee-chan has arrived!" The girly Doll shouted in excitement. "Will you two fight? You will, will you? Of course you will! Yeah!"

Reiko threw a glance at her for a moment, and Rihan did not fail to notice that she looked at her with more malice than she looked at him just a moment ago. He confirmed it when she looked back at him, and raised her scythe. Yet, she did not look to be in a hurry to fight, and the sweat on her forehead said a lot about how she felt about this company.

"Well, no need to let Onee-chan have all the fun, right guys?" The girl jumped up and down while facing the other Dolls. "Go out there and show Onii-chan just how powerless he is! Go, fill the streets with delicious red color of bloood!"

 _Oh my, how cliche._  Rihan sighed, just to show them what he actually thought of that all, and then looked at Reiko. Her sweat was now covering more of her face. Rihan smiled at this.

She did not fail to notice the smile. "Is this really time to be smiling? Shouldn't you be-"

"Oh come on, you're more bothered by her suggestion than I am." Rihan noted.

"No, you're just good at bluffing, Nura Rihan." Reiko easily replied back.

"Indeed so!" The girl joined in. "This is Kashima Reiko, you know. The mass murderer! She would take even more pleasure in this than any of us."

Rihan looked back at the evil little girl. "You should tell your daddy to send your older siblings, as your tone was clearly mocking her." He then looked back at Reiko. "And yes, I am good at bluffing, if I can say so myself. But you aren't, Reiko-chan. Not a slightest bit."

"So what of it? Nothing changes what I did, nothing changes what I am, and nothing changes my Tale. The fact that I am bothered does not matter. Kashima Reiko is the kind of youkai she is."

"If Kashima Reiko was such an evil youkai, then why is Kashima Reiko bothered?" Rihan asked with a grin. "Don't you find that contradiction strange, Reiko-chan?"

Reiko opened her mouth to say something, but the evil little girls poke first. "Boooring! What are you waiting guys, go on! Start the massacre already!" She shouted, and clapped her hands. As she said that, the Dolls ran past them all. Reiko looked around, not not even hiding her discomfort.

She did not even notice that Rihan got so close that he grabbed the hand that held the scythe, as well as her throat. "Back then, when I stabbed you, I saw all of you, all of the Tales and Memories that defined you. Even the ones you forgot. So I can say this one thing with absolute certainty..."

Rihan could hear that the girl behind said something, but he did not listen to her.

"You are living in an illusion. And luckily for you, I intend to crush it."

"What… are you even… talking abo-" She tried to speak, all while the sounds of a heavy, giant armadillo were getting closer to them.

"I propose a temporary alliance. The Dolls are enemies to both of us, we both want to stop them, and we both want to help you." He then span around. "I won't wait for your answer. Decide when you land." And then he threw her off, and jumped away just as the Armadillo spat fire at the spot where he was standing until a moment ago. "I'll stay here and keep their little boss occupied, okay?" He shouted so loudly that Reiko could hear him from wherever she landed.

Being so close to the fire was painful, but Rihan managed to endure it. "By the way, crazy little doll, just what were you planning to do here?"

"Onii-chan will have to be more specific." The doll noted while lying atop, and tapping on, her Armadillo mount.

"There's no way you guys would let Reiko kill me."

"What makes you think that?" She asked, all while the Armadillo jumped towards Rihan.

"I'm just not getting an impression that you are not into letting others have fun you could have." Rihan answered while jumping away to avoid the giant doll falling onto him. "So? When did you intend to turn against Reiko-chan?"

"After you were weak enough, of course." She made another inhuman smile after that. "And then you both would truly become my Onii-chan and Onee-chan."

"Alright. Thanks for playing along." Rihan nodded, and then took out his sword. "Now excuse me, but I have to beat up both of you." He said as he faced the girl and her giant Armadillo, who dramatically spew fire into the air.

* * *

Once again, Reiko was reminded of just how strong Rihan's body was, and how light she herself was due to lacking any legs. At least this time she did not end in a garbage dumpster, but hitting a wall made of cement, with such force and speed, had its own downsides.

She rested like that for a while, until screams woke her up. Opening her eyes, she saw what she expected: the Dolls scaring and preparing to kill the few poor people who were outside and here.

She rose, and slew the nearest Doll. And then the next. But she did it without much excitement, and with a dark cloud over her face. She knew how this would end. She tried saving people before, but all it ever led was that it fed her bloodlust, and then would lose herself and cause her own slaughter.

The voices were already there.

**SHE MURDERS THEM ALL!**

She killed two dolls at once, thus saving some couple, who immediately went running.

_**SHE KILLS AND KILLS AND KILLS!** _

More dolls get cut while her wish to kill the nearby humans grows stronger.

 **SPLIT THEM ALL!** _**TAKE THEIR LEGS, SHE DOES!** _

As she kills the next doll, she noticed how pretty a nearby girl was, or more precisely her legs. How she desired them...

**PROTECT US!**

She halves up a Doll, but it continued hunting its original victims, until Reiko broke its head.

_**SHE PROBABLY LAUGHS AT IT ALL!** _

The Dolls do not fight her, nor do they fear her. They were machines that just listened to their creator's orders, not caring about themselves. It made killing them easy, but keeping them from killing was made harder by it.

**THERE CAN BE PLACE FOR ONLY ONE MONSTER!**

She was growing restless. This was supposed to be her night. Why was the Dollmaker stealing her spotlight? She wished he was here so she could make him pay.

_**I KNEW YOU ARE ON OUR SIDE!** _

She was growing restless, but some of the voices did calm her, and asked her to do good. Shame they were always so rare.

SHE IS THE BEST MURDERER!

She continued killing the Dolls, one after another.

_SHE LUSTS FOR DEATH!_

A few Dolls actually fought back. She guessed that the Dollmaker was growing annoyed by her antics.

PAIN THEY FEEL AS SHE HALVED THEM UP!

She felt a small wish to kill. But not these bloodless dolls. No, she wanted…

_I KNEW I COULD BELIEVE IN YOU!_

...and her desire to taste blood started fading.  _Why… do I hear such voices so often now?_

_Reiko-san being anything but a killer story is laughable!_

She killed another Doll, but this time she actually felt satisfaction from it. Her darker side was not as strong to drown such feeling out this time.

_I do so love good horror stories, and Reiko-san is a classic!_

Only one more Doll remained.

_Drink their blood, come on!_

No blood was spilled as the Doll perished, but a few from her own, little scratches. Insignificant scratches.

_We need more horror stories like this!_

For some reason, she started feeling weak and fell down. At least her torso was still standing upright, though she had no strength to float.

_**I knew you'd cut those lies sooner or later!** _

She realized what was different with the voices this time… why the encouraging ones were so strong.

That voice came from close by. She raised her head, and saw a very young policeman with glasses run to her, with a large happy smile on his face. "Are you alright Reiko-chan? Ah…" He turned around and then addressed the few people who hadn't ran yet. "It's alright, the movie recording is over! Please go to your homes now while the crew comes to clean the place!" He told a horrible and unbelievable lie, but everyone accepted it. It was easier than to accept that there were monster around and that they almost killed everyone around this place.

"Who… are you?" She asked.

"Ah… me? Ah nobody, just a fan…"

"...huh?" She felt weak, as if her Fear was weakening. She also realized that the voices have gotten weaker. That was a fact that she did not hate, but it was a fact that those voices fed her Fear. "Why would you be that?"

"It's a bit… stupid. Not something that should be discussed in this situation. Instead-"

"No, I do want to know. Right now."

"No really, this is not-"

"Please…"

"Ah… well, it's embarrassing. I don't even know how to start…" The young man scratched his cheek. "I know it can be hard to believe as I'm such a brave and dashing policeman now… but as a boy, I was often bullied and hid in the toilets."

Bullying and toilets… this reminded her of the old days.

"At some point, I found some graffiti in one toilet. Still remember the words: Fear not, for Reiko-chan keeps us safe."

 _Not I don't._  She kept that fact for herself though.

"For some reason, this peeked my interest, so I googled it. I was surprised to find some man's and woman's diaries on the Internet, talking about their young days. The girl spoke about talking with Reiko-san… I mean you… and how you kept her safe from bullies. I was touched by how she described the days when the knowledge that a kind ghost was protecting her gave her strength to go and enjoy life again."

She remembered that girl, never forgot about her. Though she did think that she forgot about Reiko, yet she now learned that this girl never forgot about her.

A tear went from her eye, as she missed those brighter days.

"And there was another journal, from her husband. They met because they were both equally zealous about protecting your good name, you know."

"Huh? Who was that man?" As romantic as their story sounded, she was dumbfounded by the mention of a man. She had no memories of a man or a boy who could have been close to her… at least not to the old her.

"Well, you know. The man whose-"

**ReikoIsTheBest!SheIsMasterpieceOfHorror!TheQueenOfSlaughter!AllBoysMustDieAndSheWillKillThem!**

"Huh?" She could not hear him because of the voices, which suddenly grew louder. "Can you repeat that?"

He looked in confusion for a moment, but then repeated. "The man whose life you saved from those murderous bullies." She heard his words this time, though the voices tried to overshadow him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Hmm… you really don't remember? Well, it is a very old story hehe… I guess that even the ghosts have their limits." The bright policeman laughed again. "But you know…"

**TheQueenOfHalvingPeopleUpHaHa!TheEvilestGirlEver!BewareOfNightsForReikoMightBeThere!**

"...it was just before the stories… lies…"

**EveryoneKnowsAboutReikoTheSlasher!Don'tCorruptTheClassicWithYourDoujinshi!**

"...about you started to flow."

"What? Please… tell me what happened…" If the voices so determined to stop her, then she needed to know what this was.

"Alright. I memorized the entire diary so…"

And so he started his tale, and she remembered the night when it all started, when she became a murderous youkai… the first tale of hers, the one she feared to remember… yet should never have forgotten.

* * *

_The friend I often talked with in the toilets of my old school told me that these three bullies, who caused my death, invited some first-years to come and investigate the school at night… and look for me. I had no idea what they planned, but I doubted it was supposed to be anything good._

_So, I decided to give them their wish: they would find me at school this night. I could not move out of the toilets during the day, but in nights… well, there were so few witnesses that I could practically move wherever I pleased. And since the night was when we youkai were at our strongest, moving around felt less than a hassle for me._

_And indeed, those three girls brought some first-years with them. The gates were closed, but of course it could stop nobody that actually wanted to get it. The locked doors of the school would theoretically be a bigger obstacle, but they probably got their hands on the key._

_Having watched their arrival from a window, I started moving. I doubted that they would allow their three victims to stay together, so most likely they would split into groups of three, each 'team' having one bully and one victim. Then they would scare the shit out of the victims at best, but at worst, and at most likely, they would force them to fear them._

_But I would make sure that the bullies got to be the ones to fear. I would not even have to do anything, I'd just have to show myself. That should do the trick. Oh, how long have I waited for a chance to show myself to them. And this was a perfect opportunity._

_Or that's how I thought it would be like… that's what I wished would have happened. But I was still naive and green back then._

_Anyway, it started just as I expected: they split up, and the bullies then started pursuing the two girls and a boy. I follow the first pair I saw, and they were running towards the gym's washing rooms._

_As I entered, I quickly saw the bully walk out through a separate entrance. I slowly crawled towards her, through the washing room. Normally, I would not have noticed… but since I was crawling and thus close to the ground, I quickly saw blood on the cold floor, just in front of one of the showers._

_And as I looked into the shower cabin, I saw the pursuit was over. The poor girl who just started her High School life lay there, dead and bleeding. This was not bullying anymore. This was murder… no, not murder. It was torture and murder._

_I, a demon, just stood there. I looked at what must have been at least a dozen stab wounds, and at her face that still held wet tears, while her eyes looked at the ceiling as if expecting the gods to descend and save her._

_That was just supposed to be a game. To the juniors, a fun game where they test their courage. To the bullies, a mean game which only they could enjoy. For me, a prankish game where I help my juniors, and teach the bullies a lesson._

_But it was none of those. This was a killing game, where my killers were the hunters and the juniors were the oblivious prey._

_And yes, I did think about all this at the time. This was probably why I didn't immediately notice that the murderer returned, and was swinging a bloodied knife, which clearly was not made of harmless plastic, down at me._

_She was incredibly fast, more so than any human could possibly be. But still, I managed to avoid the attack, though I ended up rolling into a pile of buckets and metal mops._

" _Ahhh… ?-chan!" I remember the murderer calling to me with my name. "I knew you'd be here." She looked insane, and I could feel that she was like me. She was not a ghost, but she was a youkai. "We knew it was you. We just knew!" She slowly, but but without any semblance of balance, walked towards me. "Ahhh… did we hate your pranks. But now, it'll all be OVER!"_

_And then she ran at me. I looked up at her, the hate in me burning brightly. These assholes not only caused my death and felt no regret, but they even turned to actual murders. And I could see the vision in front of me altering between what I really saw and the image of the dead girl in the shower._

_I did not know why I grabbed the mop, and what I thought to achieve with it. But I did, and I jumped at her. She stopped for a moment, surprised at my sudden movement._

_Then she grinned, as she saw that I lacked a weapon._

_And then she gazed with terror as my clothes turned black, and the mop turned into a pitch-black scythe._

_I cut her where I would cut all my future victims, right through their hips, splitting them in half like how the train split me apart._

_And I cut her Fear. I did not know it at the time, but she was still just in the process of becoming a youkai. By cutting her Fear, she reverted to being human. The madness was gone, and what remained was a girl who screamed and cried for mercy,and to be saved, all while her head and arms moving in all directions… until she finally bled out and died._

_At this point, I did not feel any sadness for her. She and the other two were not worth it._

_Nor did I have time. I jumped and crawled out, smelling Fear so I could try and save the other two before it was too late. I so hoped that their precious legs were fast enough._

_Two girls and a boy ran from the crazy bullies, and I soon found out that the other girl did not run fast enough either. I found her hanging in a classroom, with many parts of her body, including her eyes, pierced with picado darts._

_I cut the rope that held her hung, caught her and slowly lay her down, and turned to look for the others._

_I did not believe that I would be able to save the boy, but it did not stop me from looking for him. However, I have developed the ability to sense a human's fright and I could sense that it came from the roof. At the time I did not know that this ability actually allowed me to sense frightened humans, but I decided to think that this was him or the evil girls that I felt, so I too ka gamble and decided to climb up._

_Trouble was, I was on the second floor, while this school had four. And at the time I still could not float. And if the boy was up there, he should be cornered if the girls found him. In other words, there was no way I could reach him in time if I took the stairs._

_So I jumped through the window, struck the wall above with my scythe, and climbed up. And I repeated that, all the way untiI I reached the fence on the roof._

_Through the fence, I could see the boy sitting at the other end, and whimpering while the two murderous girls slowly walked towards him. I jumped with all my strength, so high that I got in the way of the moonlight, holding my scythe with both of my hands. The girls saw the large shadow, and looked up. Seeing as there was no way for me to give them a surprise attack, I allowed myself to land atop the water container._

_They looked at me, and at the same time I looked at them. I quickly identified the girl with the darts. I remember the old days, when we were all humans and they often forced me to bring them food and drinks while they hang in some night club. I remember her playing pikado for the first time,and how clumsy she was. And I remember how hard she fought to become better, until one day she beat all men and women in the club at the game. I never liked them, but I was proud at the time that someone's effort lead to so quickly becoming skilled at something they were originally bad at._

_I wonder how the younger me would feel now, knowing that she started using these skills for murder_

_Yet at the time, my attention was actually first taken by the other girl, the leader of the trio. While the one with the darts left the same impression as the girl I killed a few minutes ago, the leader was different. She still looked sane and smiled elegantly, but malice shone in her eyes. What was more, small horns had started to grow from her forehead, making it look like she was turning into an Oni._

" _At first I thought it was someone cool, jumping at moonlight like that, but it was just you. And I see you lack legs… talk about killing the first impressions. You look even lamer than before." The conversation had started. "Still, it's good to see you again, ?-chan." The horned girl called to me first. "I see that you too had discovered the beauty of Fear!"_

_The word Fear still meant nothing to me at the time, but I knew what she meant. I became a monster, just like they had_

_Then the other girl spoke. "Isn't that great? We can finally be together again!" She threw her darts into the air, and then grabbed them once more. "It'll be like old times again! We will have fun, and you'll help us with your head held low!" In contrast to our actual positions, she looked down at me. Just like she used to, in the old days. "Just that this time we will kill people, and you will help us. Right?"_

_I did not reply to them. I wish I could say it was because they were not worth talking to, but the part of me was still unable to talk up to them. I was still afraid._

" _Come on, don't be so silent." The horned girl spoke after a bit of silence. "It'll be an honor to work with the Triple Demon Sisters."_

_While she still spoke, I took a deep breath and remembered the corpses. And how easily I killed the first of the trio. "Double Demon Sisters." I said._

" _Huh?" The smiles on their faces faltered._

_I raised my index and middle finger, and moved them to imitate scissors. "I'm no longer the only girl with no legs in this school."_

" _You…" The horned girl shook. "You killed… Himiko-chan? That's… what you mean when you say that there's only two of us now?"_

" _Well…" I jump again, but this time facing them. Darts flew but I deflected all three of them with one move of my scythe. "One of you, as of now." I cut the girl with darts through her hips. Since I did not want to hear her screams and cries, I immediately moved my scythe to behead her, and then to split the head apart as well._

" _Rena…. Chan…" The horned girl looked at me with rage. "You killed…. Himiko and Rena… we were together… best pals… since like forever…" It was only then that I noticed that she held an oversized butcher's knife. "HOW DARE YOU KILL THEM? HOW COULD YOU?! KNOW YOUR PLACE, BITCH!" She swung the large, heavy knife at me, but I blocked it with the handle of my scythe._

" _You've long since wasted all your chances for redemption." I said calmly. Oh, how bold did I feel and act once I realized that I was stronger than all of them._

" _Redemption?" She struck down with all of her force, but I easily held back against that force. Even though I lacked legs to support myself, she still failed to even make my torso move an inch. "You're a youkai like me now! We slaughter, we don't care about human trash." She made rapid attacks, but I easily deflected each one of them._

" _Don't call me the same as you." Having grown tired of talking to her, I swung my scythe and cut her neck. "I'll never be like you." That proclamation was very ironic, all things considered._

" _Ahk." I cut her throat, but I also cut her Fear, so the horns disappeared as did the strength to hold that butcher's knife. "Ahk…"_

_I remembered the words I just said, and I thought I'd leave her like that. But then she looked at me with malice, her Fear returned, and she even grabbed her oversized butcher's knife once more._

" _You really never learn." I finished it by cutting her legs off, and then let her bleed out. "Enjoy, with Rena and Himiko, your new life in hell." I saw her off with those cold words._

_And so three maddened murders perished. The three girls who caused my death perished. Yet I still felt sad, just like when my dad and mom died. Hateful as they were, they were still a piece of my old life. And now they were gone, forever. No people who used to be important to my old life remained._

_And after what happened this night here, I knew I could never see this school in the same light again. So this school, another piece of my life, was gone too. I was truly left with nothing. I was a ghost with no anchors in this world, yet still stuck in it._

_Just when I decided to hop off, the boy that I completely forgot about, found the courage to speak. "Who… are you?"_

_I could hear that he was frightened. How would he not be? After all, I must have been much more terrifying than these two girls were. "I don't have a name anymore." Yet, I could not live without a name. So I made one for myself. "You can call me Kashima Reiko, though." And with that, I jumped away._

_I should not have told him my name. If I did, he could give no name to the police and journalists. Without that name, nobody would know about Kashima Reiko. Nobody would make up stories about her, like the one where she killed five innocent students in a school._

_But I did. And even if those people were told the truth, the fact was that the stories they made up were more entertaining to them than what might have really happened._

_Truth is always less fun than fiction, as they say._

* * *

"Reiko-san, are you alright?" The young policeman's words brought her back away from her thoughts. "You look a little… troubled."

"Don't mind it… I just remembered some things I forgot." She averted her eyes. She could not stand to look at him, not when his image of her was so heart-wrenchingly wrong. His story may have been true, but nothing would ever change the fact that her life after that was such that she was an existence worse than anything the Triple Demon Sisters could ever have been.

She always hated what she was, and the voices. But seeing him talk like that about her… she hated herself more, and blamed herself for being weak. For not being able to oppose the voices. She was someone who fell to the voices in her head… but the Reiko he talked about sounded like someone who would fight to the bitter end. She'd never become like those three girls, no matter what.

If nothing else, she should have put a fight later on. Better late than never.

If nothing else, she should not have forgotten about this. She should not have let the voices make her forget about it. About what she truly was.

"Wha-" She heard the policeman gasp, and looked at him. He looked at something behind her, his face white from terror.

"What is the matter, Onee-chan?" When she turned around, she saw the evil little girl. She lacked an arm, and she was unable to keep up the human face, but this was definitely her. And she was still riding the large Armadillo, though it was covered in many bruises.

And there was a new army of Dolls behind her.

"What do you think you are doing, Onee-chan?" The doll tried to sound creepily cheerful, like she usually did, but this time she actually sounded annoyed. "We're here to kill Rihan, aren't we now? That was the point of all this, was it not? You were chosen for this, weren't you?"

"Rihan was the target… and nobody else." Reiko, on other hand, sounded calm. Though there was nothing to back it up, as she could barely move. Floating itself was already out of question. Putting up resistance was impossible.

Unless I let the voices come back, that is.

"Everyone else forces that honorable man to face us… to face you." She pointed her finger at Reiko. "Besides, the purpose of Kashima Reiko is to bring terror."

"The purpose of Kashima Reiko is to slice up those like the ones who killed her." Another voice spoke, the voice of Nura Rihan, who stood atop the lamp behind Reiko. "Many tales were chosen for you, but this one you chose for yourself, did you not?"

"So that's where you were, coward." The evil little doll almost growled at Rihan, but then turned her attention back to Reiko. "My frustration is growing, you know!" Suddenly, she spoke in a loud, man's voice. It was the voice of the Dollmaker. "Stop this. Accept the Tales that define you already. As entertaining as it is to see you keep the hopeless fight, we need you at full strength!"

The young policeman was out of his mind. "What… is going on here?"

"Nothing that matters." Reiko said to him. "Relax, this accursed Doll will not be able to speak for much longer, yet alone harm anyone."

"Is that defiance in your eyes?" The Girl looked at Reiko with surprise for a while, after which it spoke in her girl's voice again. "And what will you do? Look at yourself. Without the Tales, you are nothing more than a useless little ghost." She raised her hand, and the other Dolls prepared for an assault. Then the Dollmaker spoke through ther again. "I'd normally end it here, but I'll give you one last chance. Stop this charade and kill Rihan. Or wound him enough that I can take care of the rest. Else, we will kill that cop while you just sit there in anguish, you legless twerp."

"Who do you think you're talking to, you shittily made doll?"

"To someone who looks like a famous character, but is actually just a lame shell of it."

"Is that right?" Rihan spoke again. "Did the old Reiko-"

"Oh shut up, you show-snatcher." Reiko stopped him, and then started floating up slowly. In a way, this felt like using her legs to get back up. "I did not need the voices when I truly became Kashima Reiko." She did not have any doubts anymore, not did she feel like ever giving in again. "I did not need the voices back then, and I assure you I don't need them now either."

"You are Kashima Reiko, the murderous youkai that-"

"I'm Kashima Reiko, a poor little girl who hid in the toilets when afraid of bullies, the girl who eventually found strength to oppose bullies and protect her fellows, who then died and hid in toilets when afraid of her life, and who gets soft whenever she sees anyone who is like her. She scares those bad people and, should they go too far, she kills them without mercy." She floated back up, but felt like she was standing. Ever since her death, she never felt like she had a footing in this world… a footing that defined what she was. But now she had. " _That's_ my Tale." She swung her arms, and her scythe returned. Her Fear grew stronger, and she could feel the Doll's fright… and, more importantly, the young man's admiration. And it was this admiration that allowed her to reject any carnal desires that her dark nature had given her.

And the voices, who replaced those three girls as her bullies and masters, have gone silent. Or at least the ones that she no longer cared to hear.

The Doll now looked furious. She spoke the next words in the Dollmaker's voice. "Kill her, and that stupid human!"

Reiko did not say anything, nor did she make any sudden moves. She just moved her scythe with one hand so that it now stood to her left, the blade's surface facing the sky. She put all of her Fear into it, and then slashed it through the air in front of her.

She seemed to have also cut the sounds, for all sounds and voices have gone quiet.

And then all of the Dolls, including the Armadillo and the girl doll, split into two.

"What…" The girl spoke as she fell towards Reiko, who promptly grabbed her by her head.

"If you wanted to have a fighting chance, Dollmaker, you should have come personally."

"You… you may have found enough strength for this… but remember that you have built it upon your life as the monster…" The doll spoke, even after Reiko let it fall on the ground. "...and that you will certainly perish without-"

"Farewell." She then struck the doll with the back end of her scythe, finishing its petty existence.

"Woah… that was just… woah…" The young policeman behind her spoke in awe.

"Is… that so?" Having finished her task of protecting this voice that trusted in her, and helped her remember. Though she lacked legs, she stood for what she wanted to be, against what others wanted her to be.

She closed her eyes, and felt her power vaning. So she started falling, and the young man caught her. "Reiko-san? What is going on, Reiko-san?"

She tried to answer, but had no strength. She did have enough strength to open her eyes and look at him, as well as towards the boy atop the street light's post. "You looked good there, Reiko-san." The Nurarihyon said in his typically annoying expression, and disappeared. "I'll consider this my victory, if you don't mind."

"Huh… whatever." Reiko closed her eyes and relaxed. "I think I'll just rest for a bit."

"Reiko-san… why you are disappearing… Reiko-san!"

* * *

"Mhmm…" Hikari started awakening. She was too tired to remember all that happened, and too tired to think why she was lying on something hard, but at least she knew that she should get up. She stretched her shoulders, rubbed her eyes, and got up.

"You're sure more carefree than I thought." She heard Rihan greet her.

"Huh?" She noticed that they were at what looked like a park, with him sitting on a bench, and her having slept on the opposite bench. A jacket, which seemed to have been used as a blanket, fell from her. "Ah, Rihan-kun?"

"For someone who has been running for her life this entire night, you sure have fallen asleep in the least safe place. You'd not even be safe from humans there, you know."

"Huh?" She started thinking about what he meant, and only then remembered the appearance of Araya, and the painful sensation that she had put her through. Just remembering that sensation made it feel like there was something in her throat, so she had trouble breathing.

"Hikari-chan?" Rihan jumped from the bench. "Are you alright?"

"Yes… yes I am alright! I just remembered a bad dream." She looked up and smiled. She already got better, so it was not a lie.

But she would not tell him about her meeting with Araya. Not only because it would make him even more suspicious of her, as that event made Hikari herself suspicious of her own self, but also because Araya asked her to keep quiet.  _I don't know what she did, and it hurt… but I feel freer now than even before. Could I even describe that? I don't know what that feeling means myself._

She decided to change the topic. "Anyway, how did it go with Reiko-san?" She proposed the first question that came to her mind, and then remembered that girl, with her messy black hair, her black sailor uninform, and what Rihan did to her.  _What Rihan-kun did to her…_  " Wait, but first… did you bring me here?" She started to feel hot in her head.

"Well, of course… you were just randomly lying on the ground so-"

"You didn't do anything to me while I was sleeping, right? You didn't right?"

"...Hikari-chan, I understand the question… but what's with that creepy smile supposed to mean?"

"Uh… I just hop- got worried so… uhm, yeah you would not do that to a sleeping girl, right? Ahem!" She faked a cough. "But back to important things… what happened with Reiko-san?"

Rihan looked at her as if she were some strange animal, but then smiled and gave her a thumbs up, packed together with a wink. "It worked! Reiko-san's strings have been removed, and by the looks of it that ghost can now pass on in peace."

"So… so you won? Reiko-san won't pursue us anymore?" She felt awed. While her reason told her it was possible to win, she was not so sure if that would be possible in practice.

" _We_ won, Hikari-chan." He walked to her. "If not for your analysis of her, I may never have known what to do with her."

"Ah… hah… um…" She felt blushing, as this was the first time that he gave her such a smile, filled with pride and earnest respect. "Well, you are welcome." She averted her eyes, blushing a little.

"There are more Devils remaining, so let's keep fighting on together, shall we?" He offered her his hand.

"Huh? Um…" She looked at his hand, as if it was something strange. "Does that mean that you don't suspect me anymore?"

"I'm not naive, and Reiko-san's words don't really work in your favor." He continued, his smile becoming a little more mischievous, but his offered hand did not move. "But until I have a reason not to, I'll want to have you by my side."

"Hmmm… your doubt still pisses me off." She puffed her cheeks, but her hand moved and accepted his. "Fine! But know that one day I'll make you regret ever doubting me! " She rode from the bench, catching the jacket with her other hand.

"I'm fine with that idea."

* * *

"Hmph. So that little doll died so easily." Gagoze commented as he looked at the recording of Reiko's entire battle on a Smartphone. He imagined himself crushing the little doll girl himself.

"You aren't getting some funny ideas, aright Onii-chan?" His own little evil doll girl crawled up his shoulder and gave him a smile with spiky teeth. "Daddy is not in mood for more backstabbing, y'know!"

"Shut up brat." Gagoze closed his smartphone and looked through the window. He could see a little part of the Nura Clan's mansion from here.  _So close, yet so far. Good thing that the Nuras have forgotten about me now that they are preparing for a war._

"But let's forget about that filler character. Reiko was just there to buy time. Your role is more important." The little girl returned to using a human face, and still hang on his shoulder while Gagoze walked around. Due to enhancements made to his body by the Dollmaker, he barely felt her weight. "But we should get to Nakano before the night tomorrow. Are you sure your plan will work?"

"It will. But you're the one who will get me to Nakano in time, right?" Then he felt something scratch inside his head. "Now silence, I'm going to get my answer."

"Do you hear me, Gagoze?" The voice of Satori spoke inside his head.

"You should know the answer. No need to treat this like a phone call."

"Hmph. Anyway, prepare a pen and piece of paper, I won't tell this twice."

"It's all ready, Satori-sama." Gagoze said as he grabbed the pencil and put it onto a piece of paper.

"Also, make sure to not fail again. Kill off this useless woman, and do it properly. Now, here's tomorrow's schedule of Nura Wakana."

* * *

**Author Notes:**

Well, at long last the new chapter is here! And look at that, with over 23k words and 65 A5 pages, it's the largest chapter I have ever written. Here's to hoping that this will allow you to find it in your heart to forgive me for my long hiatuses.

\- So here came my story of Kashima Reiko. It is a mish mash of several tropes about her, and of course some of my own spice. Hopefully, it is plausible enough

\- if Rihan keeps this up, he will become more famous for playing with gentle hearts of ladies, than for anything else :P

\- for those wondering what Reiko meant that this was not the first time, recheck chapter 63.3 omake. Poor girl never gets a break with him


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